Notebooks

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Gdynia and the dream of a maritime Poland

A century ago, a Baltic fishing village began its transformation into a bustling port. Gdynia embodied interwar Poland’s modernising ambitions, but it could not guarantee the count..

Juliette Bretan October 15, 2026

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Joshua Wong, heir to the Cold War dissidents

The cross-border friendships that sustained opposition in the Soviet bloc suggest that not all is lost for Asia's new generation of activists.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom October 15, 2026

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Persona: Ingmar Bergman’s stone-cold classic

Sixty years on, the Swedish filmmaker's masterpiece remains intimate, stark and utterly compelling.

Paul Lay October 14, 2026

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Star Wars and the dawning techno-empire

A neglected storyline in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ offers a glimpse of our future: imperial, technologically advanced and undemocratic.

Sumantra Maitra October 13, 2026

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Anne Carson’s roaming imagination

The new Nobel laureate has made a virtue of crossing boundaries and expanding the reach of the lyric sensibility.

Jared Marcel Pollen October 12, 2026

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The Kremlin’s problem with plague is nothing new

Russia’s rulers have long met outbreaks of disease with secrecy, at catastrophic cost to their own citizens. The official response to a plague researcher’s death in Siberia follows..

Paul Josephson October 12, 2026

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Ukraine’s experiment with foreign reformers

Kyiv’s unorthodox approach to reforming its public institutions has been to bring in experts from outside. But they will only have an impact if given the right powers.

Kseniya Sotnikova October 9, 2026

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France’s riots: revolution without utopia

France’s riots may carry echoes of 1789 and 1968, and of a long tradition of taking to the streets, but they are also the product of a stranger, more troubling side of contemporary..

Muriel Zagha October 8, 2026

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Eva Marie Saint’s stolen glances

Her performance as Eve Kendall in ‘North by Northwest’, Alfred Hitchcock’s unique, surreal masterpiece, will never be forgotten.

David Thomson October 8, 2026