Category Archives: Culture

Restaurant Tour: Making “Po’Boy’s” In New Orleans

Bon Appétit (December 12, 2023) – “The po’boy’s important to the city of New Orleans because New Orleans made it.”

Today Bon Appétit spends the day with Justin Kennedy, general manager of Parkway Bakery and Tavern in New Orleans, preparing to serve the city’s famous poor boy (po’boy) sandwiches.

Filmed on Location at Parkway Bakery & Tavern | 538 Hagan Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Travel & Culture Books: “Mexico City” (Assouline)

Assouline Publishing (December 2023) – With a history dating back to the fourteenth century, Mexico City blends indigenous pre-Hispanic roots with colonial architecture and Spanish-baroque influences.

Mexico City

This unique fusion, crafted from local materials like cantera and tezontle, inspires artists and architects alike. Iconic structures like Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Museum and Juan O’Gorman’s Cave House proudly embody the city’s rich history.

Today, Mexico City serves as a vibrant backdrop for renowned filmmakers such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Michel Franco. Discover a city of wonders, where history and creativity come to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Mexico City, Aleph Molinari is an editor, writer, art director and photographer. He is the co–editor in chief of Purple magazine, as well as a contributor to Materia Press, Art Observed and other publications. His work focuses on materializing culture through publications, exhibitions and campaigns. Among his projects, he co-curated the Purple Festival at the Palais Galliera in Paris, created a botanical sculpture for Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s exhibition Evidence at the Centre Pompidou, and worked on the programming for Soundwalk Collective’s project The Third Eye at Karl Lagerfeld’s 7L Library. He lives in Paris.

Anfisa Vrubel is an editor, writer and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of art, culture and politics. Vrubel is an editor-at-large at Art Observed and Purple magazine, where she contributes original features and interviews with artists and top thinkers in the fields of politics, ecology, art and culture. After studying government at Harvard, she pursued an editorial career, working for publications such as The Brooklyn Rail and its offshoot publication, The River Rail, which is devoted to environmental art and criticism. Vrubel grew up in New York City and lives between there and Mexico City.See all books by Aleph Molinari, Anfisa Vrubel.

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Artisans: Metalwork In Ladakh, Northern India

NOWNESS Films (December 11, 2023) – Travelling to India’s northernmost point, at the western tip of the Himalayas, the Ladakh region stands in a remote corner of the planet, flanked by towering peaks.

Deeply entwined with its cultural heritage, the mountainous territory carries a historic tradition of craft metalwork – as a center for the production of hand-crafted ornaments, teapots and spiritual artefacts, destined for temples, and held in high regard by India’s king dynasties.

But the craft has entered a point of decline, continued by just a handful of artisanal metalworkers who fight for its preservation.…

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec 18, 2023

Olimpia Zagnolis “Let There Be Lights”

The New Yorker – December18, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover features Olimpia Zagnoli’s “Let There Be Lights” – The artist discusses strands of brilliance amid dark days.

All the Carcinogens We Cannot See

A grid of cells multiplying.

We routinely test for chemicals that cause mutations. What about the dark matter of carcinogens—substances that don’t create cancer cells but rouse them from their slumber?

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

In the nineteen-seventies, Bruce Ames, a biochemist at Berkeley, devised a way to test whether a chemical might cause cancer. Various tenets of cancer biology were already well established. Cancer resulted from genetic mutations—changes in a cell’s DNA sequence that typically cause the cell to divide uncontrollably. These mutations could be inherited, induced by viruses, or generated by random copying errors in dividing cells. They could also be produced by physical or chemical agents: radiation, ultraviolet light, benzene. One day, Ames had found himself reading the list of ingredients on a package of potato chips, and wondering how safe the chemicals used as preservatives really were.

The Troubled History of the Espionage Act

SECRET stamped atop the United States emblem.

The law, passed in a frenzy after the First World War, is a disaster. Why is it still on the books?

By Amy Davidson Sorkin

In March, 1940, Edmund Carl Heine, a forty-nine-year-old American automobile executive, reached an understanding with a company then known as Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Heine, who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a young man, had spent years at Ford, first in Michigan and then in its international operations in South America and Europe, landing finally in Germany. In 1935, two years after the Nazi regime came to power, Ford fired him, for reasons that are unclear. Heine next signed on with Chrysler, in Spain, but the Spanish Civil War was tough on the car business. And so he was out of a job again.

Travel & Culture In Spain: Salvador Dali’s Figueres

The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres
The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres

The Times and The Sunday Times (December 10, 2023) Inside Salvador Dalí’s childhood home — and his old haunts. Our writer visits an immersive new museum at the artist’s striking childhood home in Figueres and takes a tour of his favourite spots in northeastern Spain

This northeasterly nook of Catalonia’s Costa Brava, between the Pyrenees to the north and the Mediterranean to the south, was the landscape that Dalí called his “ongoing inspiration” and is a recurring motif throughout his work.

