Category Archives: Previews

Fine Art: The Burlington Magazine – April 2023

April 2023, #1441 – Vol 165 | Current issue | Current issue − The  Burlington Magazine

The Burlington Magazine – April 2023: Few paintings capture the exhilaration of the arrival of spring as powerfully as Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Orchard in blossom, bordered by cypresses’, a detail of which is on the cover of our newly published April issue.

Process: Design Drawings from the Rijksmuseum 1500–1900

The manifold collections of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, include rich holdings of the decorative arts, international in scope, with a natural bias towards the Netherlands. But unlike the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, products of the nineteenth-century campaign to improve design, the Rijksmuseum, a national museum of art and history, had no strong motive to collect design drawings (although the Rijksprentenkabinet, housed in the museum, contains one of the world’s great assemblages of engraved ornament).

Politics versus archaeology in Paris

An air of anticipation has greeted the fourth anniversary of the fire that broke out on 15th April 2019 and destroyed the medieval roof of Notre-Dame, Paris, together with its flèche, designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1859. The main controversies surrounding the restoration having been settled – as reported in this Magazine, in July 2020 the French government announced that the roof and flèche will be rebuilt as they were, using the same materials as the original – attention has turned to the discoveries being made and to the restoration process.

Culture: The New Review Magazine – April 2, 2023

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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

The West Bank town of Jenin: ‘what could offer a more febrile union of the personal and the political than Palestine?’

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

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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 childrenDevin Gordon on the fate of umpires under baseball’s new rules and more.

It’s a Really Weird Time to Be an Umpire

A photo illustratio of an umpire with sweat beads coming out of his face and a camera facing him in the background.
Credit…Photo illustrations by Rui Pu

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.

CULTURE: FRANCE-AMÉRIQUE MAGAZINE – APRIL 2023 Issue

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Opens profile photo

France-Amérique Magazine – April 2023 – Ahead of Earth Day, April 22, we profiled five Gallic startups based in the United States and helping biodiversity, fighting against food waste, and curbing global warming. We also sat down with Tristan Grimbert, the French CEO of EDF Renewables North America, one of the leaders on the green energy market in the United States and Canada. Also in this issue, read about the 15-Minute City, a model born in Paris and advocating for livable, sustainable urban centers; discover our profile of Gérard Araud, the former ambassador of France to the U.S. and a sharp observer of international relations; and read our interview with William Christie, the American conductor who has done more than anyone else for the revival of French baroque music.

“French Classical Music Owes a Lot to American Universities”

American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie has arguably done more than anyone else for the global revival of French baroque music. He now lives in France, but on April 25-26, he will bring his ensemble Les Arts Florissants to Carnegie Hall.

Table of contents

FROM THE NEWSDESK

France Rethinks, Once Again, Its Relationship with Africa. By Anthony Bulger

COME ON OUT

French Cultural Events in North America. By Tracy Kendrick

EDITORIAL

Wokeness Dividing the (French) People. By Guy Sorman

INTERVIEW

Julie Taymor: “The Lion King Makes People Laugh from Paris to New York.” By Guy Sorman

THE OBSERVER

Why the 15-Minute City May Be Your Next Home. By Anthony Bulger

BUSINESS

Five French Entrepreneurs Caring for the Planet. By Benoît Georges

Research Preview: Science Magazine – March 31, 2023

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Science Magazine – March 31, 2023 issue: A new analysis shows that Great Plains tribes acquired horses much earlier than some historians had thought, consistent with Indigenous descriptions of a long and enduring partnership with the horse. This petroglyph, from the Tolar site in southern Wyoming, probably dates from soon after the modern horse became widespread in North America in the early 17th century. 

Horse nations: Animal began transforming Native American life startlingly early

Yvette Running Horse Collin with horse

Sweeping new study based on archaeological evidence, chemical isotope analysis, and ancient DNA “totally changes the game”

Straight from the heart: Mysterious lipids may predict cardiac problems better than cholesterol

Conceptual illustration: a giant heart opens up on a hinge to reveal several gauges. Three of them, labeled HDL, LDL, and ApoB, display low levels. One, labeled Ceramides, displays high levels and is vibrating and letting off steam. Three tiny scientists stand at the foot of the heart, and one shines a flashlight on the Ceramides gauge.

