Country Life Magazine – July 5, 2023 issue: The seashore as artistic inspiration, from Constable’s wild skies to Gormley’s lonely figures; Puffins -the parrots of the sea; A history of mermaids, and more…
A shore thing – Michael Prodger examines the seashore as artistic inspiration, from Constable’s wild skies to Gormley’s lonely figures
Meet the parrots of the sea – The colourful puffin inspires amused adoration in everyone, but the big-beaked birds have a tough side, finds Ian Morton
Tripping the light fintastic – Sinister sirens who lure sailors to their deaths or beautiful beings who drag men from watery graves? Carla Passino combs history for mention of mermaids
Literary Review – July 2023 Issue: Brushes with the Dutch Golden Age; @LauraCummingArt’s ‘Thunderclap’ – a remarkable experiment in form as well as a richly satisfying extended meditation on art, life and death’; Bismarck’s Great Gamble; Eden by Thames – The Infinite City: Utopian Dreams on the Streets of London…
The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World By James Ball
Back in the mists of time, great idealism surrounded social media. There was a sense that global interconnection would shift us into a more egalitarian and democratic age. How time makes fools of us all.
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art & Life & Sudden Death By Laura Cumming
As a teenager with an interest in art, growing up on London’s Old Kent Road with a father whose mantra was ‘God gave you legs to walk’ (he didn’t believe in God but he did believe in walking), I often found myself on Sunday afternoons walking to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. I remember distinctly the day I discovered the Dutch painters. It wasn’t Rembrandt or Vermeer who caught my eye, but Hendrick Avercamp and, especially, Pieter de Hooch.
‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (July 3, 2023) – A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist: The humbling of Vladimir Putin, how misfiring environmentalism risks harming the world’s poor (10:20) and some tips to design better flags (18:55).
The Wagner mutiny exposes the Russian tyrant’s growing weakness. But don’t count him out yet
The last pretence of Vladimir Putin to be, as he imagines, one of his nation’s historic rulers was stripped away on June 24th. A band of armed mercenaries swept through his country almost unopposed, covering some 750km (470 miles) in a single day, seizing control of two big cities and getting to within 200km of Moscow before withdrawing unharmed.
The trade-off between development and climate change is impossible to avoid
Thank goodness for the enthusiasts and the obsessives. If everyone always took a balanced view of everything, nothing would ever get done. But when campaigners’ worldview seeps into the staid apparatus of policymaking and global forums, bad decisions tend to follow. That, unfortunately, is especially true in the world of climate change.
Have you ever met a vexed vexillologist? This is someone who frets when flags are badly designed. Sadly, too many flags flutter to deceive: they are cluttered with imagery, a mess of colours and all too easily forgettable. Yet flags matter. Witness Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow banner, which now serves as a potent symbol around the world (not to mention on this newspaper’s covers).
Wall Street Journal (July 3, 2023) – Artificial intelligence doesn’t just make fantastical images. For white-collar workers, generative AI like ChatGPT can make jobs easier by creating drafts of documents or presentations.
Video timeline:0:00 AI software 0:42 Why white-collar jobs? 2:01 AI and job cuts 3:52 What’s next?
Initial images, video and product designs could be taken over by machine learning tech. In fact, one report says nearly 4,000 workers lost their jobs in May to AI. Dropbox cut 16% of its workforce in part to invest more in the tech, while IBM sees a future where 30% of clerical work could be taken over by AI.
WSJ explains why AI may take some white-collar jobs – but also add new ones.
I did everything I could to avoid writing my historical novel. When I finally started “The Fraud,” one principle was clear: no Dickens. By Zadie Smith
For the first thirty years of my life, I lived within a one-mile radius of Willesden Green Tube Station. It’s true I went to college—I even moved to East London for a bit—but such interludes were brief. I soon returned to my little corner of North West London. Then suddenly, quite abruptly, I left not just the city but England itself. First for Rome, then Boston, and then my beloved New York, where I stayed ten years. When friends asked why I’d left the country, I’d sometimes answer with a joke: Because I don’t want to write a historical novel. Perhaps it was an in-joke: only other English novelists really understood what I meant by it. And there were other, more obvious reasons.
