Tag Archives: The New York Times

The New York Times Book Review — July 2, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JULY 2, 2023: The entire issue is devoted to literature in translation – reviews of translated books (by Javier Marías, Seamus Heaney, Natalia Ginzburg…); Daniel Hahn’s essay about translating picture books; Emily Wilson’s look at “Iliad” translations over the years, culminating with her own; a By the Book interview with the translator Jennifer Croft; and lots more.

Exit Hector, Again and Again: How Different Translators Reveal the ‘Iliad’ Anew

An 1878 illustration of the meeting between Hector and Andromache, based on a design by John Flaxman.

Over the years, some 100 people have translated the entire “Iliad” into English. The latest of them, Emily Wilson, explains what different approaches to one key scene say about the original, and the translators.

Jennifer Croft Knows a Good Translation When She Reads One

This illustration shows Jennifer Croft with long, straight blond hair and bangs. She’s wearing a shoulderless top that crosses at her neck, with variously colored stripes.

“There has to be chemistry,” says the writer and prolific translator, whose second book will come out next year. “You don’t need prior knowledge of, say, Iceland or Icelandic in order to appreciate Victoria Cribb’s translation of Sjón.”

Preview: New York Times Magazine – July 2, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (July 2, 2023) –

In this week’s cover story, Lynsey Addario takes us to a Ukrainian town where an 11-year-old is navigating a childhood transformed by war. Plus, a profile of the Christian pop star Marcos Witt and an investigation into how federal law targets thousands of women on anti-addiction medications.

A Boy’s Life on the Front Lines

In a Ukrainian town, an 11-year-old navigates a childhood transformed by war.

In a town near the Eastern front lines of the Donbas region of Ukraine, an 11-year-old boy named Yegor’s days were as predictable as they could be, given the unpredictability of war.

A.I. and TV Ads Were Made for Each Other

A photo collage of frames from AI-generated spoof advertisements, showing people drinking orange juice and beer and eating pizza. Close examination of the images reveal some strange visual distortions.

A string of uncanny videos show what generative A.I. and advertising have in common: They chew up the cultural subconscious and spit it back at us.

By Mac Schwerin

Even if I didn’t work in advertising, I would be a connoisseur of commercials. You’re probably one, too. Think of all the tropes you’ve ingested over the years — the forest-green hatchbacks conquering rugged Western landscapes, the miles of mozzarella stretched by major pizza chains. These are the images that let you know what kind of pitch you’re watching, so you won’t be confused when the brand shows up.

The New York Times – Friday, June 30, 2023

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Supreme Court Rejects Affirmative Action Programs at Harvard and U.N.C.

Demonstrators in favor of affirmative action in Washington on Thursday.

In earlier decisions, the court had endorsed taking account of race as one factor among many to promote educational diversity.

With Supreme Court Decision, College Admissions Could Become More Subjective

Many schools have been planning for the Supreme Court’s decision for months, if not years, and have already made some moves toward “race-neutral” admissions.

Colleges have a game plan, like emphasizing the personal essay, but so do conservative groups that promise to monitor and, if necessary, go back to court.

Police Shooting in France Presents New Challenge for Macron

Protests over the fatal police shooting of a teenager come as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to restore a sense of calm after his pension overhaul ignited turbulence in the streets.

Dangerous Heat and Heavy Wildfire Smoke March Across North America

The twin threats have sickened people across the continent with little relief in sight.

The New York Times – Thursday, June 29, 2023

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Smoky Skies Menace U.S. Cities, Driving Residents Indoors

Haze from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Pittsburgh skyline, as seen from West End Overlook in the Elliott neighborhood.

Across the nation’s middle, unhealthy air from Canadian wildfires sent summer campers home and left residents coughing, and asking when this would end.

Putin Moves to Punish Prigozhin Allies

A man in a dark suit sitting at a desk, holding papers and pointing forward. Behind him is a Russian flag.

Russia’s president indicates that associates of the Wagner group’s leader in government and the military will face punishment.

Something Was Messing With Earth’s Axis. The Answer Has to Do With Us.

Though you can’t feel it, Earth’s rotation is nowhere near as smooth as that of the globe on your desk.

Scientists knew the planet’s centerline could move. But it took a sharp turn sometime around the start of the 2000s.

A Night Out for Dinner Ends in Destruction and Death

A Russian missile strike on a popular restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine killed at least 11 people, wounded dozens more, and showed the peril of trying to claim pieces of ordinary life during war.

The New York Times – Wednesday, June 28, 2023

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Putin Casts Mutiny as Proof of Solidity, as Belarus Opens Doors to Rebels

A photograph released by Russian state media showing President Vladimir V. Putin addressing members of Russian military units, the National Guard and security services at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Belarus said it had taken in the mercenary boss Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and might welcome his Wagner troops, while Russia dropped a criminal investigation of him for the weekend uprising.

Supreme Court Rejects Theory That Would Have Transformed American Elections

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Supreme Court in 2022 to protest the case, Moore v. Harper.

