In London, some 12,000 fireworks lit up the capital’s skyline, with 100,000 tickets being bought for the event. Big Ben’s chimes sounded the start of the display, despite them being silent this year while renovation work is completed.
Hotels: “Waldhaus Sils” In Sils Maria, Switzerland – In A Venue Called “Heroic And Idyllic” By Nietzsche
111 Years of Waldhaus Sils ranges across the hotel’s life and history. Founders Josef and Amalie Giger and their descendants, by now in the fifth generation, have guided the “house in the woods” with skill and fortitude through good times and bad through the twentieth century and into the present. The owners and their exceptionally diverse guests—lively families side-by-side with intellectuals and artists of world renown—have created a unique blend of luxury and modesty, historic grandeur and playful fun, smooth professionalism and unexpected idiosyncrasies.
Those in the know are aware that Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel has a real-life counterpart in the Swiss Alps: The Waldhaus Sils, which has pleased and puzzled visitors for 111 years and become an icon of Swiss hospitality. Located above the small village of Sils Maria near St. Moritz, it overlooks a striking landscape of forests, lakes and mountains and offers a combination of Belle Epoque flair and modern comfort. Its distinctive charm comes from the fact that the Waldhaus has been family-owned and operated since its grand opening on June 15, 1908.
Interviews: Author Of “The First Cell” Azra Raza On Why Today’s Cancer Research Is Failing (Video)
Slash, poison, burn. That’s what a leading cancer doctor calls the protocol of 
surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. We spend $150 billion each year treating cancer, yet a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it today — with a few exceptions — as one was 50 years ago. Today we spend the hour with renowned cancer doctor, Dr. Azra Raza, author of the new book, “The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last.” She argues that experiments and the funding for eradicating cancer look at the disease when it is in its later stages, when the cancer has grown and spread. Instead, she says, the focus should be on the very first stages — the first cell, as her book is titled. She says this type of treatment would be more effective, cheaper and less toxic.
Economics: A Review Of The U.S. Economy Over The Decade Of The 2010’s (PBS)
As the year comes to a close, we look back at the past decade in the American economy — the first without a recession since record-keeping began in the 1950s. While unemployment remains at a historic low, wage growth has been sluggish, and inequality continues to divide the country. David Wessel of the Brookings Institution and The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell join Jeffrey Brown.
Interviews: 80-Year Old Lily Tomlin Opens Up On Her Long Career (NY Times)
From a New York Times interview (12/30/19):
Has comedy evolved since you started? I think a lot more is allowed. When I was first starting out and was on “Laugh-In,” around ’71, I was trying to keep a low profile when I’d be working on something new.
Did you have that sense early in your career that your approach to comedy was different from most comedians? No. I just wanted to do the person, and more than likely the character would be self-confident and secure in her world. for instance. She mostly was looking out for herself and skewering pomposity, if I was going to be true to a child, the humor would take on a different quality.
1940’s History: “The Terrifying Physics Of WWII Dive Bombing” (Video)
The act of dive bombing during World War II was a death defying trial of skill and nerve. You aimed your plane down, four miles above the ocean, and plummeted at speeds of up to 275 miles per hour.
History Of Travel: “The Marketing Of Pan Am” From 1950 – 1980 (Podcast)
Moncocle.com spoke with Tom Geismar, founding partner of Chermayeff & Geismar, one of the top graphic design agencies in the world and the man responsible for the marketing of Pan Am in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.
From the Chermayeff & Geismar website:
The most important aspect of the identity design for Pan Am was to suggest that the name of the airline be changed to “Pan Am” from the long and cumbersome “Pan American World Airways.” The Pan Am logotype in capitals and lower-case letters was also adopted with an accompanying world symbol.
In addition to the corporate identity, our firm designed comprehensive graphics for the airline, including a poster campaign and the menus for the inaugural flight of the Boeing 747.
Arts & Culture: “Must-See Museum Exhibitions In January 2020” (Sotheby’s)
Interviews: “Circe” Author Madeline Miller (Video)
Madeline Miller, author of our December pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions on “Circe,” and Jeff announces the January book selection.
About the book:
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power–the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.
News: Susan Page And Domenico Montaro On “Politics Monday” (PBS)
USA Today’s Susan Page and Domenico Montanaro of NPR join Lisa Desjardins to discuss the latest political news, including the outlook for 2020 Democrats not making it to the debate stage, campaign dynamics in Iowa and New Hampshire, how senators running for president will handle a potential impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment strategy and the year in review.
Boomers Daily 