Notebooks

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Jane the Virgin: Metafictional telenovela par excellence

Netflix show Jane the Virgin's deep engagement with Latin American and Spanish literature and the telenovela form makes it one of the most intellectually interesting TV series in r..

Josh Mcloughlin July 15, 2021

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Chamonix’s Sea of Ice — warning to a warming world

Chamonix's Sea of Ice, deep in the Alpes profondes, once a magnificent spectacle, has become a mere torrent of greyish stones and detritus.

Agnès Poirier July 13, 2021

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The ancient art of sycophancy

Sycophancy, like most political diseases, is not new. The ancient Egyptians developed it to a fine art and its aura persists to this day.

Maria Golia July 9, 2021

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The new Right Stuff

Space entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk are recapturing the bold and individualistic spirit of America's first astronauts, the Mercury Seven.

Edward Thicknesse July 7, 2021

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In defence of The Matrix: Revolutions

Unfairly maligned by critics, the third edition of the Matrix series is the true heir to cyberpunk and a tonic to the cold sheen of Holywood Sci-Fi.

Lamorna Ash July 5, 2021

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The beauty of brocade paper

Brocade paper is the seventeenth-century German invention which still has the power to dazzle.

Simon Beattie July 2, 2021

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The political value of modesty

Ancient criticisms of over-educated elitists can show us how to heal our divided democracies.

Erica Benner June 30, 2021

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Conversationalist in brick

Overlooked in his own lifetime, Giles Gilbert Scott's architectural skill in uniting the past and the present make his buildings unforgettable.

Fergus Butler-Gallie June 26, 2021

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Sophie Scholl — still the White Rose blooms

Sophie Scholl paid the ultimate price for her defiance of Nazi evil. The actions of her and her compatriots are remembered to this day.

Bruce Anderson June 23, 2021