Новости за 21.11.2017

Cultural critics have two main tasks: first to look at something, and then to name it. A lot of the work is taxonomy, and so it is always tempting to rush into naming a new genre. In the introduction to his 2013 book about prestige cable dramas and the men who make them, titled Difficult Men, Brett Martin is quick to coin a term. He calls the period between 1999 and 2013 the “Third Golden Age” of TV, when auteurs like David Chase, David Simon, Matthew Weiner, Vince Gilligan and David Milch enjoyed... Читать дальше...

The scariest part about the 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia was that, in the beginning, no one really knew anything about the chemical that poisoned their drinking water. Ten thousand gallons of a licorice-scented chemical called MCHM had leaked from a storage container into the Elk River, a tap water source for 300,000 people in Charleston. Schools closed, hospitals evacuated patients, and the local economy of the state’s most populated city came grinding to a halt. For weeks, citizens were... Читать дальше...

History is a battleground, perennially fought over, endlessly contested. Nowhere does this aphorism hold true more than in Russia. A majority of Russians recently voted Joseph Stalin the “most outstanding person” in world history (followed, naturally, by current President Vladimir Putin). No longer the monster of the gulags and purges that killed millions, Stalin now looms in the national consciousness as the giant who defeated the Nazis in World War II. Meanwhile, not only has Russia annexed... Читать дальше...

In 2017, everyone wants to know why. Why Trump, why mass shootings, why student debt, why anything? And why does Republican Party policy enable the worst of today’s catastrophes? There are no prophets, so we are on our own and must discern for ourselves the shape of the society we inhabit. Six years ago, Corey Robin, a Brooklyn College professor of political science, attempted just this: His 2011 book The Reactionary Mind looked at the major figures of the conservative tradition and attempted... Читать дальше...

In the beam of a scanning flashlight, the family came into focus. A father, laboring under a sack filled with his belongings, used his free hand to pull a child no older than five, who hauled a bag of his own, as they struggled ashore from the Naf River. His wife lagged behind, clutching an infant with no pants. Once they made land, another man emerged from the dark water, his eyes downcast, carrying a young girl in his arms. They had reached Shah Porir Dwip, an island on the southeastern tip of Bangladesh... Читать дальше...

In 1963, while a prisoner at the federal penitentiary at McNeil Island in Washington state, Charles Manson heard other prisoners enthuse about two books: Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and L. Ron Hubbard’s self-help guide Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950). Heinlein’s novel told the story of a Mars-born messiah who preaches a doctrine of free love, leading to the creation of a religion whose followers are bound together by ritualistic... Читать дальше...