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The Hudson Review | Outlook India | Wired | Mediapart | The New Republic | Tygodnik Powszechny | The New Statesman | Babelia | HVG | openDemocracy | The New Yorker
The Hudson Review 25.08.2008 (USA)
Jefferson Hunter has written a marvellous article on the story of the boxing film: "The Set Up" – an RKO production from 1949. The film was directed by Robert Wise, the lead played by Robert Ryan and one of the supporting roles is Weegee the time keeper, "fedora on head, cigar in mouth, stopwatch and hammer in hands" The film is based on a epic poem of the same name published in 1928 by Joseph Moncure March. "For the screen, RKO kept most of the original's violent plot, tracked March's rapidly shifting moods of contempt, fear, and foreseen defeat, even devised brilliant cinematic equivalents for his pounding verse rhythms. But RKO made alterations too, some minor, some major - alterations of the kind March himself grew cynically to know when in the 1930s he was employed as a scriptwriter for the studios and made artistic compromises of his own. The story of what Hollywood did with and to 'The Set-Up' is complicated, as complicated and intriguing as March's poem itself, and as Wiredmuch a mixture of dogged fidelity with shabby betrayal, of keeping the faith with making a buck."
Outlook India 01.09.2008 (India)
In an article titled "Azadi" (freedom) the writer Arundhati Roy expresses her support for the mass protests that have been shaking the streets of Kashmir for weeks now. "Not surprisingly, the voice that the Government of India has tried so hard to silence in Kashmir has massed into a deafening roar. Hundreds of thousands of unarmed people have come out to reclaim their cities, their streets and mohallas. They have simply overwhelmed the heavily armed security forces by their sheer numbers, and with a remarkable display of raw courage. Raised in a playground of army camps, checkposts and bunkers, with screams from torture chambers for a soundtrack, the young generation has suddenly discovered the power of mass protest, and above all, the dignity of being able to straighten their shoulders and speak for themselves, represent themselves. For them it is nothing short of an epiphany."
Wired 16.09.2008 (USA)
The Better Place company, founded by Israeli ex-SAP manager Shai Agassi, has already raised several hundred million dollars in startup money for its plans to change the world - with electric cars. But the company is less focussed on technical innovation in cars or batteries, than on a revolutionary grid and financing model, as an enthusiastic Daniel Roth reports: "Agassi reimagined the entire automotive ecosystem by proposing a new concept he called the Electric Recharge Grid Operator. It was an unorthodox mashup of the automotive and mobile phone industries. Instead of gas stations on every corner, the ERGO would blanket a country with a network of 'smart' charge spots. Drivers could plug in anywhere, anytime, and would subscribe to a specific plan - unlimited miles, a maximum number of miles each month, or pay as you go - all for less than the equivalent cost for gas. They'd buy their car from the operator, who would offer steep discounts, perhaps even give the cars away. The profit would come from selling electricity - the minutes."
Further articles: Steven Levy visited sci-fi author and hacker-hero Neal Stephenson whose latest novel "Anthem" invents an entire 7000 year-old culture over the course of nearly 1000 pages. David Wolman swiftly puts paid to the whole "internet makes us stoopid" nonsense.
Mediapart 25.08.2008 (France)
Novelist Gilles Hertzog, who travelled to Georgia with Bernard Henry-Levy, bitterly takes stock of the brief Georgian war and the role played by the Europeans and the French in particular. As to who started the war (how important in this now in the face of the faits accomplis?) he takes the Georgian line: "Saakashvili had issued many a warning to the west but the west played deaf. Then on August 3, the last provocation occured, an assassination carried out by South Ossetian militias in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinva (population 10,000). Saakashvili was slimming in Italy and was planning to travel to the Olympic Games in Bejing with his family. Instead he rushes back to Tiflis to find the Russians gathering in North Ossetia in front of the Roky tunnel facing South Ossetia: 350 tanks, all the relevant logistics and special forces parachutists. Should they just be left to get on with it? That would be the end of Georgia..."
The New Republic 10.09.2008 (USA)
Economist Joseph Stiglitz tries to guage the impact of the credit crisis on the American economy. "If the Great Depression undermined our confidence in macroeconomics (the ability to maintain full employment, price stability, and sustained growth), it is our confidence in microeconomics (the ability of markets and firms to allocate labor and capital efficiently) that is now being destroyed. Resources were misallocated and risks were mismanaged so severely that the private sector had to go running to the government for help, lest the entire system melt down. Even with federal intervention, I have estimated the cumulative gap between what our economy could have produced - had we invested in actual businesses, rather than, say, mortgages for people who couldn't afford their homes - and what we will produce over the period of our slowdown to be more than 1.5 trillion dollars."
