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Party like it's 1656: The end of the pandemic should be a moment to celebrate says historian

 

Paris Lees — a British writer, equality campaigner and editor at British Vogue — shares some home truths, messy truths and sage advice.

 

Recompose, the first human-composting funeral home in the U.S., is now open for business

 

 

How an Enormous Tornado Starts Out

 

 

From Jane Austen to Zadie Smith – the City vs. the Country in Literature

 

How Would You Draw History?

 

Curious Animal Behaviour

 

In the dead spaces between buildings, an architectural revolution

In Mexico City, Amsterdam and Toronto, planners, governments and architects wrestle with the social and economic problems of empty and forbidding spaces in apartment districts

 

Michael Pollan on what you're eating when you eat MacDonald's french fries

Not just the potato and the oil.

 

Santa Is a Psychedelic Mushroom: How gonzo is this theory?

It’s time to embrace the shamanistic side of Christmas 

 

No Jail Time: The Movie

To beg for leniency, defense attorneys are producing entire documentaries for an audience of one: the judge.

 

What are smartphones doing to young people?

[Radio interview]

 

Tunnels, Towers, and Mazes Made of Books

 

20 Ways to Break Europe

 

Inventor, entrepreneur and visionary Ray Kurzweil view of technology's grip in the 2020s

Ray Kurzweil with Stevie Wonder in 1982, who inspired the inventor to develop a music synthesizer with new capabilities. [o]

 

Magic mushrooms can 'reset' depressed brain

 

Colorado River should have same legal status as a person: lawsuit

[Radio interview]

 

(Creative) Invasion of Japanese Fields After Rice Harvest 

 

The Leading Culture Destination of the Year Award winners

Exhibition of the Year: Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at Hirshhorn Museum (Washington DC, USA)
Museum Architecture of the Year: Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology (Lisbon, Portugal)
Museum Shop of the Year: Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, USA)
Restaurant of the Year: Fotografiska (Stockholm, Sweden)
Digital Museum Experience of the Year: British Museum (London, UK)

Best New Museum of the Year Award winners: (opened in the last 15 months):

Europe: Design Museum (London, UK)
North America: Tippet Rise Art Center (Fishtail, USA)
Latin America: Casa Wabi (Puerto Escondido, Mexico)
Middle East / UAE / Africa: Etihad Museum (Dubai, UAE)
Asia / Pacific: MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
The Traveller’s Award winners, presented by Avis:
Emerging Cultural City of the Year: Athens, Greece
Art Hotel of the Year: The Walled Off Hotel (Bethlehem)

Soft Power Destination of the Year Award winners, presented by Valletta 2018:

Best Soft Power Cultural Activation Award: Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Art Less: The Davis without Immigrants (Wellesley, USA)
Best Soft Power Cultural Organisation Award: Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
Best Soft Power Cultural District Award: Watts Tower Arts Center (Los Angeles, USA)
Climate Smart Award, in partnership with SUNx: Climate Control at Manchester Museum (Manchester, UK)

Best Museum Late Night Experience, in partnership with Sipsmith: Rubin Museum of Art (New York, USA)

The Leading Culture Destination 2017 overall winner: Design Museum (London, UK)

 

How nature fights back against extinction

Ecologist and author Chris D. Thomas argues many plant and animal species are thriving and adapting to human-created change. [RADIO INTERVIEW]

Off to the Med? … a rhino getting airlifted in South Africa. Photograph: Green Renaissance/Barcroft Media.

 

Feminism and the Future of Philosophy

 

Guilt

On one of our favourite radio programs or podcasts, the BBC's In Our Time, host Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss morality by taking a long hard look at the idea of guilt.  

 

How do we get out of this mess?

Donald Trump. North Korea. Hurricanes. Neoliberalism. Is there any hope of a better world? Yes, but we have to come together to tell a new, kinder story explaining who we are, and how we should live.

 

What the Dutch can teach the world about managing floods

"Water is not an enemy. It was never an enemy. It's not a fight, because you will always lose." — Henk Ovink

Houston, Texas, August 29, 2017
 

Change Through Direct Networks

 

How to Work with People You Don t Agree with or Like or Trust

 

DOES BEAUTY JUST HAPPEN? — CHALLENGING MAINSTREAM THOUGHT ABOUT BEAUTY'S BIG HAND IN EVOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEMAND FOR YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IS EXPLODING. HOW CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS ARE SCRAMBLING TO REACT.

 

LEAN BURN PHYSIOLOGY GIVES SHERPAS PEAK-PERFORMANCE

 

THE GREAT BRITISH BREXIT ROBBERY: HOW OUR DEMOCRACY WAS HIJACKED

A shadowy global operation involving big data, billionaire friends of Trump and the disparate forces of the Leave campaign influenced the result of the EU referendum. As Britain heads to the polls again, is its electoral process still fit for purpose?

 

WHY TECHNOLOGY IS ADDICTIVE & WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

 

COFFEE SHOPS SKIP WIFI TO ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS TO ACTUALLY TALK

 

MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Victor Frankel

 

WHAT HANNAH ARENDT CAN TEACH US ABOUT TOTALITARIANISM

In the picture from the top left: Heinrich Blucher, Hannah Arendt, Dwight Macdonald, his second wife Gloria Lanier; Sitting: Nicola Chiaromonte, Mary McCarthy and Robert Lowell, 1966. Photo taken by Dwight Macdonald and The Politics Circle by G. Sumner, 1996.

 

THE MOST IMPORTANT COOKING INGREDIENT

 

HOW DO YOU BUILD A SACRED SPACE?

 

RAW HEAT OF THE EARTH'S INTERIOR MEETS AIR AND OCEAN

 

THE TEN METER TOWER

 

A QUIET GIANT OF INVESTING ISSUES WARNINGS ON TRUMP

 

MR. PRESIDENT, THE NETHERLANDS HAS SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH YOU ('TWEEN JUST YOU AND THEM)

 

WITH CORPORATE FUNDING OF RESEARCH, "THERE'S NO SCIENTIST WHO COMES OUT OF THIS UNSCATHED"

Scientists Loved 
and Loathed by an
 Agrochemical Giant

Angelika Hilbeck, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in a lab at the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The agrochemical industry has long challenged her research, and she has been outspoken in fighting back

 

UNDERSTANDING THE SEEDS OF ANTI-NEOLIBERALISM TODAY

An interview with author and broadcaster MIchael Sandel — on how the failure of the elites gave us Brexit and Trump — is also a useful primer on principles of political philosophy in general, plus . . . (see below).

Photo credit.

. . . an interview addressing similar questions with philosopher Charles Taylor, recent winner of the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy.

 

 

 INSIDE THE LIVES OF THOSE PANAMA PAPERS PEOPLE

This very well-written article — about people with so much money they end up getting a strange allergy to paying taxes — is long and technically complex. But that didn't stop us; we couldn’t put it down. The bonus is how this couple make a lot of their money. You may have been their customer. 

 

ESSENTIAL SIGNAGE!

 

TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT OF DRUGS AT THE TOP OF THE NAZI REGIME

 

FROM FLOODS TO FOREST FIRES: A WARMING PLANET — IN PICTURES

 

WILDLIFE UP CLOSE: PORTRAITS BY CLAUDIO GOTSCH

 

RECYCLING BACK TO A SUSTAINABLE IRON AGE

Metals like iron can be used to store and transport renewable energy, and then burned to harvest that energy.

Burning metals (Alternative Fuels Lab, McGill University).

 

"I FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING A PLANE CRASH": Michael Burry, The Big Short, and Experiencing the 2008 Financial Meltdown from the Inside

And a contrary view about the headline of the above article: "Michael Burry Does Not Think Another Financial Crisis Is Looming." >

 

REALLY EXTREME MAKEOVER

It's one thing to renovate a house. It's quite another to turn a cave — or a water tower or a church — into a home.

 

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY IS TURNING INTO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

 

WATCHING THE SCANDINAVIANS: TEACHING NEW MALE IMMIGRANTS BETTER WAYS WITH WOMEN

 

TERRORIST CAT OUT OF THE BAG

When, on Sunday evening, Belgian police asked citizens not to tweet about the armed operations that were being carried out around the country, anyone could have been excused for reacting with fear.

Belgian forces — searching for suspects in the aftermath of the Paris attacks — told citizens to stay indoors and not go near their windows for safety reasons.

They also appealed for social media silence about any police action users might witness — presumably to keep the suspects in the dark.

A tense time, no doubt. But Belgium reacted — how else? — with cats.

READ MORE . . .

 

A CONTEMPRARY PERSPECTIVE ON RICHARD SEIFERT

Richard Seifert (1910-2001) had an enormously successful career as an architect, yet a critical re-appraisal of his reputation has followed slowly. Herbert Wright will examine his rise, including his patronage by Felix Fenston and Harry Hyams, his London skyscraper projects from London Wall to Victoria Street, and the enemies, losses and changes (Centre Point and Kings Reach). And, for those interested in or designing projects for 21st century London, Wright will address what we can learn from Seifert.

Herbert Wright, who is the Editor-at-Large of The Journal of Wild Culture, graduated from the University of London in Physics and Astrophysics. Currently he is Contributing Editor to major UK architecture/design magazine Blueprint, and contributor to Architecture d’Aujourd’hui and others. He is the author of three non-fiction books about skyscrapers and urbanism. He has curated Lisbon Open House 2012, and had a year’s residency as columnist on Royal institute of British Architects Journal to 2014.

