London Review of Books (LRB) – November 16, 2023: The latest issue feature The Inside Story of the NHS Infected Blood Scandal; Elizabeth Taylor’s Magic; The UK government has become increasingly hostile to Freedom of Information requests on arms, and more…
‘In the UK between 1970 and 1991, about 1250 people with bleeding disorders were infected with HIV (and many of them with Hepatitis C, too); by the time the Infected Blood Inquiry began, about three-quarters had died, the majority of them from HIV-related causes.
‘Nearly eighty years after she first starred in a film, Taylor is famous for two things: her intense screen beauty and her many marriages (eight of them, two to Richard Burton). But at least as central to her life were her close and enduring friendships with men.’
nature Magazine – November 9, 2023:The latest issue cover features the changes in dopamine signals in male zebra finches (depicted on the cover), as they engage in activities such as drinking, song evaluation and courting. The researchers found that dopamine responses are dynamically adjusted based on the birds’ current priorities.
Times Literary Supplement (November 10, 2023): The new issue features The day everything changed – The war in Israel and Gaza; Russia at war; Animal liberation revisited; Publisher to the world; Maison Gainsbourg in Paris; and more…
Country Life Magazine – November 8, 2023:The latest issue features The King’s milestone celebration, Amie Elizabeth White reveals 75 fascinating things you may not know about Charles III; Exclusive access to St James’s Palace in London; the British passion for country-house portraits; the astonishing hidden gardens of bohemian Tangier in Morocco and more….
We can be rural heroes
Julie Harding meets a model, a comedian, a farmer, a hedge-layer and a former retail boss, all united in their praise for The King’s Royal Countryside Fund
A nursery palace
Simon Thurley chronicles the remarkable story of the modern home of the Court, as Country Life is afforded exclusive access to St James’s Palace in London
Elegy in a country churchyard
War memorials on British soil are a poignant means of ‘bringing home’ those who fell in foreign fields, reveals Andrew Green
A right royal ruff
The regal King Charles spaniel once won favour with the nobility — and owners are still falling for this loving and loyal breed, as Katy Birchall discovers
Martha Lytton Cobbold’s favourite painting
The Historic Houses president chooses a captivating work that proved to be an inspiration for her love of art and structure
Native breeds
Sheep are an instrinsic feature of the Welsh landscape — Kate Green introduces the breeds that populate the principality
Home is where the art is
Michael Prodger investigates the British passion for country-house portraits, a craze that started back in the 16th century and shows little sign of abating
Interiors
Arabella Youens marvels at the transformation of an Edwardian sitting room, as Giles Kime revels in the luxury of a daybed
Tangerine dreams
Kirsty Fergusson explores the astonishing hidden gardens of bohemian Tangier in Morocco
It’s only natural
Turning woodland finds into art is a labour of love for Jane Bevan, discovers Natasha Goodfellow
Still standing after all these years
A 188-year-old avenue of beech trees forms a guard of honour for Fiona Reynolds in Dorset
Turbot-charged
Nothing less than perfection will do for Tom Parker Bowles as he savours the most regal of fish
A bundle of energy
Could hydrogen-powered cars be the future? Jane Wheatley motors to Wales to investigate
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell seeks a bit of fluff from some feathery confections
Dare to be square
Mary Miers meets the talented craftspeople reinventing the ancient art of mosaic making
The New Yorker – November 13, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover features Kadir Nelson’s “Dumbo” – The artist discusses the seasonal energy of the city, and his sources of inspiration.
On the morning of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte was full of catastrophic confidence. His seventy-three thousand troops were camped on a ridge near a tavern called La Belle Alliance. His nemesis, the Duke of Wellington, occupied a slope across the fields, with a mere sixty-seven thousand troops. Over breakfast, Napoleon predicted, “If my orders are well executed, we will sleep in Brussels this evening.” When his chief of staff offered a word of caution, Napoleon snapped, “Wellington is a bad general and the English are bad troops. The whole affair will not be more serious than swallowing one’s breakfast.”
Some people think that we can’t be held responsible for what we do, given that our actions are the inevitable consequence of the laws of nature. They’re only half right.
Gagosian is pleased to present A Foreigner Called Picasso at its West 21st Street gallery in New York. The exhibition is curated by the eminent writer, biographer, and historian Annie Cohen-Solal together with art historian Vérane Tasseau. It is organized in association with the Musée national Picasso–Paris and the Palais de la Porte Dorée–Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris.
Spanning the entirety of Pablo Picasso’s career in France from 1900 through 1973, the exhibition will feature loans of important works from private and public collections in the United States and Europe. It includes early self-portraits lent by the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as Cubist and Surrealist masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel. The iconic sculpture Head of Fernande (1909) will be displayed, as will Man with a Lamb (1943)—Picasso’s forceful response to the aesthetics of Arno Breker (Adolf Hitler’s favorite artist), who exhibited in occupied Paris.
BBC Select (November 4, 2023) – How much is the personality of England intertwined with the visions of Shakespeare? Acclaimed historian Simon Schama tries to get beneath the skin of the playwright and understand why his stories are so relevant today.
In this insightful documentary we are shown how Shakespeare knew the importance of not just reflecting the lives of the kings and queens who peppered his plays, but ordinary people too – including thieves, clowns and prostitutes.
“I want to be alone,” Greta Garbo’s dancer character famously said in “Grand Hotel,” a quote permanently and only semi-accurately attached to the actress after she retreated from public life. Garbo was first on the list of Golden Agers in one of Madonna’s biggest hits, “Vogue,” but the pop star has long seemed to embody this maxim’s very opposite. She wants to be surrounded, as if with Dolby sound.
THANK YOU (FALETTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN): A Memoir, by Sly Stone with Ben Greenman
It is difficult to convey just how astoundingly unlikely it is that this book exists. Sly Stone is one of pop music’s truest geniuses and greatest mysteries, who essentially disappeared four decades ago in a cloud of drugs and legal problems after recording several albums’ worth of incomparable, visionary songs. Fleeting, baffling, blink-and-you-miss-him appearances at his 1993 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and a 2006 Grammy tribute only served as reminders that he was still alive and still not well.
National Geographic Traveller Magazine (December 2023): The latest issue features the 30 best destinations for 2024, Northern Lights in Manitoba, sailing Denmark’s South Funen Archipelago on a tall ship and a long-distance rail trip in the US….
Also inside this issue:
Uganda: The wildlife of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Melbourne: In Victoria’s state capital, local innovators are breathing new life into forgotten spaces. Amman: Culture, cuisine and craft in Jordan’s kaleidoscopic, mountain-fringed capital. Tunisia: From laid-back coastal towns and diving spots to mountain trails in the county’s northern reaches. Warsaw: Traditional Polish flavours have found a new home in fine-dining establishments. Central London: Hotels to escape the crowds at, from budget boutiques to spruced-up luxury boltholes.
Plus, saddling up inGeorgia’s Tusheti region; the salt workers of India’s Habra city; Barcelona’s La Sagrada Família nears completion; Europe’s new UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the flavours of Sierra Leone;a pedal-powered tour of Malmö; design-led stays in Siem Reap; a Christmas break in Lapland; beach views and seafood in Aberdeen; a staycation in Arnside and Silverdale; great illustrated travel books and photography collections; and overnight essentials.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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