Israeli historian Benny Morris recommends Andrew G. Bostom's – important if rather chaotic – history of Islamic anti-Semitism "The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism" which points out the uncomfortable fact that antisemitism was part of Islam from the start: "It all begins with the Qur'an - or, rather, with the encounter, as described in the Qur'an, between Muhammad, the prophet of the new religion, and the Jewish tribes in Hijaz, the area of western Arabia that includes the towns of Mecca and Medina, where Islam arose around 620 C.E. The Jews, not surprisingly, rejected the new faith and its prophet; and if the Qur'an is to be believed, they were contemptuous and sarcastic. (Religions notoriously do not take well to humor at their expense.) Indeed, the Qur'an asserts that the Hijazi Jewish tribes were downright hostile, even at one point trying to poison the Prophet. Muhammad, for his part, had earlier ordered the assassination of prominent Jewish opponents, and forcibly converted tribesmen and expelled many others, and slaughtered hundreds and consigned many of their women and children to slavery."
Tygodnik Powszechny 24.08.2008 (Poland)
The cover story of the Polish periodical examines the ecological conscience of the Catholic Church. Back in 1989 the Polish clergy prepared a number of guidelines on environmental protection for the faithful, but things were a lot more simple in those days. "THEY were the ones destroying the environment. State-run factories were poisoning the water and the air, and even if specific individuals were pumping their waste into the river, it was only because THEY had not built a sewer system," Juliusz Braun remembers. "But as soon as we started to build a sovereign state, it emerged that environmental protection had suddenly landed in the same drawer as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. For many conservative political columnists, it has since been part of the canon to lampoon environmental activists. So it's no big surprise that many priests only need to hear the word 'ecology' to sound the alarm bell." After a break of almost twenty years, and after John Paul II's clear commitment to nature, it is time for the Polish Church to start talking about environmental protection again, Braun believes.
The Polish press has been full of articles about the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Andrzej Krawczyk uses the occasion to remember Ludvik Vaculik's "Two Thousand Words" manifesto which was too radical for many and allegedly played a role in triggering the decision of Soviets to invade. "It was the attempt," writes Krawczyk "to express ideological material in a way that everyone could understand. But it was more than just that. It was also an attempt to extend the programme of the party reformers into areas that mattered to average Czechs and Slovaks, but which were barely acknowledged by the noblest representatives of the reform movement within the Czechoslovakian Communist Party.
The New Statesman 25.08.2008 (USA)
Rob Sharp tells the story of the radical activist Nehanda Abiodun, who flew to Cuba from the USA and today is a celebrated hip-hop musician. "Abiodun, who was born Cheri Dalton, is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with a string of robberies, including a 1981 hold-up of an armoured car near Nyack, in upstate New York. An exile in Havana for the past 20 years, she is now known as the 'godmother' of Cuban hip-hop and founder of a Havana chapter of Black August, a seminal group that promotes hip-hop culture at the grass roots." And which is backed by the Cuban state: "Having initially tested the Cuban government's tolerance for freedom of expression, the genre is now backed officially, through the Agencia Cubana de Rap (Cuban Rap Agency), which provides a state-run record label and hip-hop magazine."
Further articles: Jonathan Meades celebrates a ten-kilo monograph of the "greatest architect of the 20th century" which is aptly titled "Le Corbusier Le Grand". And Michael Bywater is scarcely less enthusiastic about Ian Kelly's new biography of Casanova.
Babelia 23.08.2008 (Spain)
"What an absurd business." Spanish novelist Javier Marias recently turned his hand to publishing, basing his project Libros del Reino de Redonda on Hans Magnus Enzensberger's "Andere Bibliothek". It is not all going to plan: "The only way not to completely lose heart and throw in the towel is to avoid finding out the extent of the annual, or accumulated losses. As long as it doesn't ruin me, I will keep going until things get too stressful or too boring or until the indifference of the literary supplements compels me to shut the place down. I mean, if the readers don't even know that the books are out there, what's the point? What will probably happen is that the books will become collectors' items in a few years time, highly sought-after by individuals who want to have the complete collection. You could call this working for the afterlife. I assure you, though, this was not my intention."
