MONOCLE RADIO (January 25, 2025): Emma Nelson and Stephen Dalziel explore the week’s top global stories and cultural highlights. Plus: WEF insights from Hub Culture’s Stan Stalnaker and the latest from Georgina Godwin in Kolkata.
Category Archives: Opinion
The New York Times – Saturday, January 25, 2025
Trump Officials Move to Quickly Expel Migrants Biden Allowed In Temporarily
A memo appears to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to target programs that let in more than a million people.
Musk Plan for Retooling Government Takes Shape, but Big Questions Loom
The rebranding of a former White House digital office into the new Department of Government Efficiency signals its potential limits, budget experts said.
From Fires to Mudslides, Catastrophe Has Defined Newsom’s Tenure
Gov. Gavin Newsom faces what may be his greatest political test and leadership challenge. He planned to greet President Trump upon his arrival in Southern California on Friday.
Israel Appears Poised to Keep Its Troops in Lebanon Beyond Deadline
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon, but Israel says that Hezbollah hasn’t upheld its promise and that the Lebanese Army isn’t ready to fill the void.
The Spectator World Magazine – February 2025
THE SPECTATOR WORLD (January 24, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Hard Pressed’ = How legacy media finally lost its influence…
How the legacy media became powerless
The 2024 election seems to sound the final knell for an industry that managed to hang on well past its prime
The California fires and the reckoning on liberal governance
As the smoke clears, we are left to survey the wreckage, pick up the pieces and rebuild — and learn lessons that prevent
The Trump Resistance is almost dead in DC
Steve Bannon called Trump ‘America’s Cincinnatus’ and Mark Zuckerberg ‘a criminal who deserves to be in prison’
Is J.D. Vance MAGA’s future?
The vice president may soon emerge as the architect of a new political settlement
President Trump’s ‘First Hundred Hours’
His rapid actions are meant to change the nation’s direction and underscore that change
National Review Magazine —- March 2025 Preview
NATIONAL REVIEW MAGAZINE (January 24, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Left vs. Art’ – Why climate activists attack our cultural heritage.
Vandals of Civilization: Why Climate Activists Attack Our Cultural Heritage
Defacing works of art functions as a siren shriek — and an assertion of the importance of the protesters themselves. by Fred Bauer
I Joined the Trans Academy
Where if you were ‘born in the wrong body’ you can try out a new one. by Abigail Anthony
Wildfire of the Vanities: California’s Political Model Has Failed
How have such incompetents taken over the state? by Will Swaim
News: Trump Sanctions To End Russia-Ukraine War, Russia’s Economic Woes
MONOCLE RADIO (January 24, 2025): As Russia responds to Donald Trump’s sanctions, Charles Hecker joins Andrew Mueller to discuss how weak Vladimir Putin’s economy really is. Plus: more highlights from Davos, Paris Fashion Week Men’s, Oscar nominations and a very educational week for ‘What We Learned’.
The New York Times —- Friday, January 24, 2025
Senate Pushes Hegseth Toward Approval as G.O.P. Discounts New Allegations
All but two Republicans voted to advance Pete Hegseth’s nomination as secretary of defense to a final vote, as Democrats raced to bolster fresh allegations about his personal conduct.
Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Plan to End Birthright Citizenship
A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary order halting the president’s plan.
House G.O.P. Floats Medicaid Cuts and More to Finance Trump’s Huge Agenda
President Trump wants a massive tax cut and immigration crackdown bill. Now Republicans must decide what to cut to help pay for it.
How Trump Was Persuaded to Pardon an Online Drug Kingpin
Libertarian and crypto allies of Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for distributing drugs on his Silk Road website, leveraged President Trump’s desire for political support to secure his release.
Reason Magazine – March 2025 Opinion Preview
REASON MAGAZINE (January 23, 2025): The latest issue features ‘You Can’t Evict Polly’ – How the Fair Housing Act enabled the rise of emotional support parrots, frogs and emus….
Javier Milei Deregulates Food Imports and Exports
The move “seeks cheaper food for Argentines and more Argentine food for the world.”
Trump’s Tariffs Will Make Americans, Mexicans, and Canadians Poorer
American tariffs will increase the price of final and intermediate goods, hurting our own consumers and domestic manufacturers.
The New York Review Of Books – February 13, 2025
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (January 23, 2025): The latest issue features…
Urgent Messages from Eternity
An exhibition of Franz Kafka’s postcards, letters, and manuscript pages rekindles our sense of him as a writer deeply connected to his own time and place.
Franz Kafka – an exhibition at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, May 30–October 27, 2024, and the Morgan Library and Museum, New York City, November 22, 2024–April 13, 2025
Guatemala: Democracy Imperiled
Bernardo Arévalo’s inauguration last year as president of Guatemala symbolized the revival of democracy in a notoriously corrupt country. A concerted effort by obstructionist elites now threatens to oust him on specious grounds—and bring repression back.
Farmer George
Bruce Ragsdale’s Washington at the Plow examines the connections between the first president’s commitment to agricultural innovation and his evolving attitudes toward his enslaved laborers at Mount Vernon.
Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery by Bruce A. Ragsdale
The Guardian Weekly —- January 24, 2025 Preview
THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY (January 23, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Ready or Not’ – The return of Trump….
He returned much as he had departed (not that he ever really did), beneath a pall of controversy. In a Capitol ceremony drenched with quasi-religious fervour, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president, simultaneously pledging a new golden age for America and a radical shake-up of the global order.
Amid a barrage of unnerving executive orders that will surely set the tone for a new era of disruption and division, David Smith was in Washington DC to witness a dark moment for many, while diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour lays out the fears of a world hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
From the Middle East came a moment of hope. Bethan McKernan’s dispatch on the first day of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire encapsulates the emotion and relief felt by millions. But will it lead to lasting peace? Don’t celebrate too soon, warns Peter Beaumont.
Spotlight | Has South Korea witnessed its own January 6 moment?
Protesters who stormed a Seoul court at the weekend may not have worn animal skins, but the similarities are striking, explain Raphael Rashid and Justin McCurry
Environment | Why did LA’s wildfires explode out of control?
A combustible combination of factors laid the groundwork for disaster. Will LA learn the lessons from the fires as it moves forward? Gabrielle Canon and Lois Beckett report
Feature | Can the British Museum survive its omni-crisis?
Beset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s No 1 museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation? Charlotte Higgins investigates
Opinion | Trump and Musk have launched a new class war
Across the world, societies are reverting to oligarchies. How to resist? Fight for democracy with all we’ve got, argues George Monbiot
Culture | An inside job: the return of Severance
Who is in charge? What are they working on? And why is there livestock in the office? Hannah J Davies meets the cast and creator of Apple’s deliciously weird workplace drama
The Economist Magazine – January 25, 2025 Preview
THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE (January 23, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Project 1897’ – The Imperial Presidency….
America has an imperial presidency
And in Donald Trump, an imperialist president for the first time in over a century
Chinese AI is catching up, posing a dilemma for Donald Trump
The success of cheap Chinese models threatens America’s technological lead
Tariffs will harm America, not induce a manufacturing rebirth
Donald Trump’s pursuit of tariffs will make the world poorer—and America, too
To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids
Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity
Boomers Daily 