September 3, 2023 – Emma Nelson reviews the top stories from London, Tyler Brûlé reports from Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, and the latest from Bangkok, Thailand.
All posts by Intellicurious
Travel: A Tour Of Genoa In Northwestern Italy (8K)
Video timeline: 0:00 Raffaele de Ferrari Square 0:24 Opera Carlo Felice 0:34 Raffaele de Ferrari Square 0:50 Via XX Settembre 1:26 Cristoforo Colombo’s House 1:33 Chiostro di Sant’Andrea 1:39 Porta Soprana 1:50 Streets of Genova 2:32 Santi Ambrogio e Andrea Church 3:05 Streets of Genova 3:15 San Lorenzo Cathedral 3:58 Streets of Genova 4:03 San Giorgio Palace 4:19 Port area 4:26 San Giorgio Palace 4:35 Santissima Annunziata del Vastato 4:42 Streets of Genova 5:59 Corvetto Square 6:07 Streets of Genova 6:19 View from the top
In the old town stands the Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo, with its black-and-white-striped facade and frescoed interior. Narrow lanes open onto monumental squares like Piazza de Ferrari, site of an iconic bronze fountain and Teatro Carlo Felice opera house.
The New York Times — Sunday, September 3, 2023
Auto Strike Looms, Threatening to Shut Detroit’s Big 3
With their contract expiring Sept. 14, the United Auto Workers and the companies are far apart in talks. A walkout could take a big economic toll.
Officials in South Africa Knew About Problems at a ‘Bad Building,’ but Did Nothing
An extensive paper trail reveals that the authorities in Johannesburg were warned repeatedly about the dangers in the derelict building where 76 people died in a fire this week.
A Brutal Path Forward, Village by Village
As Ukraine pushes slowly forward in its counteroffensive, it’s relying heavily on the effort of hundreds of small-scale assault groups, each tasked with attacking a single trench, tree line or house.
Jimmy Buffett, Roguish Bard of Island Escapism, Is Dead at 76
With songs like “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” he became a folk hero to fans known as Parrot Heads. He also became a millionaire hundreds of times over.
Books: Literary Review Magazine – September 2023
Literary Review – September 2023: The new issue features Yoga Goes To Hollywood by Dominic Green; How England Lost France; Who’s Afraid of AI?; Don’t Mention Tiananmen; Anne Boleyn’s Ascent and Tastes of China….
Dates with Destiny
RICHARD VINEN
Turning Points: Crisis and Change in Modern Britain, from 1945 to Truss By Steve Richards
In the good old days, dates were for foreigners. France, to take the obvious example, had repeatedly been turned upside down by war, revolution and changes of regime. But the English tourist in Paris rarely bothered to find out which of these distasteful events might be commemorated by, say, the rue du Quatre Septembre. The history of England (this was less true of Scotland and not at all true of Ireland) was a smooth and mostly benign progression. Educated people could tell you what the Glorious Revolution was but might be hazy about when exactly it had happened.
Cyborgs Old & New
BLAKE SMITH
The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs By David Runciman
Artificial intelligence, it is commonly acknowledged, will pose one of the gravest challenges to humanity in the coming years. In the minds of some, it is already the most urgent problem we face. While there are a number of possible dangers that might bring about the extinction of our species, AI confronts us with a particularly dire situation, because it may well be that we have only a brief amount of time – perhaps a generation – in which to set up norms and constraints on the development of autonomous, non-human intelligences that may otherwise escape our control.
World Economic Forum: Top Stories – Sept 2, 2023
0:15 India lands a spacecraft on the moon – India made history by landing a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole for the first time. The mission, called Chandrayaan-3, is designed to search for water ice on the Moon. The data and images collected by the lander and rover will help scientists to better understand the Moon’s water resources and the future of Moon exploration.
1:11 These are the results of an 85 year study on happiness – The Harvard Study of Adult Development is the world’s longest-running happiness study. It launched in 1938, following 724 men from teenagehood to old age. Later, the study incorporated their spouses and 1,300 of their descendants. Participants answer regular questions about their health, habits, income and relationships as well as their hopes, joys, disappointments and regrets.
