London Review of Books (LRB) – February 1, 2024: The latest issue features Origins of the Gay Novel; Protest, what is it good for?; Poems of Enheduana; Caspar David Friedrich, Israel’s War and more….
Science Magazine – January 25, 2024: The new issue features‘In Hot Water’ – How will El Niño change in a warmer world?; Herbivore impacts don’t depend on species origin; Reconstructing histories of sign language and more…
The Guardian Weekly (February 1, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Party Crasher’ – Is Trump more vulnerable than he seems?; Israel, the ICJ ruling and The West; Europe’s Big Bad Wolves and more….
It had all seemed like business as usual for Donald Trump in the aftermath of last week’s New Hampshire Republican primaries, where he scored a comfortable victory over his only remaining challenger, Nikki Haley. And yet … was there something in his subsequent outburst towards Haley that suggested all was not well in Trumpworld?
Barring the mother of all reversals, Trump will soon be confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee. But, as David Smith and Jonathan Freedland outline in this week’s big story, Trump remains a deeply polarising figure in American politics, not least within his own party.
And his petulant irritation at Haley over her refusal to concede the race was a visible reminder to American floating voters of the unhinged personality that lurks beneath the orange veneer, something his campaign team will be desperate to avoid more of.
“The shadow of Trump is long, and his return seems closer than ever,” explains illustrator Alberto Miranda on his cover art for this week’s Guardian Weekly. “He is a controversial figure with a dangerous side and, at the same time, has an utterly comical aspect. That’s why we wanted to portray his influence in the Republican party in an almost grotesque manner.”
Nature Magazine – January 31, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Significant Otters’ – How restored top predators helped slow down coastal damage; Hijacked neurons boost cancer’s ability to grow and spread; Mechanical process yields flexible fibers for wearable electronics…
Users of the internet can ignore its physical underpinnings. But for technologies like artificial intelligence and the metaverse to work, others need to pay attention, argues Abby Bertics
Times Literary Supplement (January 31 2024): The latest issue features ‘Back to Nature’ – The counterculture begins with Thoreau; Enlightenment dimmed; The secret state and the IRA; Homosexuality in early modern Europe and A family haunting….
This week’s @TheTLS, featuring Ritchie Robertson on the end of the Enlightenment; Costica Bradatan on Thoreau; Adam Mars-Jones on All of Us Strangers; @tylercowen on the Clinton years; @georgie_cat_ on Werner Herzog; Sarah Foot on Bede – and more pic.twitter.com/bxcIN8OUFu
History Today (January 30, 2024) – The latest issue features ‘The Search For The Buddha’; ‘Blood and Sand’ – The Cold War in North Africa; All In The MInd – A history of phantom pain, and more…
For centuries, scientists and philosophers used phantom limbs to unravel the secrets of the human mind. While we know phantom pain exists, we still don’t know why.
American Journey: On the Road with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and John Burroughs by Wes Davis falls short of examining the consequences that followed the wanderlust.
Arriving in the West in the 19th century, the Buddha of legend was stripped of supernatural myth and recast as a historical figure. What do we really know about him?
Pacy and even-handed, Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass is unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the Tokyo trials.
Country Life Magazine – January 30, 2024: The latest issue features How British Rivers Got Their Name; Where to find a really wild man; Miniature collecting and more…
‘Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide’
From the Piddle and the Polly to the Yox and the Yeo, the meanings behind the namesof Britain’s rivers run deep, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Call of the wild
The protective, stick-wielding Wild Man that strides through much medieval art has taken on fresh meaning in recent times, reveals Susan Owens
Chainsaw gardening
Taking a blade to our gardens may seem drastic, but a severe pruning sometimes leaves plants and trees in better health, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson
There is wonder in the little things
Huon Mallalieu puts miniatures under the microscope and finds a world of small marvels celebrating power, loyalty and love
Allan Mallinson’s favourite painting
The military historian chooses a moving First World War scene
Murder most pitiful
John Goodall investigates the dramatic events that shaped the history of 18th-century Gilmerton House in Lothian
The devil makes work for idle hands
As dedicated craftspeople fashion a revival in the art of needlepoint, Matthew Dennison can see a pattern emerging
‘Full of a watchful intentness’
John Lewis-Stempel embraces the ‘faerie enchantment’ of the heath as he visits the inspiration for a classic Thomas Hardy novel
Interiors
Matthew Dennison celebrates the Soane chimneypiece that is still hot property after 200 years and Amelia Thorpe’s selections keep the home fires burning
Lord of the rings
Ben Lerwill meets Simon Turner, an arboreal artist who creates wonderful ceramics using the contours and curves of trees
Luxury
Hetty Lintell on high fashion in the Highlands, switching off the stress and astonishing rubies, plus some of McFly drummer Harry Judd’s favourite things
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson knows her onions, giving an understated kitchen staple a starring role
Ireland’s call
The well-oiled Ireland winning machine can repel France’s strength in depth to retain rugby’s Six Nations Championship, argues Owain Jones
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and a popular writer on linguistics and evolutionary psychology. Angela Tan interviews him about politics, language, death, and reasons to be optimistic.
Apollo Magazine(January 29, 2024): The new February 2024 issue features ‘Giants of Indian Miniature Painting’; The Crisis in Italian Paintings and more…
• Holidaying with the Habsburgs
• An interview with Julie Mehretu
• The crisis in Italian museums
• Howard Hodgkin’s Indian miniatures
Plus: Slim pickings for foodies on Valentine’s Day, Parma’s monumental museum complex, and – and reviews of Impressionists on paper, experimental art in the Eastern bloc, and Africa and Byzantium at the Met
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious