Harper’s Magazine (December 18, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Ghost Music’ – Inside Spotify’s Fake-Artist Scheme; Among the Ruins of Lebanon and Cynthia Ozick on the Pleasures of Letter Writing…
Spotify’s plot against musicians by Liz Pelly
Is civil commitment rehabilitating sex offenders—or punishing them? by Jordan Michael Smith
On the epistolary life by Cynthia Ozick
This was a year in which billions of people living in more than 80 countries had the right to cast their democratic votes in elections. But with democracy around the world under ever-greater threats – from attacks on freedom of speech, equality of participation and plurality of media to name a few – how did the election process bear up? Jonathan Yerushalmy and Oliver Holmes find reasons for hope amid the pressure.
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The big story | France and the shadow of the Pelicot trial
The mass rape case, in which verdicts and sentencing are expected this week, has horrified the world. But this is not French society’s first attempt to confront a sexually abusive culture, writes Kim Willsher, who has witnessed the harrowing proceedings in Avignon
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Spotlight | How Ukrainian power plant workers keep the country running
As winter closes in, Shaun Walker visits a Soviet-era coal-fired thermal installation to explore how it has held up to Russian attacks
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Opinion | After the fall of Assad, the least Syrians deserve is our optimism
With the tyrannical dynasty gone, it’s important not to impose a negative script on what comes next. Syrians deserve support and hope, argues Nesrine Malik
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The shamelessness of Fifa’s process in awarding the 2034 tournament to Riyadh was a display of contempt for governance, democracy and good sense, writes Barney Ronay
With France on its fourth prime minister in a year and Germany facing a snap election in February, Paris and Berlin correspondents Jon Henley and Deborah Cole explain why the driving forces of the European Union are in the doldrums. An excellent primer to understand what will be a shaky start to next year for European politics. Isobel Montgomery, deputy editor
A Ukrainian official said Kyiv was responsible for the assassination in Moscow of Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia’s radioactive, chemical and biological defense forces.
One of Europe’s powerhouses is losing its competitive edge, and the political class can’t agree on why — or what to do about it.
Federal agencies have opened at least three reviews into whether the company and its leader complied with disclosure protocols intended to protect state secrets, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Unable to find effective treatments at home, veterans with brain-injury symptoms are going abroad for psychedelics like ibogaine that are illegal in the U.S.
The Nation Magazine (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Code Red’ – On election night, our screens were a sea of red, suggesting that the US was more conservative than ever. But sometimes maps can be deceiving…
Breaking the grip of grifters who refuse to learn or leave won’t be easy. But it is essential to effectively opposing the coming plutocracy.
But between candidates who are defenders of the system and those who are anti-system. Democrats lost because they allowed Trump to be the only voice of antiestablishment rage.
Or reflexively denouncing every Trump policy. While we mustn’t underestimate the danger he poses to our democracy, when he says he wants to end war, the left should call his bluff.
Jacobin Magazine (December 17, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Why Bidenism Failed’….
“You and [Franklin] Roosevelt begin from two different starting points. But is there not a relation in ideas, a kinship of ideas, be-tween Moscow and Washington? In Washington I was struck by the same thing I see going on here; they are building offices, they are creating a number of state regula-tion bodies, they are organising a long-needed Civil Service.
Neoliberalism often presents itself as a victory for individual autonomy. In an interview, Grace Blakeley explains the hollowness of this claim — and why the Left needs to offer its own, better vision of human freedom.
Despite antitrust regulators’ efforts to rein it in, UnitedHealth Group has been growing to control ever more of the health care sector. The corporation’s expanding power has meant worse care, higher prices, and a mounting human toll.
Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani positioned himself as a statesman who can unite Syria, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Damascus.
The rocket company’s executives haven’t sought a higher security clearance for its CEO to avoid questions about his drug use and contact with foreign officials. The answers might no longer matter.
Marc Rowan is one of the few private-equity chiefs who hasn’t clearly designated an heir apparent.
The New Yorker Magazine (December 16, 2024): Kate Beaton’s “A Murder Mystery” – Take a closer look at the cover of the annual Cartoons & Puzzles Issue.
The scramble is on to define the future of Syria, quickly, to avert a war even more divisive than the conflict that has riven the nation for thirteen years. By Robin Wright
The dish is governed by a set of laws that are rooted in tradition, rich in common sense, and aching to be broken or bent. By Anthony Lane
“The Brutalist,” the director’s nearly four-hour study of immigration, identity, and marriage, flowed from his own struggle to create art without compromise. “You really have to dare to suck to transcend,” he said. By Alexandra Schwartz
Taylor Sheridan’s shows explain how and why we got Trump again by Rick Marin
The Nation Magazine (November 27, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’…
What went wrong—and what we have to do now. D.D. Guttenplan Share Facebook Twitter Email Flipboard Pocket An expense of spirit: Harris gets cozy with Liz Cheney.
The party’s habitual deference to big donors makes it impossible to effectively oppose Trumpism.
The news from Ukraine’s front lines is grim.
POLITICO Magazine (November 24, 2024): The latest issue features ;Europe is under attack from Russia’; Why isn’t it fighting back? and ‘Elon and Donald – A love Affair…
Rivals worry the SpaceX boss will rig the playing field for space exploration in his favor.
The former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army has a grim outlook on the state of the war.
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