The Globalist, April 4, 2023: Finland officially joins NATO. Plus Donald Trump is set to face criminal charges in court, Emmanuel Macron arrives in China to meet Xi Jingping and the latest news from the Balkans.
Category Archives: Politics
Opinion: China-US Danger Zone, Big Tech AI Race, Rice Fuels Diabetes Epidemic
April 3, 2023: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the China-US contest is entering a new and more dangerous phase, how the tech giants are going all in on artificial intelligence (10:26) and why rice is fuelling climate change and diabetes (25:03).
Why the China-US contest is entering a new and more dangerous phase

Chinese officials rage at what they see as American bullying
Big tech and the pursuit of AI dominance

The tech giants are going all in on artificial intelligence. Each is doing it its own way
The global rice crisis
Rice feeds more than half the world—but also fuels diabetes and climate change
Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – April 10, 2023

The New Yorker – April 10, 2023 issue:
The Christian Liberal-Arts School at the Heart of the Culture Wars

Conservatives like Ron DeSantis see Hillsdale College as a model for education nationwide.
By Emma Green
Conservative movements to reform education are often defined by what they’re against. At a recent public briefing, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, decried the imposition of critical race theory and mandatory diversity-and-inclusion training at the state’s schools.
The Trump Show Moves to a Courtroom

The former President’s campaigns against officials investigating him have supplied Joe Biden with a favored theme: the need to fortify democratic institutions.
News: Russian Offensive Fails, Trump Indictment, Taiwan-Guatemala Ties
The Globalist, April 3, 2023: The latest from Ukraine, Donald Trump’s indictment and impending court appearance, and Antony Blinken touches down in Europe. Plus: Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen’s tour of Belize and Guatemala, fashion news and Parisians vote on e-scooters.
Sunday Morning: Stories From London And Zürich

April 2, 2023: Emma Nelson is joined by Enrico Franceschini, Vincent McAviney in Zürich and Tyler Brûlé in Tokyo.
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
April 1, 2023: Georgina Godwin brings us the weekend’s biggest discussion topics. Latika Bourke reviews the newspapers and Andrew Mueller rounds up what we learned this week.
Culture: The New Review Magazine – April 2, 2023

The New Review (April 2, 2023) – How running helped me navigate the strange terrain of grief An extract from @drrachelhewitt’s memoir, In Her Nature @ChattoBooks.
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – drama in the West Bank

An actor returns to Palestine and joins a local production of Hamlet in this richly layered and elegant examination of memories and oppression
The West Bank town of Jenin: ‘what could offer a more febrile union of the personal and the political than Palestine?’ Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
Culture: New York Times Magazine – April 2, 2023

The New York Times Magazine – April 2, 2023: In this week’s issue: Jeneen Interlandi on the necessity of tallying every birth and death for a country’s public health, Jaeah Lee on the adults caring for both their parents and children, Devin Gordon on the fate of umpires under baseball’s new rules and more.
It’s a Really Weird Time to Be an Umpire

With replay cameras watching every call, it has become an increasingly stressful job — and baseball’s new rules will just make it harder.
Can the U.S. See the Truth About China?

Just like relationships between people, relationships between countries can all too easily be built on a foundation of unintentional misunderstandings, faulty assumptions and predigested truths. In her forthcoming, at times provocative and disquieting book, “The New China Playbook,” Keyu Jin, a professor at the London School of Economics and a board member at Credit Suisse, is trying to rework the foundation of what she sees as the West’s deeply flawed understanding of China’s economy, its economic ambitions and its attitude toward global competition.
The Agony of Putting Your Life on Hold to Care for Your Parents
Randi Schofield is the sole provider for an ailing father and, at the same time, for her own children — a situation now common among Americans in their 30s and 40s.
News: Trump Indicted In New York, Spain PM Pedro Sánchez Travels To China
March 31, 2023: Ex-President Trump is indicted by New York grand jury, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will meet with Xi Jinping in China and other top news.
Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 25, 2023
The Economist – April 1, 2023 issue:
Why the China-US contest is entering a new and more dangerous phase

Chinese officials rage at what they see as American bullying
You may have hoped that when China reopened and face-to-face contact resumed between politicians, diplomats and businesspeople, Sino-American tensions would ease in a flurry of dinners, summits and small talk. But the atmosphere in Beijing just now reveals that the world’s most important relationship has become more embittered and hostile than ever.
How to fix the global rice crisis

The world’s most important crop is fuelling climate change and diabetes
The green revolution was one of the greatest feats of human ingenuity. By promoting higher-yielding varieties of wheat and, especially, rice, plant-breeders in India, Mexico and the Philippines helped China emerge from a famine and India avoid one. From 1965 to 1995 Asia’s rice yields doubled and its poverty almost halved, even as its population soared.
Israel should not squander the opportunity for meaningful constitutional talks

The government’s retreat has pulled Israel back from the brink. But its people remain deeply divided
Israel’s citizens have won a rare victory after marching, week after week, to defend judicial independence and the character of their democracy. On March 27th they forced their prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to suspend his plan to rein in the courts. Yet, although the crisis has abated, it has not passed.