The first issue of LRB volume 45 is now online, featuring Alan Bennett’s diary for 2022, @_jamesmeek on flooding, Anne Enright on Toni Morrison, Jenny Turner @neepmail on Colette, @xlorentzen on Cormac McCarthy and a cover by @Jon_McN.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
James Meek on housebuilding in the aftermath of the 2013 floods
As 2022 enters its final weeks, we look back on the past 12 months through the lens of Nature’s 10 — ten people who helped to shape science during the year. The cover takes its inspiration from the stunning images that have so far emerged from the James Webb Space Telescope. Launched on Christmas Day 2021, the telescope sent its first image back to Earth this summer and has since provided astronomers with views of the Universe in unprecedented detail.
Experiments on mice suggest that gut bacteria contribute to the post-diet rebound of fat tissue.
Chemical analysis of rare gems suggests that seawater played a part in their creation.
The Guardian Weekly (December 23, 2022) issue:
As we near the end of another tumultuous year, one story has dominated the news agenda on almost every level. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February had been signposted for months, but the shattering of Europe’s postwar order still came as a seismic shock.
The economic and human cost inflicted by Russia on Ukraine has been enormous, while the concurrent shock waves of energy, food and migration crises have reverberated around the world. In a special essay for the final Guardian Weekly magazine of 2022, diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour examines the competing grand narratives of the past that lie at the heart of the conflict – and which make it so difficult to resolve.
In other reflections on 2022, we look back at a year of scientific successes, from medicine to mathematics via the moon. From the Observer, we remember those we lost over the course of the year, by those who knew them best. There’s a stunning photo gallery featuring work from the agency photographers of the year, and a comprehensive look at the best film and music of 2022 – not forgetting the now traditional roundup of the Guardian Weekly team’s must-see TV.
From Montreal came some hopeful news to round off an otherwise alarming year for the environment. The Cop15 biodiversity summit reached international agreement to try to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, including targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade and restore 30% of degraded water, coastal and marine ecosystems. Biodiversity reporters Patrick Greenfield and Phoebe Weston have the details.
The Times Literary Supplement @TheTLS (December 23-30, 2022) features @pgodfreysmith on deer and birds; @LaurenElkin on Sophie Calle; @natsegnit on Craig Brown; a new poem by @glynofwelwyn ; reflections on the BBC at 100; @BorisDralyuk on A. E. Stallings; @irinibus on gifts – and more.
For the heroism of its people, and for standing up to a bully
Some years bring disorder, others a resolution. This one asked questions
He has had a crash course in the trade-offs in protecting free expression
The Promise and Peril of Russian Defeat
How to Avoid a New Cold War in a Multipolar Era
Ukraine and American Interests
Brandeis Magazine (Winter 2022/2023):
How are memories created and preserved? Brandeis scientists are studying the brain to find out — and, ultimately, untangle disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
In the 1970s, lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg developed an unusually successful strategy for fighting sex discrimination.
An analysis of patent data offers a window into human creativity.
History Today Magazine – January 2023 issue:
Throughout the 19th century, rival nations battled to conquer the poles. One explorer set out to establish an Arctic colony – or to get rich trying.
The Wars of the Roses saw some of the bloodiest months in English history, but winning on the battlefield did not necessarily mean winning the war.
Harper’s Magazine – January 2023 Issue:
Trumpism and the American philosophical tradition
Twenty-five years ago, the philosopher Richard Rorty accomplished something many writers aspire to but few ever pull off: he predicted the future. Toward the end of his 1998 book Achieving Our Country, Rorty considered the possibility that “the old industrialized democracies are heading into a Weimar-like period, one in which populist movements are likely to overturn constitutional governments.”
A solar land rush in the West
A solar farm in the Mojave Desert. All photographs from Nevada by Balazs Gardi, October and November 2022, for Harper’s Magazine
Our first stop: a cheese Danish. Can’t skip breakfast
The Republican leader’s ambition has always been his defining characteristic. Attempting to placate both Trumpists and moderates may lead to his downfall.
Memories of a high-school job at a local seafood restaurant, blurred by time.
Boomers Daily 