The New York Times —- Tuesday, December 24, 2024

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Biden Commutes 37 Death Sentences Ahead of Trump’s Plan to Resume Federal Executions

Those affected by the president’s action on Monday are still subject to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Three men will remain on federal death row.

House Ethics Panel Report Accuses Gaetz of ‘Regularly’ Paying for Sex and Using Drugs

The Florida Republican resigned from the House and withdrew as Donald J. Trump’s attorney general pick in the weeks before the report’s release.

The New Climate Gold Rush: Scrubbing Carbon From the Sky

Investors are betting that they can make a dent in global warming, and healthy profits, with companies that alter the atmosphere.

They Entered Treatment. Drugs, Overdoses and Deaths Followed.

Baltimore addiction programs draw patients with free housing while collecting millions. Some say one company offered little help.

The New Yorker Magazine Dec. 30, 2024 & Jan. 6, 2025

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The New Yorker (December 23, 2024): Diana Ejaita’s “Midnight Moments” – The magical blur of New Year’s Eve.

How Much Does Our Language Shape Our Thinking?

English continues to expand into diverse regions around the world. The question is whether humanity will be homogenized as a result. By Manvir Singh

Alice Munro’s Passive Voice

The celebrated writer’s partner sexually abused her daughter Andrea. The abuse transformed Munro’s fiction, but she left it to Andrea to confront the true story. By Rachel Aviv

Is There Any Escape from the Spotify Syndrome?

The history of recorded music is now at our fingertips. But the streamer’s algorithmic skill at giving us what we like may keep us from what we’ll love. By Hua Hsu

The New York Times —- Monday, December 23, 2024

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Germany Tries to Untangle Complex Profile of Market Attack Suspect

The authorities said they were struggling to understand the motives behind ramming a car into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, which left a 9-year-old boy among the five dead.

From Liberal Icon to MAGA Joke: The Waning Fortunes of Justin Trudeau

Canada’s prime minister gained global renown 10 years ago for his unabashedly progressive politics. But at home, voters turned sour on him long ago.

Behold! ‘Christmas Adam’ Is Born.

First there was Christmas Eve … and then a new celebration was created.22h agoBy Elizabeth Dias

Hoover Institution: Best Books On Politics In 2024

Hoover Year in Review Books

Hoover Institution (December 22, 2024): The depth of Hoover’s scholarship is reflected in the numerous books published by our fellows on a broad variety of topics and issues.

The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan

Boiling Moat by Matt Pottinger


Edited by Matt Pottinger (Hoover Institution Press) Publication Date: July 1, 2024

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has openly expressed his intention to annex Taiwan to mainland China, even threatening the use of force. An invasion or blockade of Taiwan by Chinese forces would be catastrophic, with severe consequences for democracies worldwide. In The Boiling Moat, Matt Pottinger and a team of scholars and distinguished military and political leaders urgently outline practical steps for deterrence.

the full proceedings from this conference—the presentations, responses, and discussions. In it, participants debate the meaning of getting monetary policy “back on track,” the significance of recent bank failures, and how to improve forecasting and oversight.

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation


By Victor Davis Hanson (Basic Books)
Publication Date: May 7, 2024

In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span centuries, from the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World, to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war’s drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again.

At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House

At War with Ourselves


By H.R. McMaster (HarperCollins Publishers)
Publication Date: August 27, 2024

At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive president drive necessary shifts in US foreign policy at a critical moment in history. H.R. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyperpartisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump’s presidency and give readers insight into what a second Trump term might look like.

Documenting Communism: The Hoover Project to Microfilm and Publish the Soviet Archives

Documenting Communism: The Hoover Project to Microfilm and Publish the Soviet Archives


By Charles G. Palm (Hoover Institution Press) Foreword by Condoleezza Rice, Introduction by Stephen Kotkin
Publication Date: June 1, 2024

In late 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. Over the next 12 years, the Hoover Institution microfilmed and published the newly opened records of the Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet State. Charles Palm, who led this mission, details how he and his colleagues secured a historic agreement with the Russian Federation, then launched and successfully carried out the joint project with the Russian State Archives and their partner, Chadwyck-Healey Ltd.

The New York Times Book Review – Dec. 22, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 22, 2024): The latest features…

When Stephen Sondheim Transformed Theater, and Theatergoers, Forever

An incisive new book, “How Sondheim Can Change Your Life,”

The Books Readers Loved in 2024

Memorable characters, delightful nonfiction and poignant novels stuck with people across the world.

Why One of the World’s Most Elusive Writers Still Haunts Readers

Newly translated letters reveal the inner life of Paul Celan, offering clues to his enigmatic poems.

Foreign Affairs Magazine: The Best Essays Of 2024

FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE (December 22, 2024): The top essays of the year include…

The Self-Doubting Superpower

By Fareed Zakaria

America shouldn’t give up on the world it made.

Why Gaza Matters

By Jean-Pierre Filiu

Since antiquity, the territory has shaped the quest for power in the Middle East.

Israel’s Self-Destruction

By Aluf Benn

Netanyahu, the Palestinians, and the price of neglect.

Russia Is Burning Up Its Future

By Andrei Kolesnikov

How Putin’s pursuit of power has hollowed out the country and its people.

The Trouble With “the Global South”

By Comfort Ero

What the West gets wrong about the rest.

The New York Times — Sunday, December 22, 2024

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Deception and Betrayal: Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime

President Bashar al-Assad, who wielded fear and force over Syria for more than two decades, fled the country under the cover of night — and a fake political address.

Biden Administration Weighs Putting Up Roadblocks to Trump’s Deportation Campaign

The administration may extend protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants whose legal status is set to expire near the start of the Trump administration.

3-Minute Christmas Market Rampage Shakes Germany

At least five people, including a 9-year-old child, were killed in the attack, which took place in the eastern city of Magdeburg. The authorities are still seeking a motive.

Death on the Night Shift at Frozen Pizza Factories in Chicago

Undocumented workers help feed America’s hunger for prepared foods, but some take jobs with staffing agencies that expose them to hazardous conditions.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious