Category Archives: Culture

France Today Magazine – October/November 2024

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France Today Magazine (September 20, 2024): Our Great Destinations feature, which sees Caroline Mills explore the western section of the sprawling Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, includes both household names (Bordeaux, Cognac) and hidden gems (Le Train de la Rhune tourist train!).

Politics: The Guardian Weekly-September 20, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Hunt For Yahya Sinwar’ – Julian Borger On Israel’s Elusive Prime Target…

The last sighting of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who is widely accused of unleashing the Gaza war, was from a retrieved Hamas security video that was apparently recorded three days after the 7 October attack on Israel.

Since then an estimated 41,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a furious and devastating Israeli bombing response. Yet the prime target Sinwar has remained at large and apparently unscathed.

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Spotlight | Another apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Violence and instability have become a feature, not a bug, of US political life, writes Washington DC bureau chief David Smith

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Environment | Darién Gap migration rush creates a pollution crisis
Isolated communities on the Colombia-Panama border are sounding the alarm over poisoned rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral lands, finds Luke Taylor

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Feature | The age of rage
Anger has come to def ine the public mood – felt in the posts of social media warriors and harnessed by populist agitators. Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen asks why are we so mad, and how can we navigate to calmer waters

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Opinion | The return of border checks in Germany
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s border clampdown threatens the entire European project, argues Maurice Stierl – no wonder the continent’s rightwing populists are cheering

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Culture | Michael Kiwanuka on faith, family and fulfilment
The Mercury prize-winning musician explains to Alexis Petridis how he went from being a ‘slight weirdo’ to wowing Glastonbury – and why he thinks more people are turning to religion

Country Life Magazine – September 18, 2024 Issue

Country Life Magazine (September 17, 2024): The latest issue features

The legacy

Amie Elizabeth White hails king of cutlery Harry Brearley, whose stainless-steel invention was —  like himself — ‘made in Sheffield’

Country Life’s little-known gems of the Cotswolds

Jane Wheatley swerves the honeypots to share some of the region’s lesser-known places to eat, shop, stay or unwind

Dem bones, dem bones

The world’s first named dinosaur was found in the beautiful Oxfordshire village of Stonesfield. Ben Lerwill meets the Megalosaurus

A taste of the exotic

From coatimundis in Cumbria to scorpions in Kent, Victoria Marston introduces some of Britain’s most exotic residents

One bray at a time

The stoic and devoted donkey is often misunderstood, but it is capable of melting the hardest of hearts, as Katy Birchall learns

Marking time in the Cotswolds

Penny Churchill showcases the best country houses for sale in this sought-after region

Out of the ordinary

Annunciata Elwes scours the Cotswolds property market for something a little different

Geraldine Collinge’s favourite painting

The art-gallery director chooses a spectacular, nightmarish work

Revealing the Roman Cotswolds

Clive Aslet investigates the role of antiquarian Samuel Lysons in recording the excavation of Roman villas in the Cotswolds      

Love in an elevator

Country house lifts have been going up in the world ever since Queen Victoria’s day, as Melanie Cable-Alexander discovers

Interiors

Ideas and inspiration for your kitchen, with Amelia Thorpe

Where the north wind doth blow

Tiffany Daneff is blown away by panoramic views and weatherproof planting in the garden at Coates Barn in Warwickshire

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson pairs pears with both sweet and savoury

Foraging

Oyster mushrooms are a woodland delicacy, but vegans might be put off by their carnivorous tendencies, reveals John Wright

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell is on the prowl for luxurious leopard-print pieces

Travel

Steven King heads to Hungary to discover how autumn mists make Tokaji wine irresistible

We band of brothers

Octavia Pollock marvels at the medals of yesteryear, finding that many of their mottos and motifs are works of art in their own right

Right as rain

Michael Prodger dodges the showers to examine drizzle, downpour and deluge in art

The spy who came onto the stage

The first stage adaptation of a Le Carré novel is compelling viewing, says Michael Billington

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – October 2024

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – September 16, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Antitrust Revolution’ – Liberal Democracy’s last stand against Big Tech and Election 2024 – The Secret of Republican Political Power…

The Antitrust Revolution  

Liberal democracy’s last stand against Big Tech by Barry C. Lynn

In 1609, James I lectured the English people on his rights and responsibilities as king. It was his duty to “make and unmake” them, he said. Kings have the “power of raising and casting down, of life and of death; judges over all their subjects, and in all causes.”

The Fever Called Living

On the plight of environmental-­illness refugees

The Hindutva Lobby

How Hindu nationalism spreads in America

Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – Sept. 23, 2024

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The New Yorker (September 16, 2024): The latest issue features Christoph Niemann’s “Smoke and Mirrors” – The latest trends are often derived from unexpected places…

The Presidential Campaign, After Philadelphia

Part of the intrigue has been which movement would run out of steam first: Trump’s MAGA, through its failures, or Obama’s liberalism, through its successes. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells

The Art of Taking It Slow

Contemporary cycling is all about spandex and personal bests. The bicycle designer Grant Petersen has amassed an ardent following by urging people to get comfortable bikes, and go easy. By Anna Wiener

The Anguish of Looking at a Monet

More than beauty, more than color, the artist reveals the doubts that bind us. By Jackson Arn

Science: What Is It That Makes Humans Unique?

