Category Archives: Politics

Sunday Morning: Stories And News From St. Moritz

Monocle on Sunday, February 25, 2024: To celebrate the best of Nomad, join Monocle’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, and guests to explore the dialogue between art, architecture and design.

This special edition of the programme is broadcast live from the Hotel Eden in St Moritz.

Saturday Morning: News From London, Zürich, Munich And Sri Lanka

Monocle on Sunday, February 24, 2024: Emma Nelson, Tina Fordham and David Schlesinger on the weekend’s biggest talking points. We also speak to Monocle’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, in Zürich, before he flies to Porto and Gwen Robinson, Monocle’s correspondent in Sri Lanka.

Plus: Andrew Mueller joins us from the Munich Security Conference.

The New York Times Magazine – Feb 25, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (February 23, 2024): The new issue features ‘Enemy of the People’ – Tom Sandoval turned last year’s season of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ into the best in reality TV’s history – and ruined his life in the process..

How Tom Sandoval Became the Most Hated Man in America

Tom Sandoval looking into a mirror.
Credit…Holly Andres for The New York Times

He turned last year’s season of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ into the best in reality TV’s history — and ruined his life in the proces

Want a Better Society? Try Better Buildings.

The Egg in front of an ice rink with families skating together.

An obsession with luxury is transforming cities into bland, isolating landscapes. Architecture should be for creating community.

Opinion & Politics: Reason Magazine – April 2024

Reason Magazine, April 2024 cover image

    REASON MAGAZINE (February 23, 2024)The latest issue features ‘Commander In Chains?’ – What if a Presidential Candidate ends up in jail, incapacitated, or worse – in office?…

    Commander in Chains: 7 Scenarios If Trump Is Jailed and Wins the Election

    An illustration of a person wearing handcuffs in an orange prison jumpsuit with a presidential seal | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson; Source image: Peter Dazeley/Getty

    There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents an inmate from winning the presidency.

    KEITH E. WHITTINGTON 

    Don’t Let E.U. Bureaucrats Design Americans’ Tech

    An illustration of the European Union flag mangled by a frayed phone charging cord | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson

    Some Democrats want to mimic the Europe’s policies on phone chargers and more.

    JENNIFER HUDDLESTON

    The Future of Immigration Is Privatization

    featurefionaimmigrants | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson; Source images: Clay Banks/Unsplash, PinkBadger/iStock

    New immigration pathways are letting private citizens welcome refugees and other migrants—and getting the government out of the way.

    FIONA HARRIGAN

    News: NATO Considers Its Next Leader, Israel Hits Rafah With New Airstrikes

    The Globalist (February 23, 2024): As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, we look ahead to who might replace Jens Stoltenberg as the secretary general of Nato later this year.

    Then: the latest on Israel’s bombardment of Rafah and Andrew Mueller’s ‘What We Learned’. Plus: is rebranding always a good idea?

    Politics: The Guardian Weekly – February 23, 2024

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    The Guardian Weekly (February 22, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Ukraine’s Lonely Road’ – After two years, is there a way out of Putin’s war?…

    Shaun Walker reports on this week’s big story, the fall of the strategic town of Avdiivka to Russian troops has come at a grim time for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. While the army is struggling to hold ground, war fatigue is setting in among parts of the population and disagreements among the leadership have been spilling into the open.

    At the same time, the death of the jailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny last week – widely seen as another political assassination – appears to emphasise the strengthening hand of Vladimir Putin, who is expected to secure another six-year term as Russia’s president in tightly controlled elections next month. Amid a familiar wave of international outrage, our Russia affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer asks what Putin might do next.

    Coupled with the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US elections later this year, it all makes for a deeply worrying outlook for Ukraine, reflected in the Kyiv-based illustrator Sergiy Maidukov’s haunting cover artwork for the magazine this week.

    “This war is the hardest test of my life, similar to an endless ultramarathon,” writes Sergiy. “It is good to try to not think about the finish when running long distance. This is important knowledge to endure.”

    The Economist Magazine – February 24, 2024 Preview

    Is Europe ready?

    The Economist Magazine (February 22, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Is Europe Ready’ – Russian aggression and American wavering reveal just how ill-equipped the continent is…

    Is Europe ready to defend itself?

    Russian aggression and American wavering reveal just how ill-equipped the continent is

    Russia is becoming more dangerous, America is less reliable and Europe remains unprepared. The problem is simply put, but the scale of its solution is hard to comprehend. The security arrangements based on nato that emerged from the second world war—and have prevented a third—are so much part of Europe’s fabric that remaking them will be an immense task. European leaders urgently need to jettison their post-Soviet complacency. That means raising defence spending to a level not seen in decades, restoring Europe’s neglected military traditions, restructuring its arms industries and preparing for a possible war. The work has barely begun.

    A memo to the chancellor

    Pre-budget thoughts for Jeremy Hunt from a fictitious Treasury adviser

    The Trump trials explained

    The flimsiest of the cases is set to go first, and all face delays

    Why sanctions disappoint

    There is no substitute for military aid to Ukraine

    Middle ages, misunderstood

    There was more to the period than violence, superstition and ignorance, argues a new book

    The growing peril of national conservatism

    It’s dangerous and it’s spreading. Liberals need to find a way to stop it

    Europe must hurry to defend itself against Russia—and Donald Trump

    The ex-president’s invitation to Vladimir Putin to attack American allies is an assault on NATO. Ultimately, that is bad for America

    Politics: How Poland Is Changing Itself & Europe

    The Globalist (February 22, 2024): Broadcast live from the Polish capital to assess the state of the fast-changing nation. We discuss the role that Poland has played in the diplomatic arena, take a look at Warsaw’s green ambitions with architect Marlena Happach and talk about the future of the media industry with voices from Polityka Insight and ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’.

    Plus: Polish hospitality with Puro hotel.

    News: G20 Meeting In Brazil, Burkina Faso-Mali-Niger Create New Alliance

    The Globalist (February 21, 2024): G20 foreign ministers gather in Rio de Janeiro as a diplomatic spat engulfs Brazil and Israel. Then: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger juntas confirm their commitment to form a new tri-state confederation, the Philippines conducts joint air patrols with the US and we hear from Portugal’s foreign minister, João Cravinho on Ukraine and Israel.

    Plus: the commercial airport set to open on Italy’s Amalfi Coast this summer.

    Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – March 2024

    HARPER’S MAGAZINE – MARCH 2024: The new issue features ‘The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem’ – How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future…

    The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem

    How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future

    Illustrations by Yoshi Sodeoka
    Illustrations by Yoshi Sodeoka

    by Andrew Cockburn

    “Artificial intelligence may indeed affect the way our military operates. But the notion that bright-eyed visionaries from the tech industry are revolutionizing our military machine promotes a myth that this relationship is not only new, but will fundamentally improve our defense system—one notorious for its insatiable appetite for money, poorly performing weapons, and lost wars. In reality, the change flows in the other direction, as new recruits enter the warm embrace of the imperishable military-industrial complex, eager to learn its ways.”

    The Case Against Children

    Illustrations by María Jesús Contreras

    Among the antinatalists

    by Elizabeth Barber

    “People would rather be enthusiastic collaborators in a global project than be skeptics of its fundamental integrity. Antinatalism implies or counts on our eventual extinction, and thinking this way is painful.”