November 18, 19:00 - 20:15 | £6.00 - £8.00

The ABA Gallery, 70 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EL

Order tickets.

 

JON STEWART ON CHARLESTON KILLINGS

AND THIS BY ROB ROGERS

 

 

SLIPPING BIG CASH INTO THE HANDS OF CLIMATE DENIERS 

 

UNITY, DIVERSITY & CULTURAL GENOCIDE

A Speech by the Rt. Hon. Beverly McLaughlin, Chief Justice of Canada, May 28, 2015

A residential school in Fort Providence, N.W.T., photographed in 1921. (Northwest Territories Archives).

 

ONE OF OUR HEROES MOVES ALONG . . . INTO THE PATH OF HIS HERO
Editor Alan Rusbridger's farewell letter to Guardian readers.

Rusbridger and former editor Peter Preston outside the high court after ex-cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken dropped his libel action against the Guardian, June 1997.

 

NIETZSCHE'S MARGINAL CHILDREN: ON FRIEDRICH HAYEK
How did the conservative ideas of Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian school become our economic reality? By turning the market into the realm of great politics and morals.

 

A ROBOT THAT CAN PERFORM BRAIN SURGERY ON A FRUIT FLY

 

THE BIGGEST STORY IN THE WORLD — The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger and his campaign for earthly change

 

WILD CARS (Vehicles that have somehow lost touch with their drivers)

 

BICYCLING BY HALF MEASURES

About to be ridden and seen a lot, we think: The Halfbike, "a vehicle that awakens your natural instinct to move." Hmmm, imagine the daunting work-out the lower torso and gluts will get with this baby! View the video.

A FILM ABOUT WILD & CULTURE

WILD TALES. Corruption and betrayal and brutal road rage — Damián Szifron’s Oscar-nominated satire examines the seedy side of humanity in six revenge fantasies.

Crossing the thin line between civilisation and barbarism, the characters are driven to madness by everyday encounters. The vengeful tales that result from their outrage are complex and caustically funny — a jilted bride wreaks havoc at her wedding, an explosives expert reacts badly to a towed car, and a nervous realisation on an aeroplane causes chaos mid-flight.

Deranged and inventive, Wild Tales lets you give in to the pleasure of losing control.

Argentina/Spain 2014 Dir Damián Szifron 122 min

Watch the review by the critic Nick Duncalf at 60SecondReviews.

 

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Ontario beekeepers support government plan to reduce neonicotinoid use by 80% — March 24, 2015

MILTON, ONTARIO — The Ontario Beekeepers’ Association has announced that it is pleased to see the Ontario government proceed toward their goal of an 80% reduction in neonicotinoid pesticides by 2017. Tibor Szabo, president of the OBA says that, “although the organization is still reviewing the detailed mechanisms, we support the regulatory approach to controlling these pesticides. We are proud that Ontario is taking bold leadership to protect pollinators with the strongest measures in North America. We are particularly supportive of the requirement for third-party assessment, the emphasis on Integrated Pest Management and the commitment to transparency and public reporting.”

Yesterday, the Government of Ontario released its draft regulations for public comment. The proposed rules provide a new class of pesticides for corn and soy seeds treated with three types of neonicotinoid pesticides and a phased-in approach to regulating their sale and use. There are currently no requirements on the use of neonicotinoid treated seed.

“This proposal is encouraging for beekeepers who have been observing the devastating effects of these chemicals on their bees for the past few years,” said Szabo. “We believe these measures will build the long-term stability of our beekeeping industry and enable us to continue to provide essential pollination support to Ontario’s farmers.”

 

The New Optimism of Al Gore — by John Schwartz, March 15, 2015 (New York Times)

The worst effects of climate change can be blunted. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he says. “We’re going to win this . . . The only question is how long it takes.”     

 

 

"What ISIS Really Wants" — The Atlantic Monthly (with thanks to Tim Wilson)

The article includes this George Orwell quote:

"Hitler, because in his own joyless mind . . .

. . . he feels it with exceptional strength, knows that human beings don’t only want comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control and, in general, common sense; they also, at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades. However they may be as economic theories, Fascism and Nazism are psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life."

 

"Old Masters at the Top of Their Game" — by Lewis Lapham

 

"Our Ecological Boredom" — by George Monbiot

 

THE BEES & PESTICIDES DEBATE

"Ontario to restrict use of pesticide linked to bee deaths" —  by Eric Atkins

"Alberta beekeepers oppose pesticide ban" — by Amanda Stephenson

"Welcome to Syngenta's Forum for the Future of Agriculture" — Corporate Europe Observatory

 

SAVE SOUTHWARK WOODS

 

The Architecture of Happy Hour: Plotted, Not Stirred — view article.

 

If you know of articles you'd like us to list here, by subject, please send them to journal [AT] wildculture.com.