Category Archives: Opinion

Preview: New York Times Magazine – July 2, 2023

Image

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (July 2, 2023) –

In this week’s cover story, Lynsey Addario takes us to a Ukrainian town where an 11-year-old is navigating a childhood transformed by war. Plus, a profile of the Christian pop star Marcos Witt and an investigation into how federal law targets thousands of women on anti-addiction medications.

A Boy’s Life on the Front Lines

In a Ukrainian town, an 11-year-old navigates a childhood transformed by war.

In a town near the Eastern front lines of the Donbas region of Ukraine, an 11-year-old boy named Yegor’s days were as predictable as they could be, given the unpredictability of war.

A.I. and TV Ads Were Made for Each Other

A photo collage of frames from AI-generated spoof advertisements, showing people drinking orange juice and beer and eating pizza. Close examination of the images reveal some strange visual distortions.

A string of uncanny videos show what generative A.I. and advertising have in common: They chew up the cultural subconscious and spit it back at us.

By Mac Schwerin

Even if I didn’t work in advertising, I would be a connoisseur of commercials. You’re probably one, too. Think of all the tropes you’ve ingested over the years — the forest-green hatchbacks conquering rugged Western landscapes, the miles of mozzarella stretched by major pizza chains. These are the images that let you know what kind of pitch you’re watching, so you won’t be confused when the brand shows up.

Previews: The Economist Magazine – July 1, 2023

Image

The Economist Magazine- June 24, 2023 issue: The humbling of Vladimir Putin; The Wagner mutiny has left Vladimir Putin looking dangerously exposed; Can Ukraine capitalise on chaos in Russia?

The humbling of Vladimir Putin

The Wagner mutiny exposes the Russian tyrant’s growing weakness. But don’t count him out yet

Can Ukraine capitalise on chaos in Russia?

Ukrainian militaries supervise as a M142 HIMARS launches a rocket towards Bakhmut Ukraine

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is going slowly

The Wagner mutiny has left Putin dangerously exposed

Factions close to the Russian president are thinking about life after him

Opinion: Sticky Inflation Issues, Building Ukraine 2.0, A New King Of Beers

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (June 12, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist including the trouble with sticky inflation, the challenge of building Ukraine 2.0 and why Modelo Especial is the new king of beers.

Investors must prepare for sustained higher inflation

A melting ice cream imprinted with a dollar bill

The costs of taming price rises could prove too unpalatable for central banks

The trouble is that the inflation monster has not truly been tamed. Britain’s problem is the most acute. There, wages and “core” prices, which exclude energy and food, are rising by around 7%, year on year. 

Building Ukraine 2.0

For Russia’s war to fail, Ukraine must emerge prosperous, democratic and secure

Ukraine’s nation-builders face formidable obstacles. The greatest is that, while Mr Putin is in power, this war is unlikely to end with a solid peace treaty. The two sides may talk—if only to avoid being seen as war-crazy. 

The new king of beers is a Mexican-American success story

Move over, Bud Light. Heed the power of the Hispanic market

The king is dead. ¡Viva el rey! That is the cheer ringing through drinking dens this summer as Bud Light, America’s self-styled “king of beers” for 22 years, is dethroned by Modelo Especial, a Mexican brew.

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – July 3, 2023

Image

The New Yorker – July 3, 2023 issue: For Independence Day, the artist Kadir Nelson chose to portray a young woman who, though she may be standing in the midst of the festivities, is anchored in her own private world.

The Divine Comedy of Roman Emperors’ Last Words

A statue of a man atop a walking eagle.

In the end, godlike aspirations often met with all too human final moments.

By Mary Beard

One of the funniest works of Roman literature to survive—and the only one that has ever made me laugh out loud—is a skit, written by the philosopher Seneca, about the Emperor Claudius’ adventures on his way to Mt. Olympus after his death. Titled “Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii” (“The ‘Pumpkinification’ of the Deified Claudius”), it recounts how the Roman Senate declared that the dead Emperor was now a god, complete with his own temple, priests, and official rites of worship. The deification of emperors was fairly standard practice at the time, and the spoof claimed to lift the lid on what really happened during the process.

How Plastics Are Poisoning Us

An outline of a woman made out of plastic beads and trash

They both release and attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms thirty-six thousand feet beneath the sea. Will we ever be rid of them?

By Elizabeth Kolbert

Preview: New York Times Magazine – June 25, 2023

Image

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (June 23, 2023) – In this issue, Christopher Cox on the risk that California’s dams will fail; Charlie Savage on his connection to Pink Floyd and “The Wizard of Oz”; Dan Kois on Lorrie Moore; and more.

Suddenly, It Looks Like We’re in a Golden Age for Medicine

We may be on the cusp of an era of astonishing innovation — the limits of which aren’t even clear yet.

By DAVID WALLACE-WELLS

The Trillion-Gallon Question: What if California’s Dams Fail?

Oroville Dam’s spillways.

One superstorm could send walls of water sweeping through populated areas. There’s not much time to act.

