Category Archives: Previews

How the climate catastrophists learned to stop worrying and love the calm

The first signs that the mood was brightening among the corps of reporters called to cover one of the gravest threats humanity has ever faced appeared in the summer of 2021. “Climate change is not a pass/fail course,” Sarah Kaplan wrote in the Washington Post on August 9.

In Search of Lost Time

The science of the perfect second

When I was a kid, in the touch-tone era in the Midwest, I often dialed, for no real reason, the “time lady”—an actress named Jane Barbe, it turns out—who would announce, with prim authority “at the tone,” the correct time to the second. I was, in those days, a bit obsessed with time.

Books, History, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: BBC History Magazine – April 2023

March 19, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE – APRIL 2023:

The kingdom is dead: what causes monarchies to fail?

King Alfonso XIII of Spain, Charles I of England, Puyi of China and Lydia Liliuokalani of Hawaii

From the Romans to the Russians, monarchies that at one time seemed all powerful have come crashing down as a result of violence, political manoeuvring or the will of the people. Danny Bird charts the downfall of 10 kingdoms and empires throughout history

How much do you know about the Crimean War?

How much do you know about the Crimean War? Test your knowledge with this quiz on the Victorian conflict…

Arts & Literature, Books, Culture, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Arts & Culture: The New Criterion – April 2023

March 18, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The New Criterion – April 2023 issue

Poetry a special section
T. S. Eliot’s still point by James Matthew Wilson
Singing the “Frauenliebe” by Ian Bostridge
The foundational “Kokinshu” by Torquil Duthie
A White Russian on the rocks by Boris Dralyuk

Darkness visible: Auden collected by William Logan

Three poems by Georgia Douglas Johnson

New poems by David Ewbank

Paradise lost

by Peter W. Wood

A review of Peace and Friendship by Stephen Aron & Indigenous Continent by Pekka Hämäläinen.

Infinite India

by Amit Majmudar

A review of India: A History in Objects by T. Richard Blurton.

Financial, Investing, Magazines, Previews, Retirement, Reviews

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – March 20, 2023

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Barron’s Magazine – March 20, 2023:

Banks Survived Another Week—and the Biggest Ones Look Like Winners

The nation’s banking giants will be beneficiaries of the industry’s turmoil. They have cheap stocks, and hefty dividend yields.

First Republic Bank and SVB Both Courted Wealthy Clients. That Wasn’t Enough.

Investors and customers fell in love with these two Silicon Valley banks and their CEOs. Then they fled as the crisis hit.

Why Regulators Didn’t Spot the Risks at Banks—How to Stop the Next Failure

The banking sector is in turmoil. But the causes are very different from 2008.

The Fed’s New Bind

Some economists say the Federal Reserve must pause its interest-rate-rising campaign to help bolster banks, while other economists say that such a pause would indicate the Fed isn’t serious about taming inflation.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – March 19, 2023

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The New York Times Book Review – March 19, 2023:

In Matthew Desmond’s ‘Poverty, by America,’ the Culprit Is Us

This illustration, in shades of red, white, blue and black, shows the silhouetted figures of a family around a table. The parents hover over a large tureen containing black liquid, while, on either side of them, smaller figures — their offspring — lean over smaller bowls filled with the same substance. In the background, red and white vertical stripes are visible, suggesting an American flag. — Credit…Ola Jasionowska

The new book by the sociologist and author of “Evicted” examines the persistence of want in the wealthy United States, finding that keeping some citizens poor serves the interests of many.

Read Your Way Through São Paulo

A woman is reading a book on a bench in a park with the cityscape of São Paulo in the background. A cat is sleeping next to her. — Credit…Raphaelle Macaron

Brazil’s ultra urban megacity overwhelms the landscape and the imagination. Paulo Scott recommends books that peel back its layers.

With Karl Lagerfeld, the Clothes Were Only Part of the Story

A photograph of Karl Lagerfeld surrounded by models, several of them in black sequined dresses. Lagerfeld is wearing sunglasses and has his hair pulled back in a white ponytail. He is in a black suit and tie, a white shirt with a high stiff collar, and is carrying an open fan in his right hand.

The fashion world’s hunger for larger-than-life figures glorified the designer. But a cozy new biography shows him to be more business whiz than artist.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Culture: New York Times Magazine – March 19, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – March 19, 2023:

‘I Live in Hell’: The Psychic Wounds of Ukraine’s Soldiers

Inside a psychiatric hospital in Kyiv, the growing mental trauma of the war is written on every soldier’s face.

The Trump Juror Who Got Under America’s Skin

Behind our institutions are ordinary people. Emily Kohrs is their new face.

The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of History’s Biggest Mistakes

A century ago, Thomas Midgley Jr. was responsible for two phenomenally destructive innovations. What can we learn from them today?

Magazines, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Research Preview: Science Magazine – March 17, 2023

March 16, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Science Magazine – March 17, 2023 issue: An alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) walks to a breeding pond in the Alps, France. Many amphibians have a cryptic upper side but a normally concealed, conspicuous underside. These hidden signals have evolved for several reasons, including as a warning display to would-be predators.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

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.

Lipids called ceramides may be better predictors of cardiovascular problems than cholesterol. Doctors and pharma are waking up to their potential

Bacteria require phase separation for fitness in the mammalian gut

The gut microbiota is critical for human health. Understanding how beneficial bacteria colonize the gut enables medical interventions that promote gut health. Krypotou et al. discovered a mechanism that enhances the fitness of a commensal bacterium in the gut.

Economics, Financial, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews

Previews: The Economist Magazine – March 18, 2023

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The Economist – March 11, 2023 issue

What’s wrong with the banks

Rising interest rates have left banks exposed. Time to fix the system—again

Only ten days ago you might have thought that the banks had been fixed after the nightmare of the financial crisis in 2007-09. Now it is clear that they still have the power to cause a heart-stopping scare. A ferocious run at Silicon Valley Bank on March 9th saw $42bn in deposits flee in a day. svb was just one of three American lenders to collapse in the space of a week.

Will Bibi break Israel?

Binyamin Netanyahu and a constitutional crisis

When Israel’s best and brightest are up in arms it is time to worry

Florida’s governor has blundered over Ukraine

By saying Ukraine is not a vital American interest, Ron DeSantis emboldens Vladimir Putin

Arts & Literature, Books, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

The New York Review Of Books – April 6, 2023

March 16, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The New York Review of Books – April 6, 2023 issue:

Here’s Looking at Yew

English Garden Eccentrics: Three Hundred Years of Extraordinary Groves, Burrowings, Mountains and Menageries

By Todd Longstaffe-Gowan

In the English garden, eccentricity and variety went hand in hand.

What counts as eccentric in the garden, and what counts as a folly? As a child I used to be taken on Sunday walks to the Needle’s Eye in Wentworth, South Yorkshire, a kind of sharp pyramid of stone some forty-five feet tall and pierced by an arched passage.

Descriptions of a Struggle

The Diaries

by Franz Kafka, translated from the German by Ross Benjamin

Kafka’s diaries—made up of false starts, stray thoughts, self-doubts, internal dialogues, dreams, doodles, aphorisms, drafts of stories, character sketches, and scenes from family life—are often very funny.