Category Archives: Magazines

Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- May/June 2023

May/June 2023

Foreign Affairs – May/June 2023 issue:

In Defense of the Fence Sitters

What the West Gets Wrong About Hedging

Kumé Pather

As countries in the global South refuse to take a side in the war in Ukraine, many in the West are struggling to understand why. Some speculate that these countries have opted for neutrality out of economic interest. Others see ideological alignments with Moscow and Beijing behind their unwillingness to take a stand—or even a lack of morals. But the behavior of large developing countries can be explained by something much simpler: the desire to avoid being trampled in a brawl among China, Russia, and the United States.   

The Upside of Rivalry

India’s Great-Power Opportunity

Kumé Pather

For China, Russia, and the West, the last year has been one of fear and conflict. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of people. It has prompted the United States and Europe to rearm and has pushed Moscow and Washington back into Cold War–style competition. 

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine — May 2023 Issue

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Harper’s Magazine – May 2023 issue: @laurenoyler goes on the @goop cruise; @harikunzru and @erikmbaker on the real “crisis of work; A person history of panic; Losing a father and finding Stoicism; New fiction by Cynthia Ozick and more..

The Age of the Crisis of Work

The Age of the Crisis of Work thumbnail

What is the sound of quiet quitting?

Something has gone wrong with work. On this, everyone seems to agree. Less clear is the precise nature of the problem, let alone who or what is to blame. For some time we’ve been told that we’re in the midst of a Great Resignation. Workers are quitting their jobs en masse, repudiating not just their bosses but ambition itself—even the very idea of work.

The Anatomy of Panic

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A personal history of anxiety

I had my first panic attack when I was fifteen, in the middle of January, while I was sitting in geometry class. Winter in Illinois, flesh comes off the bones—what did we need geometry for? We could look at the naked angles of the trees, the circles in the sky at night. 

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – April 24, 2023

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The New Yorker – April 24 & May 1, 2023 issue:

JooHee Yoon’s “Drawing Hands with A.I. (After M. C. Escher)”

A hand drawn on a piece of paper rises off the page and draws another hand on the piece of paper which in turn draws the...

The artist discusses artistry, artificial intelligence, and the human experience.

Chatbots and image generators, newly on the rise, have sparked our imaginations—and our fears. As artificial-intelligence machines sharpen their ability to translate written prompts into images that accurately capture both style and substance, some visual artists worry that their specialized skills might be rendered irrelevant.

“Drawing Hands,” M. C. Escher, 1948.

The Future of Fertility

A futuristic scene of metallic DNA strands which wrap around a central petri dish containing a human ovum.

A new crop of biotech startups want to revolutionize human reproduction.

In 2016, two Japanese reproductive biologists, Katsuhiko Hayashi and Mitinori Saitou, made an announcement in the journal Nature that read like a science-fiction novel. The researchers had taken skin cells from the tip of a mouse’s tail, reprogrammed them into stem cells, and then turned those stem cells into egg cells. 

Crooks’ Mistaken Bet on Encrypted Phones

A group of four men sit around a table piled with cocaine. They are illuminated by the light of a cell phone hovering...

Drug syndicates and other criminal groups bought into the idea that a new kind of phone network couldn’t be infiltrated by cops. They were wrong—big time.

Many criminals have been convicted as a result of encrypted-phone stings—more than four hundred in the U.K. alone.Illustration by Max Löffler

Arts & Literature: Kirkus Reviews – April 15, 2023

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Kirkus Reviews – April 15, 2023 Issue:

April’s Best Fiction Is Music to Our Ears

April’s Best Fiction Is Music to Our Ears

I recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera to see The Hours, based on Michael Cunningham’s novel. It was wonderful to be back in the glittering hall, after three long pandemic years, listening to Renee Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Kelli O’Hara bring Virginia Woolf and Cunningham’s other characters to life. That experience sent me looking for novels about music, and I was thrilled to see that Brendan Slocumb has a new one coming out only a year after his bestselling debut, 

Return Trip to Indieland

Return Trip to Indieland

In the fourth annual Indie Issue, we let the books speak for themselves in these excerpts from a trio of starred Indieland picks: a memoir by two sisters who survived the Holocaust; another memoir about a teen’s coming-of-age on a sailing-school ship; and a collection of short stories from a renowned Bengali author.

