Tag Archives: Opinion

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – December 2023

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HARPER’S MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 2023: This issue features The Hofmann Wobble – Wikipedia and the problem of historical memory; Your Mind’s in the Hands of Everything – Letting go of Philip Roth; Risky Disco – A sensory workshop bridges the gap; Occult Murder and Gospel Thrillers, and more…

The Hofmann Wobble

Wikipedia and the problem of historical memory

by Ben Lerner

At twenty-six, in 2006, the year before the iPhone launched, I found myself driving a red Subaru Outback—the color was technically “claret metallic,” the friend who’d lent me the car had told me, in case I ever wanted to touch up the paint—on Highway 12 in Utah. I was heading to the East Bay after a painful breakup in New York. I remember, wrongly, that I was listening to a book on tape, a work by a prominent linguist, as I moved through the alien landscape, jagged formations of red rock towering against a cloudless sky.

Your Mind’s in the Hands of Everything

Letting go of Philip Roth

by Hannah Gold

It is difficult to predict when one will spend the night at a hotel in Newark, let alone three, and uncommon to agree to such a scenario willingly. If you live there already, you stay home. If you’re there for a professional engagement, your boss made you go. If your flight has been canceled, you go there as a last resort. Whereas, though I felt compelled to be there, I couldn’t point to an authority outside of myself that had forced my hand. The room had been booked a week in advance.

Previews: New Humanist Magazine – Winter 2023

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NEW HUMANIST MAGAZINE – WINTER 2023 ISSUE: The new issue features Pavan Amara on the new technologies revolutionising reproduction, Gabriele Di Donfrancesco on Europe’s battle over “family values” and Rachael Lennon on a decade of same-sex marriage, and a new column from Shaparak Khorsandi…

Analysis: The World Ahead In 2024 – The Economist

The Economist The World Ahead 2024 (November 14, 2023)Future-gazing analysis, predictions and speculation including Ten trends to watch in 2024; 2024 will be stressful for those who care about liberal democracy; America will need a new vocabulary to discuss its presidential election; Europe needs to step up support for Ukraine; Don’t give up on peace in the Middle East, and more…

Tom Standage’s ten trends to watch in 2024

A letter from the editor of The World Ahead

By Tom Standage

Life comes at you fast. Whether it’s the upsurge in armed conflict, the redrawing of the global energy-resources map or rapid progress in artificial intelligence (ai), the world is changing at mind-boggling speed. From the situation in the Middle East to the adoption of electric vehicles to the treatment of obesity, things look very different from the way they did just a year or two ago. Our aim is to help you keep your worldview up to date—and tell you what might be coming next. To kick things off, here are ten themes to watch in the coming year.

2024 will be stressful for those who care about liberal democracy

In theory it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite

By Zanny Minton Beddoes

More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold nationwide elections in 2024, the first time this milestone has been reached. Based on recent patterns of voter turnout, close to 2bn people in more than 70 countries will head to the polls. Ballots will be cast from Britain to Bangladesh, from India to Indonesia. Yet what sounds like it should be a triumphant year for democracy will be the opposite.

The world must try to break a vicious cycle of insecurity 

A stick of dynamite with a lit fuse in the shape of a world map

The fragility of the Western coalition is a crucial weakness

By Patrick Foulis

As 2023 drew to a close, wars were raging in Africa, Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine. These crises are explosive in their own right. Combine them with a presidential race in America and 2024 promises to be a make-or-break year for the post-1945 world order.

The 2020s were destined to be dangerous. The West’s share of world gdp has fallen towards 50% for the first time since the 19th century. Countries such as India and Turkey believe the global institutions created after 1945 do not reflect their concerns. China and Russia want to go further and subvert this system.

Special Report: ‘China’s Armed Forces’ (NOV 2023)

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The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS – CHINA’S ARMED FORCES (NOVEMBER 11, 2023): Overestimating China’s armed forces would be dangerous; Unknown soldiers – The People’s Liberation Army is not yet as formidable as the West fears; Rank indifference – China is struggling to recruit enough highly skilled troops; Weapons of woe – From hypersonic missiles to undersea drones, the PLA is making leaps…

The People’s Liberation Army is not yet as formidable as the West fears

Overestimating China’s armed forces would be dangerous, argues Jeremy Page

In 1957 america was gripped by fears of a “missile gap” with the Soviet Union. The Kremlin had stunned the world with a test flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile (icbm) and the launch of Sputnik. An American intelligence report predicted that by 1962, the Soviets could have 500 icbms, outstripping America’s arsenal. When word of that leaked, a political furore erupted. Eyeing the presidency from his Senate seat, John F. Kennedy demanded action to prevent a Soviet “shortcut to world domination”.

