“In the Dark” Reports on the Lack of Accountability for a U.S. War Crime
The podcast investigates the events in Haditha, Iraq, and compiles a database to show the inherent problem of the military judging its own members. By Willing Davidson
Are Your Morals Too Good to Be True?
Scientists have shattered our self-image as principled beings, motivated by moral truths. Some wonder whether our ideals can survive the blow to our vanity. By Manvir Singh
Russia’s Espionage War in the Arctic
For years, Russia has been using the Norwegian town of Kirkenes, which borders its nuclear stronghold, as a laboratory, testing intelligence operations there before replicating them across Europe. By Ben Taub
The Local Project (July 26, 2024): This home’s design facilitates a rare co-habitation with the forested landscape and represents a balance of modern architecture and the purity of nature. From a distance, Edition Office’s Federal House appears like a shadow nestled into the folding hills of the hinterland, a sharp contrast to the vibrant surrounds.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Home 00:58 – The Initial Brief 02:11 – A Walkthrough of the Home 03:07 – Shaping Light Through Design 03:30 – The Warm Material Palette 04:01 – A Holistic Experience 04:57 – Thankful Moments
Upon approach, the textures of the exterior convey a distinct dialogue with nature. This home’s design acts to deepen relationships between people and the natural setting and intimately shows the inner machinations of the environment. The brief outlined a home that would act as a sanctuary and elemental respite from the clients’ high-pressure careers. The occupants of Federal House enjoy a relationship with the hillside, forest and grassland at the site’s rear as well as panoramic views over the forested horizon from the heavily inset living-zoned platform and sheltered pool.
A reverberation of settler colonial homesteads of the past, this home’s design inverts the front verandah typology, looking inward to orbit an internal courtyard and present a tightly controlled outer envelope. Federal House’s interior spaces act as an elevated stage, a refuge from which to observe the passing of time through the shifting weather and seasons of the Northern Rivers hinterland. The covered outdoor spaces welcome in the landscape, where modestly scaled living spaces and bedrooms lie.
It’s hard to empirically determine whether they drive voters to the polls. But they might have less measurable effects.
The Magazine for Mercenaries Enters Polite Society
Susan Katz Keating, the editor and publisher of Soldier of Fortune, discusses how she’s changing the publication and assesses the threat of political violence.
How Machines Learned to Discover Drugs
The A.I. revolution is coming to a pharmacy near you.
At the Democratic National Convention, the sense of relief was as overwhelming as the general euphoria—but the campaign against Donald Trump has only just begun. By Jonathan Blitzer
Country Life Magazine (August 20, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Sensational Scotland’ – Where to buy north of the border; The legend of the Stone of Scone; Up the workers – Chatsworth’s red-sock army; Forests of the future – the trees we should plant now…
Building on history
In the first of two articles, John Goodall charts the central role played by Scone and its former abbey in the history of Scotland.
Barking up the right tree
Britain’s native trees are facing an uncertain future, but we can still act to save our magnificent woodland, argues Sir Harry Studholme
Working their red socks off
A very special band of helpers is behind the smooth staging of Chatsworth Country Fair, as volunteer Simon Reinhold reveals
O Flowers of Scotland
Penny Churchill casts her eye over three Scottish estates, one a ‘pastoral oasis’ making its first appearance on the open market
Tom Byrne’s favourite painting
The actor chooses a work that treads that fine divide between ‘life and death, night and day’.
Dive in with both feet
There’s nothing more diverse than divers. Marianne Taylor dips below the surface to examine these underwater masters
Thistle do nicely
The ‘weediest of weeds’ is loved by insects, loathed by landowners. John Wright tackles the prickly matter of Scotland’s emblem.
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell selects luxuries designed or made in Scotland
Is that a plum in your mouth?
Tom Parker Bowles finds that the best way to savour traditional British varieties is to grow them yourself
Sculpting with plants
Perennials and billowing grasses are a perfect backdrop for the sculpture at Whitburgh House in Midlothian, finds Caroline Donald
The New Yorker (August 19, 2024): The latest issue featuresBarry Blitt’s “Roller Coaster” – The highs and lows of the campaigns for America’s highest office.
Country Life Magazine (August 14, 2024): The latest issue features‘Save the Albion Cow’ – It’s rarer than a Giant Panda; Old houses, new technology; Hot and Steamy – Why the pressure cooker is back and Whizz kids – What made Elizabeth I, Brunel and Nelson special…
Breed for victory
Our treasured native livestock breeds are in danger of being lost, yet they have a crucial role to play, believes Kate Green
Levelling up
Anyone waiting with trepidations for the A-level results should take heart from the likes of Nelson and Brunel, says Alice Loxton
If walls could talk
Old houses with poor wifi need not be denied new gadgets, from wireless lighting to kettles that can be switched on remotely. Julie Harding taps her screen
What makes you click?
From a hollowed-out cow to autofocus and gyro-stabilised cameras, clever ideas continue to transform wildlife photography. Amie Elizabeth White takes a look down the lense.
Full steam ahead
Neil Buttery fires up the pressure cooker, back in our kitchens and tenderising those bones
Paint your wagon
Sturdy, hardworking and now prized for their rarity, farm wagons were key to rural life in times past. Jack Watkins rolls out the surviving examples.
Country Life’s tech commandments
Follow thou Toby Keel’s wise advice for digital life and thou shalt not be shunned in society
Planting for the future
The new generation is building on a fine legacy of gardening and travel at Bryngwyn Hall in Powys, where Caroline Donald wanders among trees gathered from far-flung countries
Foraging
John Wright sets off into the woods in search of meaty rot fungi, the magnificent chicken of the woods and its cousin, joy-inducing hen of the woods
Waiter! My soup is cold
It might be an acquired taste, but gazpacho — recipe of your choice — is worth tasting again. Tom Parker Bowles dips his spoon into a Spanish favourite
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