Category Archives: Culture

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – June 21, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (June 19, 2024) – The new issue features Emmanuel Macron’s ballot box gamble – Could the far right gain political power in France? Plus: the record detectives fighting back against bootleggers

Spotlight | Kharkiv under siege
Luke Harding and Artem Mazhulin report from Ukraine’s second city where living conditions are increasingly precarious

Environment | The fight to save Norway’s arctic foxes
Captive breeding has helped reduce threats from predators and the climate crisis – but can the species survive long-term?

Feature | The vinyl frontier
John Harris meets the record detectives going after music’s retro bootleggers

Opinion | Starmer’s quiet man appeal
The UK Labour leader has been accused of being a “political robot”. But, argues Jonathan Freedland, that’s exactly why he’s so far ahead in the opinion polls

Culture | Alive and Kicken
On its 50th anniversary, culture writer Eliza Apperly pays tribute to the Berlin gallery that helped pioneer photography as an art discipline

Previews: Country Life Magazine – June 19, 2024

Country Life - Country Life

Country Life Magazine (June 18, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Why we adore Venus’, Move over Buckingham Palace – Our grandest houses, Jeremy Clarkson’s favorite painting and Old Masters – Chippendale and Coward revisited…

Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite painting

The television presenter and farmer immerses himself in the age of steam by selecting a 19th-century masterpiece that really stokes the imagination

Venus was her name

Michael Hall lays bare the story of the art world’s enduring love affair with the alluring goddess Venus, from the 4th century BC right up to the modern era

Tripping the light fantastic

Iridescence is one of the natural world’s greatest special effects. Laura Parker showcases the shimmering, jewel-like hues that can take your breath away

The good stuff

It’s the final straw for Hetty Lintell as she picks perfect summer accessories crafted from raffia

Interiors

Giles Kime is whisked through a Sicilian palazzo, a Gothic castle and a Baroque bedroom thanks to the wonders of WOW!house   

‘Makes Buckingham Palace seem rather dull’

The London homes of the British aristocracy were often grander than their country counterparts and perfect for entertaining, says Lucien de Guise

Native herbs

Mugwort is connected with child-birth as ‘the mother of herbs’, but John Wright prefers to focus on its many uses in the kitchen

Having the last laugh

Why are beaming faces such a rarity in our portrait galleries? Claudia Pritchard seeks out the grins among the grimaces

‘The oldest Old Thing in England’

Puck has been causing mayhem and misery for a millennium and more. Ian Morton traces the story of the mischievous sprite

Bend it like Beckham

Scotland’s only furniture school is keeping alive the old crafts of upholstery and marquetry, doing justice to its Chippendale name, as Mary Miers discovers

Coward on a mission

Michael Billington finds a depth of emotion behind the laughs in a rare revival of Noël Coward’s last work — a welcome antidote to mind-boggling technology

Opening the shutters

In the second of two articles, John Goodall applauds the remarkable revival of Wolterton Hall in Norfolk as a modern home equipped for the 21st century

The legacy

Victoria Marston hails Douglas Bunn, whose desire to test top British riders to the max led to  the drama of the Hickstead Derby

Bourne to run

Kathryn Bradley-Hole finds no end of reasons to stop and stare as she explores the dramatic garden created from a flat water-side site at Emmetts Mill, Surrey

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson conjures up a trio of dishes to demonstrate the versatility of the courgette

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – July 2024

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – June 17, 2024: The latest issue features Resisting Artificial Intelligence; A visual history of the Olympics and What remains of Syria…

The Gods of Logic

AI images generated by Phillip Toledano for Harper’s Magazine © The artist/Institute. Toledano’s book Another America was published in May by L’Artiere Edizioni.

Before and after artificial intelligence

We will never know how many died during the Butlerian Jihad. Was it millions? Billions? Trillions, perhaps? It was a fantastic rage, a great revolt that spread like wildfire, consuming everything in its path, a chaos that engulfed generations in an orgy of destruction lasting almost a hundred years. A war with a death toll so high that it left a permanent scar on humanity’s soul. But we will never know the names of those who fought and died in it, or the immense suffering and destruction it caused, because the Butlerian Jihad, abominable and devastating as it was,…

Metal Machine Music

Can AI think creatively? Can we?

