The World Still Needs America—and America Still Needs the World by Condoleezza Rice
And They’re Already Here by Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt
The dubious rise of the private-security industry by Jasper Craven
For millennia, the figure of the guard has inspired as much derision as demand. An early antecedent to the modern security guard can be found in ancient Egypt. Nobles employed “doorkeepers” to protect palaces and tombs. The performance of such duties was accorded a measure of reverence even as guards were often cast as apathetic or incompetent. Some hieroglyphs depict doorkeepers as those “who ward off all evil ones”; others show them as sleepy, drunk, or blind.
Many still believe in this image of guards as feckless agents in spaces not in need of protecting. And yet, in a moment of peculiarly American volatility, certain places that guards patrol—like schools, bars, grocery stores, and retail outlets—are increasingly prone to seeing outbursts of violence. These trends might justify a guard’s usefulness if not for the fact that most guards lack the training or legal authority to do much of anything.
From Burdened: Student Debt and the Making of an American Crisis, which will be published this month by Dey Street. by Ryann Liebenthal
From L’instant précis où Monet entre dans l’atelier, which was published in 2022 by Éditions de Minuit. Translated from the French in May by Pauline Cochran. by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
How Vice-President Harris’s public persona has evolved, from tough prosecutor to frozen interviewee to joyful candidate. By Vinson Cunningham
His campaign is careening, his poll numbers are slipping, and, after something of a summer lull, he is due for several confrontations in court.
As the oceans ebb and surge, staggering ingenuity has gone into inventing the measure. By Brooke Jarvis
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We relaunch our presidential-election model for a transformed race
The superpower faces more adversaries, new technologies and less-confident allies
The country’s forces should be careful not to overreach
The challenge for neuroscientists is how to test them
The Guardian Weekly (August 15, 2024) – The new issue features Has mass tourism gone too far? – Why holiday hotspots have had enough. Plus: America’s Kamala and Tim show
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Spotlight | On the road: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz re-energise Democrats
The US vice-president and her running mate have hit the ground running in their campaign for the White House. Can they keep the momentum going, asks Lauren Gambino.
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Technology | The fragile world of underwater internet cables
Deep-sea wires are the veins of the modern world. What if something were to happen to them? Jonathan Yerushalmy investigates.
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Feature | Beautiful, bruising and complex female friendships
Ahead of her new book examining women’s friendships, the Observer’s Rachel Cooke reflects on two pivotal ones of her own, as well as some notable literary attachments.
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Opinion | The Olympics showed France’s far right what true patriotism is all about
Despite a febrile political backdrop, the Paris Games reminded a nation of what it means to be proud of one’s country, says French sports writer Philippe Auclair.
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Culture | The second act of Sam Neill
He is one of the world’s most famous actors, but the New Zealander – whose cancer is thankfully in remission – can still go to Starbucks without anyone recognising him, finds Zoe Williams.
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A snake family that includes many venomous species arose in Asia, despite fossil evidence pointing to an African origin.
Athletes can achieve greater speed with just the right ‘pumping’ motion, modelling shows.
Microbe found in cat poo could be harnessed to deliver large, complex proteins across the blood–brain barrier.
Times Literary Supplement (August 14, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Guy vs the Spies’ – Robert Cecil’s secret intelligence network; The new Cold War; On annihilation; What anxiety means; G.K. Chesterton’s Notting Hill…
Country Life Magazine (August 14, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Save the Albion Cow’ – It’s rarer than a Giant Panda; Old houses, new technology; Hot and Steamy – Why the pressure cooker is back and Whizz kids – What made Elizabeth I, Brunel and Nelson special…
Our treasured native livestock breeds are in danger of being lost, yet they have a crucial role to play, believes Kate Green
Anyone waiting with trepidations for the A-level results should take heart from the likes of Nelson and Brunel, says Alice Loxton
Old houses with poor wifi need not be denied new gadgets, from wireless lighting to kettles that can be switched on remotely. Julie Harding taps her screen
From a hollowed-out cow to autofocus and gyro-stabilised cameras, clever ideas continue to transform wildlife photography. Amie Elizabeth White takes a look down the lense.
Neil Buttery fires up the pressure cooker, back in our kitchens and tenderising those bones
Sturdy, hardworking and now prized for their rarity, farm wagons were key to rural life in times past. Jack Watkins rolls out the surviving examples.
Follow thou Toby Keel’s wise advice for digital life and thou shalt not be shunned in society
The new generation is building on a fine legacy of gardening and travel at Bryngwyn Hall in Powys, where Caroline Donald wanders among trees gathered from far-flung countries
John Wright sets off into the woods in search of meaty rot fungi, the magnificent chicken of the woods and its cousin, joy-inducing hen of the woods
It might be an acquired taste, but gazpacho — recipe of your choice — is worth tasting again. Tom Parker Bowles dips his spoon into a Spanish favourite
Intellicurious 