Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

The Week In Art Podcast (June 14, 2024): This week: it’s arguably the best loved of the major art fairs among collectors and dealers, but what have we learned about the art market at this year’s Art Basel, in its original Swiss home?

The Art Newspaper’s acting art market editor, Tim Schneider, tells us about the big sales in Switzerland amid the wider market picture. The journalist Lynn Barber has a new book out, called A Little Art Education, in which she reflects on her encounters with artists from Salvador Dalí to Tracey Emin. We talk to her about the highs and lows of several decades of artist interviews.

And this episode’s Work of the Week is Woman Leaning on a Portfolio (1799) by Guillaume Lethière. Lethiére was born in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean to a plantation-owner father and an enslaved mother, but eventually became one of the most notable painters of his period in France and beyond. We talk to Esther Bell and Olivier Meslay, the curators of a major survey of Lethière’s work opening this week at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, US, and travelling later in the year to the Louvre in Paris.

Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland, until Sunday, 16 June.

A Little Art Education by Lynn Barber, Cheerio, £15 (hb).

Research Preview: Science Magazine – June 14, 2024

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – June 13, 2024: The new issue features ‘Follow The Leader’ – A surface layer ensures photoactive perovskite growth….

Hubble telescope down to last gyroscopes, limiting science

Despite failing hardware, NASA has no plans to pursue a servicing mission to the aging, iconic instrument

Astronauts face health risks—even on short trips in space

New studies include health data collected from space tourists on first privately funded orbital mission

Sacrificed Maya boys tied to myth of ‘Hero Twins’

Ancient DNA shows continuity between living and ancient Maya communities

Ideas & Research: Harvard Magazine July/Aug 2024

HARVARD MAGAZINE July/August 2024 :

Decoding the Deep

David Gruber on the North Shore of Massachusetts

Project CETI’s pioneering effort to unlock the language of sperm whales

by Jonathan Shaw

Mechanical Intelligence and Counterfeit Humanity

An illustration of generations of computers, from large machines to smartphones and the cloud

Reflections on six decades of relations with comptuers

by Harry R. Lewis

Culinary Profile: Norway Chef Mikael Svensson

MICHELIN Guide (June 13, 2024) – At NEW 2 Star and Green Star restaurant Kontrast in Oslo, Norway, sustainability is more than just a buzzword – it‘s a way of life.

Nestled in the city’s former industrial district, they pride themselves on sourcing wild, line-caught fish, organic or wild meats, and locally produced organic ingredients.

Collaborating with a company making fermented condiments, they recycle food waste into garum, vinegar powder, oil, and compost, and their wines are sustainably produced.

The roof garden blooms with bee-friendly flowers, and even the staff uniforms are made from organic cotton. Every detail at Kontrast reflects a commitment to sustainability, as envisioned by chef Mikael Svensson.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – June 14, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (June 13, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Blood Lines’ – The human cost of Europe’s cocaine habit’; The Far Rights surges across EU; A doughnut theory of the universe; The muscular rise of steroids…

In a week when much of the attention in Europe was on far-right political gains in the parliamentary elections, the Guardian Weekly’s cover shines a light on another of the continent’s disturbing undercurrents.

A Guardian investigation has found that hundreds of unaccompanied child migrants across Europe are being forced to work for increasingly powerful drug cartels to meet the continent’s soaring appetite for cocaine.

In cities including Paris and Brussels, gangs are exploiting the “unlimited” supply of vulnerable African children at their disposal, using brutal means to control their victims, including torture and rape if they fail to sell enough drugs, as they seek to expand Europe’s $13bn cocaine market.

Mark Townsend reveals the plight of the illegal trade’s child foot soldiers, while Annie Kelly explains the growing problem of cocaine use in Europe. And from Ecuador, Tom Phillips reports on how death and destruction follow the drug on its complex journey across the Atlantic.

The Economist Magazine – June 15, 2024 Preview

The rise of Chinese science: Welcome or worrying?

The Economist Magazine (June 15, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Rise of Chinese Science’ – Welcome or worrying?…

How worrying is the rapid rise of Chinese science?

If America wants to maintain its lead, it should focus less on keeping China down

America seems immune to the world economy’s problems

Elsewhere, political dysfunction and fiscal frailties are taking a toll

A second Trump term: from unthinkable to probable

Introducing our 2024 American election forecast model

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – June 14, 2024

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Times Literary Supplement (June 13, 2024): The latest issue features Freud’s Discontents – George Prochnik on the father of psychology; A great novel on the American Frontier; Death becomes them – The mourning rituals of the Victorians; Cover-up – An atrocity committed by US troops in the Philippines….

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 13, 2024

Volume 630 Issue 8016

Nature Magazine – June 12, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Complex System’ – AlphaFold 3 powers predictions of protein molecule interactions…

Mystery of huge ancient engravings of snakes solved at last

The depictions along South America’s Orinoco River are some of the biggest rock art known.

AI finds huge cache of anti-bacterial peptides hidden in genomic data

Machine-learning technique uncovers nearly 900,000 microbe-fighting peptide sequences in genomes collected from soils and other sources.

