Studies increasingly suggest that a healthy nation depends on a healthy democracy. By Dhruv Khullar
The Improbable Rise of J. D. Vance
“Hillbilly Elegy” made him famous, and his denunciations of Donald Trump brought him liberal fans. Now, as a Vice-Presidential candidate, he’s remaking his image as the heir to the MAGA movement. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells
The Aid Workers Who Risk Their Lives to Bring Relief to Gaza
As the war grinds on, logistical challenges are compounded by politics, repeated evacuations, and…By Dorothy Wickenden
We don’t have flying cars or Jetsons-like robots to cook our meals. What we have is better: constant incremental progress.
The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Technology Still Isn’t Here By Nicole Kobie
A video flickers to life as Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” begins to sound. A long-haired man appears on screen. You might expect a jazz concert, but the man fiddles with a cabinet-like, camera-laden machine on wheels. As he steps away, a buzzer sounds, the machine slowly rolls forward, and the narrator announces its name: Shakey the Robot.
A.K.A., the oldest Black sorority, expects excellence and complete discretion. How are members responding to their most famous sister’s Presidential campaign? By Jazmine Hughes
A group of intelligence officials confers about when to alert the public to foreign meddling. By David D. Kirkpatrick
How Republican Billionaires Learned to Love Trump Again
The former President has been fighting to win back his wealthiest donors, while actively courting new ones—what do they expect to get in return? By Susan B. Glasser
Sotheby’s (October 17, 2024): Presented in partnership with Celine, Sotheby’s Paris is proud to feature the Impressionist masterpiece “Le jardin de Pissarro,
Quai du Pothuis à Pontoise,” painted by Paul Gauguin in 1881, as one of the highlight lots in the upcoming Modernités sale. This painting is emblematic of the early years of Gauguin’s artistic journey. During 1879-1881, Gauguin became a regular visitor of Camille Pissarro, whom he fondly referred to as his “dear Professor.” He often joined Pissarro in Pontoise, where Pissarro had settled. It was under Pissarro’s mentorship that Gauguin began his career as a painter and mastered essential techniques.
These years were crucial to Gauguin’s artistic development, and this painting, depicting Pissarro’s house and garden, serves as a heartfelt tribute from student to master. The presence of two self-portraits by Gauguin on the reverse side makes this piece truly unique. Painted very early in his career, this dual-sided work already demonstrates a striking modernity. Gauguin’s style, even at this early stage, was ahead of its time and hinted at the innovations he would bring to art in the years to come. This painting is a bold assertion of the artist’s emerging identity.
London Review of Books (LRB) – October 16 , 2024: The latest issue features Bee Wilson – Bad Samaritan; Sheila Fitzpatrick – Learning to Love the Dissidents and Adam Shatz – Israel’s Forever War…
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement by Benjamin Nathans
By Michael Wood
At the Movies: ‘Megalopolis’
Believe Nothing until It Is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism by Patrick Cockburn
Times Literary Supplement (October 16, 2024): The latest issue features ‘A world away from K-pop -The Nobel laureate Han Kang, Sylvia Plath’s final say; Alan Hollinghurst gets Brexit done; The dictotor’s treadmill; Keeping the Warburg weird…