Arts & Culture: The New Criterion – January 2025
Tag Archives: Books
The New York Times — Sunday, December 15, 2024
Syria Shudders as Assad’s Prison Atrocities Come Into the Light
At the country’s most notorious prison, Syrians confront their worst fears: that they will never know what happened to the loved ones who disappeared.
South Korea’s President Is Impeached After Martial Law Crisis
Some members of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s own party helped remove him from office. But the political uncertainty is far from over.
What Ever Happened to the Lady Jaguars?
When we met them a dozen years ago, they were teenagers in trouble, playing for a basketball team that always lost. Did they find a way to win at life?
Gas Could Mean Billions for Indigenous People in Canada. Some Fear a Cost.
New export terminals along the rugged Pacific coastline have reignited a generations-old debate over identity and environmental stewardship.
The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024
How U.S. Firms Battled a Government Crackdown to Keep Tech Sales to China
An intense struggle has unfolded in Washington between companies and officials over where to draw the line on selling technology to China.
Joy Buoys Syria’s First Friday Prayers Since Assad Ouster, but Hardships Loom
In an impoverished, war-ravaged country, the first prayers after the fall of a brutal regime drew jubilant crowds, even in areas seen as regime strongholds.
The Fall of al-Assad Quickly Infuses Europe’s Debate Over Asylum
Nearly a million Syrians in Germany alone have made new lives. But after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, some politicians across the continent have suggested that refugees could return home.
McKinsey to Pay $650 Million in Opioid Settlement With Justice Department
A former senior partner will also plead guilty to obstruction of justice after destroying company documents.
The Economist Magazine – December 14, 2024 Preview
How the new Syria might succeed or fail
The end of the house of Assad. Much will go wrong. But for now, celebrate a tyrant’s fall
What Spain can teach the rest of Europe
Our number-crunching suggests it was the best-performing rich economy in 2024
America’s searing market rally brings new risks
Financial innovation is just as much to blame as the technological sort
Multilateral institutions are turning away from the poorest countries
Even bail-outs are getting expensive
The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024
Syria’s New Leaders Balance Huge Struggles Amid Disorder
The rebels who seized control called for foreign help in prosecuting atrocities, while trying to restore order in a fractured country.
Power, Intimidation and the Resurrection of Trump’s Support for Hegseth
The president-elect became convinced that letting Pete Hegseth fail would set off a feeding frenzy among senators. What followed was a MAGA swarm that helped salvage his bid, at least for now.
Recent Immigration Surge Has Been Largest in U.S. History
Under President Biden, more than two million immigrants per year have entered, government data shows.
The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War
Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk Sudan. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the fight.
Politics: The Guardian Weekly-December 13, 2024
The Guardian Weekly (December 11, 2024): The new issue features The fall of Syria’s brutal dictatorship. Plus The best books of 2024.
Not even the most optimistic of rebels could have predicted the rapid collapse, last weekend, of the Assad dynasty that ruled Syria with an iron fist for more than 50 years. Yet while there was relief and joy both inside Syria and among the nation’s vast displaced diaspora, it was also accompanied by apprehension over what might come next.
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Spotlight | Russia and Ukraine wait warily for Trump transition
The idea of the US president-election as a saviour for Ukraine, as unlikely as it may seem, holds an appeal for an exhausted nation without a clear path to victory. Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer report
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Environment | The jailed anti-whaler defiant in face of extradition threat
Capt Paul Watson talks to Daniel Boffey about his arrest on behalf of the Japanese government, his ‘interesting’ Greenland prison, and separation from his children
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Feature | The growing threat of firearms that can be made at home
One far-right cell wanted to use 3D-printed guns to cause ‘maximum confusion and fear’ on the streets of Finland. Could the police intercept them in time? By Samira Shackle
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Opinion | Farage is lying in wait. Britain can’t afford for Starmer to fail
It is not enough for the Labour leader’s ‘milestones’ to be achieved. Voters must feel the improvement in their daily lives, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
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Culture | The best books of 2024
From a radical retelling of Huckleberry Finn to Al Pacino’s autobiography, our critics round up their favourite reads of the year
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Dec. 12, 2024
Do you drink coffee? Ask your gut
Largest study of links between consumption of the beverage and gut diversity finds coffee-loving bacteria.
Has Venus ever had an ocean? Its volcanoes hint at an answer
Chemistry of the planet’s atmosphere suggests that its interior has never held water.
Ancient stacks of dishes tell tale of society’s dissolution
Artefacts from a Mesopotamian archaeological site suggest that people in the region founded and later rejected an early form of the organized state.
Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Dec. 13, 2024
Times Literary Supplement (December 11, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The tragic Queen of France’ – The legend of Marie Antoinette; William Dalrymple’s Indian empire; Mary Beard – A night at the museum; The coffee house scientist; What Kindle readers want…
Arts: The Brooklyn Rail – December/January 2025
The Brooklyn Rail (December 11, 2024): The latest issue features…
“When you invent the ship, you must also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane, you must also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution… Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.”
–Paul Virilio
“The human spirit must prevail over technology.”
–Albert Einstein
Art
- SARA CWYNAR with Chloe Stagaman
- MARA DE LUCA with Tom McGlynn
- LEE MARY MANNING with Jean Dykstra
- JOEL STERNFELD with Geoffrey Batchen
- All the Feels – By Suzanne Hudson
Critics Page
- For Love or Money: Surviving Criticism – By Lilly Wei and Barbara A. MacAdam
- Ann Binlot
- William Corwin
- Will Fenstermaker
- Manami Fujimori
- Melissa Gronlund
- Eleanor Heartney
- Karen Michel
- Carter Ratcliff
- Walter Robinson
- Andrew Russeth
- Jillian Steinhauer
- Sean Tatol
- Xintian Wang
ArtSeen
Sylvia Plimack Mangold: Tapes, Fields, and Trees, 1975–84 – By Rebecca Allan
David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture – By Phong Bui
Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 – By David Carrier
Jaeheon Lee: Ghosts in the Garden – By William Corwin
Edges of Ailey – By Ekin Erkan
Patterns in Abstraction – By Leia Genis
Jordan Nassar: THERE – By Robert Alan Grand
Jay DeFeo: Trees – By Suzanne Hudson
Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono – By Eana Kim
Yuli Yamagata: Ghosts Don’t Wear Watches – By Alfred Mac Adam
Soledad Sevilla: Ritmos, tramas, variables – By Valerie Mindlin
Mark Bradford: Keep Walking – By Charles Moore
André Griffo: Exploded View – By Rômulo Moraes
Jesse Krimes: Corrections – By Joanna Seifter
Lynne Drexler: Color Notes – By David Whelan
Rosemarie Beck: Earthly Paradise – By Leah Triplett Harrington
Francesco Clemente: Summer Love in the Fall – By Selena Parnon
Sean Scully: Duane Street, 1981–1983 – By Raphy Sarkissian
Henni Alftan: Stop Making Sense – By Ann C. Collins
Hap Tivey: Perception is the Medium – By Benjamin Clifford
William Gropper: Artist of the People – By Margot Yale
Los Angeles Review Of Books – Winter 2024-2025
Boomers Daily 