MONOCLE RADIO (Janaury 16, 2025): Benjamin Netanyahu stops the Israeli cabinet from meeting to approve the ceasefire deal, a rise in drug trafficking in Ecuador destabilises state institutions and the economy, and Mark Carney is expected to announce his candidacy to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party. Then: we check in at Paris Design Week and Maison et Objet. Plus: ‘The Global Countdown’ from South Africa.
Category Archives: Opinion
The New York Times —- Thursday, January 16, 2025
Negotiators Agree to Long-Awaited Cease-Fire and Hostage Deal for Gaza
The agreement, which must still be approved by the Israeli cabinet, incited joy in the Gaza Strip and Israel, even as some feared that it could fall apart.
How the Cease-Fire Push Brought Together Biden and Trump’s Teams
Rarely have representatives of current and new presidents of different parties worked together at such a high-stakes moment. But the president and the president-elect didn’t quite share credit.
F.D.A. Bans Red Dye 3 in Foods, Linking It to Cancer in Rats
Consumer and food safety groups have long urged the agency to revoke the use of this dye and others. The F.D.A. says studies have shown that it causes cancer in rats, but not in humans.
Shattered in the Fire: A Historic Black Haven
For Black residents, Altadena represented something more than suburban living. It was a foothold in generational prosperity.
London Review Of Books – January 23, 2025 Preview
LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS (Janaury 15, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Reagan’s Make-Believe’….
Reagan’s Make Believe
Reagan: His Life and Legend
by Max Boot.
That Shape Am I
On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy
by Simon Critchley.
T.J. Clark: A Brief Guide to Trump and the Spectacle
Matt Foot: Short Cuts
Jackson Lears: Reagan’s Make-Believe
Nicole Flattery: Candy Says
Brian Dillon: At the Whitechapel
Jonathan Parry: Snobs, Swots and Hacks
Stefan Collini: Karl Polanyi’s Predictions
Commentary Magazine – February 2025 Issue
COMMENTARY MAGAZINE (January 15, 2025): The latest issue features ‘A Clockwork Blue’ – How the left has come to excuse away and embrace political violence….
A Clockwork Blue: How the Left Has Come to Excuse Away and Embrace Political Violence
by Noah Rothman
Democrats displayed more depression than anger in the weeks following Donald Trump’s 2024 victory. Alas, partisans on the progressive left and their camp followers among conventional liberals could avoid succumbing to nihilism for only so long. An occasion to indulge their negative passions came along soon after the election in an act of cold-blooded murder on a predawn December morning in midtown Manhattan.
Media Don’t Matter
The Tradwife Dilemma
The American Exception
Times Literary Supplement – January 17, 2025 Preview
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (January 15, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Bloomsbury treasures’ – Newly discovered poems and photographs…
News: New French Prime Minister Policy Speech, Israel-Gaza Truce Talk
MONOCLE RADIO (January 15, 2025): France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, gives his first key policy speech and Poschiavo receives the 2025 Wakker Prize. Also on the programme: why K-Pop group NewJeans are embroiled in a row with their record label and a review of two of the year’s biggest musical openings.
Plus: we check in with Pitti Immagine Uomo, the men’s fashion trade fair that is held twice a year in Florence.
The New York Times —- Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025
Republicans Embrace Hegseth as Democrats Question His Fitness to Lead Pentagon
Pete Hegseth emerged from a Senate committee hearing with the support of the Republican Party intact following weeks of scrutiny over his qualifications and allegations of misconduct.
Israel and Hamas Are ‘on the Brink’ of Cease-Fire Agreement, Blinken Says
The negotiations, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, appear to be making progress after months of failed attempts to achieve a breakthrough.
L.A. Wildfire Evacuees Scramble to Find Sleep in Shelters, Hotels and Even Cars
More than 90,000 people under evacuation orders are making do however they can.
Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case
The report, which said the special counsel’s office stood “fully behind” the merits of the prosecution, amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of the president-elect.
The Economist Special Report: ‘The Africa Gap’
THE ECONOMIST SPECIAL REPORT (January 11, 2025): The Africa gap – The economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world is getting wider, says John McDermott
The economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world is growing
Africa is undergoing social change without economic transformation
Africa has too many businesses, too little business
African elites should align themselves with their countries’ needs
The African investment environment is at its worst in years
To catch up economically, Africa must think big
Culture: The New Atlantis Journal – Winter 2025
THE NEW ATLANTIS JOURNAL (January 14, 2025): The latest issue features…
The New Control Society
The gatekeepers are dying. Why is everything so mid?
We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It
Introducing “How the System Works,” a series on the hidden mechanisms that support modern life
The Tyranny of Now
There’s no time like the present to revisit the warning of forgotten media theorist Harold Innis: “Enormous improvements in communication have made understanding more difficult.”
The Nation Magazine – February 2025 Preview
THE NATION MAGAZINE (January 14, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Jazz Off The Record’ – In the late 1960s, the recording industry lost interest in America’s greatest art form. But in a small, dark club on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, jazz legends were playing the …
A Tale of Two Presidents
Remembering Carter as we steel ourselves for Trump’s second inauguration.
The Political Economy of Trumpism
Though he started by threatening Mexico, Canada, and China, Trump’s tariffs mean the US will drain Europe as Ukraine fades.
The Media Is Giving Away Its Rights Even Before Trump Tries to Take Them
Recent events have shown that Trump does not have to impose a new regime of censorship if the press censors itself first.
The Nation’s Early Experiments in Jazz
When the magazine began covering jazz in the 1920s, it often struggled to catch the beat.
Boomers Daily 