‘Sugar world’ sweetens the Solar System’s remote reaches

The icy body Arrokoth has a sugary coating that gives the body its distinctive red appearance.Research Highlight03 Jun 2024

A huge outbreak of butterflies hit three continents — here’s why

Swarms of painted ladies that descended on the Middle East, northern Africa and Europe have been traced to their source.

National Geographic Traveller – July/Aug 2024

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National Geographic Traveller Magazine (June 11, 2024): The July/August 2024 issue features a look beyond California’s vineyards and glacier-carved national parks to savour its tranquil coast, home to laid-back surf resorts and wave-lashed islands harbouring wildlife found nowhere else on Earth with the Jul/Aug 2024 issue. Plus, high-octane thrills in the deserts and mountains of Ras Al Khaimah and a slow journey along ancient trails in Cape Verde’s elemental hiking country.

Also inside this issue:

Ras Al Khaimah: The Emirate state of mountains, deserts and coastline is now emerging as an adventure hub 
Cape Verde: The West African archipelago is prime hiking country, with ancient trails running through farms and mountains
Slovakia: The past is felt with every step in the central region of Horehronie, home to lush valleys and a diverse folk culture 
Peru: Unforgettable itineraries through which to discover the nation’s cuisine, culture and complex history 
Barcelona: There’s always time for one more cocktail on streets peppered with clandestine speakeasies 
Hamburg: Wedded to the water, Germany’s ‘gateway to the world’ has long welcomed the tides of change  
Danish Lakes:Dive into the waters around Silkeborg, where wild swimming spots mingle with fairytale forests 
South Devon: Award-winning wines, local rums and stellar farm shops in the south west 
Rome: Savour the Eternal City with a stay that incorporates its rich history, from secluded boutiques to grand palazzi

Plus, The return of Liguria’s much-loved Via dell’Amore; Ireland’s new national park; the story of Belgian cuisine; Tartu’s best hotels; a salsa-lovers guide to Cali, Colombia; Alpine thrills in Austria; a UK break in North Staffordshire; books for the summer months and kit for family trips to the coast. 

We talk with author Sophie Yeo on the legacy of ice fishing in the Finnish wilderness, and ranger Edward Ndiritu on the future of anti-poaching in central Kenya. In our Ask the Experts section, the experts give advice on planning a food tour in Malaysia, low-impact French hiking holidays and more. The Info peeks behind the curtain of the Edinburgh Fringe, while Hot Topic explores the state of travel in Cyprus 50 years since its division. After a look at the winning images of this year’s Photo Competition, photographer Ulf Svane discusses distilling the magic of Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival for our June issue in How I got the shot.

Previews: Country Life Magazine – June 12, 2024

Country Life Magazine (June 11, 2024): ‘The Green Issue’ features How to make the Countryside beautiful again….

The Country Life green manifesto

As the General Election looms large, we present our practical 10-point plan that could make a real difference to the planet

What lies beneath

Soil is both full of life and the very stuff of life, so it’s high time we stopped treating it like dirt, suggests Sarah Langford

Bridges to survival

Building ‘ecoducts’ to connect wildlife habitats separated by road and rail is the way forward, argues John Lewis-Stempel

Over the moon

Jane Wheatley meets the biodynamic farmers following the lunar calendar to tend their crops in tune with Nature

A woolly good story

What happened to the golden fleece? Harry Pearson tracks the fall of wool from medieval marvel to unwanted by-product

Country Life’s Little Green Book

Madeleine Silver profiles the people, places and products currently turning heads with genuinely green credentials

Neptune’s larder

Helen Scales wades in to forage for seaweed, seeking everything from sea spaghetti to sugar kelp

Rebel gardener

James Alexander-Sinclair talks to John Little about the amazing diversity of his garden in Essex

The man with his head in the clouds

Royal favourite Edward Seago lived a life as vibrant, varied and colourful as his paintings, discovers Peyton Skipwith

Lt-Col Frederick Wells’s favourite painting

The commanding officer of the Coldstream Guards chooses a majestic portrait of Elizabeth II

The best of both worlds

Minette Batters celebrates the remarkable recovery of grey partridge on the South Downs

Just right: Walpole’s balance

In the first of two articles, John Goodall examines the creation of Wolterton Hall in Norfolk

 ‘A better use of Sundays’

Russell Higham applauds the enduring appeal of Britain’s  elegant Victorian bandstands

The legacy

David Austen dedicated his life to creating the perfect English rose, as Tiffany Daneff reveals

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell casts her net far and wide for fishy accessories

Interiors

Giles Kime hails designers who are at one with the environment

Hard landscaping

The Dunvegan Castle gardens are a verdant oasis on the Isle of Skye, finds Caroline Donald

Native herbs

Wormwood is an old absinthe ingredient best kept at arm’s length, advises John Wright

You’ve got to break a few eggs

Tom Parker Bowles is hoping practice makes perfect as he eyes the immaculate omelette