HVG 22.08.2008 (Hungary)
On September 15 Budapest will host the first board meeting of the EIT (European Innovation and Technology Institute), whose aim is to connect up all research and development institutes in Europe. The location of the institute in Budapest has prompted a number of people to hope for a boom in Hungarian science, others for a boom in investment and others for a certain fame. In interview with Andras Loke, biologist and educational politician Laszlo Dvorszki, whose job is to prepare the ground for the EIT, talks about whether this will be chance for Hungarian science: "Of course the Hungarians will have a certain edge on information, no matter how transparent and stringent the decision-making processes of this institution may be or how objective. Above all, though, I hope that with its headquarters in Budapest, this European institution will influence the local system. If you look at the nonsense that has gone on in R&D in this country since 1990, you see that this issue was initially handed to a minister, then to an acting state secretary; then it was passed on to the department of commerce and then on further down the line. In other words it was an independent area at one point in time, then it was integrated here, then there, but there is one it has never been, and this is the very thing is has to be: stable. (HGV now publishes lots of articles in English too!)
openDemocracy 19.08.2008 (UK)
In the long term the Georgian war will have fatal consequences for Russia, writes Bulgarian political scientist and director of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Ivan Krastev: "Russia has no outreach whatsoever to Georgian society, and there is no legitimate political force in Georgia that is ready to challenge the pro-western orientation of the country. Russia can occupy Georgian territory, but only at the cost of its own international isolation and a perilous deterioration in its relations with the west. Russia's failure to oust Saakashvili and to instal a pro-Kremlin government in Tbilisi also means that Russia cannot gain control over the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project; thus Russia's military victory has no practical impact on Moscow's ambitions to establish a monopoly over energy routes in the ex-Soviet space."
The New Yorker 01.09.2008 (USA)
John Updike obviously enjoyed the biography of a man who lived for beauty: "Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World" (Arcade). Its author Fred E. Basten tells the story of a diminutive Polish Jew who was forced to flee Russia because of his contacts to the Czars, and went on to build a cosmetic imperium in America and hide the flaws of the face of Hollywood as it went from black and white to technicolor ."For Douglas Fairbanks's sweaty exertions, Max invented 'the first perspiration-proof body make-up' and then 'devised the reverse—cinematic sweat - by simply combining equal parts of water with mineral oil.' For MGM's production of 'Ben-Hur,' he and his staff conjured up more than six hundred gallons of light-olive makeup to match the army of pale local extras to the darker extras already filmed in Italy. He conquered the persistent problem of lip pomade's melting under the hot studio lights by firmly pressing two thumbprints onto the actress's upper lip and then one thumbprint on her lower lip, thus single-handedly creating the sensational new look of 'bee-stung' lips. For Joan Crawford, he created 'the smear.'
RSS
In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
OpenDemocracy explains why a novel called "Paranoia" suddenly disappeared from Belarussian bookshops. Prospect fears that a ban on Islam4UK could undermine British democracy. The Gazeta Wyborcza explores Polish-Jewish relations. Le Monde diplomatique watches the carving up of Africa. In El Pais Semanal, maths whizz Marcus du Sautoy explains the sex appeal of suduko. And Gerhard Richter manages to surprise the Nation.
The New Yorker buries itself in the Arab novel. In Le Monde, Bernard-Henri Levy heaps scorn on the state-run caricature of a debate. Qantara points to the person responsible for all the misery in the Arab world: Daddy. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco takes a pin to the overblown daily paper. The Nation has earmarked 30 billion dollars to save journalism. In Tygodnik Powszechny, the writer Wojciech Albinski explains what makes Poland exotic. And the Spectator waves a tear-stained old hanky as shabby chic fades into the past.
In Merkur, art historian Wolfgang Ullrich defines a new type of artist: the contractor. In Nepszabadsag, writer Peter Nadas considers the crisis in Hungary and how it might end. In NouvelObs, Francis Ford Coppola explains why DVDs should be free. Eurozine introduces Lithuanian literature. In the New York Review of Books, Wyatt Manson asks why Pleiade is omitting Celine's anti-Semitic trilogy from the collected works. In Express, Philippe Gavi reminds us that Mohammed was not a crazed killer. A Californian marvels in NZZ Folio, at the reincarnation of an Indian factory worker. And confronted with the recent proliferation of literary cuddling, the New York Times yearns for a bit of Philip Roth.