“Far as the east from even, / Dim as the border star, / Life is the little creature / That carries the great cigar.” So wrote Emily Dickinson, with some unfortunate help from a computer. As I read that stanza in February 2022, I was more than six months into a scientific experiment I was conducting with my friend and colleague Morten Christiansen, a cognitive psychologist at Cornell, where he and I are professors. In 2021, two years before ChatGPT would become a household name, Christiansen had been impressed by the initial technical descriptions of GPT-3, the recently released version of the generative large language…

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – June 24, 2024

Eager parents dressed in clothing with contemporary popculture references walk behind their embarrassed daughter.

The New Yorker (June 17, 2024): The new issue‘s cover features Adrian Tomine’s “Eternal Youth” – For parents trying to look hip, no effort goes unpunished.

Rise of the Nanomachines

Nanotechnology can already puncture cancer cells and drug-resistant bacteria. What will it do next?

By Dhruv Khullar

After the European Elections, President Macron Makes a Gamble

The rise of the far right in Europe might help Americans deprovincialize their own crisis. The single wave has struck many coastlines.

By Adam Gopnik

Deaccessioning the Delights of Robert Gottlieb

The eminent editor’s wife and daughter sift through a lifetime’s worth of collectibles: quirky plastic purses, a porcelain Miss Piggy, and many, many books.

By Zach Helfand

Travel: Coastal Canada’s Vancouver Islands Tour

TRACKS – Travel Documentaries (June 15, 2024): British Columbia’s Central Coast, is a region renowned for its remote and awe-inspiring landscapes. From beautiful coastal islands to towering glacial ice fields, there is much to be seen of the Vancouver Islands.

The documentary starts at Johnston Strait before moving further north to the Queen Charlotte Strait and the Broughton Archipelago, coming across stunning natural landscapes and historical sites of the First Nations peoples.

The New York Times Magazine – June 16, 2024

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (June 14, 2024): The latest issue features

The Disturbing Truth About Hair Relaxers

They’ve been linked to reproductive disorders and cancers. Why are they still being marketed so aggressively to Black women?

The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s

She first noticed the scent on her husband. Now her abilities are helping unlock new research in early disease detection.

The Interview – The Darker Side of Julia Louis-Dreyfus

At some point in almost every performance she gives, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has this look. If you’ve watched “Seinfeld,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine” or “Veep,” you know it — the perfect mix of irritation and defiance. As if she were saying, Try me.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – June 14, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (June 13, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Blood Lines’ – The human cost of Europe’s cocaine habit’; The Far Rights surges across EU; A doughnut theory of the universe; The muscular rise of steroids…

In a week when much of the attention in Europe was on far-right political gains in the parliamentary elections, the Guardian Weekly’s cover shines a light on another of the continent’s disturbing undercurrents.

A Guardian investigation has found that hundreds of unaccompanied child migrants across Europe are being forced to work for increasingly powerful drug cartels to meet the continent’s soaring appetite for cocaine.

In cities including Paris and Brussels, gangs are exploiting the “unlimited” supply of vulnerable African children at their disposal, using brutal means to control their victims, including torture and rape if they fail to sell enough drugs, as they seek to expand Europe’s $13bn cocaine market.

Mark Townsend reveals the plight of the illegal trade’s child foot soldiers, while Annie Kelly explains the growing problem of cocaine use in Europe. And from Ecuador, Tom Phillips reports on how death and destruction follow the drug on its complex journey across the Atlantic.

National Geographic Traveller – July/Aug 2024

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National Geographic Traveller Magazine (June 11, 2024): The July/August 2024 issue features a look beyond California’s vineyards and glacier-carved national parks to savour its tranquil coast, home to laid-back surf resorts and wave-lashed islands harbouring wildlife found nowhere else on Earth with the Jul/Aug 2024 issue. Plus, high-octane thrills in the deserts and mountains of Ras Al Khaimah and a slow journey along ancient trails in Cape Verde’s elemental hiking country.