Previews: The Economist Magazine – June 24, 2023

Image

The Economist Magazine- June 24, 2023 issue:

Investors must prepare for sustained higher inflation

The costs of taming price rises could prove too unpalatable for central banks

At first glance the world economy appears to have escaped from a tight spot. In the United States annual inflation has fallen to 4%, having approached double digits last year. A recession is nowhere in sight and the Federal Reserve has felt able to take a break from raising interest rates. After a gruesome 2022, stockmarkets have been celebrating: the s&p 500 index of American firms has risen by 14% so far this year, propelled by a resurgence in tech stocks. Only in Britain does inflation seem to be worryingly entrenched.

Building Ukraine 2.0

For Russia’s war to fail, Ukraine must emerge prosperous, democratic and secure

Ukraine’s war is raging on two fronts. On the 1,000km battlefront its armies are attacking the Russians’ deep defences. At the same time, on the home front Ukraine is defining what sort of country it will be when the fighting stops. Both matter, and both will pose a severe test for Ukraine and its backers.

America wants to lower tensions with Iran. Good

Now is the time to buy some time

Iran cannot rival Ukraine and Taiwan for headlines, but it could soon prove as dangerous as either. Its nuclear-weapons programme has put its regime in a position to dash for a bomb. Because full-blown negotiations are impossible, the threat could yet draw the Middle East into war—including through American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. That is why it is good that the Biden administration is seeking to lower tensions.

Opinion: U.S. & India Draw Closer, UK As An AI Power, Lula Can’t The Amazon

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (June 12, 2023) Three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why India is indispensable to America, how to make Britain an AI superpower (10:35) and Lula’s unsustainable plans to save the Amazon (18:45).

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi are
drawing their countries closer

India does not love the West, but it is indispensable to America

India’s prime minister has been afforded the honour of a state visit by President Joe Biden. Mr Modi will be one of the few foreign leaders, along with Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Volodymyr Zelensky, to address a joint session of Congress more than once. 

How Britain can become an AI superpower

Rishi Sunak’s enthusiasm is welcome. But his plans for Britain fall short

Britain, says Mr Sunak, will harness ai and thus spur productivity, economic growth and more. As he told an audience in London this week, he sees the “extraordinary potential of ai to improve people’s lives”.

Lula’s ambitious plans to save the Amazon clash with reality

A Kayapo tribe member walks on a highway during a protest in Brazil.

The Brazilian president faces resistance from Congress, the state oil company and agribusiness

 “There should be no contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection,” he said. Yet Lula’s green agenda is suffering setbacks.

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – June 26, 2023

Image

The New Yorker – June 19, 2023 issue: Edward Steed’s “A Loveliness of Ladybugs” – In his cover for the June 26, 2023, issue, Ed Steed heralds summer, depicting some colorful Coccinellidae—the scientific term for the family of small beetles colloquially known as the ladybug, a swarm of which is collectively called a loveliness. I talked to the artist about the joy of painting, an affection for the little things, and the luck of the ladybugs.

What Can We Do About Pandemic-Related Learning Loss?

Pages falling from a calendar onto a student working at a desk.

Remote school was devastating for many students. In Richmond, Virginia, a plan to switch to a year-round calendar brought promise and pushback.

By Alec MacGillis

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

Image

Harper’s Magazine – July 2023 issue: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Wokeness by Ian Buruma; Jackson Lears on Nuclear Insouciance and The World of Homemade Submarines…

Doing the Work

The Protestant ethic and the spirit of wokeness

By Ian Buruma

Writing about “Woke” has at least two pitfalls. One is that any criticism of its excesses provokes accusations of racism, xenophobia, transphobia, misogyny, or white supremacy. The other problem is the word itself, which has been a term of abuse employed by the far right, a battle cry for the progressive left, and an embarrassment to many liberals.

Preview: New York Times Magazine – June 18, 2023

Image

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (June 16, 2023) – Three young Iranian women share their diaries; plus, a profile of the YouTube superstar MrBeast; and inside the moral crisis of America’s doctors.

The Moral Crisis of America’s Doctors

A black-and-white photograph of Keith Corl in scrubs.

The corporatization of health care has changed the practice of medicine, causing many physicians to feel alienated from their work.

By Eyal Press

Some years ago, a psychiatrist named Wendy Dean read an article about a physician who died by suicide. Such deaths were distressingly common, she discovered. The suicide rate among doctors appeared to be even higher than the rate among active military members, a notion that startled Dean, who was then working as an administrator at a U.S. Army medical research center in Maryland. Dean started asking the physicians she knew how they felt about their jobs, and many of them confided that they were struggling. Some complained that they didn’t have enough time to talk to their patients because they were too busy filling out electronic medical records. 

How MrBeast Became the Willy Wonka of YouTube

An illustration of MrBeast, surrounded by amazed faces and stacks of cash.

Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, has become a viral sensation for his absurd acts of altruism. Why do so many people think he’s evil?

Even within this context, Donaldson stands out for his dedication to understanding how YouTube works. For most of his teenage years, “I woke up, I studied YouTube, I studied videos, I studied filmmaking, I went to bed and that was my life,” Donaldson once told Bloomberg. “I hardly had any friends because I was so obsessed with YouTube,” he said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last year.