The Critic Magazine (July 2023 Issue) – The new issue features The errors of escalation; The end of German stability?; Brahms: sublime genius on a major scale, and more…
What does it mean and why is it so dangerous?
The National Portrait Galley’s renovation doesn’t disappoint, bringing light and space to tell the story of the nation
In the end, godlike aspirations often met with all too human final moments.
By Mary Beard
One of the funniest works of Roman literature to survive—and the only one that has ever made me laugh out loud—is a skit, written by the philosopher Seneca, about the Emperor Claudius’ adventures on his way to Mt. Olympus after his death. Titled “Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii” (“The ‘Pumpkinification’ of the Deified Claudius”), it recounts how the Roman Senate declared that the dead Emperor was now a god, complete with his own temple, priests, and official rites of worship. The deification of emperors was fairly standard practice at the time, and the spoof claimed to lift the lid on what really happened during the process.
They both release and attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms thirty-six thousand feet beneath the sea. Will we ever be rid of them?
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JUNE 25, 2023: The Reading Crisis by @aoscott; ‘Little Monsters’ by @adriennebrodeur; ‘The Art Thief’ by @MikeFinkel and more…
Book bans, chatbots, pedagogical warfare: What it means to read has become a minefield.
By A.O. Scott
Everyone loves reading. In principle, anyway. Nobody is against it, right? Surely, in the midst of our many quarrels, we can agree that people should learn to read, should learn to enjoy it and should do a lot of it. But bubbling underneath this bland, upbeat consensus is a simmer of individual anxiety and collective panic. We are in the throes of a reading crisis.
In her new novel, “Little Monsters,” Adrienne Brodeur takes readers on a stressful march toward a patriarch’s 70th birthday party.
By MARY POLS
Adrienne Brodeur’s “Little Monsters” is cleverly calculated to push all the buttons for a wide swath of women. Like her 2019 memoir “Wild Game,” which examined the role Brodeur played in her mother’s long affair with a family friend, “Little Monsters” is a tale of dysfunction and buried secrets, set in and around moneyed Cape Cod.
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – JUNE 26, 2023 ISSUE – The top CEOs of 2023; The Age of Oil will Endure; A Volatile Market is good news for Savers, and more…
From tech to tortillas, these 25 innovative leaders found ways to thrive through the mayhem and prepare their companies for the challenges ahead.
The industry looks headed for a major rebound, defying expectations of a long-term decline. Stocks such as Diamond Offshore Drilling and Noble could surge 50% or more.
It’s likely to be a bumpy ride, but the long-term outlook for a globally diversified portfolio has meaningfully improved, writes Gregory Davis.
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (June 23, 2023) – In this issue, Christopher Cox on the risk that California’s dams will fail; Charlie Savage on his connection to Pink Floyd and “The Wizard of Oz”; Dan Kois on Lorrie Moore; and more.
We may be on the cusp of an era of astonishing innovation — the limits of which aren’t even clear yet.
By DAVID WALLACE-WELLS
One superstorm could send walls of water sweeping through populated areas. There’s not much time to act.
Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (July 2023): Food Allergy, or Intolerance?; Sugar substitute Erythritol associated with higher heart attack and stroke risks; Plant-based Cookouts; Create a Powerful Pantry, and more…
These terms are often used interchangeably, but there are important differences.
We asked a leading expert what you can do to stay strong and active at any age.
Mock embryos created by multiple groups recapitulate developmental events beyond implantation
A European space telescope sets off to discover the nature of dark energy—the biggest ingredient in the universe
An MIT class exercise suggests AI tools can be used to order a bioweapon, but some are skeptical
The costs of taming price rises could prove too unpalatable for central banks
At first glance the world economy appears to have escaped from a tight spot. In the United States annual inflation has fallen to 4%, having approached double digits last year. A recession is nowhere in sight and the Federal Reserve has felt able to take a break from raising interest rates. After a gruesome 2022, stockmarkets have been celebrating: the s&p 500 index of American firms has risen by 14% so far this year, propelled by a resurgence in tech stocks. Only in Britain does inflation seem to be worryingly entrenched.
For Russia’s war to fail, Ukraine must emerge prosperous, democratic and secure
Ukraine’s war is raging on two fronts. On the 1,000km battlefront its armies are attacking the Russians’ deep defences. At the same time, on the home front Ukraine is defining what sort of country it will be when the fighting stops. Both matter, and both will pose a severe test for Ukraine and its backers.
Now is the time to buy some time
Iran cannot rival Ukraine and Taiwan for headlines, but it could soon prove as dangerous as either. Its nuclear-weapons programme has put its regime in a position to dash for a bomb. Because full-blown negotiations are impossible, the threat could yet draw the Middle East into war—including through American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. That is why it is good that the Biden administration is seeking to lower tensions.
HISTORY TODAY MAGAZINE (JULY 2023) – Civil war in Ancient Rome, England’s most useless charities, agents of anarchy in the fin de siècle, the battle for the Korean peninsula, a Catholic sympathiser at Elizabeth I’s court, Bardolatry, Hong Kong’s floating population.
For citizens of Ancient Rome, the recurrence of brutal civil war was par for the course. For writers, it was an opportunity.
During the Roman Empire, outbreaks of civil war (and the assassinations which often preceded them) were generally intended to change the emperor, not the imperial system. Even though there was a brief moment after the emperor Caligula’s assassination in AD 41 when a change in the political system might have been triggered, the rudderless and leaderless soldiers quickly reverted to the reassuring default mode of imperial rule after conveniently finding Claudius hiding behind a curtain and making him emperor.
The legend of Ravachol, the terrorist ‘mastermind’ of the fin de siècle.
We also get set for summer by gardening in Hiroshima, dining in Marseille and dancing in Mexico City. Plus: how Bratislava’s bass-playing, architect mayor is helping the city to find its groove.
Boomers Daily 