Also inside this issue:

Ras Al Khaimah: The Emirate state of mountains, deserts and coastline is now emerging as an adventure hub 
Cape Verde: The West African archipelago is prime hiking country, with ancient trails running through farms and mountains
Slovakia: The past is felt with every step in the central region of Horehronie, home to lush valleys and a diverse folk culture 
Peru: Unforgettable itineraries through which to discover the nation’s cuisine, culture and complex history 
Barcelona: There’s always time for one more cocktail on streets peppered with clandestine speakeasies 
Hamburg: Wedded to the water, Germany’s ‘gateway to the world’ has long welcomed the tides of change  
Danish Lakes:Dive into the waters around Silkeborg, where wild swimming spots mingle with fairytale forests 
South Devon: Award-winning wines, local rums and stellar farm shops in the south west 
Rome: Savour the Eternal City with a stay that incorporates its rich history, from secluded boutiques to grand palazzi

Plus, The return of Liguria’s much-loved Via dell’Amore; Ireland’s new national park; the story of Belgian cuisine; Tartu’s best hotels; a salsa-lovers guide to Cali, Colombia; Alpine thrills in Austria; a UK break in North Staffordshire; books for the summer months and kit for family trips to the coast. 

We talk with author Sophie Yeo on the legacy of ice fishing in the Finnish wilderness, and ranger Edward Ndiritu on the future of anti-poaching in central Kenya. In our Ask the Experts section, the experts give advice on planning a food tour in Malaysia, low-impact French hiking holidays and more. The Info peeks behind the curtain of the Edinburgh Fringe, while Hot Topic explores the state of travel in Cyprus 50 years since its division. After a look at the winning images of this year’s Photo Competition, photographer Ulf Svane discusses distilling the magic of Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival for our June issue in How I got the shot.

Previews: Country Life Magazine – June 12, 2024

Country Life Magazine (June 11, 2024): ‘The Green Issue’ features How to make the Countryside beautiful again….

The Country Life green manifesto

As the General Election looms large, we present our practical 10-point plan that could make a real difference to the planet

What lies beneath

Soil is both full of life and the very stuff of life, so it’s high time we stopped treating it like dirt, suggests Sarah Langford

Bridges to survival

Building ‘ecoducts’ to connect wildlife habitats separated by road and rail is the way forward, argues John Lewis-Stempel

Over the moon

Jane Wheatley meets the biodynamic farmers following the lunar calendar to tend their crops in tune with Nature

A woolly good story

What happened to the golden fleece? Harry Pearson tracks the fall of wool from medieval marvel to unwanted by-product

Country Life’s Little Green Book

Madeleine Silver profiles the people, places and products currently turning heads with genuinely green credentials

Neptune’s larder

Helen Scales wades in to forage for seaweed, seeking everything from sea spaghetti to sugar kelp

Rebel gardener

James Alexander-Sinclair talks to John Little about the amazing diversity of his garden in Essex

The man with his head in the clouds

Royal favourite Edward Seago lived a life as vibrant, varied and colourful as his paintings, discovers Peyton Skipwith

Lt-Col Frederick Wells’s favourite painting

The commanding officer of the Coldstream Guards chooses a majestic portrait of Elizabeth II

The best of both worlds

Minette Batters celebrates the remarkable recovery of grey partridge on the South Downs

Just right: Walpole’s balance

In the first of two articles, John Goodall examines the creation of Wolterton Hall in Norfolk

 ‘A better use of Sundays’

Russell Higham applauds the enduring appeal of Britain’s  elegant Victorian bandstands

The legacy

David Austen dedicated his life to creating the perfect English rose, as Tiffany Daneff reveals

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell casts her net far and wide for fishy accessories

Interiors

Giles Kime hails designers who are at one with the environment

Hard landscaping

The Dunvegan Castle gardens are a verdant oasis on the Isle of Skye, finds Caroline Donald

Native herbs

Wormwood is an old absinthe ingredient best kept at arm’s length, advises John Wright

You’ve got to break a few eggs

Tom Parker Bowles is hoping practice makes perfect as he eyes the immaculate omelette

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – June 17, 2024

People play chess in Washington Square Park.

The New Yorker (June 10, 2024): The new issue‘s cover features Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s “Pawns in the Park” – The artist captures a corner of calm contemplation in the midst of New York’s hustle and bustle.

A Striking Setback for India’s Narendra Modi

The truly disquieting thought was that the cult of personality around the Prime Minister had become suffocating and seemingly impossible to pierce—until now. By Isaac Chotiner

A Journey to the Center of New York City’s Congestion Zone

A Journey to the Center of New York City’s Congestion Zone

After Governor Kathy Hochul’s flip-flop on congestion pricing, a cop reconsiders his retirement while inching his Lexus through snarled-up traffic on the F.D.R.

By Ben McGrath

How Liberals Talk About Children

Many left-leaning, middle-class Americans speak of kids as though they are impositions, or means to an end.

By Jay Caspian Kang