Monocle Radio (December 30, 2024): In-depth coverage of the day’s main news stories around the world, anchored from London by Georgina Godwin.
The New York Times —- Monday, December 30, 2024
For South Korean Families, a Grim Wait After the Plane Crash
Officials said it could take up to 10 days to prepare the dead for transport, with the uncertainty adding to the shock and grief of relatives packed into an airport hall.
4 min read
10 Years Ago, a U.S. Thaw Fueled Cuban Dreams. Now Hope Is Lost.
A decade since the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations — which many believed would transform the island — Cuba is in its worst crisis since Fidel Castro took power.
Jimmy Carter, Peacemaking President Amid Crises, Is Dead at 100
Rising from Georgia farmland to the White House, he oversaw the historic Camp David peace accords, but his one-term presidency was waylaid by troubles at home and abroad.
The New York Times Book Review – December 29, 2024
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 29, 2024): The latest issue features…
The Novel About U.S. Politics So Outrageous It Nearly Wasn’t Published
Robert Coover’s “The Public Burning” was met with bafflement and awe when it appeared in 1977. Reality has finally caught up to his masterpiece.
The Hottest Trend in Publishing: Books You Can Judge by Their Cover
Elaborately designed books with patterned edges and other effects started as a trend in romance and fantasy, and have now spread throughout the publishing industry.
Marvel Comics as Penguin Classics? Elda Rotor Heard a ‘Hell Yeah’
“I get real geek joy out of learning something new,” says the imprint’s vice president and publisher. She’s proud to have broadened the definition of a classic during her tenure.
Smithsonian Magazine – January 2025 Preview
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE (December 30, 2024): The latest issue features ‘In Search of the World’s Smallest Monkey’ – A journey into Ecuador’s remote forests to spy on adorable, and suprisingly chatty, pygmy marmosets.
Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious ‘Anomaly’ Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII
How an Experiment to Amplify Light in Hospital Operating Rooms Led to the Accidental Invention of the Snow Globe
The origins of the decoration lie in Vienna’s 17th district, where the inventor’s descendants are still making them for collectors around the world
Sunday Morning: Stories From London & Engadine
MONOCLE RADIO (December 30, 2024): A lively round-up of the week’s key topics, anchored from Midori House in London by Emma Nelson.
The New York Times – Sunday, December 29, 2024
The E.P.A. Promotes Toxic Fertilizer. 3M Told It of Risks Years Ago.
The agency obtained research from 3M in 2003 revealing that sewage sludge, the raw material for the fertilizer, carried toxic “forever chemicals.”
Tormentors Change, but Not the Torment
Brutally persecuted for years by the military in Myanmar, the Rohingya ethnic minority has now become the target of one of the junta’s most formidable rivals in the country’s civil war.
Putin Apologizes but Stops Short of Taking Responsibility for Kazakhstan Crash
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call, “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”
How Mexican Cartels Test Fentanyl on Vulnerable People and Animals
A global crackdown on fentanyl has led cartels to innovate production methods and test their risky formulas on people, as well as rabbits and chickens.
Quadrant Magazine – January/February 2025
QUADRANT MAGAZINE (December 28, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Trump Takes Charge’…
Donald Trump and John Galt: Disruptors-in-Chief
Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States anoints him as “Disruptor in Chief”, a vital role with world-historical significance. Trump’s ascension to this position was presaged in Ayn Rand’s stupendous novel Atlas Shrugged (1957), whose central character, John Galt, confronts a similarly sclerotic America, which he sets out systematically to disrupt in a radical, transformative manner. This highly controversial novel is important in illuminating what is at stake at the cultural level in the struggle to come, and in emphasising the scale and direction of the challenges facing Trump, his administration and his supporters. Atlas Shrugged is also valuable because, together with Rand’s earlier novel The Fountainhead (1943), it offers in compelling fictional form a powerful, necessarily hyperbolic, statement of the philosophical values that must be reasserted to make America great again.
Musk Lifts Off
If Hillbilly Elegy was compulsory reading for observers of American politics wanting to understand Trump’s first presidency, Walter Isaacson’s biographical portrait of Elon Musk is mandatory holiday reading for those wanting to understand how Donald J. Trump turned so many critics into passionate supporters and won a resounding presidential vote in 2024, and to gauge how his nation-reshaping policies might play out over the next four years.
Barron’s Magazine – December 30, 2024
BARRON’S MAGAZINE (December 28, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Real Drone Invasion’….
Watch Out, Amazon and UPS: The Race Is On for Drone Delivery
There’s more to drones than mysterious lights. A multibillion-dollar drone delivery market is taking shape. The rewards could be massive.
UnitedHealth and CVS Received Millions in Opioid Rebates Through Medicare
As the U.S. opioid crisis deepened, Medicare plans administered by UnitedHealth and CVS Health were a top source of OxyContin sales, a Barron’s investigation found.
Welcome to Middle Age, Millennials. Here’s How to Get Your Retirement Savings on Track.
AI Is Reshuffling the Ranks of Utilities Stocks. Here Are the Likely Winners.
Once known as safety plays, shares of electricity suppliers are getting a jolt from AI data centers.
The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 29, 2024
The New York Times Magazine – The 12.29.24 Issue features The Lives They Lived: remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.
In Search of Loved Ones, Syrian Women Face Horror of Assad’s Regime
In Syria, women begin picking up the pieces of a broken nation.
The Lives They Lived
Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.
The Best Friends They Left Behind
The beloved pets of some of the notable people we lost this year.
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
MONOCLE RADIO (December 28, 2024): A fast-paced round-up of the week’s news and culture, hosted by Georgina Godwin from Midori House in London.
Boomers Daily 