China is struggling to recruit enough highly skilled troops

The PLA needs them to operate all its new weapons

From hypersonic missiles to undersea drones, the PLA is making leaps

But China’s military tech still lags behind the West’s

Opinion: Only America Can Save Israel, Elections In Poland, Surge In Bedbugs

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (October 23, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why only America can save Israel and Gaza from a greater catastrophe. Also, the recent election in Poland offers a lesson in how to push back on populism (10:30) and the resurgence of bedbugs, beyond the hype (16:00).

Opinion & Politics: Reason Magazine – December 2023

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REASON MAGAZINE (DECEMBER 2023) – The latest issue features The Endangered Species Act at 50 – Why have so few species been taken off the endangered species list?; Dobbs and the abortion debate is reshaping American Politics; Will Russia ever be free?, and more…

The Endangered Species Act at 50

An illustration of animals among green leaves | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson

Why have so few species been taken off the endangered species list?

The Abundance Agenda Promises Everything to Everyone All at Once

Illustration of two statues | Illustration: Joanna Andreasson; Source images: BWFolsom/iStock, Creative Market

Some progressives want to remove bureaucratic obstacles to growth—in the service of Democrats and big government.

CHRISTIAN BRITSCHGI

Dobbs Is Reshaping American Politics

Pro-life and pro-choice protesters yelling at a protest | Alex Wong/Getty

A wave of ballot measures reminds us most Americans are moderate on abortion.

ELIZABETH NOLAN BROWN

Will Russia Ever Be Free?

An illustration of a bust sculpture of Vladimir Putin dissected | Illustration: antipolygon-youtube/Unsplash

Promise and peril in post-Putin Russia

CATHY YOUNG

Opinion: Israel’s Agony & Retribution, Green Policy Recoil, 2-Day Workweeks

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (October 16, 2023) A selection of three articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, will Israel’s agony and retribution end in chaos or stability? Also, the backlash against green policies (09:58) and a disastrous workplace experiment (16:15).

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – November 2023

Harper’s Magazine – NOVEMBER 2023: This issue features The Machine Breaker – Inside the mind of an “ecoterrorist”; Forbidden Fruit – The anti-avocado militias of Michoacán; Principia Mathemagica; From Magus – The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa, and more…

The Machine Breaker – Inside the mind of an “ecoterrorist” 

by Christopher Ketcham

In the summer of 2016, a fifty-seven-year-old Texan named Stephen McRae drove east out of the rainforests of Oregon and into the vast expanse of the Great Basin. His plan was to commit sabotage. First up was a coal-burning power plant near Carlin, Nevada, a 242-megawatt facility owned by the Newmont Corporation that existed to service two nearby gold mines, also owned by Newmont.

Forbidden Fruit

by Alexander Sammon

The anti-avocado militias of Michoacán

Phone service was down—a fuse had blown in the cell tower during a recent storm—and even though my arrival had been cleared with the government of Cherán in advance, the armed guard manning the highway checkpoint, decked out in full fatigues, the wrong shade to pass for Mexican military, refused to wave me through. My guide, Uli Escamilla, assured him that we had an appointment, and that we could prove it if only we could call or text our envoy. The officer gripped his rifle with both hands and peered into the windows of our rental car.

Opinion: Free Markets Are Fading, Democracy Dims In Africa, Bitcoin Origins

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (October 9, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, are free markets history? Also, why Africans are losing faith in democracy (10:25) and we investigate whether bitcoin originally leaked from an American spy lab? (17:25)

Special Report: ‘Homeland Economics’ (October 2023)

Special reports: Homeland Economics

The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS (OCTOBER 7TH 2023):

Homeland Economics

Governments across the world are rediscovering industrial policy. They are making a big mistake, argues Callum Williams