Category Archives: Opinion

The New York Review Of Books – April 10, 2025

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS (March 20, 2025): The latest issue features Michael Gorra on the majesty of Caspar David Friedrich, Cathleen Schine on Hanif Kureishi, Wendy Doniger on letting slip the horses of war, Adam Thirlwell on Lars von Trier, Christian Caryl on denazification, Miri Rubin on Christian supremacy, Jonathan Mingle on the phosphorous shortfall, Brenda Wineapple on the history of American social movements, Geoffrey O’Brien on Fifties Hollywood, Christopher R. Browning on Trump’s antisemitism, poems by Witold Wirpsza and Laura Kolbe, and much more.

Toffler in China

The work of the eclectic American futurist exerted a profound and unanticipated influence on China’s digital transformation since the 1980s.

Lost in the Landscape

The Met’s Caspar David Friedrich exhibition offers an introduction to an artist whose work—luminous, disturbing, serene—reveals an all-encompassing physical realm.

Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature – an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, February 8–May 11, 2025

Caspar David Friedrich: Art for a New Age – an exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, December 15, 2023–April 1, 2024

The Magic of Silence: Caspar David Friedrich’s Journey Through Time by Florian Illies, translated from the German by Tony Crawford

The Rise and Fall of Warhorses

You can tell the history of a large part of the world by who had what horses when.

Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires by David Chaffetz

The New York Times Magazine – March 23, 2025

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (March 20, 2025): The 3.23.25 Issue features Matt Flegenheimer and Dana Rubinstein on Eric Adams’s scandal-ridden mayoralty; Helen Ouyang on how airline pilots are pushed to hide their mental health issues; Parul Sehgal on progressives and solidarity; and more.

How Eric Adams Lost New York

He promised law and order. Instead, his scandal-ridden mayoralty became a symbol — and engine — of the city’s chaos.

Why Airline Pilots Feel Pushed to Hide Their Mental Illness

Is the F.A.A. really ensuring

How Generative A.I. Complements the MAGA Style

Online Trump supporters have embraced a unique form of irony that is hard to parse — and easy to deploy with new technologies.safety by disqualifying pilots who receive a diagnosis or treatment?

The Guardian Weekly – March 21, 2025 Preview

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY (March 20, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Driven to Fury’ – How Tesla became a target for protest…

 Lauren Gambino examines how growing difficulties for Musk have given heart to Democrats as they see his recognition factor and billionaire status as an easy rallying point to rebuild their own battered political fortunes. 

Spotlight | On the frontline of the tariff wars
Leyland Cecco takes the pulse of Hamilton, Ontario’s steel-making hub, after the Trump administration imposed a 25% levy on imports of Canadian steel and aluminium

Environment | Loess regained
The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farming, finds Helen Davidson

Feature | A Syrian civil war survivor
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad chronicles the life of Mustafa, determined to succeed in the new Syria even with his past as a forced soldier for the Assad regime

Opinion | Trump’s every misstep brings chaos
The honeymoon is over for a president who seems to personify the law of unintended consequences, says Simon Tisdall

Culture | A painter in her own write
Celia Paul tells Charlotte Higgins about her relationship with Lucian Freud and the struggles of being out of step with the art world

The New York Times – Thursday, March 20, 2025

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Zelensky Agrees to Halt Strikes on Russian Energy Targets in Call With Trump

President Trump also floated the idea of the United States taking control of Ukrainian power plants, according to U.S. officials. The Ukrainian president said he was not pressured about the proposal.

Mexico City Bans Traditional Bullfights for Violence-Free Option

Showdowns between people and bulls can still go on, but the animals can no longer be hurt or killed. Some bullfighting proponents said the law imperils an ancient tradition.

Donald Trump Jr. Mixes Business and Politics in Serbia, as Protests There Rage

President Trump’s oldest son visited Belgrade, the site of a Trump International Hotel project, and pushed back on calls for the country’s president to resign.