DW Documentary (September 14, 2024): What made our ancestors evolve in such an extraordinary way? This film presents the latest scientific theories on how the human species evolved and looks at the shadow side of our unique abilities.

Some animals see, hear or smell better than humans. Others can find their way in the dark much better than we can. Some can fly. All animals communicate, some have excellent memories and others build complex structures and have highly-developed social skills. So what sets humans apart? Why have humans evolved such highly developed cognitive abilities in comparison to animals?

The documentary sheds light on this major question of human evolution — one of the mysteries that has long puzzled the world of science. What is it that makes humans so fundamentally different from other animal species? And will our extraordinary abilities ultimately lead us to self-destruction?

#documentary #dwdocumentary

Arts & Culture: The New Criterion -October 2024

The New Criterion – The October 2024 issue features

Democracy in America: a symposium

Tocqueville’s limitations by Glenn Ellmers

Democracy in America: an introduction by Roger Kimball

Our Athenian American democracy by Victor Davis Hanson

Tocqueville versus progressive democracy by Daniel J. Mahoney

The Washington octopus by James Piereson

The New York Times Magazine – Sept. 15, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (September 13, 2024): The latest issue features Sasha Weiss on the Prince we never knew; Ben Hubbard on a U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees; Giles Harvey on the writer Tony Tulathimutte; and more.

The Prince We Never Knew

A revealing new documentary could redefine our understanding of the pop icon. But you will probably never get to see it.

How a U.N. Agency Became a Flashpoint in the Gaza War

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, has survived 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian strife. Can it survive the latest conflict?

An Acerbic Young Writer Takes Aim at the Identity Era

Tony Tulathimutte is a master comedian whose original and highly disturbing new book skewers liberal pieties. By Giles Harvey

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – Sept. 13, 2024

The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Two Faces’ – Why the historical divide between Germany’s east and west could halt the rise of the AFD (Alternative for Germany)…

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Spotlight | After the Grenfell Tower inquiry
Seven years after 72 people died in a tower block fire in west London, Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the damning public investigation into a wholly preventable tragedy.

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Environment | The deep secrets of a Greenland glacier
Damian Carrington reports from Kangerlussuup glacier, where scientists are discovering new things about sediment banks that could slow the rate of rising seas.

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Feature | The big click-off: how to win at Fantasy Premier League
With 10 million players, the virtual football game has become a global phenomenon. Tom Lamont gets the lowdown from the world’s best armchair managers.

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Opinion | Why I’d pay to see Ticketmaster getting rinsed
After the Oasis ticket debacle, this much is clear, writes Marina Hyde: the “fan experience” is an excuse to be exploited while having to look grateful.

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Culture | James McAvoy on class, comfort and carnage
The Scottish actor talks to Zoe Williams about marriage, therapy – and why Ken Loach would never cast him.

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Sept. 11, 2024

Country Life Magazine (September 10, 2024): The latest issue features

The summit of achievement

Charles Quest-Ritson marvels at Friar Park’s ‘Henley Matterhorn’ in the superb Oxfordshire garden created by the late Beatle George Harrison and his widow, Olivia

How to time travel to spring

Now is the time to plan next year’s colourful garden display. John Hoyland advises what to plant and where for best results

Put a smile on your garden

John Hoyland hails a welcome resurgence in the popularity of pelargoniums, a stalwart that  lights up the summer garden

Sing on, sweet bird

The soothing notes of Britain’s thrushes have long provided a reassuring soundtrack to our lives. Mark Cocker tunes in

Bravery beyond belief

As the Royal Humane Society marks its 250th anniversary, Rupert Uloth recounts a host of incredible life-saving feats

 ‘Without fever there is no creation’

Henrietta Bredin examines how the colourful life of Puccini was reflected in the melodramatic plot lines of his greatest operas

Rachel Podger’s favourite painting

The leading violinist chooses an inspiring, uplifting masterpiece with a beautiful depth of colour

Happiness in small things

The challenges facing female farmers in Africa put life in perspective for Minette Batters      

The great indoors

Amelia Thorpe has the pick of planters and accessories to make the most of your houseplants

Civic splendour

John Goodall is heartened by the restoration of St Mary’s Guildhall, a symbol of Coventry’s great 14th-century prosperity

The legacy

Kate Green applauds the work of Sir Arthur Hobhouse, founding father of our national parks

Let’s get to the bottom of this

Is it a blessing or a curse to find a well on your property? Deborah Nicholls-Lee tests the water

I was on fire for you, where did you go?

David Profumo is in his element as he teases Atlantic salmon from Iceland’s low, clear waters

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell turns over a new leaf with autumn-inspired jewellery

Interiors

It’s show time! Amelia Thorpe seeks Design Week inspiration

Get your cob on

Prepare to be amazed by maize as Tom Parker Bowles savours those golden corn kernels in mouth-watering Mexican style

Foraging

Do you know a damson from a bullace? John Wright revels in the plum job of explaining it all

The colour revolution

The 19th-century development of new paints was a green light for artists, finds Michael Prodger

Colour vision

Rob Crossan catches up with the most famous and enduring face of our television screens