Posts

Showing posts from February, 2025

PFBENTERPRISES HUMOUR.

Image
 

“On March 6, 2020, Andrew and I went to a rave. If it weren’t for what happened later, I don’t think it would have stood out in my memory.” In an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir, Emily Roxy Witt writes about New York at the beginning of the pandemic—the uncertainty, the fear, the loss, the protests, the rage, the loneliness—and the end of a relationship. The Last Rave The Last Rave In the summer of 2020, I felt as if I’d entered the wrong portal, out of the world I knew and into its bizarro twin.

Image
  “On March 6, 2020, Andrew and I went to a rave. If it weren’t for what happened later, I don’t think it would have stood out in my memory.” In an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir, Emily Roxy Witt writes about New York at the beginning of the pandemic—the uncertainty, the fear, the loss, the protests, the rage, the loneliness—and the end of a relationship. The Last Rave In the summer of 2020, I felt as if I’d entered the wrong portal, out of the world I knew and into its bizarro twin.

The Mexican director Sara Gómez, who died in 1974, made about 20 short documentaries in her short life, starting in 1961, two years after the Revolution. In 1974, she shot her only feature-length film, “One Way or Another,” completed posthumously, which mixes a romantic drama with documentary sequences. Gómez, the first woman to direct movies in Mexico, created “a body of work that was in the creative and political forefront of its time and, in many ways, remains so even now,” Richard Brody writes. “Gómez, with her blend of documentary and fiction, of drama and intellectual analysis, devised a new cinematic method, which she used to express a powerful vision of her country, her time, and her own place in both.”

  The Mexican director Sara Gómez, who died in 1974, made about 20 short documentaries in her short life, starting in 1961, two years after the  Revolution. In 1974, she shot her only feature-length film, “One Way or Another,” completed posthumously, which mixes a romantic drama with documentary sequences. Gómez, the first woman to direct movies in Mexico, created “a body of work that was in the creative and political forefront of its time and, in many ways, remains so even now,” Richard Brody writes. “Gómez, with her blend of documentary and fiction, of drama and intellectual analysis, devised a new cinematic method, which she used to express a powerful vision of her country, her time, and her own place in both.”

The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it. The Myth of the Alpha Wolf The Myth of the Alpha Wolf. The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.

Image
  The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it. The Myth of the Alpha Wolf. The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.

In Walter Salles’s Oscar-nominated film, Fernanda Torres plays a woman whose family is torn apart by Brazil’s military dictatorship.

  In Walter Salles’s Oscar-nominated film, Fernanda Torres plays a woman whose family is torn apart by Brazil’s military dictatorship.

PFBENTERPRISES HUMOUR.

Image
 

The entrepreneurial ethic addresses a central tension of capitalism: people need to work to earn a living, but stable, fulfilling jobs are hard to find. In times of economic inequality, the prospect of becoming your own boss holds a lot of appeal.

  The entrepreneurial ethic addresses a central tension of capitalism: people need to work to earn a living, but stable, fulfilling jobs are hard to find. In times of economic inequality, the prospect of becoming your own boss holds a lot of appeal.

“No literary form captures the pathologies of contemporary American work quite like the humble—honored, grateful, blessed—LinkedIn post,” Anna Wiener writes. In the right light, the social network can appear as “a lavish psychoanalytic corpus,” bursting with naked ambition, status-seeking, brownnosing, corporate shilling, and self-promotion. LinkedIn’s style of sanitized professional chatter is of a piece with mantras like “do what you love,” “follow your passion,” “bring your whole self to work,” and “make a life, not just a living.”

  “No literary form captures the pathologies of contemporary American work quite like the humble—honored, grateful, blessed—LinkedIn post,” Anna Wiener writes. In the right light, the social network can appear as “a lavish psychoanalytic corpus,” bursting with naked ambition, status-seeking, brownnosing, corporate shilling, and self-promotion. LinkedIn’s style of sanitized professional chatter is of a piece with mantras like “do what you love,” “follow your passion,” “bring your whole self to work,” and “make a life, not just a living.” This discourse around work can seem like a distinctly modern phenomenon, but a new book argues that the imperative to imbue work with personal significance is part of a long-standing national preoccupation with entrepreneurialism. In “Make Your Own Job,” Erik Baker tracks the evolution of “the entrepreneurial work ethic”: an orientation that is highly individualistic and competitive, and that operates on the level of personality. It is present in th...

