September 24, 2023 – Emma Nelson, Yassmin Abdel-Magied and Vincent McAviney on the weekend’s biggest talking points.
We also speak to Monocle\’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé in Seville, and we get the latest news from Dakar with Mary Fitzgerald.
Category Archives: Politics
Views: The New York Times Magazine – Sept 24, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (September 22, 2023): The 9.24.23 Issue features Hannah Dreier on migrant children working in dangerous conditions; McKenzie Funk on Hank Asher, a drug smuggler who became a pioneer in data mining; Sonia Shah on new research that suggests animals are saying more than we think; and more.
The Animals Are Talking. What Does It Mean?
Language was long understood as a human-only affair. New research suggests that isn’t so.
Can a mouse learn a new song?
Such a question might seem whimsical. Though humans have lived alongside mice for at least 15,000 years, few of us have ever heard mice sing, because they do so in frequencies beyond the range detectable by human hearing. As pups, their high-pitched songs alert their mothers to their whereabouts; as adults, they sing in ultrasound to woo one another. For decades, researchers considered mouse songs instinctual, the fixed tunes of a windup music box, rather than the mutable expressions of individual minds.
A Chile Paste So Good, It’s Protected by the U.N.
Real-deal Tunisian harissa is an anchor to the motherland and a bright, specific accent to countless dishes.
By Eric Kim
Last year, UNESCO officially deemed harissa, the brick red, aromatic chile paste, “an integral part of domestic provisions and the daily culinary and food traditions of Tunisian society.” Keyword: Tunisian.
News: Poland-Ukraine Weapons Dispute, Rupert Murdoch Steps Down
The Globalist Podcast (September 22, 2023) – Poland has decided to stop sending weapons to Ukraine: how did it get to this point?
Plus: Rupert Murdoch steps down as chair of Fox and News Corp, Estonian filmmaker Ilmar Raag explains why saunas are being sent to the Ukrainian frontline and a flick through today’s papers.
Previews: The Economist Magazine – Sept 23, 2023
Ukraine faces a long war. A change of course is needed
Its backers should pray for a speedy victory—but plan for a long struggle
The war in Ukraine has repeatedly confounded expectations. It is now doing so again. The counter-offensive that began in June was based on the hope that Ukrainian soldiers, equipped with modern Western weapons and after training in Germany, would recapture enough territory to put their leaders in a strong position at any subsequent negotiations.
If India ordered a murder in Canada, there must be consequences
Western countries have for too long acquiesced to the Indian government’s abuses
For years, India objected to Western strategists lumping it together with its violent and chaotic neighbour in the phrase “Indo-Pakistan”. Now recognised as a fast-growing giant and potential bulwark against China, India claims to have been “de-hyphenated”. Yet the explosive charge aired this week by Justin Trudeau suggests that diplomatic recalibration may have gone too far. Canada’s prime minister alleges that Indian agents were involved in the murder in Vancouver of a Canadian citizen sympathetic to India’s Sikh separatist movement.
News: India And Canada Diplomatic Row Deepens, Guatemala Political Crisis
Politics: The Guardian Weekly – Sept 22, 2023
The Guardian Weekly (September 22, 2023) – The new issue features How disaster struck Libya. Plus: Populism in Europe, and the unifying power of cheese.
Two separate natural disasters in north Africa have dominated the news recently. But Moroccan emergency responses to an earthquake that killed about 3,000 people seemed rapid and efficient in contrast to the chaos at the deluged Libyan port of Derna, where many thousands more lost their lives after the town was deluged following a double dam burst caused by Storm Daniel.
While logistical and administrative challenges have made access to Derna incredibly difficult, Observer reporter Kaamil Ahmed has gathered the testimonies of several local Libyan journalists who witnessed scenes they are still struggling to process. Diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour explains why the disaster can be seen as a culmination of the climate crisis descending upon a failed state, while Rupert Neate and Peter Beaumont discuss the differing responses to the two situations.
From Europe, Jon Henley previews three upcoming elections that could have profound consequences for the region’s political future. Indeed, as the Guardian launches a new Europe-focused digital edition, editor-in-chief Katharine Viner outlines why now is the right time for us to expand our reporting across the continent.
News: Conflict In The South Caucasus, Sahel Region, EU ‘Inner Circle’
News: World Leaders At U.N., Iran-US Prisoner Swap, India-Canada Tensions
The Globalist Podcast (September 19, 2023) – Will the UN General Assembly step up its action on climate change?
We also discuss the Iran-US prisoner swap, the latest on the conflict in Sudan and Justin Trudeau’s claim that the Indian government was involved in the killing of a Sikh leader on Canadian soil. Plus: why are young Germans among the unhappiest in Europe?
Opinion: AI Is Recasting Science And Rising Waves Of Hard-Right Populism
‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (September 18, 2023) – Three essential articles read aloud from the The Economist. This week, an analysis of how AI can revolutionize science and how a fresh wave of hard-right populism is stalking Europe.
Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – October 2023
Against the Current
Where’s the support for Democratic insurgents?
For decades, New Hampshire has generated brisk and gratifying drama with its first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The Granite State momentously destroyed a presidency in 1968, when the Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy ran against President Lyndon Johnson on an antiwar platform.
The Spy
On seeing without being seen
by Rachel Cusk
Not long ago our mother died, or at least her body did—the rest of her remained obstinately alive. She took a considerable time to die and outlasted the nurses’ predictions by many days, so that those of us who had been summoned to her bedside had to depart and return to our lives.
Boomers Daily 