Tag Archives: Reviews

Magazines, Podcasts, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Research Preview: Science Magazine – July 28, 2023

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Science Magazine – July 28, 2023 issue: This artwork depicts social media users that are engaged (and often enraged) from the “left” (liberals, blue) and the “right” (conservatives, red) perched on Meta’s logo. Social media algorithms personalize users’ online experiences, recommending engaging content that will interest them and possibly spark outrage.

Social media and elections

The advent of social media forever changed how we consume news. At least half of Americans rely on it for news, and Facebook (owned by parent company Meta) is the most popular. Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms are funded through advertisements and generate more revenue when users spend more time on their platforms. To make platforms alluring and increase screen time, tech companies operate on business models that incentivize algorithms that are designed to elevate eye-catching content to the top of users’ feeds—content that captures attention and may go “viral” by stimulating “engagement” through comments, likes, and resharing.

Origin of diamond-bearing eruptions revealed

Deep mantle waves from continental rifting trigger mysterious kimberlite volcanoes

‘I should have done better.’ Stanford head steps down

Probe clears Marc Tessier-Lavigne of misconduct but criticizes lab culture and lack of “appetite” for corrections

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

Previews: The Economist Magazine – July 29, 2023

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The overstretched CEO | Jul 29th 2023 | The Economist

The Economist Magazine (July 29, 2023 issue): The overstretched CEO; Larry Fink demonised – All he wanted to do was save the planet while making his firm a fortune. Henry Tricks meets the face of woke capitalism; The greatest bank heist ever – Criminals stole $2.5bn from Iraq’s largest state bank in broad daylight. Nicolas Pelham follows their trail, and more…

The overstretched CEO

Companies are increasingly caught up in governments’ competing aims. What to do?

The world should not let Vladimir Putin abandon the grain deal

Here is how to get him to sign up again

Israel has lurched closer to constitutional chaos

But there are still ways to step back from the brink

Analysis, Military, Reviews, Technology, Videos

Analysis: Ukraine Drones Destroying Russian Tanks

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Wall Street Journal (July 27, 2023) – Since the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces began, there’s been a dramatic increase in Ukraine’s use of FPV, or first person view drones to execute kamikaze-style attacks on Russian tanks, troop positions and other large-scale weapons.

Video timeline: 0:00 Increase in use of FPV drones 1:01 The kamikaze drone process 2:15 Destroying targets

The aim is to operate cheaply and to make the military less dependent on Western weapons. WSJ gathered dozens of videos from Ukrainian units on the frontlines, to break down how their drone teams execute these attacks on Russia’s military.

#Russia #Ukraine #WSJ

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Reviews

Books: The Top Ten Best Reviews – July 2023

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Wall Street Journal Books & Art (July 26, 2023) – A wild rowboat race across the Atlantic, the overlooked triumphs of the 20th president, notes on life behind home plate and more. A selection of July’s most noteworthy books, as discussed by The Wall Street Journal’s reviewers.

After the Funeral and Other Stories

By Tessa Hadley | Knopf

Moments of “intense insight and recognition” animate a dozen new stories from a master of the form. Review by Sam Sacks.

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Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s

By Alan Paul | St. Martin’s

Even after the loss of two of their founding members, the Georgia-based band created a country-blues sound that captivated audiences. Review by Gavin Edwards.

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Completely Mad: Tom McClean, John Fairfax, and the Epic Race to Row Solo Across the Atlantic

By James R. Hansen | Pegasus

Tom McClean faced frostbite, nonstop gales and waves that looked like skyscrapers. A 15-foot shark followed him for days. He named it Bluey. Review by Bill Heavey.

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The Controversialist: Arguments with Everyone, Left Right and Center

By Martin Peretz | Wicked Son

The pugnacious editor and publisher looks back on his career putting the New Republic at the center of a generation’s political conversation. Review by Tunku Varadarajan.

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Credible: The Power of Expert Leaders

By Amanda Goodall | PublicAffairs

Should a doctor run a hospital? An engineer a tech company? Workers seem to value a boss with skill and knowledge in the core business. Review by David A. Price.