When she was little, Shilpi Doss Shrodes, who was adopted, learned that her name was once Melanie Lynn Larrisa Alley. “It felt as though Melanie was a part of her,” Anna Smith writes, “but a part that she couldn’t see . . . like the ghost of a twin.” Living in Adoption’s Emotional Aftermath Living in Adoption’s Emotional Aftermath Adoptees reckon with corruption in orphanages, hidden birth certificates, and the urge to search for their birth parents.

Image
  When she was little, Shilpi Doss Shrodes, who was adopted, learned that her name was once Melanie Lynn Larrisa Alley. “It felt as though Melanie was a part of her,” Anna Smith writes, “but a part that she couldn’t see . . . like the ghost of a twin.” Living in Adoption’s Emotional Aftermath Adoptees reckon with corruption in orphanages, hidden birth certificates, and the urge to search for their birth parents.

Monday Evening Concerts, which has showcased living composers for eight decades, “represents something essential about L.A.’s perennially undervalued identity,” Alex Ross writes.

  Monday Evening Concerts, which has showcased living composers for eight decades, “represents something essential about L.A.’s perennially undervalued identity,” Alex Ross writes.

Ann RTL Patchett on how the death of her friend’s father inspired her to get rid of useless possessions. “I found little things that had become important over time for no reason other than that I’d kept them for so long,” she writes. How to Practice How to Practice I wanted to get rid of my possessions, because possessions stood between me and death.

Image
  Ann RTL Patchett on how the death of her friend’s father inspired her to get rid of useless possessions. “I found little things that had become important over time for no reason other than that I’d kept them for so long,” she writes. How to Practice I wanted to get rid of my possessions, because possessions stood between me and death.

The German philosopher Hanno Sauer believes that morality was invented rather than discovered—and that understanding its constructed origins may actually strengthen our confidence in it. Does Morality Do Us Any Good? Does Morality Do Us Any Good? Our basic sense of right and wrong appears to be the product of.

Image
  The German philosopher Hanno Sauer believes that morality was invented rather than discovered—and that understanding its constructed origins may actually strengthen our confidence in it. Does Morality Do Us Any Good? Our basic sense of right and wrong appears to be the product of

David Owen describes the preservation projects that have given him “a nearly Einsteinian view of time and mortality.

  David Owen describes the preservation projects that have given him “a nearly Einsteinian view of time and mortality.

PFBENTERPRISES TMI WOMEN PLAYER HUMOUR. *JUST THE FACTS.

Image
 

While spending time with a capybara named Pumpkin, Gary Shteyngart noticed that it was always on alert for a predator. The capybara represented a duality he knew all too well: a desperately friendly creature always afraid of being attacked.

Image
  While spending time with a capybara named Pumpkin, Gary Shteyngart noticed that it was always on alert for a predator. The capybara represented a duality he knew all too well: a friendly creature always afraid of being attacked.    

PFBENTERPRISES HUMOUR.

Image
 

This past November, when political winds changed, D.E.I. became a convenient fall guy; the best way to signal that you never wanted to engage with wokeness in the first place was to fire your D.E.I. staff and blame them for forcing you down the wrong path. “Trump, I believe, is doing something similar at a grand scale,” Jay Caspian Kang writes. “He is taking a relatively powerless program, vilifying it, and using its dissolution as proof that he has single-handedly ended the woke era.” The clearest example came on Thursday when he outrageously blamed “diversity” for the tragic airline crash in Washington.

  This past November, when political winds changed, D.E.I. became a convenient fall guy; the best way to signal that you never wanted to engage with wokeness in the first place was to fire your D.E.I. staff and blame them for forcing you down the wrong path. “Trump, I believe, is doing something similar at a grand scale,” Jay Caspian Kang writes. “He is taking a relatively powerless program, vilifying it, and using its dissolution as proof that he has single-handedly ended the woke era.” The clearest example came on Thursday when he outrageously blamed “diversity” for the tragic airline crash in Washington.   But these first two weeks of Trump’s Presidency have made it clear that his main priority, at least for now, is controlling federal funding and using it to enrich his allies and to harm his political enemies. “Trump’s endgame has started to reveal itself and it will not be coming through the tired culture war we have all been fighting for the past decade but rather throug...

In “Hugh Jackman LIVE, from New York with Love,” the Oscar-nominated, multiple Tony Award-winning Marvel mega-super-über-ultrastar can’t seem to get over the fact that he has his own show at Radio City Music Hall.