Wired tracks James Cameron's 32-year quest to out-Lucas Lucas. In Nouvel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut and Alain Badiou tear each other apart over immigration and national identity. Tygodnik Powszechny introduces the pioneering artist Miroslaw Balka. Andras Bozoki asks why Hungarians are undermining democracy. In The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry explains why the bombing of Coventry was an inspiration to the British Air Staff.
Vanity Fair goes in search of a superpartner. Elet es Irodalom reads a new collection of essays by Imre Keresz. Outlook India complains about journalistic corruption. The New Yorker reads a new Koestler biography. Nepszabadsag foresees the next French revolution. Rue89 wonders about the provenance of prawns. And in the New Republic, Moshe Halberthal celebrates the sublime humility of Amartya Sen.
In Wilson Quarterly, the economist Tyler Cowen sings an ode to multitasking. Prospect has seen the monsters of the left. The Boston Globe follows James C. Scott to the new Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. Weltwoche is up in arms about the criticism of Switzerland's anti-minaret vote. In the Novel Obs, Pierre Nora applies his mind to the bestseller. New Criterion knows why the Pop art bubble won't pop. NZZ Folio examines the chicken nugget. Al Ahram asks what political Islam wants. The Walrus mourns for the first victim of the C-58. In Resetdoc, Joseph Massad explains why Arab homosexuals are an invention of the West.
Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak argues for a fusion of cultures in Eurozine. Umberto Eco agrees in Le Monde. The Nation portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, who himself explains in Babelia why 200 years after independence there's nothing to celebrate in a number of Latin American countries. Polityka lies Poland down on the couch. La vie des idees reads a book on Jews and the resistance in France. Americans read more than Europeans, writes historian Peter Baldwin in Merkur. And in The New York Review of Books Robert Darnton makes two bold proposals for a new Book Settlement.
The New Yorker searches for the ultimate difference between male and female. Elet es Irodalom comments on the Imre Kertesz interview in die Welt. Prospect assesses the development of Swedish crime writing. Walrus finds out from the conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin why it's sometimes necessary to get a little rough with the score. In Polityka, the historian Jerzy W.Borejsza remembers the assimilators, accommodators and collaborators in Poland's history. In the Guardian, Zadie Smith defends the novel against the essay.
In OpenDemocracy, the Moscow poet Tatiana Sherbina tears her hair out over Russia's obsession with Stalin. Polityka celebrates a film where it's okay not to be heroic. The London Review of Books cements its friendship with Roland Barthes. In Espresso, Umberto Eco suggests removing Christ from classroom crucifixes. In the New York Review of Books, Timothy Garton Ash talks velvet and guillotines. Magyar Narancs talks candidly about the Roma. The New Yorker eats in secret with a Michelin inspector. In Letras Libras, writer Cesar Aira explains why people shouldn't be forced to read. And Newsweek sings a swansong to America, the land of innovation.
In Open Democracy, Neal Ascherson wishes that the 1989 had had more French revolutionary zeal. Tygodnik remembers that Polish dissidents wanted German unity as far back as 1954. In Newsweek, Niall Ferguson argues that 1989 was not a patch on 1979. Laszlo Borhi hurls a rotten egg at Austrian's Social Democrats in Eurozine. Outlook India travels to Arunachal. Wired visits the Henry Ford of the information age. The New Republic embarks on a Peter Zumthor pilgrimage.
OpenDemocracy tells of the Russian waves which are doing away with the Iranian sparrows. The London Review reads new books on honour killings. The Nation goes in search of the last Yugoslav, Dusan Makavejev. The Walrus weeps for the printed book. The Guardian navigates its way through Michael Haneke's oeuvre. Polityka tells the Poles that you can have ethics without Catholicism, or even God. In Dawn, Arundhati Roy defends the Maoist guerillas in India. In Frontline, the Maoist guerilla leader, Koteswa Rao, chats about revolutionary executions. In Le Monde, Vaclav Havel is still fascinated by his critics. And HVG explains why the Hungarians think capitalism comes from the communists.
When Karadzic goes on trial in The Hague, the Hungarian plague will be tried alongside him, says the Magyar Narancs. The New Yorker explains why robots are better than husbands. In the New Republic, Enrique Krauze asks why Gabriel Garcia Marquez had such a thing for dictators. Europe has a sure footing in Turkey, Orhan Pamuk assures the Nouvel Obs. History is no recipe for how to live our lives today, the historian Karol Modzelewski tells Tygodnik Powszechny. N+1 tracks the rise of the neuronovel, and the TLS reads new Trotsky biographies.