In Daniel Seymour’s From Auschwitz With Love, sisters Manci Grunberger Beran and Ruth Grunberger Mermelstein describe their arrival at the concentration camp:

Father realized that we didn’t have much time together. So, he said to us, “No matter what happens, I want you to remember three things.”

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – April 17, 2023

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Barron’s Magazine – April 17, 2023:

A Fintech Offers 5% Savings Rates. Never Mind the Risks.

A Fintech Offers 5% Savings Rates. Never Mind the Risks.

Tellus’ generous accounts and disruptive business model have won serious backing. One problem: Tellus isn’t actually a bank.

Life Insurance Companies Are In a Good Spot. Their Stocks Don’t Reflect It.

Life Insurance Companies Are In a Good Spot. Their Stocks Don’t Reflect It.

Depressed valuations belie brighter growth prospects and better risk management at companies such as Primerica, Unum, and Equitable.

Advisor Teams Come in Many Flavors. How to Pick the Right One.

Advisor Teams Come in Many Flavors. How to Pick the Right One.

Wealth management teams can vary widely in culture and investing approach. Here’s what to look for.

Preview: New York Times Magazine – April 16, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – April 16, 2023:

The R.T.O. Whisperers Have a Plan

A photo illustration of an empty chair surround by confetti.
Credit…Photo illustration by Derek Brahney

A niche group of consultants is trying to get you back to the office. It’s not going too well.

Being the boss doesn’t mean you get exactly what you wish for. That’s what Craig Knoblock discovered when he tried to get his employees to come back to the office in the fall of 2021.

You Call This ‘Flexible Work’?

Credit…Illustration by Brian Rea

Labor fought for a long time to draw a bright line between work and home. It took almost no time at all to erase it.

When Your Boss Is an App

A color illustration of a person working under an overhead lamp that is shaped like a large phone screen.
Credit…Illustration by Derek Abella

Gig work has been silently taking over new industries, but not in the way many expected.

For most Americans, the concept of “gig work” has been synonymous with a handful of Silicon Valley giants — companies like Uber and DoorDash, Instacart and TaskRabbit. There was a moment in the 2010s when pundits told us to expect the “Uberization of everything”: a future in which the typical worker would move from job to job or task to task, finding either independence and flexibility in freelancing or, more realistically, the precarity of working for platforms that may be light on benefits and aggressively exploitative of labor.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – April 14, 2023

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – April 7, 2023 issue: Anchoring radiocarbon dates to cosmic events, why hibernating bears don’t get blood clots, and kicking off a book series on sex, gender, and science.

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Reproductive medicine

Since ancient times, humans have been trying to exercise control over their reproductive decisions, whether to avoid undesired pregnancy or to improve their chances of conceiving. In addition, the risks of pregnancy and childbirth have always been a major challenge.

Droughts are coming on faster

Higher global temperatures are increasing the frequency of flash droughts

Previews: The Economist Magazine – April 15, 2023

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The Economist – April 15, 2023 issue:

The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record

The world’s biggest economy is leaving its peers ever further in the dust

Can the West win over the rest?

In a more transactional world the price of influence is going up

Emmanuel Macron’s blunder over Taiwan

The French leader has made a dangerous situation worse

Travel & Nature: National Geographic — May 2023

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National Geographic Magazine – May 2023: The groundbreaking, award-winning natural history franchise Secrets Of returns with its next installment, Secrets of the Elephants, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer at Large James Cameron. 

THE ELEPHANT NEXT DOOR

Secrets Of The Elephants” Clip Released – What's On Disney Plus

ASIAN ELEPHANTS ARE LEARNING TO LIVE WITH US. BUT WILL WE LEARN TO LIVE WITH THEM?

Kosovo wants to decide its future—but will history hold it back?

This small Balkan country won its independence from Serbia 15 years ago, but still waits for justice for wartime victims and global recognition as a new nation.