  In “Hugh Jackman LIVE, from New York with Love,” the Oscar-nominated, multiple Tony Award-winning Marvel mega-super-über-ultrastar can’t seem to get over the fact that he has his own show at Radio City Music Hall. Though the actor has starred in five Broadway productions, shredded box-office records as the X-Men’s vein-popping Wolverine, performed a whole other autobiographical retrospective, and even hosted four Tony ceremonies at Radio City, his happy-to-be-here, gee-willikers excitement somehow remains intact. “I’ll never forget this,” he told a Saturday crowd, a little catch in his voice. Read Helen Shaw’s review of the show, which doubles down on Jackman’s musical-theatre ambitions, and his sense of awe.

Paul Newman thought his success was just a matter of hard work and good luck. Other people had a different perspective. Who Paul Newman Was—and Who He Wanted to Be He thought his success was just a matter of hard work and good luck. Other people had a different perspective.

  Paul Newman thought his success was just a matter of hard work and good luck. Other people had a different perspective. Who Paul Newman Was—and Who He Wanted to Be He thought his success was just a matter of hard work and good luck. Other people had a different perspective.

On a new episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour, Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and public-health philanthropist, discusses the future of A.I., vaccine skepticism, and the politics of technology in 2025. He views the rise of conspiracy thinking as symptomatic of larger trends in American society. “The fact that outrage is rewarded because it’s more engaging, that’s kind of a human weakness,” he says. Listen here.

  On a new episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour, Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and public-health philanthropist, discusses the future of A.I., vaccine skepticism, and the politics of technology in 2025. He views the rise of conspiracy thinking as symptomatic of larger trends in American society. “The fact that outrage is rewarded because it’s more engaging, that’s kind of a human weakness,” he says. Listen here.

An appreciator of “Speak Now” and “Folklore” joins a roomful of young writers at the Thurber House, a literary center in Ohio, for a class inspired by the pop star.

  An appreciator of “Speak Now” and “Folklore” joins a roomful of young writers at the Thurber House, a literary center in Ohio, for a class inspired by the pop star.

PFBENTERPRISES HUMOUR.

Image
 

Apparently, we’ve been thinking about the end of the world since about 1800 B.C., the date ascribed to the myth of Atrahasis, a Mesopotamian creation story that predates Biblical writings by several hundred years and features a world-cleansing flood. What do the stories we tell about the apocalypse tell us about ourselves? A new book assembles biological, geological, archeological, literary, and cinematic permutations of existential finales, leaving no stone unturned, be it meteor, comet, or asteroid.

  Apparently, we’ve been thinking about the end of the world since about 1800 B.C., the date ascribed to the myth of Atrahasis, a Mesopotamian creation story that predates Biblical writings by several hundred years and features a world-cleansing flood. What do the stories we tell about the apocalypse tell us about ourselves? A new book assembles biological, geological, archeological, literary, and cinematic permutations of existential finales, leaving no stone unturned, be it meteor, comet, or asteroid.

For the first time in modern American history, a skeptic of medical research could be responsible for safeguarding public health.

  For the first time in modern American history, a skeptic of medical research could be responsible for safeguarding public health.

Though Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat, has aligned herself with Donald Trump, her true loyalties remain elusive as ever. In fact, Gabbard’s flexuous political journey slightly resembles that of her prospective boss, who was allied with both the Reform Party and the Democratic Party before remaking the Republican Party in his own image. In her confirmation hearing this week for director of National Intelligence, Gabbard’s “performance was impressive, but it was also frustrating, because she offered little insight into how and why her views have changed over the years, if indeed they have,” Kelefa Sanneh writes.

  Though Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat, has aligned herself with Donald Trump, her true loyalties remain elusive as ever. In fact, Gabbard’s flexuous political journey slightly resembles that of her prospective boss, who was allied with both the Reform Party and the Democratic Party before remaking the Republican Party in his own image. In her confirmation hearing this week for director of National Intelligence, Gabbard’s “performance was impressive, but it was also frustrating, because she offered little insight into how and why her views have changed over the years, if indeed they have,” Kelefa Sanneh writes.

The concept of “the male gaze” was popularized over 50 years ago, articulating the ways in which men project their fantasies onto the female figure. The term has expanded to include multiple ways of looking. QUOTE - WHAT.

  The concept of “the male gaze” was popularized over 50 years ago, articulating the ways in which men project their fantasies onto the female figure. The term has expanded to include multiple ways of looking. QUOTE - WHAT.

Donald Trump’s knack for naming and renaming things has made him an influential shaper of reality. How Donald Trump Seizes the Primal Power of Naming. For the President, a name can become an instrument by which to exert his will upon our shared reality.

  Donald Trump’s knack for naming and renaming things has made him an influential shaper of reality. How Donald Trump Seizes the Primal Power of Naming. For the President, a name can become an instrument by which to exert his will upon our shared reality.