A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the coming house-price slump, why Xi Jinping has no interest in succession planning (10:10) and how to make better use of antidepressants (19:29).
Category Archives: News
Front Page: The New York Times – October 24, 2022
China’s Leader Now Wields Formidable Power. Who Will Say No to Him?
Xi Jinping has created a new ruling elite packed with loyalist officials primed to elevate his agenda of bolstering national security and of turning China into a technological great power.
Boris Johnson Drops Bid to Return as U.K. Prime Minister
Pulling out of the race to succeed Liz Truss, the former prime minister eased a path for Rishi Sunak, his former chancellor of Britain’s treasury.
Math Scores Fell in Nearly Every State, and Reading Dipped on National Exam
The results, from what is known as the nation’s report card, offer the most definitive picture yet of the pandemic’s devastating impact on students.
Sunday Morning Stories: News Headlines From London, Athens & Istanbul
Emma Nelson, Charles Hecker and Terry Stiastny unpack the weekend’s biggest talking points. Plus, Tyler Brûlé in Athens, Hannah Lucinda Smith in Istanbul and Monocle 24’s Andrew Mueller with a Eurovision update.
Front Page: The New York Times – October 23, 2022
Using Adoptions, Russia Turns Ukrainian Children Into Spoils of War
Thousands of Ukrainian children have been transferred to Russia. “I didn’t want to go,” one girl told The New York Times from a foster home near Moscow.
For Trump’s Backers in Congress, ‘Devil Terms’ Help Rally Voters
In vilifying tweets and speeches, G.O.P. lawmakers who contested the election have far outpaced other Republicans and Democrats in fueling polarization.
Fears Over Fate of Democracy Leave Many Voters Frustrated and Resigned
As democracy frays around them, Republicans and Democrats see different culprits and different risks.
Political Analysis: U.S. Midterm Election Issues And UK Tory Party Chaos
PBS NewsHour – New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the top issues that could decide the midterms and the tumultuous state of politics in the United Kingdom
Front Page: The New York Times – October 22, 2022
Jan. 6 Panel Issues Subpoena to Trump, Setting Up Legal Battle Over Testimony
While the former president has suggested he might testify live before the committee, it was far more likely that the demand would lead to a legal fight.
Hasta la Vista? This Time, Boris Johnson May Say, ‘I’m Back.’
A comeback by Mr. Johnson is viewed as a very real possibility, delighting some Conservative Party lawmakers and repelling others.
As Inflation Stalks Europe, Leaders Shudder
The downfall of Britain’s prime minister served as a warning to all of the political peril that awaits those who fail to address the erosion of living standards, no matter the cause.
Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’
This week: we talk to Emma Brown of Just Stop Oil about why the group targeted Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery, London, for its climate emergency protest.
Stacy Boldrick, assistant professor of museum studies at the University of Leicester, discusses the climate protests in the context of the long history of iconoclasm and attacks on works of art. The first version of Paris+, Art Basel’s fair in the French capital, opened this week, and we ask Melanie Gerlis, a columnist for the Financial Times and The Art Newspaper, how it compares to Paris’s previous fair, Fiac, and to the Frieze fairs in London last week.
And this episode’s Work of the Week is Frank Bowling’s Suncrush (1976), which features in an exhibition of the Guyana-born artist’s work at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Reto Thüring, the curator of the show, tells us about the painting and Bowling’s 10-year stay in America in the 1960s and 1970s.
Links:juststopoil.orgStacy Boldrick, Iconoclasm and the Museum, Routledge, 212pp, £27.99, $35.96 (pb)Paris+, until 23 October.Melanie Gerlis, The Art Fair Story: a Rollercoaster Ride, Lund Humphries, 104pp, £19.99, $34.99 (hb)Frank Bowling’s Americas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 22 October-9 April 2023; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 13 May-10 September next year. Related shows: Equals 6: A Sum Effect of Frank Bowling’s 5+1, University Hall Gallery, UMass Boston, 14 November-18 February 2023; Revisiting 5+1, Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery, Staller Center for the Arts, Stony Brook University, 10 November-23 February 2023.
News: Liz Truss Resigns, UK Political Chaos, Nigeria Elections, Ukraine Energy
After a chaotic 45 days in office, Liz Truss has stepped down as the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister. Plus: Nigeria prepares for elections, a flick through the day’s papers, and the latest business news.
Front Page: The New York Times – October 21, 2022
Liz Truss Resigns After 6 Chaotic Weeks, Igniting New Leadership Fight
The beleaguered British prime minister relinquished her office after just 44 days of political and economic tumult, the shortest tenure in British history.
How Taiwan’s ‘Adorable’ and Ambitious Diplomacy Aims to Keep the Island Safe
Even as China’s threats on reunification grow more pointed, most recently at the Communist Party congress, Taiwan is working creatively to bolster its alliances.
‘It Was Horror’: Ukrainians Share Grim Tales of Russian Occupation
With Russian soldiers pushed out of parts of the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian investigators have been overwhelmed with accounts of detentions, torture and missing relatives, as well as collaboration and property theft.
Morning Headlines: News & Stories From London
President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia partially controls on Wednesday.