2:43 GPUs are powering the AI revolution – The H100 is a graphics processing unit (GPU) chip manufactured by Nvidia. It is the most powerful GPU chip on the market and is designed specifically for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The H100 is in high demand due to its powerful performance and its ability to accelerate AI applications.
4:50 Britain builds its first women-only apartment building – It will offer 102 flats at affordable rates for women facing abuse or social disadvantage. The block will stand in Ealing, West London. The flats will be designed specifically for women with features such as lower kitchen counters and ventilation for menopausal women experiencing hot flushes. Only single women can take a tenancy. Men can live there too but only if they’re in a relationship with a tenant. Transgender women will be allowed but nobody with a history of violence against women.
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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
New York City Views: An Aerial Tour Of Queens
The park’s Queens Museum is known for the “Panorama,” a building-for-building model of New York City. Nearby Citi Field is the stadium of pro baseball team, the Mets.
Profiles: Japanese Painter Setsuko – “Into Nature” Exhibition In Switzerland
SETSUKO – Into Nature
July 1–September 10, 2023
Gstaad
Since 1977, Setsuko has resided in the Grand Chalet of Rossinière, close to Gstaad, making this an opportunity for her to exhibit within reach of her Swiss home. Into Nature furthers the bodies of work presented in Into the Trees, Setsuko’s debut exhibition at Gagosian Paris in 2019, and Into the Trees II, a solo presentation at Gagosian Rome in 2022.
On view in Gstaad are new ceramic sculptures, produced at Astier de Villatte’s Paris workshop and made of terra-cotta glazed in white enamel. Setsuko’s renderings of trees, with their delicately modeled representations of acorns, blooms, foliage, and fruit, emphasize the rooted solidity of their trunks to convey lasting strength and emergent growth. Reminiscent of Japanese ceramics dating back to the age of Jōmon earthenware (c. 10,500–300 BCE), these works also refer to the animistic Japanese religion Shintō, to which trees are of central symbolic importance.
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
Monocle on Saturday, September 2, 2023: A look at the week’s news and culture with Georgina Godwin.
Also, we are joined by Charles Hecker for a look through the morning’s papers, Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff, investigates the growing popularity of e-bikes in Finland and we examine India’s space programme with Maya Sharma.
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Sept 4, 2023
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – SEPTEMBER 4, 2023: The new issue feature a Fall Investment 2023 preview.
Warner Bros. Discovery Has Big Challenges. The Barbie Movie Won’t Solve Them.
The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO has a big salary and a big task at the parent company for CNN and Max: turning around a media giant saddled with high debt and multiple challenges
Coinbase’s Winning Streak Looks Shaky. Why the Stock Isn’t a Buy.
Shares of the crypto exchange have soared, but legal challenges are mounting along with competitive threats.
Hedge Funds Challenge the SEC’s New Rules
Just as they threatened to do, the hedge fund and private equity industries are challenging new rules imposed on them by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trade groups for those private fund advisers filed their petition Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fift…
Student Loan Payments Are Back. Your Biggest Questions Answered
Federal student loans will resume soon, more than three years after the government paused them du…
The New York Times — Saturday, Sept 2, 2023
U.S. Hiring Settles Into a Lower Gear
Employers added 187,000 jobs in August and unemployment rose to 3.8 percent as the economy continued to lose momentum built up after pandemic lockdowns.
America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow
Unchecked overuse is draining and damaging aquifers nationwide, a data investigation by the New York Times revealed, threatening millions of people and America’s status as a food superpower.
Tourists Were Told to Avoid Maui. Many Workers Want Them Back.
A plunge in tourism after a disastrous fire has already crippled the economy in Maui. Now, some locals who wanted visitors to stay away are urging them back.
Filthy Toilets, No Showers and Criminal Landlords: Life in a South African Firetrap
After harrowing escapes from the apartment fire in Johannesburg that killed at least 74 people, residents described how they managed to build lives with no legal water or electricity, and very little privacy.