Drug developers are now trying to target ceramides, which appear to contribute to a range of metabolic disorders

Art: ‘Must-See Museum Exhibitions’ – April 2023

Sotheby’s (March 29, 2023) – Tim Marlow’s Must See Museum Shows for April 2023. This month, we’re taking a tour of four of the world’s most exciting and innovative museum exhibitions.

First up, the Los Angeles County Museum. This museum has long been a hub for cutting-edge contemporary art, and this month’s exhibition is no exception. Featuring the artwork of women representing the Islamic community, this show promises to be a feast for the senses.

Next, we’re off to London’s Design Museum, where we’ll be exploring the art of famous artist and architect Ai Weiwei. With interactive exhibits and immersive installations, this show is a must-see for anyone interested in the future of architecture as art.

From there, we’ll be making our way to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where we’ll be exploring the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. With works spanning the decades, this exhibition offers a fascinating insight into the ways in which artists have represented themselves and others throughout the story of this unique and popular music genre.

Last but not least, we’ll be heading to the Kunsthaus Zürich, where we’ll be exploring the fascinating intersection of Alberto Giacometti and Salvador Dalí. From the bold, colorful works of the Dalí to the chiseled and lapidarian aesthetic of the Giacometti, this show is a celebration of one of Europe’s most profound and innovative surrealist artists of the 20th century.

Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 25, 2023

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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

Women plant rice saplings at a paddy field in Nagaon District of Assam ,India on February 28,2022. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan near his residencet in Jerusalem, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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.

The New York Review Of Books – April 20, 2023

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The New York Review of Books – April 20, 2023 issue: The London Book Fair Issue—is online now, with Cathleen Schine on Maxine Hong Kingston’s talking-stories, Jameel Jaffer on the “ethical train wreck” at the Office of Legal Counsel, Rumaan Alam on Namwali Serpell, Geoffrey O’Brien remembers Joe Brainard, Michelle Nijhuis on swamps and bogs, E. Tammy Kim on the legend of Harry Bridges, John Banville on John le Carré, Mark O’Connell on the world without us, Manisha Sinha on antebellum Black citizens, Matthew Desmond on handouts for the rich, poems by Homer and Isabel Galleymore, and much more.

‘Binding and Building’ America

Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, Hawai‘i One Summer, Other Writings edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Maxine Hong Kingston’s best work has a timeless quality, fresh, beautiful, horrifying, bursting with myth and fantasy and nagging reality.

The British Broadcasting Conundrum

Two BBC programs being monitored from a control cubicle in Broadcasting House, London, 1932

The BBC: A Century on Air by David Hendy

This Is the BBC: Entertaining the Nation, Speaking for Britain? 1922–2022 by Simon J. Potter

World War II was the BBC’s finest hour, but its history since then reflects the corporation’s gradual loss of primacy in British life.

Refill the Swamp!

Marsh Water; painting by Ivon Hitchens

Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx

Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration by Laura J. Martin

Two recent books show that the concept of ecological restoration is a fuzzy one: even practitioners rarely agree on what is being restored, or to what end.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – March 30, 2023

Volume 615 Issue 7954

nature Magazine – March 30, 2023 issue: Medieval people on the Swahili coast of East Africa were among the first sub-Saharan people to practise Islam. David Reich, Chapurukha Kusimba and colleagues sequenced DNA from 80 individuals buried in six medieval and early modern coastal Swahili stone towns, dating between 1250 and 1800. Their analysis shows that African women and Asian men began mixing along the East African coast before the year 1000, and that the earliest Asian migrants were of largely Persian origin. 

A gem of a material could provide a shield for spacecraft

Material that includes carbon with the same structure as diamond could be used to protect satellites from space radiation.

It’s bad! Awful! Negative headlines draw more readers

People scrolling online news are 1% less likely to click on an article for each positive word in its title.

GPT-4 is here: what scientists think

Researchers are excited about the AI — but many are frustrated that its underlying engineering is cloaked in secrecy.