Tag Archives: WSJ

Military Analysis: Russia’s Vast Minefields In Ukraine

Wall Street Journal (August 21, 2023) – Ukraine’s push to retake territory back from Russia has been slow, as its forces face a deadly problem: landmines. Russian troops spent months fortifying the 900 mile-long front line with anti-tank ditches, concrete obstacles, trenches and minefields.

Video timeline: 0:00 Tanks being destroyed with mines 0:46 Mined territory 1:36 How Russia mines the territory 2:32 How Ukraine adapts

How is the Ukrainian military adapting to account for these mines? WSJ explains how Moscow created one of the largest minefields in the world in the occupied regions and what it means for Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

Review: Taiwan’s Strategy To Repel Chinese Invasion

Wall Street Journal (August 15, 2023) – For decades, Taiwan has looked to its east coast as a safe haven to survive a Chinese invasion until allies, particularly the U.S., can arrive to assist.

Video timeline: 0:00 Taiwan’s current strategy 1:38 The problem 4:15 Taiwan’s reliance on allies

In the east, Taiwan’s rugged mountain terrain also helps create a natural shield in the event of an attack. But China’s PLA activity on the island’s east has thrown that strategy into question. WSJ takes a look at how serious China’s threats to Taiwan’s east coast are and explores whether the island needs to change its defense strategy.

Books: The Top Ten Best Reviews – July 2023

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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Historic Tours: The ‘Towie Barclay Castle’, Scotland

Wall Street Journal (July 18, 2023) – The Towie Barclay Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, once visited by the late Queen Mother, has all the features of a traditional castle like shot holes, gun loops and stone walls.

Video timeline: 0:00 Towie Barclay 1:32 Entry, kitchen and dining 2:48 The Great Hall 3:56 The library 4:54 The garden 6:39 Maintaining the castle

The 2.7-acre castle grounds, also includes a walled garden, gardener’s cottage and carriage rooms. But it’s also a family home that was purchased by a husband and wife for £4,000 in 1972. Homeowner Karen Ellington opens up the castle doors to share the restoration journey from ruin to refuge.

Books: The Top Ten Best Reviews – June 2023

Wall Street Journal Books & Art (June 28, 2023) – A country music outsider’s journey, the uprising that tested a young America, the true story of a psychotherapy cult and more standouts from the month in books.

Animal Spirits: The American Pursuit of Vitality From Camp Meeting to Wall Street

By Jackson Lears 

Shaw’s life force, Freud’s libido, Bergson’s ‘élan vital’—all are expressions of a spark that eludes the control of civilized modernity. Review by Jeremy McCarter.

“All history is the history of longing,” Jackson Lears has written.

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Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations That Built British Colonialism

By Philip J. Stern 

The history of the British empire is really the history of ‘venture colonialism,’ developed by bold entrepreneurs, savvy investors—and some shady characters too. Review by Tunku Varadarajan.

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Hands of Time: A Watchmaker’s History

By Rebecca Struthers 

The craft requires ingenious engineering at a miniature scale and an appreciation for timeless beauty. Review by Michael O’Donnell.

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Mozart in Motion: His Work and His World in Pieces

By Patrick Mackie 

The continuing appeal of Mozart’s music may lie in the contradictory nature of the composer, balancing elegance with challenging originality. Review by Lloyd Schwartz.

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Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature

By Sarah Hart

Are great writers and brilliant mathematicians really so far apart? Within the structures of literary works of all kinds, numbers are hiding. Review by Timothy Farrington.

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Alaska Architecture: Waterfront Home Tour

Wall Street Journal (June 27, 2023) – This luxury oceanfront property in southeast Alaska, with concrete floors and a pink kitchen, cost $2.07 million to build and furnish.

Video timeline: 0:00 Living on the water 0:54 Living room 1:32 Kitchen 2:25 Deck and nook 3:54 Primary bedroom 4:49 Outside space

The home includes a strawberry wall, a floating chair that costs over $3,000 and ocean views from every room. Homeowner Kristi Linsenmayer describes the joys and challenges of custom-building a home over the water in rural Ketchikan.

Books: The Top Twelve Best Reviews – April 2023

12 Books to Read: The Best Reviews of April

Pegasus

Shakespeare’s Book: The Story Behind the First Folio and the Making of Shakespeare

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By Chris Laoutaris Pegasus

After William Shakespeare’s death, his colleagues collected his plays in a single, history-making volume. Review by Malcolm Forbes.

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The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions

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By Jonathan Rosen Penguin Press

A young man’s ife of brilliant promise was overtaken when his struggle with mental illness took a turn into delusion and nightmare. Review by Richard J. McNally.

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A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South

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By Peter Cozzens Knopf

The most consequential Indian war in U.S. history didn’t take place on the prairie but among the forsts and marshes of the Deep South. Atrocities were committed by both sides. Review by Fergus M. Bordewich.

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Knopf

The Earth Transformed: An Untold History

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By Peter Frankopan Knopf

The names and dates of battles that changed history are well-remembered. But what about storms or volcanic eruptions? For eons, human civilizations have shaped—and been shaped by—the natural world. Review by Tunku Varadarajan.

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Retirement: How To Get By On Less Than $1 Million

Wall Street Journal (March 28, 2023) – While many people often aspire to accumulate around a million dollars in retirement savings, most people wind up with far less than that. WSJ retirement reporter Anne Tergesen spoke to retirees on how they’re making do, and she joins host J.R. Whalen. Photo: Mikaela Martin

Video timeline: 0:00 The typical family’s 401k and IRA account balance 1:05 How retirement funds should depend on lifestyle choices 1:51 How retirees who save less than $1 million are getting by 3:53 Steps to take to ensure you have enough retirement savings

Many Americans dream of saving $1 million for retirement. Most fall far short of that.

The typical family’s 401(k) and IRA-type accounts come to less than half that goal in the years approaching retirement age, according to the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute. Total household balances in retirement accounts for those 55 to 64 years old are $413,814 on average, according to its estimates based on 2019 data, the most recent available.

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Public Health: The Rise Of The Deadly Fungi (WSJ)

Daniela Hernandez | WSJ (March 24, 2023): HBO’s The Last of Us previews what a fungal apocalypse might look like. While scientists aren’t worried about the Cordyceps fungus taking us out IRL, deaths due to severe fungal infections are going up and raising alerts from public-health agencies.

Video timeline: 0:00 Fungal infections kill an average of 1.6 million people per year 0:30 How climate change has aided in fungi production 2:11 Infectious fungi are more dangerous for compromised immune systems 2:42 Why there are limited treatment options for fungal infections 3:29 How worried should you be about fungi?

I explain three big reasons why the next big health threat might come from a fungus.

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat. CDC is concerned about C. auris for three main reasons:

  1. It is often multidrug-resistant, meaning that it is resistant to multiple antifungal drugs commonly used to treat Candida infections. Some strains are resistant to all three available classes of antifungals.
  2. It is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. Misidentification may lead to inappropriate management.
  3. It has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.

Rail Transport: Chicago’s Vulnerability To Strikes

Wall Street Journal (December 19, 2022) – In recent years, the city’s railyards have seen severe bottlenecks as the supply chain choked up nationally. With $3 trillion in goods traveling through Chicago every year, the city is the busiest rail hub in the U.S. WSJ breaks down how important rail is to the region, and how vulnerable the system is to a work stoppage like a strike.

Illustration: Adele Morgan