While the Casa Natal Dalí took me on a tour of Dalí’s life, its near neighbour, the gigantic Dalí Theatre-Museum (£15; salvador-dali.org), just five minutes’ walk away, was designed by the maestro himself. It opened in 1974 and showcases his style at its most eccentric, not to say egocentric.

With its pink façade and giant white eggs on its roof, like decorations on a cake, this is where you’ll find not only the Mae West “lips” sofa, but also numerous grandiose paintings and drawings, trompe l’oeils and painted ceilings — as well as Dalí’s tomb in the crypt.

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National Geographic Traveller – January 2024

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National Geographic Traveller Magazine (January 2024): The latest issue features adventures in Argentina, exploring Tahiti’s most remote corners, cycling through one of Italy’s iconic food regions and finding out how to plan a Great Walk in New Zealand…

Also inside this issue:

Emilia-Romagna: Cycle through Italy’s ‘food valley’ for a taste of the country’s iconic produce
Tahiti: The French Polynesian island’s southeast offers coastal hiking and surfing fit for champions
Hampi: Long in ruins, the capital of the ancient Hindu kingdom beckons pilgrims to this day
New Zealand: For outdoor lovers, completing one of the country’s Great Walks is the feat of a lifetime
Manchester: Creativity and craftsmanship infuse all areas of life in this northwestern hub
Montreal: Canada’s second city merges European flair with North American innovation
County Wicklow: Foraging, fine arts and forest paths in an outdoorsy getaway to the ‘Garden of Ireland’
Bali: Local recipes and passionate chefs are the backbone of Indonesia’s food-loving island
Boston: In Massachusetts’ capital city, the best hotels are within easy reach of the culinary and cultural action

The New York Times Magazine – Dec 10, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 8, 2023):

Michael Stipe Is Writing His Next Act. Slowly.

A black-and-white portrait of Michael Stipe.

How do you reinvent yourself after being a global superstar? The former R.E.M. frontman is still figuring that out.

By Jon Mooallem

When Michael Stipe was little, his parents called him Mr. Mouse. He was a scurrier. As soon as he could stand, he ran, and when he ran, he ran until he face-planted. His mother would deposit him in a baby walker, but if Stipe scrambled as fast as he could and hit the threshold of a doorway with a running start, he could topple the walker and eject himself onto the floor. Then he’d spring to his feet and run away.

The Border Where Different Rules Apply

When detained by the U.S. Coast Guard at sea, even children fleeing violence have no right to asylum — and often face an uncertain fate.

By Seth Freed Wessler

Tcherry’s mother could see that her 10-year-old son was not being taken care of. When he appeared on their video calls, his clothes were dirty. She asked who in the house was washing his shirts, the white Nike T-shirt and the yellow one with a handprint that he wore in rotation. He said nobody was, but he had tried his best to wash them by hand in the tub. His hair, which was buzzed short when he lived with his grandmother in Haiti, had now grown long and matted. He had already been thin, but by January, after three months in the smuggler’s house, he was beginning to look gaunt. Tcherry told his mother that there was not enough food. He said he felt “empty inside.”

Arts/Politics: The Atlantic Magazine – January 2024

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The Atlantic Magazine – December 7, 2023: The latest January/February 2024 issue features ‘IF TRUMP WINS’ – A second Trump presidency won’t just mirror the first. It will be much worse. In The Atlantic’s January/February issue, two dozen writers warn what could happen if Donald Trump is reelected, from destroying the rule of law to abandoning NATO and reshaping the international order.

TRUMP ISN’T BLUFFING

A black-and-white photo of the lower half of Trump's face while he's speaking

We’ve become inured to his rhetoric, but his message has grown darker.

By David A. Graham

“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”

CIVIL RIGHTS UNDONE

black-and-white photo of Bill Barr and Ben Carson conferring with each other with audience in background
Bill Barr and Ben Carson: not fans of disparate-impact theory

How Trump could unwind generations of progress

By Vann R. Newkirk II

In late 2020, even as the instigators of insurrection were marshaling their followers to travel to Washington, D.C., another kind of coup—a quieter one—was in the works. On December 21, in one of his departing acts as attorney general, Bill Barr submitted a proposed rule change to the White House. The change would eliminate the venerable standard used by the Justice Department to handle discrimination cases, known as “disparate impact.” The memo was quickly overshadowed by the events of January 6, and, in the chaotic final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, it was never implemented. But Barr’s proposal represented perhaps the most aggressive step the administration took in its effort to dismantle existing civil-rights law. Should Trump return to power, he would surely attempt to see the effort through.

