Tag Archives: Reviews

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Feb 21, 2024

February 21, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – February 21, 2024: The ‘The Fine Arts Issue’ – Artists who say it with flowers and the AI debate; Wig law, daffodils and how does your hedgerow grow?….

Artificial art

With the technology powering artificial intelligence advancing so rapidly, what can artists do to protect their original work?

Blooming marvellous

Michael Prodger examines how flowers have inspired artists for centuries, from the ancient Egyptians up to the present day

On a wig and a prayer

The periwigs that were a 17th-century status symbol are still a mainstay of our legal system, as Agnes Stamp discovers

Hedge of eternity

They have long been used to contain cattle or define boundaries, but hedges can be beautiful, too, argues Charles Quest-Ritson

Trumpet majors

Alan Titchmarsh takes a wander with Wordsworth as he dreams of spring daffodils ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze’

Norman Foster’s favourite painting

The architect falls under the spell of a gritty, but humorous work

All in a day’s work

Jamie Blackett is ready to man the barricades to scupper plans for an unwanted national park

Brothers in art

John Goodall applauds the restoration of Leighton House in London, which formed the hub of a 19th-century celebrity circle

Man of the world

Mary Miers follows the globe-trotting Sir John Lavery from Ireland to Africa and beyond

Follow your art

An inspiring oil painting was at the centre of a heist with a happy ending, reveals Carla Passino

Where be dragons?

A protective force in China and Wales, but a symbol of greed and evil in England: Lucien de Guise delves into dragon lore

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell celebrates the best of the Art Deco era with earrings old and new, but always modern

Is this London’s most exquisite hotel room?

The astonishing King’s Lodge suite at The Connaught is fit for a monarch, finds Rosie Paterson

Interiors

Amelia Thorpe shares the very best of London Design Week

A seed of an idea

Tilly Ware meets the wild-seed pioneer ‘nurturing the future’

A tower of thorns

Ben Lerwill finds the salt of the earth on the coast of Scotland

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson on rhubarb

Love and marriage

A real-life couple are in harmony on stage, finds Michael Billington

Arts & Literature, Books, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – Feb 23, 2024

February 21, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Times Literary Supplement (February 21, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Unknown Leader’ – Fintan O’Toole looks for clues in a biography of Keir Starmer; Zelensky on the ropes; Ukraine’s rock star poet; Habermas and social media and The novel of the Year?….

This week’s @TheTLS, featuring @fotoole on Keir Starmer; @LawDavF on Zelensky; Maria Johnston on Lavinia Greenlaw; @BoydTonkin on John Lavery; @mariamargaronis on The Hills of California; @TomCook24 on Shakespeare; Mark Hannam on Jürgen Habermas – and more pic.twitter.com/GZ34PtqJnM
— George Berridge (@George_Berridge) February 21, 2024

Culture, Essays, Magazines, Media, Opinion, Politics, Previews, Reviews

Culture/Politics: Harper’s Magazine – March 2024

February 20, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – MARCH 2024: The new issue features ‘The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem’ – How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future…

The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem

How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future

by Andrew Cockburn

“Artificial intelligence may indeed affect the way our military operates. But the notion that bright-eyed visionaries from the tech industry are revolutionizing our military machine promotes a myth that this relationship is not only new, but will fundamentally improve our defense system—one notorious for its insatiable appetite for money, poorly performing weapons, and lost wars. In reality, the change flows in the other direction, as new recruits enter the warm embrace of the imperishable military-industrial complex, eager to learn its ways.”

The Case Against Children

Among the antinatalists

by Elizabeth Barber

“People would rather be enthusiastic collaborators in a global project than be skeptics of its fundamental integrity. Antinatalism implies or counts on our eventual extinction, and thinking this way is painful.”

Arts & Literature, Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Reviews

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Feb 26, 2024

February 19, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

People enjoy a variety of winter activities like skating sledding and skiing.

The New Yorker (February 19, 2024): The new issue‘s cover features Marcellus Hall’s “Winter Wonders” – The artist depicts an array of invigorating, comforting, and delightful cold-weather activities.

Legal Weed in New York Was Going to Be a Revolution. What Happened?

A cannabis leaf growing roots into buildings and piles of paper.

Lawsuits. Unlicensed dispensaries. Corporations pushing to get in. The messy rollout of a law that has tried to deliver social justice with marijuana.

Matt Gaetz’s Chaos Agenda

Matt Gaetz photographed by Mark Peterson Redux for The New Yorker.

The Florida Republican is among the most brazen and controversial figures in Donald Trump’s G.O.P. He’s also among the most influential.

By Dexter Filkins

Representative Matt Gaetz arrived at the White House in the last days of 2020, amid a gathering national crisis. President Donald Trump had lost his bid for reëlection the previous month, and his allies were exploring strategies to keep him in office. Though only thirty-eight years old, Gaetz, the scion of a political family in Florida’s Panhandle, had become one of the Republican Party’s most prominent and divisive figures. His dark hair styled in a kind of bouffant, his lips often curled in a wry smile, Gaetz bore a resemblance to Elvis Presley, or, in the description of a Florida friend, “either Beavis or Butt-head.” He was quick-witted and sometimes very funny, and he loved to taunt his enemies, who were numerous, especially in his own party. “He’s the most unpopular member of Congress, with the possible exception of Marjorie Taylor Greene, and he doesn’t care,” a fellow-congressman told me.

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

The New York Times Magazine – Feb 19, 2024

February 17, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (February 17, 2024): The new issue features ‘Actors in the Wild’ – The best performers of the year, when they’re not on film….

Actors in the Wild

The best performers of the year — when they’re not on film.