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End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration

By Peter Turchin | Penguin Press

The widening wealth gap in the U.S. has been fueled by elite overproduction—a combination that, to some, can only signal an imminent state breakdown. Review by Dominic Green.

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The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus

By Gunnar Broberg | Princeton

The Swedish naturalist Linnaeus bestowed an orderly taxonomy on the natural world, but his love of animals and plants was quirky and personal. Review by Christoph Irmscher.

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The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories That Define Him

By Amul Thapar | Regnery Gateway

A federal judge argues that when we follow the arguments of Supreme Court Justice Thomas in applying the Constitution, the weak and the powerless stand to benefit the most. Review by David J. Garrow.

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President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier

By C.W. Goodyear | Simon & Schuster

James Garfield’s ambitious career—from janitor to Union general, then from Congress to the presidency—was cut short by an assassin. Review by Richard Norton Smith.

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Magazines, Podcasts, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – July 27, 2023

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Volume 619 Issue 7971

nature Magazine -July 27, 2023 issue: HADAR (heat-assisted detection and ranging) combines thermal physics and infrared imaging with machine learning to discern an object in pitch darkness as though it  is illuminated by broad daylight.

ChatGPT is a black box: how AI research can break it open

Despite their wide use, large language models are still mysterious. Revealing their true nature is urgent and important.

A lethal fungal infection gets a hand from the body’s own defences

Bloodstream infections by a common fungus are less deadly in mice engineered to have lower levels of a protein secreted by immune cells.

Arts, Entertainment, Films, Movies, Reviews, Videos

FILM REVIEWS: THE ‘100 BEST MOVIES OF THE PAST 10 DECADES’ (TIME MAGAZINE)

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TIME Magazine (July 26, 2023) – TIME’s Stephanie Zacharek on the top films from the 1920s through the 2010s.

2010s

2000s

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Culture, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews, Society

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – July 28, 2023

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The Guardian Weekly (July 28, 2023) – Has Vox’s far-right bubble popped? The gridlocked reign in Spain. Plus: Goodbye to Britain’s fish and chips?

Pedro Sánchez rules out return to polls after Spanish vote delivers hung parliament

Workers use harnesses and a suspended platform in Madrid to remove a large electoral banner showing the face of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Spain's conservative People's party

Socialist leader assures party ‘democracy can find a formula for government’ as left and right blocs try to form viable coalitions

The Spanish Socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez, has ruled out a return to the polls following Sunday’s inconclusive snap general election, insisting a new government can be formed after his ruling coalition was narrowly beaten by the opposition conservative People’s party (PP).

A funeral for fish and chips: why are Britain’s chippies disappearing?

Fish and chips at the Anstruther Fish Bar in the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland.

Plenty of people will tell you the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland is the best place in the world to eat fish and chips. So what happens when its chippies – and chippies across the UK – start to close?

Arts & Literature, Books, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – July 28, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (July 28, 2023): War diaries – Marci Shore on Ukrainian accounts from the front line; Richard Russo reconstructed; Boris and other bounders; Family secrets and lies; and more…

Books, Literature, Magazines, Previews, Reviews, Stories

The New York Review Of Books – August 17, 2023

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The New York Review of Books (August 17, 2023) – American Carnage – Jeffrey Toobin’s book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing; The Sadistic Brats of ‘Succession’; Rats in Paris!; Colin Grant’s Unsparing Family Portrait; Resurrecting the Porter Sisters; The True Fables of Agota Kristof, and more…

American Carnage

Jeffrey Toobin’s book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing traces the path from Ronald Reagan’s antigovernment ideology to today’s radicalized right.

By Sean Wilentz

Ronald Reagan’s pronouncement, in his first inaugural address in 1981, that “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem” marked a signal moment in what has become the most successful political counterrevolution in modern American history.

Diet & Nutrition, Health, Newsletters, Previews, Reviews

Reports: Tufts Health & Nutrition – August 2023

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Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (August 2023):

Beat the Heat with Cool Summer Treats

There’s nothing like an icy drink or frozen treat to help tame summer swelter, keep you hydrated, quench thirst, and satisfy a sweet tooth. Unfortunately, cool treats are often over-processed and packed with added sugars. Keep your cool with less processed, fruit-forward icy drinks and treats that are as healthy …

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