After a millennium, she remains the hardest-working woman in literature. It was not enough to be saddled with a husband who had the nasty habit of marrying and murdering a new virgin every day to assure himself of spousal fidelity. Nor was it enough to produce a series of nested stories under such deadlines (truly, I complain too much), stories so prickly and tantalizing that the king postponed her murder every night to wait for the next installment. That’s to say nothing of the entirely forgotten three children she bore over those thousand and one nights. Who recalls that there was always a new baby in Scheherazade’s arms?
Apollo Magazine– July/August 2023 issue: At the new National Portrait Gallery, The unswerving art of Ellsworth Kelly, A Futurist family home in Rome, and more…
Discover Germany, Switzerland and Austria – The top three hikes in the Alps; garden season highlights; a special focus on Alta Badia, a cyclist’s paradise; an interview with actor Peter Ketnath; top Riesling wines for long summer evenings; Switzerland’s best agencies and more…
The Alps offer a variety of walks and hikes for every skill level. Some of our favourites can be found in the Swiss Aletsch Arena region which is known for its outstanding natural beauty, its many sunshine hours, and more.
In the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage, Alta Badia offers the ideal area to experience the emotions that cyclists, from amateurs to professionals, seek and appreciate every time they saddle up.
In recent years, thanks to the numerous activities and initiatives related to cycling, Alta Badia has become a point of reference for demanding cyclists. In August 2022, Alta Badia was awarded the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) certificate, an internationally recognised reference standard for sustainable tourism. The bicycle, in all its forms, is the ideal means to experience tourism in an environmentally sustainable way, and events such as the Maratona dles Dolomites-Enel and the Bike Days should therefore be a symbol and an important signal in this direction. For this reason, cycling in Alta Badia is in no way inferior to hiking, where clean air, splendid landscapes and spectacular peaks invite you to treat nature with respect.
World Economic Forum (July 1, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:
0:15New blood test can detect 50 kinds of cancer – Experts say it could revolutionize cancer care. It’s called the Galleri test and it can identify cancers before symptoms appear. The UK National Health Service is testing it on 142,000 people. If successful, this trial will be extended to 1 million people next year. Doctors hope 5,000 cases could be detected early as a result. The Galleri test works by identifying changes in bits of free-floating DNA that leak from tumours into the bloodstream. #cancer#bloodtest#nhs#dna
1:36 5 exciting emerging technologies – The World Economic Forum has published its Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023 Report. It draws on the expertise of more than 90 academics, industry leaders and futurists to discover the technologies most likely to impact people and the planet in the next 3-5 years. Which emerging technology are you most excited about?
3:17This tablet is an innovation for the visually impaired – The Dot Pad lets visually impaired users play games and browse the web on the world’s first smart tactile graphics display. It uses AI to analyse images and split them into segments. Reproducing them on a tactile screen so blind people can read and interact with them.
4:58 Feminist economist dissects gender-neutral policies – Economic policies can either reinforce gender inequality, says Valeria Esquivel or help end it.
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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
France-Amérique Magazine – July/August 2023 – The issue celebrates Bastille Day, a look at La Marseillaise in New York City; why the 1789 Revolution still carries so much weight in contemporary French culture; a profile of French food design pioneer Anna Polonsky; and learn all about the Great Chartreuse Shortage of 2023…
ANNA POLONSKY – The French Food Design Pioneer
Born in Paris and based in New York City, the founder of the Polonsky & Friends studio combines her passions for design and cuisine by creating visual identities for restaurants and food brands.
LA MARSEILLAISE – A Taste of Free France in Manhattan
Where could you have once danced to accordion music, met fellow French comrades-in-arms, and even bumped into Marlene Dietrich, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jean Gabin? All the Free French soldiers who passed through New York City during World War II would have pointed you toward La Marseillaise, on Second Avenue.
SARAH BERNHARDT – A Scandalous French Superstar in America
Having completed nine tours of the United States during her career, actress Sarah Bernhardt was probably the most famous French woman in America at the time. An exhibition in Paris is currently celebrating the thespian, who passed away a century ago this year.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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