White House Plans to Pause $175 Million for Penn Over Transgender Policy

The decision is the latest clash between a university and the administration as it pushes schools to end diversity programming and adopt stricter discipline, among other things.

Culture: Harper’s Magazine – April 2025

HARPER’S MAGAZINE (March 19, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Social-Skills Crisis’ – Have we forgotten how to work together?; Undercover with New York’s Guardian Angels and The End of Psychoanalysis As We Know It?…

Going Soft – Future-proofing the American worker

by Lily Scherlis

The Last Detail – On patrol with the Guardian Angels

by Kent Russell

The Social Turn – Psychoanalysis at an inflection point

by Maggie Doherty

Times Literary Supplement – March 21, 2025 Preview

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (March 19, 2025): The latest issue features ‘An extraordinary woman’ = Gisele Pelicot’s dignity before a watching world; What I learnt from Athol Fugard; Caspar David Friedrich; Stalin’s don and Hitler’s royal allies…

The New York Times – Wednesday, March 19, 2025

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Israel Resumes Strikes on Gaza, Killing Hundreds, as Cease-Fire Breaks Down

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the aerial attacks after Hamas’s “repeated refusal” to release the remaining hostages it holds. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

Judge in Deportation Case Draws Ire of Republicans as White House Pushes Back

The attacks on the judge, James E. Boasberg, elicited a rare public rebuke by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who essentially told critics to knock it off.

Putin Agrees to Limits on Energy Targets but Not Full Ukraine Cease-Fire

In a call with President Trump, Russia’s leader agreed to pause strikes on energy infrastructure. Ukraine also appeared willing to accept such a halt, though it fell short of the unconditional cease-fire the country had already agreed to.

Kennedy’s Alarming Prescription for Bird Flu on Poultry Farms

The health secretary has suggested allowing the virus to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Such an experiment would be disastrous, scientists say.

Guernica Magazine – March 2025 Preview

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GUERNICA MAGAZINE (March 17, 2025): The March Issue features Olivia Cheng’s short story Bathhouse Gossip

Joli Petit Accent

“Indeed, growing up, moving between the United States and Palestine made me feel as if I shed one self and inhabited another, over and over again… But today, instead of observing the gaps in my knowledge and experience in either culture, I focus on my access to other languages and understandings.”By Jenine Abboushi

Bathhouse Gossip

“They’ve swung in the opposite direction and they’re all done with democracy and liberalism.”By Olivia Cheng

Taximen

“Trinidad was brewing with a sense of premonition, that time was either running out or coming to a head.”By Eskor David Johnson

The New York Times – Tuesday, March 18, 2025

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DOGE Cuts Reach Key Nuclear Scientists, Bomb Engineers and Safety Experts

Firings and buyouts hit the top-secret National Nuclear Security Administration amid a major effort to upgrade America’s nuclear arsenal. Critics say it shows the consequences of heedlessly cutting the federal work force.

Justice Department Stonewalls Federal Judge Over Deportation Flights

The Trump administration tried to have the hearing canceled and sought to remove the judge overseeing it, as White House officials took a confrontational stance.

Israel’s Newest Army Recruits: the Ultra-Orthodox

Israel’s Newest Army Recruits: the Ultra-Orthodox

Nary a Critical Word: Bill Gates’s Close Bond With Narendra Modi

The relationship between the billionaire philanthropist and the Indian leader helps both men meet their missions. But it also papers over the erosion of rights under Mr. Modi.

The New Republic Magazine – April 2025

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THE NEW REPUBLIC MAGAZINE (March 17, 2025): The April 2025 issue features ‘Democrats must become the Workers Party Again’

Democrats, This Is the Worst Possible Time for a Civil War

The party’s base is right to be angry at Chuck Schumer, but the country’s fate hinges on the fight against Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Michael Tomasky

Is the American Electric Car Already Dead?

Trump is cutting power to the EV industry. It’s unclear if it can recover.

Trump Is Fighting His Court Losses With a Surprising Legal Tactic

Legal skirmishes between the administration and lower court judges have highlighted the way the federal court system itself has become a thorn in the president’s side.