Commentary
Adam Sandler receiving a Mark Twain Prize is one more SNL achievement that defies understanding.
Our demanding critics choose the best films (along with some disappointments) of the year. And there is plenty of disagreement.
What a great year 2022 was for classical music recordings: the canon, new music, neglected music – all of it was well-represented and from all comers.
An homage to Grace Paley, one of the great American writers of the 20th century.
“We have entered an age of unequivocal partisan discourse, of linguistic robotization, of tiny symbols standing for complex emotions. In total contrast to this, Philippe Jaccottet’s writing constantly shows nuance, attentiveness, perseverance, circumspection, and a genuine quest for essential truths.”
Freedom of expression is a more precious commodity than taste. Conservative critics were very clear about their moral imperative; they confidently vilified artists and terrorized institutions. No one won the culture wars — we lost them.
What is literature if it doesn’t kick you in the ass every now and then and get you to act? Maybe that’s what the Nobel committee thought when it awarded Annie Ernaux this year’s Literature Prize.
Jazz, in particular, seemed to not merely satisfy Justin Freed’s inner cravings for beauty, but it led him outwards, to others, eventually inspiring some of the key relationships in his life.

Book Review: “The Value of a Whale” — Green Capitalism and the Limits of Market-Based Solutions
In this valuable book, Adrienne Buller assesses the efficacy of leading market-based efforts to address climate change and nature loss and contends that they have largely failed.
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