James Nachtwey, an eminent photojournalist known for his intimate depictions of the front lines in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, had never photographed a movie star before. So for this year’s Great Performers issue, we asked him to capture a dozen of the world’s best actors away from the red carpets and awards ceremonies that often define how we see them. “My work has focused almost exclusively on conflicts and critical social issues, the polar opposite of what might be thought of as celebrity photography,” Nachtwey says. But he was intrigued by the challenge: “Art takes talent, but it’s also hard work, and exploring what actors practice in their daily lives to strengthen their art would be fascinating.”

Tubi Is Reviving a Lost Joy: Watching Really, Really Bad Movies

Their films have gone viral for their awful production values. But their success says fascinating things about what comes after prestige TV.

By Niela Orr

There’s a 2008 movie that offers an odd preview of today’s entertainment. In Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind Rewind,” a bizarre accident demagnetizes the entire inventory of a video rental store, so a clerk and his eccentric friend decide to remake all the films themselves, from “The Lion King” to “Driving Miss Daisy” to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Their versions are 20 minutes long (at most), shot on an old hand-held video camera and produced in a delightfully quirky, ad hoc way: handcrafted props and sets, buddies working as extras, costumes from the local dry cleaner.

Financial, Investing, Magazines, Previews, Retirement, Reviews

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Feb 19, 2024

February 17, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

BARRON’S MAGAZINE – FEBRUARY 19, 2024 ISSUE:

Trump vs. Biden: Who Can Handle the Reins of a Hot Economy

The candidates have divergent views on critical matters tied to economic growth. Why investors should pay attention.

How the White House’s New Global Economic Strategist Sees the World

Daleep Singh, a PGIM economist heading back to the White House, says the world’s challenges are going to require more fiscal spending.

Elections Don’t Usually Drive Markets. Just Wait.

A series of consequential elections around the world, including one in the U.S., could affect investors for years to come.Long read

Arts & Literature, Books, Culture, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

The New Criterion – March 2024 Preview

February 16, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The New Criterion – The March 2024 issue features:

Israel’s eternal dilemma by Victor Davis Hanson
Enrique Gómez Carrillo by Anthony Daniels
The singularity of speech by Wilfred M. McClay
A life in ballet by Peter Martins

New poems by Amit Majmudar, James Matthew Wilson & Michael Casper

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – February 18, 2024

February 16, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (February 16, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Philip Gefter’s sizzling, “unapologetically obsessive” new book, “Cocktails With George and Martha: Movies, Marriage and the Making of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’” Our critic Alexandra Jacobs calls it “a shot glass filled with one work that, alongside contemporaneous books like Richard Yates’s novel ‘Revolutionary Road’ and Betty Friedan’s polemic ‘The Feminine Mystique,’ showed how the ‘cartoon versions of marriage’ long served up by American popular culture always came with a secret side of bitters.”

Filming ‘Virginia Woolf,’ the Battles Weren’t Just Onscreen

A black and white photograph of the actors Richard Burton, left, and Elizabeth Taylor, at right, staring at each other with a very bright light occupying the middle distance behind them. The image is cropped and repeated to resemble a strip of film.

With Burton and Taylor as stars and a writer and director feuding, adapting the scabrous play wasn’t easy. “Cocktails With George and Martha” pours out the details.

‘Neighbors’ Opens the Door to a Literary Career Cut Short

An illustration is made up of three panels showing, from left: The red silhouette of a walking woman, who is slowly fading away; a partially open dormitory door with a red pennant on its front and a shadow creeping on the floor from inside; and a close-up of a Black hand on a brown background.

A story collection from Diane Oliver, who died at 22, locates the strength in Black families surviving their separate but equal surroundings.

By Alexandra Jacobs

Writer, Mother, Ex-Wife: Leslie Jamison Is a Self in ‘Splinters’

In her powerful new memoir, the author examines a life composed of conflicting identities — and fierce, contradictory desires.

Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Previews, Science, Society, Technology

Previews: New Humanist Magazine – Spring 2024

February 16, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

NEW HUMANIST MAGAZINE – SPRING 2024 ISSUE: The new issue features Emma Park on how the culture wars are damaging the sciences, theoretical physicist Tasneem Zehra Husain on why the imagination is key to decoding the universe, and Alom Shaha on what can be gained by thinking like a scientist…

Beyond the two cultures

Amid a polarised debate, science and art seem further apart than ever. Emma Park, editor of The Freethinker, explores what humanism has to teach us about the apparent conflict between these ways of thinking and how to bridge the divide.

“While humanities scholars are often (not without justification) accused of being Luddites, those on the science and technology side could also benefit from the knowledge that the humanities have accumulated over the centuries … [And] no intellectual activity worth the name can flourish in a politically repressive environment: freedom of expression and enquiry should be an issue to unite artists, scholars and scientists.”

The poetry of science

Metaphors are key to unlocking the secrets of the universe – scientists should do more to harness their power, writes acclaimed physicist Tasneem Zehra Husain.

“Metaphors aren’t only a means of description, they can also lead to revelations. Centuries ago, Newton was able to calculate the gravitational attraction between two objects … [but] would ‘feign no hypothesis’ as to why it was so. He had the equation, but he did not understand gravitation … With Einstein, we finally have a metaphor. When we picture space-time as a dynamic ‘fabric’ … we begin to understand what gravity means.”

Magazines, Podcasts, Previews, Research, Reviews, Science

Research Preview: Science Magazine – Feb 16, 2024

February 15, 2024 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Science Magazine – February 15, 2024: The new issue features ‘A record drought in October 2023 that lowered the Amazon River near the Brazilian city of Tefé, revealing sand dunes and forcing local fishing boats to compete for spots.