Arts & Culture: The New Criterion – January 2025
Tag Archives: Literature
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 Magazine – Dec. 8, 2024
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 14 2024): The 12.15.24 issue features ‘The Silence of Alice Munro’…
What Alice Munro Knew
The Nobel-winning author’s husband was a pedophile who targeted her daughter and other children. Why did she stay silent?
Opioids Ravaged a Kentucky Town. Then Rehab Became Its Business.
In Louisa, an unbearable social crisis has become the main source of economic opportunity.
Could This Tiny School Break Down the Wall Between Church and State?
Officials in Oklahoma are laying the groundwork to push Christianity into public schools.
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 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
Los Angeles Review Of Books – Winter 2024-2025
Conversation
A Precise Excavation of the Soul: A Conversation with Hilton Als by Melissa Seley
Nonfiction
Mean Mommies: Care in Contemporary Queer Literature by Jenny Fran Davis
Our Ambassadors to the Future: Relics of—and for—ourselves by Christina Wood
The Only Girl in the World: On Madonna and ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ by Brontez Purnell
Homespun Tiara: A Profile of Model and Activist Geena Rocero by Enzo Escober
Syria’s Forgotten Island of Opposition: A report from the al-Tanf military compound by Charlie Clewis
Bedrock: On gravesites literal and not by Charley Burlock
American Blondes: Are we having more fun yet? by Arielle Gordon
Fiction
Bright by Grace Byron
Finishing Moves by Evan McGarvey
Witches of Fresno and Pigfoot by Venita Blackburn
The Good Life by Brady Brickner-Wood
The Aforementioned Journal by David Hollander
Poetry
Srdičko Bolí by Claressinka Anderson
Has Your Spirit Dried Up? by emet ezell
I Haven’t Heard My Brother’s Voice in Ten Years by Douglas Manuel
Montauk by Connie Voisine
Straining for the Noise by Jenny Xie
Art
Lida Abdul
The New York Times — Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024
Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise
The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was an Ivy League tech graduate from a prominent Maryland family who in recent months had suffered physical and psychological pain.
How a Realtors’ Nonprofit Quietly Funds Conservative Advocacy Groups
The National Association of Realtors has created a nonprofit that gives more heavily to one side of the political aisle and to groups that have little to do with real estate and housing.
What to Know About Syria’s Notorious Sednaya Prison
Amnesty International described it as a “human slaughterhouse,” where, other rights groups say, tens of thousands of people were detained, tortured and killed during the 13-year civil war.
Rage Grows Over a Spate of Brutal Murders of Women in Kenya
Almost 100 women have been killed in the span of three months, the police say. Rights groups want President William Ruto to declare femicide a national crisis.
Literarature: The Paris Review – Winter 2024-2025
Fredric Jameson on the Art of Criticism: “Ideological critique has to end up being a critique of the self. You can’t recognize an ideology unless, in some sense, you see it in yourself.”
Hanif Kureishi on the Art of Fiction: “When I was in hospital in Rome, having the experience of being a paralyzed man nearly dead, my only excitement was in the thought that I could write some of this shit down.”
Gerald Murnane on the Art of Fiction: “A fatal question—what are people reading these days? Never mind what people are reading these days. What should I be writing about is the fundamental question.”
Prose by Dan Bevacqua, Caoilinn Hughes, Silas Jones, Alec Niedenthal, Adania Shibli, and Abdulah Sidran.
Poetry by Sargon Boulus, Egill Skallagrímsson, Rachel Mannheimer, Simone White, and Hua Xi.
Art by Ann Craven, Ala Ebtekar, and Josh Smith; cover by Seth Becker.
The New York Times — Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Shock, Glee and Unease as Syrians Celebrate the Unthinkable
A day after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, civilians poured into the streets of Damascus, weeping in disbelief. Many sought word of relatives held in a notorious prison on the outskirts of the city.
Daniel Penny Is Acquitted in Death of Jordan Neely on Subway
Mr. Penny choked Mr. Neely in a minutes-long struggle on the floor of an F train. The case reflected the pathologies of post-pandemic New York.
Suspect Is Charged in C.E.O.’s Murder After Arrest in Pennsylvania
Luigi Mangione was arrested after a tip from a McDonald’s in Altoona. On Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with murder.
Spying on Student Devices, Schools Aim to Intercept Self-Harm Before It Happens
New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?
Boomers Daily 