Morning News Podcast: Trump Signs Relief Bill, Nashville Bombing

Trump signs relief and government funding bill into law, Nashville bombing suspect Anthony Quinn Warner died in explosion, and what to do with your old Christmas tree.

Walking Tour: ‘Christmas In Latin Quarter, Paris’

Also known as the 5th arrondissement, the quaint Latin Quarter is home to the Sorbonne University and student-filled cafes. It’s also famed for its bookshops, including the landmark Shakespeare & Company. Family-friendly attractions include the Jardin des Plantes botanical gardens and the National Museum of Natural History. The stately Panthéon building holds the remains of notables like Voltaire and Marie Curie.

Aerial Travel: ‘Amalfi Coast – Italy’ (Video)

Amalfi Coast from above, Italy. Summer 2020.

The Amalfi Coast is a 50-kilometer stretch of coastline along the southern edge of Italy’s Sorrentine Peninsula, in the Campania region. It’s a popular holiday destination, with sheer cliffs and a rugged shoreline dotted with small beaches and pastel-colored fishing villages. The coastal road between the port city of Salerno and clifftop Sorrento winds past grand villas, terraced vineyards and cliffside lemon groves. 

The Economist Podcast: Christmas Newsletters, Erasmus & Lure Of Pebbles

A selection of three articles read aloud from the holiday issue of The Economist. This week: a history of Christmas newslettersthe life of Desiderius Erasmus (18:20) and the lure of pebbles (37:45).

Travel: ‘Ajman & Sharjah – United Arab Emirates’ (UAE)

Ajman is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates, located along the Persian Gulf. It is the smallest emirate of the United Arab Emirates and is engulfed by the larger emirate of Sharjah. 

Sharjah is the third largest and third most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. The emirate of Sharjah borders with Dubai to the south, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain to the north and Ras Al Khaimah to the east. 

The United Arab Emirates, sometimes simply called the Emirates, is a country in Western Asia located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Oman and Saudi Arabia, and has maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran.

Travel Tours: ‘Kentucky Bourbon Trail’ (Video)

Kentucky Bourbon is known worldwide and is a staple of the American spirits industry. Nowhere else are there so many famous bourbon brands all within a short drive from each other as there are in Kentucky. Amie and I spent the better part of a week trying many of the different distilleries and made this video to showcase how amazing this area is, especially if you like bourbon. This video was shot in January of 2020.

  • 95% of the world’s Bourbon is produced in Kentucky.
  • In order for whiskey to be Bourbon, it must be made with a minimum of 51 percent corn, aged in new, charred oak containers, stored at no more than 125 proof and bottled at no less than 80 proof.
  • There are now 9.1 million barrels of Bourbon aging in Kentucky, which is 2 barrels for every person living in the state.

Website

Museum Tour: ‘Palazzo Barberini’ – Gallery Of Ancient Art, Rome (Video)

Palazzo Barberini is an imposing Baroque building that houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, the National Gallery of Ancient Art. Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the mansion was the most elegant and luxurious villa of the period. 

In 1623, Maffeo Barberini, once made Pope (Pope Urban VIII), ordered the construction of the estate to Italian architect Carlo Maderno, who is responsible for the design of St Peter’s Basilica’s façade. The construction started in 1625 and was finished in 1633 by Bernini, after Maderno’s death.

In 1949, the Italian State bought the palazzo to house the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, which was created from the donations of pieces of art by several noble Italian families.

Website

Arctic Journey: From Greenland To Alaska

Two film crews explore the spectacular wilderness of the Arctic. The people who live there face dramatic changes.

Part two takes viewers from East Greenland to Alaska. The region around the North Pole is one of the greatest and least-known wildernesses in the world – and it’s rapidly changing due to global warming. 350 people, most of them Inuit, live in Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland. The nearest settlement is on neighboring Iceland. Almost 800 kilometers of Arctic Ocean separate the two islands. The film team accompanies an Inuit family through Scoresby Sound, a fjord system on the eastern coast of Greenland.

They travel hundreds of kilometers in small boats through pack ice, passing icebergs as high as skyscrapers. On the way they meet whalers who are hunting for narwhals in summer. In this Inuit culture, narwhal skin and polar bear goulash have ensured survival for thousands of years. Greenpeace and WWF activists want to stop whaling and polar bear hunting – but this poses a threat to the indigenous way of life on Greenland.

On the expedition through the world’s largest fjord system, the team learns about the consequences of global warming: melting permafrost and a rapid increase in greenhouse gases. The changes are worrying. Some say they have brought benefits to the far north — the ice breaks up earlier and so too does the hunting season. However, the risks outweigh this benefit. The knowledge and way of life that have been passed down from generation to generation may soon be unsustainable.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious