Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Nov 20, 2023

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The New Yorker – November 20, 2023 issue: The new issue features The A.I. Issue – Joshua Rothman on the godfather of A.I., Eyal Press on facial-recognition technology, Anna Wiener on Holly Herndon, and more…

Why the Godfather of A.I. Fears What He’s Built

Geoffrey Hinton has spent a lifetime teaching computers to learn. Now he worries that artificial brains are better than ours.

By Joshua Rothman

In your brain, neurons are arranged in networks big and small. With every action, with every thought, the networks change: neurons are included or excluded, and the connections between them strengthen or fade. This process goes on all the time—it’s happening now, as you read these words—and its scale is beyond imagining. You have some eighty billion neurons sharing a hundred trillion connections or more. Your skull contains a galaxy’s worth of constellations, always shifting.

Does A.I. Lead Police to Ignore Contradictory Evidence?

A profile of a face overlaid with various panels.

Too often, a facial-recognition search represents virtually the entirety of a police investigation.


By Eyal Press

On March 26, 2022, at around 8:20 a.m., a man in light-blue Nike sweatpants boarded a bus near a shopping plaza in Timonium, outside Baltimore. After the bus driver ordered him to observe a rule requiring passengers to wear face masks, he approached the fare box and began arguing with her. “I hit bitches,” he said, leaning over a plastic shield that the driver was sitting behind. When she pulled out her iPhone to call the police, he reached around the shield, snatched the device, and raced off. The bus driver followed the man outside, where he punched her in the face repeatedly. He then stood by the curb, laughing, as his victim wiped blood from her nose.

Personal HistoryA Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft

Coding has always felt to me like an endlessly deep and rich domain. Now I find myself wanting to write a eulogy for it.

By James Somers

News: Urban Warfare In Gaza, US-India Meeting, Argentina Rivals Debate

The Globalist Podcast (November 13, 2023) – ‘Haaretz’ journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer from Tel Aviv discusses the latest updates from the Middle East and we discuss urban warfare in Gaza with expert Antônio Sampaio.

We get a roundup of the day’s headlines with Vincent McAviney, discuss a meeting of Indian and US ministers in New Delhi, and assess the outcomes of last night’s presidential debate in Argentina.

The New York Times — Monday, November 13, 2023

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Israeli Forces Near a Struggling Hospital They Say Covers a Hamas Complex

The lights of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City last month.

Israeli officials say that Hamas has built a complex under Al Shifa, a major Gaza hospital. Hamas denies it is operating from beneath the hospital, whose patients face dire conditions amid power cuts.

One Year in the Infuriating and Humiliating Search for a Job in South Africa

Portia Stafford has a high school diploma in hospitality and three certificates from job training programs. She is among a generation of ambitious Africans who spend their days chasing an elusive opening.

F.B.I. Examining Whether Adams Cleared Red Tape for Turkish Government

After winning the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary, Eric Adams successfully pressed city officials to allow the opening of a Manhattan high-rise housing the Turkish Consulate General.

Two Young Democratic Stars Collide Over Israel and Their Party’s Future

Representing neighboring districts in the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres have staked sharply divergent positions on the Israel-Hamas war.

Fall Foliage: Itasca State Park, Northern Minnesota

CBS Sunday Morning (November 12, 2023) – Sunday Morning” takes us deep into the autumn colors at Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota.

Established in 1891, Itasca is Minnesota’s oldest State Park. In this 32,000 acre sanctuary, the mighty Mississippi River begins its 2,552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Points of interest include old growth pine at Preacher’s Grove, Peace Pipe Vista, bison kill site and over 100 lakes. 

Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Norway Travel: Exploring Fjords From Bergen (2023)

DW Travel (November 12, 2023) – The harbor city of Bergen is also known as “the heart of the fjords.”

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:30 Bryggen 01:37 Mini-cruise along the Osterfjord 06:30 Fisketorget food hall

From Norway’s second largest seaport, you can go on a boat tour along the Osterfjord – as our reporter Aisha Sharipzhan did. Let her take you right into the stunning landscape of Norway’s fjords!

Profiles: American Artist Ed Ruscha – “NOW THEN” Exhibition At MoMA NYC

CBS Sunday Morning (November 12, 2023) – The largest exhibition ever of works by Ed Ruscha, one of the most celebrated American artists of the postwar era, is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN

Through Jan 13, 2024

Ruscha, now 85, talks with correspondent David Pogue about collecting much of his life’s work into one retrospective; the cryptic nature of many of his paintings; and his use of unusual materials (like chocolate and axle grease).

