Tag Archives: Reviews

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – October 29, 2023

October 28, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 29, 2023): This week’s issue features “A Haunting on the Hill,” by Shirley Jackson; ‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’ – making sense of the violence and loss in Israel; Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars? – Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars”….

A Fitting — and Frightening — Homage to ‘The Haunting of Hill House’

Apparitions, black hares and time warps festoon the pages of Elizabeth Hand’s “A Haunting on the Hill,” set in the same moldering mansion as Shirley Jackson’s classic horror novel.

‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’

Etgar Keret at home in Tel Aviv. “I think that this entire nation is going through PTSD,” he says.

The Israeli writer Etgar Keret has spent the last few weeks trying to make sense of the violence and loss around him. So far, he can’t.

Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars?

This is a black and white illustration of our solar system.

Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars.”

By W. M. Akers

A CITY ON MARS: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

Face it, folks. Earth is finished. It’s overheated, overcrowded, overregulated. It’s the ultimate fixer-upper, a dump we inherited from our parents that we’d be cruel to pass on to our children. It’s time to pull up stakes. It’s time for Mars.

Or maybe not.

Lighting out for the solar system is an appealing fantasy, but “A City on Mars,” an exceptional new piece of popular science by the “Soonish” authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, suggests we shouldn’t be so quick to give up on Earth. Forceful, engaging and funny, it is an essential reality check for anyone who has ever looked for home in the night sky.

Financial, Investing, Magazines, Previews, Retirement, Reviews

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Oct 30, 2023

October 28, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

BARRON’S MAGAZINE – October 30, 2023 ISSUE:

It’s Time to Stop Crying About Bonds—and Buy Them Instead

Treasuries have had one of their worst three-year stretches on record. Why it can’t get much worse.

Investors Are Worried About U.S. Spending. That’s No Reason to Avoid Bonds.

Rising levels of national debt are scary, but higher rates make government bonds your friend.

Big Money Pros Are Split on the Outlook for Stocks. But They Are Fans of Bonds.

Nearly half of poll respondents consider the U.S. stock market overvalued at current levels.

Byron Wien Had Wall Street’s Attention. The Creator of the 10 Surprises List Dies at 90.

The longtime market strategist vowed never to retire and worked right up until his death.Long read

HSAs Are a Powerful Tool—for Nearly Everyone, Study Finds

The Voya Financial analysis assumes employers are contributing to workers’ health savings accounts.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

Audio October 27, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The Week In Art Podcast (October 27, 2023): This week: the first Kyiv Biennial since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year is taking place in various locations across the wartorn country as well as a host of neighbouring European states.

We talk to the co-curator, Georg Schöllhammer, about this year’s event. As refugees and displaced people continue to dominate the news, a global sound art project, Migration Sounds, aims to explore and reimagine the sounds of human migration and settlement.

We speak to Stuart Fowkes, the founder of Cities and Memory, who has conceived the project with the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas). And this episode’s Work of the Week is Rebirth of a Nation, a mural made for Brixton Underground Station in London by the Ethiopian-Italian artist Jem Perucchini, which is unveiled next week. Jessica Vaughan, the senior curator of Art on the Underground, tells us about the commission.

The Kyiv Biennial continues to unfold into 2024, visit 2023.kyivbiennial.org

Cities and Memory’s Migration Sounds project, citiesandmemory.com/migration; compas.ox.ac.uk

Jem Perucchini: Rebirth of a Nation, Brixton Underground Station, London, from 2 November.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

The New York Times Magazine – Oct 29, 2023

October 27, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (October 29, 2023): The latest issue features The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear; Can We Save the #Redwoods by Helping Them Move?; ‘It’s Like Our Country Exploded’: #Canada’s Year of #Fire and #ClimateChange Is Keeping Therapists Up at Night….

The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear

All the photographs in this article are black-and-white. David Obura holds finger coral.

Some are stubborn optimists. Others struggle with despair. Their faces show the weight they carry as they witness the impact of climate change.

Interviews by Catrin Einhorn

Amid the chaos of climate change, humans tend to focus on humans. But Earth is home to countless other species, including animals, plants and fungi. For centuries, we have been making it harder for them to exist by cutting down forests, plowing grasslands, building roads, damming rivers, draining wetlands and polluting. Now that wildlife is depleted and hemmed in, climate change has come crashing down. In 2016, scientists in Australia announced the loss of a rodent called the Bramble Cay melomys, one of the first known species driven to global extinction by climate change. Others are all but certain to follow. How many depends on how much we let the planet heat.

Can We Save the Redwoods by Helping Them Move?

Redwoods with foliage in a violet specturm. All of the photographs in this article have special color treatment to highlight the foliage.

The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes.

By Moises Velasquez-Manoff

When Philip Stielstra retired from Boeing in 2012, he needed something purposeful to do. He and his wife, Gay, were casual golfers, but Stielstra, an antiwar activist in college who refused to fight in Vietnam — he worked in a post office instead — wanted a pastime with bigger stakes. Before leaving his job, he received an email from the city of Seattle: The Parks and Recreation Department needed “tree ambassadors.” Tree canopy cover had receded in the city, and the department was responding by promoting an appreciation for its remaining trees. The volunteer ambassadors would learn about these trees and lead residents on walking tours to marvel at them. Stielstra, despite being a self-described introvert, signed up.

