Tag Archives: society

Rimbaud and Verlaine

Posted on September 28, 2020 by JMN

The seventy-five persons interred in the French Pantheon include Voltaire, Rousseau, Dumas, Hugo and Malraux. None is there for poetry. (Victor Hugo was honored for his political attainments.) There is now a movement afoot to transfer the remains of Arthur … Continue reading →

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Reframing Philip Guston

Posted on September 27, 2020 by JMN

This week, the directors of [the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tate Modern in London, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] released a joint statement saying that they were “postponing the exhibition until a … Continue reading →

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‘I Hate Men’ Two

Posted on September 10, 2020 by JMN

There’s more to Pauline Harmange, French author of I Hate Men, than met the eye of Ralph Zurmély, the gender equality ministry adviser who sought to prosecute her for incitement of gender-based violence. His ministry said “it appeared [he] had … Continue reading →

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Pen Pricks

Posted on September 9, 2020 by JMN

In certain Victorian novels, female authors paint a bleak picture of limited options available to women lacking means or family status; of a lonely and loveless existence, yet one lacking privacy and subject to uninvited comment; of a life peopled … Continue reading →

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The Case for Old Bulls

Posted on September 6, 2020 by JMN

“New research challenges the assumption that bulls become redundant in elephant society after breeding.” New evidence suggests that male elephants do have social lives, and that older males may act as leaders for younger ones.…For example, from 1992 to 1997, … Continue reading →

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Shackles

Posted on August 28, 2020 by JMN

Jacob Blake, the Black resident of Kenosha, Wis., who was shot by a white police officer, is shackled to his hospital bed [my bolding]… [He] remains paralyzed from the waist down… The police were arresting Mr. Blake on Sunday afternoon … Continue reading →

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‘A Difference That Adds Up’

Posted on August 16, 2020 by JMN

In 2019, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London hosted the first international retrospective of Ms. Hurtado’s art, “I Live I Die I Will Be Reborn.” Reviewing it in The Guardian, Adrian Searle wrote, “Vitality, tenderness, spookiness, intimacy, gawkiness, sexiness, subtlety, … Continue reading →

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Mother Power

Posted on August 15, 2020 by JMN

The “club” of Sarah Vowell’s title is clarified in the subtitle of this article: “They’re the graduates of public universities, and they’ve stepped into the void of presidential leadership.” President Lyndon Johnson was a graduate of Southwest Texas State College … Continue reading →

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Extreme Centrality. Yeah

Posted on August 14, 2020 by JMN

Credit… Mason Trinca for The New York Times. The philosopher Isaiah Berlin once said he occupied the “extreme right-wing edge of the left-wing movement.” If that’s good enough for Isaiah Berlin, it’s good enough for me. (David Brooks, “This Is … Continue reading →

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‘Horrific Surrealism’

Posted on August 5, 2020 by JMN

Behrouz Boochani wrote his book with desperate means from imprisonment in a brutal Australian camp for migrants. A collaborator from outside who helped assemble the book terms it a work of “horrific surrealism.” Boochani’s book challenges readers to acknowledge that … Continue reading →

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