History Today (January 30, 2024) – The latest issue features ‘The Search For The Buddha’; ‘Blood and Sand’ – The Cold War in North Africa; All In The MInd – A history of phantom pain, and more…
For centuries, scientists and philosophers used phantom limbs to unravel the secrets of the human mind. While we know phantom pain exists, we still don’t know why.
American Journey: On the Road with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and John Burroughs by Wes Davis falls short of examining the consequences that followed the wanderlust.
Arriving in the West in the 19th century, the Buddha of legend was stripped of supernatural myth and recast as a historical figure. What do we really know about him?
Pacy and even-handed, Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass is unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the Tokyo trials.
Country Life Magazine – January 30, 2024: The latest issue features How British Rivers Got Their Name; Where to find a really wild man; Miniature collecting and more…
‘Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide’
From the Piddle and the Polly to the Yox and the Yeo, the meanings behind the namesof Britain’s rivers run deep, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Call of the wild
The protective, stick-wielding Wild Man that strides through much medieval art has taken on fresh meaning in recent times, reveals Susan Owens
Chainsaw gardening
Taking a blade to our gardens may seem drastic, but a severe pruning sometimes leaves plants and trees in better health, suggests Charles Quest-Ritson
There is wonder in the little things
Huon Mallalieu puts miniatures under the microscope and finds a world of small marvels celebrating power, loyalty and love
Allan Mallinson’s favourite painting
The military historian chooses a moving First World War scene
Murder most pitiful
John Goodall investigates the dramatic events that shaped the history of 18th-century Gilmerton House in Lothian
The devil makes work for idle hands
As dedicated craftspeople fashion a revival in the art of needlepoint, Matthew Dennison can see a pattern emerging
‘Full of a watchful intentness’
John Lewis-Stempel embraces the ‘faerie enchantment’ of the heath as he visits the inspiration for a classic Thomas Hardy novel
Interiors
Matthew Dennison celebrates the Soane chimneypiece that is still hot property after 200 years and Amelia Thorpe’s selections keep the home fires burning
Lord of the rings
Ben Lerwill meets Simon Turner, an arboreal artist who creates wonderful ceramics using the contours and curves of trees
Luxury
Hetty Lintell on high fashion in the Highlands, switching off the stress and astonishing rubies, plus some of McFly drummer Harry Judd’s favourite things
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson knows her onions, giving an understated kitchen staple a starring role
Ireland’s call
The well-oiled Ireland winning machine can repel France’s strength in depth to retain rugby’s Six Nations Championship, argues Owain Jones
Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and a popular writer on linguistics and evolutionary psychology. Angela Tan interviews him about politics, language, death, and reasons to be optimistic.
The Globalist Podcast (January 30, 2024) – We discuss how Israel’s war in Gaza is increasing tensions between Iran and Pakistan.
Plus: the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, why three coup-hit nations have left the Economic Community of West African States and why Boeing is losing market share to Airbus. We also meet Jeffrey Wright, star of the Oscar-nominated ‘American Fiction’.
The attack on Sunday killed three Army reservists, the first known American military deaths from hostile fire in the turmoil spilling over from Israel’s war with Hamas.
Donors have pulled funds for the main aid agency in Gaza after allegations that some employees took part in the Oct. 7 attack, but it is not clear who would fill the vacuum if it ran out of money.
Voting Is Bewildering This Primary Season. That Worries Experts.
New Hampshire’s ballot didn’t include President Biden. South Carolina has two primaries. Nevada has a primary and a caucus. A morass of dates and formats could keep some voters away.
Apollo Magazine(January 29, 2024): The new February 2024 issue features ‘Giants of Indian Miniature Painting’; The Crisis in Italian Paintings and more…
• Holidaying with the Habsburgs
• An interview with Julie Mehretu
• The crisis in Italian museums
• Howard Hodgkin’s Indian miniatures
Plus: Slim pickings for foodies on Valentine’s Day, Parma’s monumental museum complex, and – and reviews of Impressionists on paper, experimental art in the Eastern bloc, and Africa and Byzantium at the Met
The New Yorker (January 29, 2024): The new issue‘s cover featuresSarula Bao’s “Lunar New Year” – The artist depicts the joys of gathering with loved ones, around a table of good food
As the general manager of the Jay Peak ski resort, Bill Stenger rose most days around 6 a.m. and arrived at the slopes before seven. He’d check in with his head snowmaker and the ski-patrol staff, visit the two hotels on the property, and chat with the maintenance workers, the lift operators, the food-and-beverage manager, and the ski-school instructors—a kind of management through constant motion. Stenger is seventy-five, with white hair, wire-rimmed reading glasses, and a sturdy physique that makes him look built for fuzzy sweaters.
The Perverse Policies That Fuel Wildfires
We thought we could master nature, but we were playing with fire.
With elections postponed and no end to the war with Russia in sight, Volodymyr Zelensky and his political allies are becoming like the officials they once promised to root out: entrenched.
The Globalist Podcast (January 29, 2024) – Will the director of the CIA, William Burns, be able to negotiate a truce and hostage deal when he meets his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, as well as Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani?
Following Finland’s presidential election on Sunday, we look at the future of the country. And with layoffs and strikes across the country, we examine what’s happening in the US media. Plus: why Guggenheim Bilbao is halting its expansion into a Basque nature reserve.
The first-known American military fatalities from hostile fire in the Middle East crisis will almost certainly increase pressure on President Biden to respond.
MGM (January 28, 2024) – Highlights from the Top Ten Best Historical films including:
A Bridge Too Far (1977) Directed By: Richard Attenborough Cast: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Kruger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv
The Alamo (1960) Produced and Directed by John Wayne Cast: John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joan O’Brien, Chill Wills, Ken Curtis, Carlos Arruza, Jester Hairston, Joseph Calleia, and guest star Richard Boone
The Battle of Britain (1969) Directed by Guy Hamilton Cast: Harry Andrews, Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Ian McShane, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Patrick, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Robert Shaw, Patrick Wymark, Susannah York
De-Lovely (2004) Directed By: Irwin Winkler Cast: Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) Written for the screen and Directed by Randall Wallace Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu, Gabriel Byrne, Anne Parillaud, Judith Godreche
Alexander the Great (1956) Written, Produced and Directed By: Robert Rossen Cast: Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Barry Jones, Harry Andrews, Stanley Baker, Niall MacGinnis, Danielle Darrieux
The Great Escape (1963) Produced and Directed by: John Sturges Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) Directed By: John Frankenheimer Cast: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand, with Edmond O’Brien as “Tom Gaddis,” also starring Betty Field, Telly Savalas
The Bridge at Remagen (1969) Directed By: John Guillermin Cast: George Segal, Robert Vaughn, Ben Gazzara, Bradford Dillman, E. G. Marshall
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) Produced and Directed By: Stanley Kramer Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland as “”Irene Hoffman,”” Maximilian Schell, and Montgomery Clift