A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why the British monarchy matters, Vladimir Putin’s war is failing (10:31), and China’s property crisis hasn’t gone away (17:59).
Category Archives: Stories
Photography: National Geographic – Oct 2022
Minds Of Their Own – Ed, a Canadian sphynx cat,
is curious, outgoing, affectionate, and highly responsive to human emotion. He’s also talkative: Say his name, he purrs. In this portrait, his forward-tilted ears show he’s alert and his narrowed pupils that he’s relaxed.
PHOTOGRAPH BY VINCENT LAGRANGE
Cover Previews: Harper’s Magazine – October 2022
Courting Disaster – Why liberals should give up on the judiciary
The Right to Not Be Pregnant – Asserting an essential freedom
Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – Sept 26, 2022
Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s “#fallstyle”
The artist discusses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Uggs, and finding inspiration on Instagram.
Was Rudy Giuliani Always So Awful?
A lively new biography explores how the man once celebrated as “America’s mayor” fell into disgrace.
By Louis Menand
From Boy to Bono
I was born with melodies in my head, and I was looking for a way to hear them in the world.
By Bono
Stories: Chile’s Rejected Constitution, Ukraine’s HARM Missiles, Fertility
Two years in the making, the Chile’s new foundational document was summarily swatted down in a referendum. We ask how it went so wrong, and what comes next.
Data show a long-held view on fertility and prosperity is not as straightforward as thought; we examine the policy implications. And learning about HARM—the missiles causing so much harm to Russian forces.
Books: Literary Review Of Canada – October 2022
The Bear and the Beaver – Eight games, one goal – Robert Lewis
Sentence Structure – Views from the inside – Amy Reiswig
Me, My Shelf, and I – An account of empty boxes – Mark Kingwell
An Uncertain Royal Path – Three Windsor women and the future of the monarchy – Patricia Treble
The last Queen of Canada? – What comes next for Canada and the Crown – John Fraser
Reviews: ‘The Book Report’ Best Reading For Fall 2022
When Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in literature last year, most Americans had never read anything by this fascinating author.
Born in 1948 in Tanzania, Gurnah fled to England after the 1964 uprising in Zanzibar. Over the years, he’s written 10 critically-acclaimed novels.
The latest, “Afterlives” (Riverhead), offers an intimate look at village life in East Africa during the period of German colonialism at the start of the 20th century. This is a book that reclaims forgotten history and honors lost people in a way that’s heartbreaking and revelatory.
“Afterlives” by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Riverhead), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Maggie O’Farrell’s novel “Hamnet,” about the death of William Shakespeare’s only son, was one of the best books of 2020.
Now O’Farrell is back with “The Marriage Portrait” (Knopf), a terrific historical thriller that drops us into the panicked mind of a teenage girl who knows her husband is plotting to kill her.
The girl is Lucrezia de’ Medici, immortalized by Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess.” History tells us she died in 1561 before she could celebrate her first anniversary, but O’Farrell will have you guessing ’til the very last page.
“The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 27 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
What if Americans elected a narcissistic psychopath to the White House?
Some people might say we’ve already seen what that would be like. But James Patterson’s breathless new thriller, “Blowback” (Little, Brown), takes that scenario to the brink of World War III.
Written with Brendan DuBois, “Blowback” imagines a president determined to defeat America’s enemies once and for all.
A pair of secret agents are honored to help the president’s plan – until they realize he’s about to destroy the country.
“Blowback” by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Little, Brown and Company), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Mary Rodgers, who died in 2014, lived her life in the melodies of American musical theater. She was Richard Rodgers’ daughter, composer Adam Guettel’s mother, and Stephen Sondheim’s friend – and she was an accomplished composer and author herself.
Now, all these wonderful stories take center stage in “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), written with New York Times theater critic Jesse Green.
Through painful relationships and happy ones, disappointments and successes, Rodgers is never anything but candid, forgiving and witty. So, take a seat and let the curtain rise.
“Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Follow @JesseKGreen on Twitter
Views: The Sunday Times Magazine – Sept 18, 2022
Sunday Morning: Stories From London, Hong Kong
Emma Nelson, Terry Stiastny, Tessa Szyszkowitz and Monocle’s Hong Kong bureau chief, James Chambers, unpack the weekend’s hottest topics.
Travel & Culture: North In The Mountains Of Iran
Iran’s mountainous terrain has always been an important part of people’s lives. Years ago, these mountains were populated by legendary horsemen. Today, they are the subject of scientific investigation. This film provides the viewer with stunning arial views of these mountains. It unfurls the rich tapestry of Iran’s history, from the legendary Order of the Assassins to the Mongol invasions. We also get to know Iran by meeting some of the fascinating people who live there. Take Ali, a world champion of mounted archery. Despite its waning popularity, the sport has endured in Iran due the importance of horses throughout Iranian history. We get to explore the historic Tabiz bazaar, which is still a bustling market and kaleidoscope of cultures today. There, we meet Dschebrael, a stall owner who speaks Azeri, the official language of Azerbaijan. In fact, Azeri can be heard throughout the market, which serves as a meeting place for Iran’s many ethnic groups, and thus as a microcosm of the country’s cultural diversity. The film introduces us to beekeepers and violinmakers, as well as young people living in Iran who want to travel and express themselves freely on social media — even though it is forbidden.
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