The 6-to-3 majority dismissed the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state lawmakers nearly unchecked power over federal elections.

Russian General Knew About Mercenary Chief’s Rebellion Plans, U.S. Officials Say

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, may have believed he had support in Russia’s military.

The Unexpected Rescuers Who Found Colombia’s Missing Children

Colombia’s Indigenous Guard has long had to fight for a space in the national narrative. Today, it is at the center of the country’s biggest story.

The New York Times – Tuesday, June 27, 2023

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Putin Says Russia Is United Behind Him, After Quelling Rebellion

Watching President Vladimir V. Putin’s address to the nation on television in Moscow on Monday.

President Vladimir V. Putin spoke angrily of those who want “Russians to fight each other,” but his former ally, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, said the mutiny he led was not a coup attempt.

Minefields and Menace: Why Ukraine’s Pushback Is Off to a Halting Start

The Ukrainian Army is encountering an array of challenges that has complicated the early stages of its counteroffensive, especially the large swaths of minefields. But its leaders are urging patience, insisting the main push is yet to come.

Intensifying Rains Pose Hidden Flood Risks Across the U.S.

A red truck is surrounded by water on a highway with cars behind it and buildings in the distance.

In some of the nation’s most populous areas, hazardous storms can dump significantly more water than previously believed, new calculations show.

A.I. May Someday Work Medical Miracles. For Now, It Helps Do Paperwork.

Dr. Matthew Hitchcock poses for a photo in a lab coat, blue shirt and colorful bow tie.

The best use for generative A.I. in health care, doctors say, is to ease the heavy burden of documentation that takes them hours a day and contributes to burnout.

The New York Times – Monday, June 26, 2023

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Revolt Raises Searing Question: Could Putin Lose Power?

Members of Wagner group preparing to pull out from the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to their base in Rostov-on-Don late on Saturday.

Russians with ties to the Kremlin expressed relief that the mercenary leader’s mutiny did not spark a civil war. But they agreed that Vladimir Putin had come off looking weak in a way that could be lasting.

One Big Winner of Kremlin-Wagner Clash? The Dictator Next Door.

A photo released by Russian state media showed President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus and President Vladimir V. Putin in Sochi, Russia, earlier this month.

The strongman leader of Belarus, a dependable ally of Vladimir Putin’s, may see a chance to rebrand himself as a statesman.

As Legal Fees Mount, Trump Steers Donations Into PAC That Has Covered Them

A previously unnoticed change in Donald Trump’s online fund-raising appeals allows him to divert a sizable chunk of his 2024 contributions to a group that has spent millions to cover his legal fees.

He Was Handcuffed and Hospitalized. Now He’s on Track for Housing.

A contentious New York City policy to send more mentally ill homeless people to hospitals has helped some move into permanent homes.

The New York Times Book Review — June 25, 2023

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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…

Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?

This image features a folded pair of black frame glasses. The left lens is tinted yellow. The right lens is clear but fractured, as if the glass has been hit by something hard.

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.

Family Politics as a Predictor of Mayhem on a Bigger Scale

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.

The New York Times – Sunday, June 25, 2023

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Rebel Wagner Forces, Threatening March to Moscow, Abruptly Stand Down

Fighters with the Wagner private mercenary group deployed on a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District on Saturday in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

The mercenary group had seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the center of Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine, posing a grave threat to President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Putin embraced turmoil, and now it is rattling his leadership.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, center, greeting veteran soldiers as he attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexandrovsky Garden near the Kremlin wall in Moscow on Thursday.

For more than two decades, the system helped President Vladimir V. Putin secure his unrivaled authority, ensuring that he personally held the keys to wealth and influence in modern Russia.

How a Year Without Roe Shifted American Views on Abortion

New and extensive polling shows public opinion increasingly supports legal abortion, with potential political consequences for 2024.

He Tried to Save a Friend. They Charged Him With Murder.

They bought $30 worth of fentanyl before making it into rehab. One overdosed. The other was charged in his death.

The New York Times – Saturday, June 24, 2023

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Wagner Chief Accused Of Fomenting A Coup, Putting Russia On Edge

Armored vehicles on a street of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Friday.

The claims from Yevgeny V. Prigozhin including a veiled threat of an uprising against Russia, prompted the F.S.B. to open a criminal investigation.

Supreme Court Revives Biden Immigration Guidelines

Border Patrol agents searching migrants in El Paso. Texas and Louisiana sued to block Biden administration guidelines that they said allowed immigrants with criminal records to remain free while their cases moved forward.

The guidelines, setting priorities for which unauthorized immigrants should be detained, were blocked by a federal judge in Texas.

Facing Brutal Heat, the Texas Electric Grid Has a New Ally: ‌Solar Power

The amount of solar energy generated in Texas has grown exponentially. Some Republicans question the state’s increasing reliance on renewable power.

Garland Pushes Back at G.O.P. Claims of Bias in Hunter Biden Investigation

The attorney general denied assertions that he had interfered with the case and blocked a prosecutor from lodging more charges.