‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (October 2, 2023) – A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the search for the antidote to ageing, why a bigger EU is a better EU (11:30), and Japan’s world-leading toilet culture (25:30).
The New York Times — Monday, October 2, 2023
Inside McCarthy’s Shutdown Turnabout That Left His Speakership at Risk
The Republican speaker opted to keep the government open the only way he could — by partnering with Democrats — in a surprise reversal that left him as politically vulnerable as ever.
Menendez Co-Defendant’s Curious Path From Bad Deals to a Meat Monopoly
After emigrating to New Jersey from Egypt, Wael Hana faced a string of business and legal problems. Then his friend started dating a powerful U.S. senator.
Ukraine’s War of Drones Runs Into an Obstacle: China
As the war with Russia stretches on, so too does a contest to make more and deadlier flying machines. That means a fight over global electronics supply chains that run through China.
In Texas, Mums Rival Football as the Big Homecoming Attraction
The elaborate adornments have come a long way since the days of simple chrysanthemum corsages.
News: U.S. Congress Averts Shutdown, Saudi Arabia – Israel Normalization Deal
Views: The New York Times Magazine – October 1, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (October 1, 2023):
The Lawyer Trying to Hold Gunmakers Responsible for Mass Shootings
Josh Koskoff’s legal victory against Remington has raised the possibility of a new form of gun control: lawsuits against the companies that make assault rifles.
Why Can’t We Stop Unauthorized Immigration? Because It Works.
Our broken immigration system is still the best option for many migrants — and U.S. employers.
Sunday Morning: Stories From Zurich, London, Bangkok And Ankara
October 1, 2023 – Monocle editorial director Tyler Brûlé, Juliet Linley, Samuel Schumacher and Adrien Garcia unpack the weekend’s hottest topics. Plus: check-ins with our friends and correspondents in London, Bangkok, and Ankara.
The New York Times — Sunday, October 1, 2023
Congress Narrowly Averts Shutdown as House Democrats Help Pass Stopgap Bill
In a stunning reversal, Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed through a bill with Democratic votes to temporarily keep the government open. President Biden signed it late Saturday.
Mosquitoes Are a Growing Public Health Threat, Reversing Years of Progress
Climate change and the rapid evolution of the insect have helped drive up malaria deaths and brought dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses to places that never had to worry about them.
Decades Later, Closed Military Bases Remain a Toxic Menace
Cities hoped for new businesses and housing on former military sites. But many are still waiting for poisonous pollution to be cleaned up, a wait that for some may never come.
In Texas, Mums Rival Football as the Big Homecoming Attraction
The elaborate adornments have come a long way since the days of simple chrysanthemum corsages.
CULTURE: FRANCE-AMÉRIQUE MAGAZINE – October 2023
France-Amérique Magazine – October 2023 – The new issue features a walk through France’s vineyards and observe the changing cultural landscape. An estate near Epernay is working to produce the world’s greenest Champagne, while other producers are turning to no- and low-alcohol wines to cater to to sober-curious generation. Welcome to the Age of Raisin. Also in this issue, read about “Wemby-mania” and the success of French NBA players; meet French-American composer Betsy Jolas who, at the age of 97, still creates with the same intensity; and discover a new art space near Paris – a former blimp hangar, masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture.
NOLO WINES – New Culture or Sour Grapes?
Sales of no- and low-alcohol wines soar in France amid deep-seated cultural change. Your correspondent keeps his true feelings bottled up.
By Anthony Bulger
LUDOVIC DU PLESSIS – Telmont, the Green Champagne Revolution
The contagiously enthusiastic “climate optimist,” a former executive for Dom Pérignon in the United States, is working to produce the world’s most environmentally friendly Champagne. In pursuit of this objective, he is working with an American investor renowned for his environmental activism, Leonardo DiCaprio.
By Clément Thiery
HANGAR Y – Outside Paris, a New Art Space Takes Flight
On the banks of a lake in the Meudon forest southwest of the French capital, a masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture is looking to become a hub of contemporary creation.
By Jean-Gabriel Fredet
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
The New York Times — Saturday, Sept 30, 2023
Right Wing Tanks Stopgap Bill in House, Pushing Government Toward a Shutdown
More than 20 hard-right Republicans defied Speaker Kevin McCarthy and defeated their own party’s bill, making a lapse in funding at midnight on Saturday all but certain.
Vulnerable New Yorkers Suffer as Some Services Decline Under Mayor Adams
Some critical services in New York City are growing less reliable under Mayor Eric Adams, from long waits for food stamps to fewer sexual health clinics.
Talking Peace in Sudan, the U.A.E. Secretly Fuels the Fight
From a remote air base in Chad, the Emirates is giving arms and medical treatment to fighters on one side in Sudan’s worsening war, officials say.
Navy Will Start Testing SEALs for Illicit Drug Use
For the first time, everyone in Naval Special Warfare, not just trainees, will face random screening for performance-enhancing drugs, believed to be widely abused in the ranks.
The New York Times Book Review – October 1, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 1, 2023): This week’s issue features the biography “Larry McMurtry: A Life”….
Larry McMurtry, a Critter of the American West Who Rejected Its Mythos
Tracy Daugherty’s new biography is the first comprehensive account of the prolific novelist who brought us “Lonesome Dove,” “The Last Picture Show” and more.
LARRY McMURTRY: A Life, by Tracy Daugherty
When the art critic Dave Hickey learned that Tracy Daugherty was writing a biography of his friend Larry McMurtry (all three men are Texans), he said to Daugherty: “Knowing Larry, it’s going to be a real episodic book.” Episodic this biography is. It’s also vastly entertaining.
McMurtry, the prolific author of “The Last Picture Show,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Lonesome Dove,” was a demythologizer of the American West who appeared to live in several registers at once.
The Miracle and Madness of Science That Changed the World
Benjamín Labatut’s novel “The Maniac” examines the dawn of the nuclear age and the brilliant, sometimes troubled minds behind it.
Boomers Daily 