“I don’t have any Seine River like Monet,” Ed Ruscha once said. “I’ve just got US 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.” ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN will feature over 200 works—in mediums including painting, drawing, prints, photography, artist’s books, film, and installation—that make use of everything from gunpowder to chocolate. Exploring Ruscha’s landmark contributions to postwar American art as well as lesser-known aspects of his more than six-decade career, the exhibition will offer new perspectives on a body of work that has influenced generations of artists, architects, designers, and writers.

In 1956, Ruscha left his hometown of Oklahoma City and drove along interstate highway 66 to study commercial art in Los Angeles, where he drew inspiration from the city’s architecture, colloquial speech, and popular culture. Ruscha has recorded and transformed familiar subjects—whether roadside gasoline stations or the 20th Century Fox logo—often revisiting motifs, sites, or words years later. Tracing shifts in the artist’s means and methods over time, ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN  underscores the continuous reinvention that has defined his work.

BBC Theater: ‘Shakespeare – Rise Of A Genius’ (2023)

BBC (November 12, 2023) – This gripping three-part documentary series for BBC Two and iPlayer features an A-list cast of actors, including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Brian Cox, Adrian Lester, Lolita Chakrabarti, Martin Freeman and Jessie Buckley, alongside academics and writers James Shapiro, Jeanette Winterson, Lucy Jago , Jeremy O’Harris and Ewan Fernie – who provide fresh insights into the incredible story of our greatest writer, the place and time he inhabited and the work he produced.

Shakespeare: Rise of A Genius

November marks 400 years since arguably the greatest work of English literature was created, the First Folio, published seven years after the death of William Shakespeare and without which much of his work would have been lost for future generations to enjoy today.

The BBC is celebrating this extraordinary anniversary with an ambitious season of content across TV, Radio, BBC iPlayer & BBC Sounds exploring why, 400 years on, Shakespeare’s relevance and influence is as strong as ever. A wealth of programming featuring major actors and leading experts, including new documentaries, performance, music, drama, comedy, news coverage and the best of the BBC archive, as well as special items on flagship BBC shows, will celebrate the man, his world and his timeless writing.

Here’s how you can watch, listen and learn about Shakespeare across the BBC…

Sunday Morning: Stories And News From Zürich, London, Ljubljana & Paris

Monocle on Sunday, November 12, 2023 – Monocle’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, is joined by Eemeli Isoaho and Marcus Schögel to unpack the weekend’s hottest topics.

Plus, check-ins with our friends and correspondents in London, Ljubljana and Paris.

New Books: ‘Dolce Vita’ – The Italian Way Of Life

Dolce Vita by Cesare Cunaccia - Coffee Table Book | ASSOULINE

Assouline Publishing (November 2023) – Experience the Dolce Vita lifestyle – a blend of beauty, style, and charm, inspired by Federico Fellini’s iconic 1960 film. This Italian way of life transcends time and still graces Italy today. Immerse yourself in its irresistible allure, captured by renowned photographers Ferdinando Scianna and Bruno Barbey, from Emilia-Romagna to Sicily.

Dolce Vita

Meet unforgettable figures like Maria Callas, Sophia Loren, and Marcello Mastroianni. With an enchanting introduction by Cesare Cunaccia and a curated collection of images, this book takes you on a journey through Italy, unveiling the origins of Dolce Vita.

The New York Times — Sunday, November 12, 2023

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Army Ammunition Plant Is Tied to Mass Shootings Across the U.S.

The site was built for the military, but commercial sales are booming with little public accountability. Rounds have been bought by murderers, antigovernment groups and others.

Gaza Hospitals Near Collapse as Fighting Rages Nearby

Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday, where a Gazan taking shelter said, “Everyone is on top of one another, displaced people, wounded people, even the medical staff.”

Facing power outages and shortages of food, water and medical supplies, hospitals are struggling just to keep patients alive, Gazan health authorities say.

They Ran Into a Bomb Shelter for Safety. Instead, They Were Slaughtered.

Hamas’s assault on southern Israel began with a barrage of rockets, sending scores of people into roadside refuges. Then gunmen came to hunt them.

Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans

If he regains power, Donald Trump wants not only to revive some of the immigration policies criticized as draconian during his presidency, but expand and toughen them.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious