Tag Archives: Politics

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – March 2024

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – MARCH 2024: The new issue features ‘The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem’ – How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future…

The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem

How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future

Illustrations by Yoshi Sodeoka
Illustrations by Yoshi Sodeoka

by Andrew Cockburn

“Artificial intelligence may indeed affect the way our military operates. But the notion that bright-eyed visionaries from the tech industry are revolutionizing our military machine promotes a myth that this relationship is not only new, but will fundamentally improve our defense system—one notorious for its insatiable appetite for money, poorly performing weapons, and lost wars. In reality, the change flows in the other direction, as new recruits enter the warm embrace of the imperishable military-industrial complex, eager to learn its ways.”

The Case Against Children

Illustrations by María Jesús Contreras

Among the antinatalists

by Elizabeth Barber

“People would rather be enthusiastic collaborators in a global project than be skeptics of its fundamental integrity. Antinatalism implies or counts on our eventual extinction, and thinking this way is painful.”

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Feb 26, 2024

People enjoy a variety of winter activities like skating sledding and skiing.

The New Yorker (February 19, 2024): The new issue‘s cover features Marcellus Hall’s “Winter Wonders” – The artist depicts an array of invigorating, comforting, and delightful cold-weather activities.

Legal Weed in New York Was Going to Be a Revolution. What Happened?

A cannabis leaf growing roots into buildings and piles of paper.

Lawsuits. Unlicensed dispensaries. Corporations pushing to get in. The messy rollout of a law that has tried to deliver social justice with marijuana.

Matt Gaetz’s Chaos Agenda

Matt Gaetz photographed by Mark Peterson  Redux for The New Yorker.

The Florida Republican is among the most brazen and controversial figures in Donald Trump’s G.O.P. He’s also among the most influential.

By Dexter Filkins

Representative Matt Gaetz arrived at the White House in the last days of 2020, amid a gathering national crisis. President Donald Trump had lost his bid for reëlection the previous month, and his allies were exploring strategies to keep him in office. Though only thirty-eight years old, Gaetz, the scion of a political family in Florida’s Panhandle, had become one of the Republican Party’s most prominent and divisive figures. His dark hair styled in a kind of bouffant, his lips often curled in a wry smile, Gaetz bore a resemblance to Elvis Presley, or, in the description of a Florida friend, “either Beavis or Butt-head.” He was quick-witted and sometimes very funny, and he loved to taunt his enemies, who were numerous, especially in his own party. “He’s the most unpopular member of Congress, with the possible exception of Marjorie Taylor Greene, and he doesn’t care,” a fellow-congressman told me. 

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday, February 17, 2024: Isabel Hilton, international journalist and founder of China Dialogue, joins Georgina Godwin for a round-up of the week’s news and culture.

This week, we look back at the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the UK by-elections and fake Chinese accounts on Elon Musk’s X. Plus: Professor Suzannah Liscomb, award-winning author and broadcaster, joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the first-ever Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Arts/Politics: The Atlantic Magazine – March 2024

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The Atlantic Magazine – February 13, 2024: The latest issue features ‘To stop a school shooter’ – the case of the contested Basquiats; uncancel Woodrow Wilson; and start-up cities. Plus Michael R. Jackson, the despots of Silicon Valley, Raina Telgemeier, the James Bond trap, “Africa & Byzantium,” Marilynne Robinson, and more.

TO STOP A SHOOTER

photo of building with "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School" on it, behind trees against cloudy gray sky

Why would an armed officer stand by as a school shooting unfolds? By Jamie Thompson

It was the early afternoon of Valentine’s Day 2018, and the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was full of kids exchanging stuffed animals and heart-shaped chocolates. Scot Peterson, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was in his office at the school, waiting to talk with a parent about a student’s fake ID. At 2:21 p.m., a report came over the school radio about a strange sound—firecrackers, possibly—coming from Building 12. Peterson stepped outside, moving briskly, talking into the radio on his shoulder. Then the fire alarm rang. Peterson, wearing a sheriff’s uniform with a Glock on his belt, started running.

A Trove of ‘Lost Basquiats’ Led to a Splashy Exhibition. Then the FBI Showed Up.

A man looking at a large portrait of Basquiat in museum gallery with two paintings hanging in the background.

Why is it so hard to root out fakes and forgeries?

By Bianca Bosker

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday, February 10, 2024: Will China’s economy recover during the Year of the Dragon? What is the UK’s new tech that could control the weather?

And how is the ‘Bayeux Tapestry’ being updated? Join Georgina Godwin and David Bodanis for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. Plus: the owner of The Steam Room, Tony Chung, joins us to talk about his collaboration with Ai Weiwei and Avant Arte for the Lunar New Year.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – February 9, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (February 8, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Final Straw’ – What’s eating Europe’s Farmers?; Joe Biden’s Middle East masterplan; Can anything stop the AI deepfakes? and The Pet Shop Boys are back in town…

If you live in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland or Greece, you may well have already run into one of the numerous roadblocks or protests formed in recent weeks by furious farmers. If you’re in Spain and Italy, take cover – because they are coming to you soon, if not already.

In this week’s cover story, we explore what has proved to be the final straw for Europe’s farmers. A combination of rising costs, environmental rules and grievances over EU policies, coupled with more localised complaints, seem to be the factors driving the convoys of tractors. But far-right and anti-establishment parties, who could make major gains in forthcoming European parliament elections, have also picked up on the protests as part of their agenda against EU influence.

Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis and Europe correspondent Jon Henley delve into the protests (if not the piles of steaming dung being dumped on the continent’s roads, as illustrated wonderfully by Neil Jamieson on this week’s cover), and ask what can be done to placate them.

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Feb 12 & 19, 2024

Pixelated Eustace Tilley magazine cover that appears and disappears.

The New Yorker (February 5, 2024): The new issue‘s cover features Nicholas Konrad’s “Online Profile” – The magazine celebrates its ninety-ninth anniversary..

How Nikola Jokić Became the World’s Best Basketball Player

Nikola Jokić holding a basketball during a game.

He doesn’t run very fast or jump very high, and seems to prefer the company of horses. But he has mastered the game’s new geometry like nobody else.

By Louisa Thomas

The Art World Before and After Thelma Golden

Thelma Golden photographed by Lyle Ashton Harris.

When Golden was a young curator in the nineties, her shows, centering Black artists, were unprecedented. Today, those artists are the stars of the art market.

By Calvin Tomkins

Baruch Spinoza and the Art of Thinking in Dangerous Times

A portrait of Baruch Spinoza by Franz Wulfhagen, 1664.

The philosopher was a champion of political and intellectual freedom, but he had no interest in being a martyr. Instead, he shows us how prudence and boldness can go hand in hand.

By Adam Kirsch

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday, February 3, 2024: The US military launched airstrikes against targets in Syria and Iraq on Friday. How has the country’s power changed across different administrations?

Also on the programme: Georgina Godwin and international correspondent Nina dos Santos discuss why men are drifting to the far right, the many conspiracies surrounding Taylor Swift and Venice Carnival’s celebration of Marco Polo this weekend. Plus: Alice Haddon and Ruth Field join us to talk about their therapeutic wellness retreat, The Heartbreak Hotel.

London Review Of Books – February 8, 2024 Preview

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London Review of Books (LRB) – February 1, 2024: The latest issue features Origins of the Gay Novel; Protest, what is it good for?; Poems of Enheduana; Caspar David Friedrich, Israel’s War and more….

A Circular Motion

By James Butler

If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution 
by Vincent Bevins.

The Populist Moment: The Left after the Great Recession 
by Anton Jäger and Arthur Borriello.

Wreckage of Ellipses

By Anna Della Subin

Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author 
by Sophus Helle.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – February 2, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (February 1, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Party Crasher’ – Is Trump more vulnerable than he seems?; Israel, the ICJ ruling and The West; Europe’s Big Bad Wolves and more….

It had all seemed like business as usual for Donald Trump in the aftermath of last week’s New Hampshire Republican primaries, where he scored a comfortable victory over his only remaining challenger, Nikki Haley. And yet … was there something in his subsequent outburst towards Haley that suggested all was not well in Trumpworld?

Barring the mother of all reversals, Trump will soon be confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee. But, as David Smith and Jonathan Freedland outline in this week’s big story, Trump remains a deeply polarising figure in American politics, not least within his own party.

And his petulant irritation at Haley over her refusal to concede the race was a visible reminder to American floating voters of the unhinged personality that lurks beneath the orange veneer, something his campaign team will be desperate to avoid more of.

“The shadow of Trump is long, and his return seems closer than ever,” explains illustrator Alberto Miranda on his cover art for this week’s Guardian Weekly. “He is a controversial figure with a dangerous side and, at the same time, has an utterly comical aspect. That’s why we wanted to portray his influence in the Republican party in an almost grotesque manner.”