Trump’s Plan to Police Gender

His campaign is promising a more repressive and dangerous America.

A War on Blue America

In a second term, Trump would punish the cities and states that don’t support him.

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Dec 6, 2023

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Country Life Magazine – December 6, 2023: The latest issue features ‘George Harrison’s Garden’ – Friar Park rescued by the former Beatle; Folklore of the Rowan ‘Wizard’s’ tree; the best and worst gifts in classic literature and Travel – From the Caribbean to Concorde….

George Harrison’s garden: All things must pass

Charles Quest-Ritson visits Friar Park in Oxfordshire and marvels at the topiary garden rescued by former Beatle George Harrison

Native breeds

Kate Green meets the distinctive and much-loved Belted Galloway

Never knowingly undersold

Country Life advertisements in 1923 capture Britain’s evolution, as Melanie Bryan discovers

Neptune’s wooden angels

Harry Pearson takes to the high seas to chart the fascinating history of the figureheads that keep ships safe in stormy weather

A kind of tree magic

The rowan tree is a symbol of safety across the world — Aeneas Dennison delves into the folklore of the wizard’s tree

Native breeds

Kate Green meets the distinctive and much-loved Belted Galloway

Never knowingly undersold

Country Life advertisements in 1923 capture Britain’s evolution, as Melanie Bryan discovers

Neptune’s wooden angels

Harry Pearson takes to the high seas to chart the fascinating history of the figureheads that keep ships safe in stormy weather

And that’s an unwrap

From cursed jewels to diamond-encrusted tortoises, Felicity Day reads up on the best and worst gifts in classic literature

Travel

Lady Glenconner’s Mustique memories and much more, plus Rosie Paterson uncovers the real Barbados and Pamela Goodman goes supersonic

Melanie Vandenbrouck’s favourite painting

The gallery curator loses herself in an expressive, exuberant work

The life of a naturalist

Carla Carlisle reflects on the legacy of the Irish poet Seamus Heaney — ‘a truly good man’

Taking account of the past

Steven Brindle is full of praise for the refurbishment of Chartered Accountants’ Hall, an architectural jewel in the City of London

Not so jolly old Saint Nicholas

Ian Morton examines how Father Christmas was transformed from a sozzled figure riding a goat into the jolly fellow we know and love

Interiors

Pheasants, leopards, parrots and reindeer are all welcome at Melanie Johnson’s festive table

The good stuff

Editor Mark Hedges picks his favourite luxuries of 2023

London Life

The capital’s Christmas lights dazzle Emma Love (page 83), Gilly Hopper shares her must-see seasonal suggestions (page 86), Carla Passino views London in a new light with Sir John Soane (page 92) and Emma Hughes hails the survivors of the restaurant scene (page 98)

Travel

From the Caribbean to Concorde

A case of mistaken identity

Ian Morton looks at the merits of ground elder and ground ivy, an unloved and misnamed duo

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec 11, 2023

A delivery man pushes packages across a roof toward a chimney.

The New Yorker – December11, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover features Barry Blitt’s “Special Delivery” – The artist discusses holiday shopping and his prized Popeye punching bag.

What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President

Trump looking at a statue of Jefferson Davis.

After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?

By Jill Lepore

Jefferson Davis, the half-blind ex-President of the Confederate States of America, leaned on a cane as he hobbled into a federal courthouse in Richmond, Virginia. Only days before, a Chicago Tribune reporter, who’d met Davis on the boat ride to Richmond, had written that “his step is light and elastic.” But in court, facing trial for treason, Davis, fifty-eight, gave every appearance of being bent and broken. A reporter from Kentucky described him as “a gaunt and feeble-looking man,” wearing a soft black hat and a sober black suit, as if he were a corpse. He’d spent two years in a military prison. He wanted to be released. A good many Americans wanted him dead. “We’ll hang Jeff Davis from a sour-apple tree,” they sang to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.”

The Inside Story of Microsoft’s Partnership with OpenAI

A robot made out a computer keyboard.

The companies had honed a protocol for releasing artificial intelligence ambitiously but safely. Then OpenAI’s board exploded all their carefully laid plans.

By Charles Duhigg

At around 11:30 a.m. on the Friday before Thanksgiving, Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, was having his weekly meeting with senior leaders when a panicked colleague told him to pick up the phone. An executive from OpenAI, an artificial-intelligence startup into which Microsoft had invested a reported thirteen billion dollars, was calling to explain that within the next twenty minutes the company’s board would announce that it had fired Sam Altman, OpenAI’s C.E.O. and co-founder. It was the start of a five-day crisis that some people at Microsoft began calling the Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck.