Category Archives: Reviews

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

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Dec 13, 2023

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Country Life Magazine – December 13, 2023: The latest ‘Double Christmas’ issue features How the Bible’s nativity story has influenced artists; the beauty of the gardens of Rockcliffe in Gloucestershire; In literature at least, the fox will come out on top in almost every brush with confrontation, and more….

Away in a manger

Love, pain, power and hope are all embodied in the Nativity. Michael Prodger examines how the Bible story influenced our greatest artists

The Bishop of Winchester’s favourite painting

The Right Revd Philip Mounstephen chooses an arresting Caravaggio

On the night watch

As darkness falls, the wild things emerge from the shadows. John Lewis-Stempel embraces the night

Prodigy or eccentric?

John Goodall explores Bristol Cathedral, a building of international importance

When Christmas was cancelled

Always winter, never festive: Cromwell’s directive cast a pall, laments Ian Morton

Made with love

Cast your eyes down next time you’re in church to admire the hassock you kneel upon, urges the Revd Colin Heber-Percy

’Tis the season to be busy

There’s no rest for the farmer, the baker or the cheesemonger at this time of year. Ben Lerwill champions the people who make Christmas happen

So, this is Christmas

Queen Victoria would feel quite at home in any of our houses this season, believes John Mueller

It came upon a midnight clear

Come one, come all, says Kate Green, as the villagers gather once more at the big house

The Editor’s Christmas quiz

Pit your wits. The only prize is glory

Luxury

Christian Dior, David Gandy, dinky toys and Sir Chris Hoy’s favourite things

Cold comforts

Frost-dusted and fleece-wrapped, the beauty of the gardens of Rockcliffe in Gloucestershire enchant Tiffany Daneff

It’s a wonderful life

Carla Passino travels the world for Christmas traditions, from Swedish tomte to Japanese KFC

Christmas conundrums

Turkey or goose? Stocking or sack? Port or Sauternes? Giles Kime poses the big questions

Think outside the fox

Clever and agile, Vulpes vulpes is frequently on top in literature. Kate Green turns the pages

Back to black

The Périgord black truffle is worth the price for Tom Parker Bowles

The peel-good factor

The rich scents of citrus permeate Deborah Nicholls-Lee’s Christmas

Sugar, spice and all things nice

Carla Passino builds a gingerbread house

On top of the mirey, merey moor

John Lewis-Stempel tucks his chin into his scarf and sets off into the frozen wastes

Native breeds

Kate Green advocates heritage turkeys

Arts & Literature, Books, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Dec 15, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (December 13, 2023): The latest issue features ‘Innocent bystanders? – Collaboration with the Third Reich; The contaminated blood scandal; Gertrude Stein and Picasso, Hamlet’s play; AI Journalism and Clarice Lispector calls…

Books, Cities, Culture, Photography, Reviews, Travel

Travel & Culture Books: “Mexico City” (Assouline)

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Assouline Publishing (December 2023) – With a history dating back to the fourteenth century, Mexico City blends indigenous pre-Hispanic roots with colonial architecture and Spanish-baroque influences.

Mexico City

This unique fusion, crafted from local materials like cantera and tezontle, inspires artists and architects alike. Iconic structures like Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Museum and Juan O’Gorman’s Cave House proudly embody the city’s rich history.

Today, Mexico City serves as a vibrant backdrop for renowned filmmakers such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Michel Franco. Discover a city of wonders, where history and creativity come to life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Mexico City, Aleph Molinari is an editor, writer, art director and photographer. He is the co–editor in chief of Purple magazine, as well as a contributor to Materia Press, Art Observed and other publications. His work focuses on materializing culture through publications, exhibitions and campaigns. Among his projects, he co-curated the Purple Festival at the Palais Galliera in Paris, created a botanical sculpture for Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith’s exhibition Evidence at the Centre Pompidou, and worked on the programming for Soundwalk Collective’s project The Third Eye at Karl Lagerfeld’s 7L Library. He lives in Paris.

Anfisa Vrubel is an editor, writer and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of art, culture and politics. Vrubel is an editor-at-large at Art Observed and Purple magazine, where she contributes original features and interviews with artists and top thinkers in the fields of politics, ecology, art and culture. After studying government at Harvard, she pursued an editorial career, working for publications such as The Brooklyn Rail and its offshoot publication, The River Rail, which is devoted to environmental art and criticism. Vrubel grew up in New York City and lives between there and Mexico City.See all books by Aleph Molinari, Anfisa Vrubel.

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Business, Magazines, Previews, Reviews, Technology

Harvard Business Review – January / February 2024

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Harvard Business Review (January / February 2024) –

The Right Way to Build Your Brand

The best ad campaigns make a memorable, valuable, and deliverable promise to customers. 

More than a century ago the merchant John Wanamaker wryly complained, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” Because the proponents of advertising have always struggled to prove that the money is well spent, that indictment has long helped financial executives justify cutting ad budgets. As no less an authority than Jim Stengel, a former chief marketing officer at Procter & Gamble, has noted, the struggle continues, although huge resources go toward testing advertising copy and measuring effectiveness.

Leading in a World Where AI Wields Power of Its Own

New systems can learn autonomously and make complex judgments. Leaders need to understand these “autosapient” agents and how to work with them. 

The wheel, the steam engine, the personal computer: Throughout history, technologies have been our tools. Whether used to create or destroy, they have always been under human control, behaving in predictable and rule-based ways. As we write, this assumption is unraveling. A new generation of AI systems are no longer merely our tools—they are becoming actors in and of themselves, participants in our lives, behaving autonomously, making consequential decisions, and shaping social and economic outcomes.

Arts & Literature, Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Reviews

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec 18, 2023

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Olimpia Zagnolis “Let There Be Lights”

The New Yorker – December18, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover features Olimpia Zagnoli’s “Let There Be Lights” – The artist discusses strands of brilliance amid dark days.

All the Carcinogens We Cannot See

A grid of cells multiplying.

We routinely test for chemicals that cause mutations. What about the dark matter of carcinogens—substances that don’t create cancer cells but rouse them from their slumber?

By Siddhartha Mukherjee

In the nineteen-seventies, Bruce Ames, a biochemist at Berkeley, devised a way to test whether a chemical might cause cancer. Various tenets of cancer biology were already well established. Cancer resulted from genetic mutations—changes in a cell’s DNA sequence that typically cause the cell to divide uncontrollably. These mutations could be inherited, induced by viruses, or generated by random copying errors in dividing cells. They could also be produced by physical or chemical agents: radiation, ultraviolet light, benzene. One day, Ames had found himself reading the list of ingredients on a package of potato chips, and wondering how safe the chemicals used as preservatives really were.

The Troubled History of the Espionage Act

SECRET stamped atop the United States emblem.

The law, passed in a frenzy after the First World War, is a disaster. Why is it still on the books?

By Amy Davidson Sorkin

In March, 1940, Edmund Carl Heine, a forty-nine-year-old American automobile executive, reached an understanding with a company then known as Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Heine, who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a young man, had spent years at Ford, first in Michigan and then in its international operations in South America and Europe, landing finally in Germany. In 1935, two years after the Nazi regime came to power, Ford fired him, for reasons that are unclear. Heine next signed on with Chrysler, in Spain, but the Spanish Civil War was tough on the car business. And so he was out of a job again.

Animals, Nature, Reviews, Television, Travel, Videos, Wildlife

TV: David Attenborough’s “Planet Earth” At 20 Years

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BBC Earth (December 10, 2023) – Over the past two decades, Sir David Attenborough has travelled to the furthest corners of our planet.

20 years. 7 continents. 3 series. 1 planet.