Arts, Culture, History, Magazines, Previews, Reviews, Travel

Arts/History: Smithsonian Magazine – November 2023

October 26, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Smithsonian Magazine (November Issue) – The latest issue features Unlocking the Secrets of the Aztecs – How one daring scholar forged a new understanding of the ancient Americas; Healing in Hanoi – After 50 years, U.S. veterans commemorate their release from a notorious Vietnamese prison

Trailblazer

a photo montage of a woman and colorful Aztec engraving

Anthropologist Zelia Nuttall traveled the globe, decoded the Aztec calendar and transformed the way we think of ancient Mesoamerica

BY MERILEE GRINDLE

On a bright day early in 1885, Zelia Nuttall was strolling around the ancient ruins of Teotihuacán, the enormous ceremonial site north of Mexico City. Not yet 30, Zelia had a deep interest in the history of Mexico, and now, with her marriage in ruins and her future uncertain, she was on a trip with her mother, Magdalena; her brother George; and her 3-year-old daughter, Nadine, to distract her from her worries.

Healing in Hanoi

a black and white photograph of a man inset on top of street scene in a city environment

After 50 years, U.S. veterans commemorate their release from a notorious Vietnamese prison

BY JEREMY REDMON

In March of this year, I followed retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert Certain through the entryway of the former Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi. French colonists built the prison in the 19th century, calling it the Maison Centrale and using it to imprison and behead Vietnamese dissidents. During the Vietnam War, American prisoners facetiously called it the Hanoi Hilton. For the first time in 50 years, Certain was about to step inside the notorious compound where he’d been held, interrogated and beaten.

Magazines, Podcasts, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Science Magazine – October 27, 2023 Issue

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Science Magazine – October 27, 2023: The new issue features The Hypothalamus – Coordinating basic survival functions; High hopes for low-growing corn plants; A quantum process in a laser microchip….

Small and mighty: The hypothalamus

By MAROSO & PETER STERN

If you pause for a second and think about the activities that occupy most of your day, presumably sleeping, eating, and engaging in social interactions are among the first that come to your mind. Perhaps surprisingly, a small area buried deep inside the brain, called the hypothalamus, is responsible for coordinating neuronal signals related to these activities. By controlling the homeostasis of the neuroendocrine, limbic, and autonomic nervous systems, the hypothalamus is a key brain region for many physiological and pathological processes. Despite its small size, the hypothalamus has a complex cellular organization and circuitry that determine its structural and functional organization. It is composed of 11 nuclei grouped by their location and has vast, mostly bidirectional connections with many neuronal and endocrine systems.

HIGH HOPES FOR SHORT CORN

Plants bred or engineered to be short can stand up better to windstorms. They could also boost yields and benefit the environment

To an interstate traveler—or anyone lost in a corn maze—the most impressive feature of corn is its stature. Modern corn can grow twice as tall as a person, but height has drawbacks, making the plants vulnerable to wind and more difficult for farmers to tend. Plant scientists think corn can be improved by making it shorter, and leading seed companies are doing that through both conventional breeding and genetic engineering. Bayer has launched a short variety in Mexico, another company is selling its versions in the United States, and more are getting involved.

Economics, Financial, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews

Previews: The Economist Magazine – Oct 28, 2023

October 26, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The Economist Magazine (October 28, 2023): The latest issue features America’s Test – How will it manage the Israel-Hamas war?; Argentina’s troubling election result; Should governments be ‘policing’ AI? and the ‘Art Rivalry’ between Paris and London….

American power: indispensable or ineffective?

How Joe Biden manages the war between Israel and Hamas will define America’s global role

Argentina’s election result is the worst of all possible outcomes

Sergio Massa, the economy minister, will now go head-to-head with Javier Milei

Governments must not rush into policing AI

A summit in Britain will focus on “extreme” risks. But no one knows what they look like

Diet & Nutrition, Health, Newsletters, Previews, Reviews

Health & Nutrition Letter Tufts – November 2023

October 26, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (DECEMBER 2023):

Avoiding Insulin Resistance

This common condition increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. You may have it and not know it.

Making Time for Healthy Behaviors

A little planning, prioritization, and creative problem solving can help you reach your behavior change goals.

Give Thanks for Foods from the Americas!

Many of the ingredients in traditional Thanksgiving meals are native to the Americas.

Analysis, Foreign Affairs, Government, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- NOV/DEC 2023

October 25, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Foreign Affairs November/December 2023: The new issue features new essays by today’s leading policymakers and thinkers, including U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on the future of American foreign policy, former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy on how artificial intelligence will transform the military, and scholars Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman on the convergence of economic and national security.

The Sources of American Power

A Foreign Policy for a Changed World

By Jake Sullivan

Nothing in world politics is inevitable. The underlying elements of national power, such as demography, geography, and natural resources, matter, but history shows that these are not enough to determine which countries will shape the future. It is the strategic decisions countries make that matter most—how they organize themselves internally, what they invest in, whom they choose to align with and who wants to align with them, which wars they fight, which they deter, and which they avoid.

The Dysfunctional Superpower

Can a Divided America Deter China and Russia?

By Robert M. Gates

The United States now confronts graver threats to its security than it has in decades, perhaps ever. Never before has it faced four allied antagonists at the same time—Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—whose collective nuclear arsenal could within a few years be nearly double the size of its own. Not since the Korean War has the United States had to contend with powerful military rivals in both Europe and Asia. And no one alive can remember a time when an adversary had as much economic, scientific, technological, and military power as China does today.

Magazines, Podcasts, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Oct 26, 2023

October 25, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

nature Magazine – October 26, 2023: The latest issue cover features a map of Mexico based on data that reflect the nation’s genetic diversity, the initial results of the Mexican Biobank project.