All posts by Intellicurious
The Economist Morning Briefing, July 14th, 2020: Coronavirus cases surpass 13m and China and America trade insults.
Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On Latest In Washington (PBS)
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including President Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s prison sentence and the Lincoln Project’s TV ad response, Trump’s attacks on U.S. health experts during the pandemic and what poll numbers in states struggling with COVID-19 could mean for Trump and Republican senators.
Architecture & Design: “Hafele Micro Living” By MKCA – “Transformative”
A micro-housing concept for Häfele, the leading manufacturer of architectural and furniture, lighting, and hardware. Designed to take advantage of Häfele’s comprehensive product line in both conventional and speculative ways and to position the brand as a resource for emerging models of living…
In an age where people are staying single longer and having children later, and increasingly competing for limited housing stock in our densest urban areas, there is an undeniable cultural shift toward smaller, more flexible ways to live. By strategizing around scenarios—how uses and activities unfold over the course of a day and evening— simple motions transition between and negotiate all of the functions we expect from our homes, transforming how a small space can work and feel like a much larger one.
As configured, the installation anticipates a boundary of approximately 12x16ft. Throughout the apartment, motions like folding, hinging, and sliding facilitate effortless transitions from one domestic activity to another. Even large activities with imposing physical footprints, such as entertaining guests for dinner, become possible and comfortable through simple motions that then also allow them to recede into the background.
Top New Art Books: “The Irascibles: Painters Against The Museum – New York, 1950” (July 2020)
The first documentation of the legendary 1950 showdown between 18 leading abstract expressionists and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
In 1950, 18 American abstract painters signed an open letter addressed to the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to express their intense disapproval of the museum’s contemporaneous exhibit American Painting Today: 1950. The artists were William Baziotes, James Brooks, Fritz Bultman, Jimmy Ernst, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Weldon Kees, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, Hedda Sterne, Clyfford Still and Bradley Walker Tomlin.
This artistic coalition, which included many members of the New York School and is now considered a watershed movement in mid-20th-century American art history, challenged the museum’s policies for their narrow understanding of what made certain art worth exhibiting. Though they resisted being labeled as a collective, media coverage of the museum boycott, which included a now-famous group portrait in Life magazine taken by photographer Nina Leen, ultimately contributed to the success of the 18 “irascibles” in what became known as the abstract expressionist movement.
This publication collects 18 paintings by the artists, images from Leen’s photoshoot and extensive documentation of the letter-writing process with relevant catalogs and magazines. Featuring more than 230 illustrations alongside original essays by several art historians and curators that examine the complex history of the New York School, this volume serves as a time capsule of the exciting period of early abstract expressionism in the United States.
The Economy: “What Will The Recovery Look Like?”
Economists have long used letters of the alphabet like V and U to describe economic recoveries. But the coronavirus downturn is so different from past recessions that economists are coming up with new shapes to describe the potential recovery. WSJ explains.
Illustration: Jacob Reynolds
Top New Travel Videos: “Austria – Top Places To Visit” (Touropia – 2020)
Austria is a country that is as well known for its scenic beauty as it is for its cultural activities. Situated in the Alps, it is a very popular place with skiers and hikers, but it is also a country that gave the world an important musical heritage, ranging from the classical composer Mozart to the Strauss waltzes and the Von Trapp family whose story was told in The Sound of Music. Here’s a look at the best places to visit in Austria.
Infographics: “Experience With Ageism” For Adults Age 50 – 80 (July 2020)
What is everyday ageism and how common is it?
This poll examined older adults’ experiences with nine forms of everyday ageism. These forms were categorized into three groups: (1) exposure to ageist messages, (2) ageism in interpersonal interactions, and (3) internalized ageism (personally held beliefs
about aging and older people).
Health & Nature Books: “The Well-Gardened Mind” By Sue Stuart-Smith (2020)
‘The Well-Gardened Mind’ provides a new perspective on the power of gardening to change people’s lives. Here, Sue Stuart-Smith investigates the many ways in which mind and garden can interact and explores how the process of tending a plot can be a way of sustaining an innermost self.
A distinguished psychiatrist and avid gardener offers an inspiring and consoling work about the healing effects of gardening and its ability to decrease stress and foster mental well-being in our everyday lives.
The garden is often seen as a refuge, a place to forget worldly cares, removed from the “real” life that lies outside. But when we get our hands in the earth we connect with the cycle of life in nature through which destruction and decay are followed by regrowth and renewal. Gardening is one of the quintessential nurturing activities and yet we understand so little about it.
Stuart-Smith’s own love of gardening developed as she studied to become a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. From her grandfather’s return from World War I to Freud’s obsession with flowers to case histories with her own patients to progressive gardening programs in such places as Rikers Island prison in New York City, Stuart-Smith weaves thoughtful yet powerful examples to argue that gardening is much more important to our cognition than we think. Recent research is showing how green nature has direct antidepressant effects on humans. Essential and pragmatic, The Well-Gardened Mind is a book for gardeners and the perfect read for people seeking healthier mental lives.
Top New Travel Videos: “Awsome Armenia” By Joerg Daiber (2020)
Filmed and edited by: Joerg Daiber
Armenia is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
Armenia has been one of my favorite countries on my Caucasus trip a while back. The people are lovely, the history is intriguing and the scenery is breathtaking.
However, see for yourself and enjoy this ride through this amazing country in only 3 minute.
Shooting locations: Yerevan, Khor Virab, Smbataberd, Khndzoresk, Tatev Monastery, Shaki, Dilijan, Garni Temple, Jermuk, Sevanavank, Noratus cemetery and Lake Sevan.
Armenia is a nation, and former Soviet republic, in the mountainous Caucasus region between Asia and Europe. Among the earliest Christian civilizations, it’s defined by religious sites including the Greco-Roman Temple of Garni and 4th-century Etchmiadzin Cathedral, headquarters of the Armenian Church. Khor Virap Monastery is a pilgrimage site near Mount Ararat, a dormant volcano just across the border in Turkey.
Morning News Podcast: Covid-19 Surges, Roger Stone & Alternative Meat
Coronavirus cases are on the rise in 33 states — and California and Florida hit record high numbers of daily cases last week. Now, hospitals and other medical facilities are feeling déjà vu, as they start to experience personal protective equipment shortages again.
- Plus, Roger Stone talks to Axios’ Mike Allen 48 hours after President Trump commuted his sentence.
- And, the massive rise of alternative meat sales means a fundamental change for the American diet.
Guests: Axios’ Bob Herman, Mike Allen and Bryan Walsh.
