All posts by Intellicurious

News, Views and Reviews for the Intellectually Curious

The New York Times Book Review – February 19, 2023

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The New York Times Book Review – February 19, 2023:

When the Government Goes Top Secret, Who Can Write Its History?

In “The Declassification Engine,” Matthew Connelly traces the evolution of America’s obsession with secrecy and the alarming implications for our understanding of the past.

Walter Mosley’s New York: Classes Divided, Races at War

His new novel, “Every Man a King,” is a hard-boiled tale of billionaires, white nationalists and a detective with a complicated past.

International Literature: Lush Landscapes, Hazy Memories

CREDITJOHN GALL

New books from Kevin Jared Hosein, Pilar Quintana, Nona Fernández and Patrick Modiano.

Front Page: The New York Times – February 19, 2023

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Blinken Has Tense Meeting With Chinese Official Amid Spy Balloon Furor

A high-altitude surveillance balloon was recovered this month off the coast of South Carolina.
CREDITMCS1 TYLER THOMPSON/U.S.NAVY

The meeting resumed diplomatic contact between Washington and Beijing that had been frozen since the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon.

Haley Walks Treacherous Road for G.O.P. Women

Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign is a major test of her party’s views on sexism and female leaders. Just don’t call it identity politics.

How Climate Change Is Making Tampons (and Lots of Other Stuff) More Expensive

Cotton farmers in Texas suffered record losses amid heat and drought last year, new data shows. It’s an example of how global warming is a “secret driver of inflation.”

As the Pandemic Swept America, Deaths in Prisons Rose Nearly 50 Percent

‌The first comprehensive data on prison fatalities in the Covid era sheds new light on where and why prisoners were especially vulnerable.

Village View: Roquebrune-Cap-Martin In France (4K)

February 2023- A walking tour of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Southeastern France, between Monaco and Menton. In 2018, it had a population of 12,824. The name was changed from Roquebrune to differentiate the town from Roquebrune-sur-Argens in neighbouring Var.

2023 Events: A Tour Of The Venice Carnival In Italy

DW Travel – Carnival is a time to dust off your best costume, take on a new identity and commit all manner of sins…and celebrations in Venice are no exception. Follow DW’s Hannah Hummel as she explores the story of this fascinating period of the year. She’s also got some hot tips for YOUR Carnival experience in Venice!

Front Page: The New York Times – February 18, 2023

New York Times Front Page, New York Edition

U.S. and China Vie in Hazy Zone Where Balloons, U.F.O.s and Missiles Fly

American officials are worried China is far along in developing military technology that operates in the unregulated high-altitude zone of “near space.”

Norfolk Southern’s Profits and Accident Rates Rose in Recent Years

Safety experts say a focus on financial returns may be partly to blame for derailments and accidents like the one in Ohio.

A Homeless Student Received Aid for an Apartment. Then Came the Hard Part.

As the housing crisis deepens in Los Angeles County, one young woman learns that searching for a place of her own is more difficult than ever.

What Does It Mean to Be a Progressive in New York City?

Leaders of the leftist movement here demanded loyalty and a pledge to a new statement of principles. That’s when the trouble erupted.

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Feb 20, 2023

Magazine - Latest Issue - Barron's

Barron’s Magazine – February 20, 2023:

Why the World Is Using More Plastic

A glut of so-called virgin plastic is pushing down prices and fueling demand as recycling fails to advance.

Barron’s Best Fund Families

Last year was a tough one for investors. Our latest annual ranking of actively managed funds reveals how the best firms pulled it off.

Russia’s War in Ukraine Has Scarred the Global Economy. The Risks Aren’t Over.

The invasion has lowered global growth, upended energy markets, and heightened geopolitical risk. What comes next might not be an improvement.

Science Reviews: Nature Magazine – Feb 16, 2023

Volume 614 Issue 7948

nature – February 16, 2023 issue:

Solar geoengineering is scary — that’s why we should research it

Research on blocking sunlight needs a dose of realpolitik.

How a tiny genetic change inflicts old age on young kids

Scientists identify a molecule key to the development of progeria, a lethal disease that causes hyper-accelerated ageing.

Noise shatters deep sleep thanks to dedicated brain circuit

Neurons that help to rouse you from sound slumber are connected to those that receive signals from the spinal cord.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

February 17, 2023: Turkey and Syria. As the countries reel from the devastation of the 6 February earthquake, how can communities and agencies protect damaged heritage?

We talk to Aparna Tandon from Iccrom, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property about culture’s significance in the humanitarian response to the crisis. As Alice Neel: Hot off the Griddle arrives at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, we take a tour of the show’s key moments with its curator, Eleanor Nairne.

And this episode’s Work of the Week is a Germantown “eye-dazzler” blanket, made between 1895 and 1905 by a Diné weaver from the Navajo Nation. It’s part of a new show at the Bard Graduate Center in New York,

Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest. Hadley Jensen, the curator of the exhibition, tells us more.Disasters Emergency Committee’s Turkey-Syria Earthquake: dec.org.uk; a PDF of Aparna Tandon’s handbook First Aid To Cultural Heritage In Times Of Crisis is available for free at iccrom.org.Alice Neel: Hot off the Griddle, Barbican Art Gallery, London, until 21 May.

The book accompanying the exhibition is published by Prestel, priced £24.99 or $29.95.Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest, Bard Graduate Center, New York, until 9 July. An online exhibition featuring an interactive catalogue has approximately 250 items from the American Museum of Natural History’s collection of Navajo textiles will be available later this month at bgc.bard.edu.

Culture: New York Times Magazine – Feb 19, 2023

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The New York Times Magazine – February 19, 2023:

Spirited Away to Miyazaki Land

What happens when the surreal imagination of the world’s greatest living animator, Hayao Miyazaki, is turned into a theme park?

Remaking Country’s Gender Politics, One Barroom Weeper at a Time

The Nashville songwriter Shane McAnally is behind many of country music’s No. 1 hits, which aren’t as straight as they seem.

Why Is Affirmative Action in Peril? One Man’s Decision.

How the landmark 1978 Supreme Court decision that upheld the practice may ultimately have set it on a path to being outlawed.