He reflects upon the incredible animals and habitats he has seen, and what the future could hold – for both us and them.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – December 10, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 10, 2023): 

The Critics’ Picks: A Year in Reading

This is a colorful illustration of dozens of brightly colored books, shown as if they were refracted through a kaleidoscope.
Credit…Timo Lenzen

The Book Review’s daily critics — Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai — reflect on the books that stuck with them in 2023.

By Jennifer Szalai, Alexandra Jacobs and Dwight Garner

24 Things That Stuck With Us in 2023

Margot Robbie, dressed in head-to-toe pink, drives a pink convertible with Ryan Gosling, also in pink, in the back seat. They’re driving through the desert, with a sign reading Barbie Land behind them.
Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in “Barbie.”Credit…Warner Bros. Pictures

Films, TV shows, albums, books, art and A.I.-generated SpongeBob performances that reporters, editors and visual journalists in Culture couldn’t stop thinking about this year.

Financial, Investing, Magazines, Previews, Retirement, Reviews

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Dec 11, 2023

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BARRON’S MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 11, 2023 ISSUE:

Higher Rates Are Here to Stay. What That Really Means.

Higher Rates Are Here to Stay. What That Really Means.

Even as inflation eases, global changes including less trade and growing government deficits will keep rates higher than before.

3 Moves That Retirees Can Make Now to Benefit From Higher Rates

3 Moves That Retirees Can Make Now to Benefit From Higher Rates

Three moves to take advantage of higher rates.

It Isn’t Too Late to Reduce Your 2023 Tax Bill. Consider These 6 Steps.

It Isn't Too Late to Reduce Your 2023 Tax Bill. Consider These 6 Steps.

Thanks to an inflation adjustment to the 2024 income-tax bracket thresholds, you may save money by deferring year-end income and bonuses to next year. 

Culture, Magazines, Photography, Previews, Reviews, Travel

National Geographic Traveller – January 2024

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National Geographic Traveller Magazine (January 2024): The latest issue features adventures in Argentina, exploring Tahiti’s most remote corners, cycling through one of Italy’s iconic food regions and finding out how to plan a Great Walk in New Zealand…

Also inside this issue:

Emilia-Romagna: Cycle through Italy’s ‘food valley’ for a taste of the country’s iconic produce
Tahiti: The French Polynesian island’s southeast offers coastal hiking and surfing fit for champions
Hampi: Long in ruins, the capital of the ancient Hindu kingdom beckons pilgrims to this day
New Zealand: For outdoor lovers, completing one of the country’s Great Walks is the feat of a lifetime
Manchester: Creativity and craftsmanship infuse all areas of life in this northwestern hub
Montreal: Canada’s second city merges European flair with North American innovation
County Wicklow: Foraging, fine arts and forest paths in an outdoorsy getaway to the ‘Garden of Ireland’
Bali: Local recipes and passionate chefs are the backbone of Indonesia’s food-loving island
Boston: In Massachusetts’ capital city, the best hotels are within easy reach of the culinary and cultural action

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

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The Week In Art Podcast (December 8, 2023): This week: the final big art market event of the year, Art Basel in Miami Beach. The Art Newspaper’s associate digital editor, Alexander Morrison, talks to our acting art market editor, Tim Schneider, in Miami about the fair, as tensions rise ahead of the pivotal 2024 US election.

In Athens, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, or EMST, is next week opening a months-long programme which will end up with the entire museum filled with women artists. We talk to EMST’s director, Katerina Gregos, about the programme, called What if Women Ruled the World? And this episode’s Work of the Week is two objects: the 15th-century Florentine artist Francesco Pesellino’s panels telling the story of David and Goliath, made for a luxurious cassone or chest for the Medici family.

The panels belong to the National Gallery in London and have just been restored for a new exhibition there, Pesellino: A Renaissance Master Revealed. We talk to Jill Dunkerton, who did the restoration, about these extraordinary paintings.

Art Basel in Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center, until Sunday, 10 December.

What if Women Ruled the World? begins at EMST, Athens, on 14 December.Pesellino: A Renaissance Master Revealed, National Gallery, London, until 10 March 2024.