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…
Tag Archives: Poetry
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
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.
Country Life Magazine – December 18, 2024 Preview


Country Life Magazine (December 10, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Christmas Double Issue’…
A story of homeliness
The Revd Dr Colin Heber-Percy considers the Christmas story told in familiar rituals
Earth stood hard as iron
Frost casts a garden’s structure into sharp relief. Tiffany Daneff enters a sparkling world

The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore’s favourite painting
The Dean of St Albans chooses a canvas full of uplifting light for dark times
The legacy
Kate Green pays tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois, the ‘godmother of ballet’
Where Britain’s first saint lies
In the first of two articles, John Goodall traces the saintly history of the ancient abbey church of St Albans, Hertfordshire

Love to hear the robin go tweet, tweet, tweet
The feisty robin is the undisputed avian king of Christmas. Mark Cocker wonders why
It’s a most wonderful time of the year
From weaving wreaths to corralling choristers, the work is ramping up for country people, who talk to Kate Green and Paula Lester

Baby, it’s gold outside
Catriona Gray meets the artists capturing Nature’s beauty in gold
Silence is golden
Stop and listen to Nature’s voice, urges John Lewis-Stempel

Each year you bring to us delight
Hanging treasured decorations is all part of the magic. Matthew Dennison opens the bauble box
Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about
Deborah Nicholls-Lee dares to unveil the mysterious figure
The Editor’s Christmas quiz
Take on our quizmaster — and, more importantly, your family and friends
Anyone for indoor cricket?
Melanie Cable-Alexander buckles up for riotous country-house-corridor games

No Risk, no reward
Harry Pearson takes over the world with the classic board game
Make ’em laugh
Jonathan Self chortles at British comedy

The Christmas Story: ‘Bring me flesh and bring me wine’
The spirit of Christmas works its magic on a curmudgeonly baronet in Kate Green’s tale
Interiors
Natural scents win for Arabella Youens
While shepherds watched their flocks
The sheep and its patient guardians have long delighted artists, finds Michael Prodger

Luxury
Knitting, diamonds and Giles Coren’s treats
It takes a village
Is the perfect rural habitation real, wonders John Lewis-Stempel
Don’t mince your words
Modern mince pies are but pale shadows of the past, believes Neil Buttery

You’re one hot roast potato
Who can resist a roastie? Not Emma Hughes, nor anyone else in their right mind
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson builds a gingerbread house
That’ll do, pig
Glazed and succulent, the Christmas ham is the king of the feast for Tom Parker Bowles

Lay, lady, lay
Give wine time to age, urges Harry Eyres
Crown Him with many crowns
John Lewis-Stempel gathers in the holly, once divine diadem, now a cow’s Christmas feast
The straw that broke the camel’s back
Labour’s family-farm tax will mean ruin for a beleaguered sector, says Minette Batters
‘Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional’
Sam Leith opens the well-worn covers of the childhood books we will always cherish

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
From frogs to rat armies, the natural world has inspired countless ballets. Laura Parker straps on her pointe shoes for the bunny hop
Highlights, delights and lowlights
Michael Billington awards his accolades to the stars — and the scourges — of the stage
Spectres of the feast
Operas with food and wine may be rousing, but there are perils, warns Henrietta Bredin
Unputdownable: the page turners of 2024
Country Life reviewers select their top books
Literarature: The Paris Review – Winter 2024-2025
Paris Review Summer 2024 (September 10, 2024) — The new issue features:
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?
The New York Times — Monday, December 9, 2024

The Campaign by Syrian Rebels to Topple Assad Was Swift
President Bashar al-Assad had kept opposition forces at bay for a decade with help from Russia and Iran. But rebels struck at a moment of weakness for those countries.
Syrians Mourn All They Have Lost, Even as They Celebrate
Thoughts of loved ones dead or missing complicate joyous relief at the prospect of Bashar al-Assad’s losing power.
Bogged Down in Ukraine, Russia Pays a Price in Syria
With the fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Vladimir V. Putin has suffered one of the biggest geopolitical setbacks of his quarter-century in power.
Want a Job in the Trump Administration? Be Prepared for the Loyalty Test.
Applicants for government posts, including inside the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, say they have been asked about their thoughts on Jan. 6 and who they believe won the 2020 election.
Arts & Literature Preview: Kenyon Review – Fall 2024

Kenyon Review – December 8, 2024: The 2024 The Fall 2024 issue of The Kenyon Review includes the winner and runners-up for the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers, selected by Richie Hofmann; the winner of the First Annual Poetry Contests selected by Pádraig Ó Tuama; and a Rural Spaces folio guest-edited by Jamie Lyn Smith, Brian Michael Murphy, and Andrew Grace, with poetry by ethan s. evans, JP Grasser, Faylita Hicks, and Alberto Rios; fiction by Nick Bertelson, Chee Brossy, Kai Carlson-Wee, and Issa Quincy; and nonfiction byapyang Imiq translated by brenda lin; and much more, including interior and cover art by Ming Smith.
The New York Times — Sunday, December 8, 2024
Assad Flees Syria As Rebels Claim Damascus
Assad Has Resigned and Left Syria, Russia Says
How Notre-Dame Was Reborn
It took about 250 companies, 2,000 workers, about $900 million, a tight deadline and a lot of national pride.
The Silicon Valley Billionaires Steering Trump’s Transition
The involvement of wealthy investors has made this presidential transition one of the most potentially conflict-ridden in modern history.
Fraud and Fakery at the Country’s Largest Chain of Methadone Clinics
Acadia Healthcare falsifies records at its methadone clinics and enrolls patients who aren’t addicted to opioids, a Times investigation found.
The New York Times Magazine – Dec. 8, 2024


THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (December 7 2024): The 12.8.24 Issue features William Langewiesche on the secret Pentagon war game how nuclear escalation spirals out of control; Daniel Bergner on a mysterious gap in psychosis rates; Alexis Okeowo on an endless war in Ethiopia; and more.
The Secret Pentagon War Game That Offers a Stark Warning for Our Times
The devastating outcome of the 1983 game reveals that nuclear escalation inevitably spirals out of control.
The Interview: Tilda Swinton Would Like a Word With Trump About His Mother
The Academy Award-winning actress discusses her lifelong quest for connection, humanity’s innate goodness and the point of being alive.
Ethiopia’s Agony: ‘I Have Never Seen This Kind of Cruelty in My Life’
A rare look inside a region still reckoning with the toll of war crimes, even as new conflicts roil the nation. By Alexis Okeowo
America’s Hidden Racial Divide: A Mysterious Gap in Psychosis Rates
Black Americans experience schizophrenia and related disorders at twice the rate of white Americans. It’s a disparity that has parallels in other cultures. By Daniel Bergner