Superhero films: Is this the end of the road?

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Superhero films: Is this the end of the road? Superhero films aren't looking too super. Jonathan Majors, the American actor, was arrested last weekend and has since been charged with assault, and although his representatives have declared that he is innocent, the US Army has temporarily shelved the recruitment adverts in which he appeared. That puts the Disney-owned Marvel Studios in an awkward position. Majors plays Kang the Conqueror, who wasn't just the villain in the recent Ant-Man film, but is meant to be the main baddie in the next wave of Marvel blockbusters. Should he keep the role? And what about Ezra Miller? They were charged with a series of crimes occurring last spring and summer, but have the title role in DC's The Flash, which is due out in June. Are viewers supposed to forget about the grim headlines and pretend that everything is fine?More like this:- Hollywood's most misogynistic cliché - Dungeons & Dragons: 'sure to be a hit' - How Top Gun: Maverick shocked the world Continued here

S34

Why a serious climate strategy is almost impossible in the UK's current political system The UK government reportedly chose Aberdeen, its carbonisation capital, as the original location to relaunch its de-carbonisation strategy. The strategy, now published, has been strongly criticised by environmentalists. Part of the plan to transition the country away from oil and gas is to allow highly subsidised, mostly foreign-owned companies to extract more oil and gas from these islands and sell it overseas to the highest bidder, thereby improving the UK’s national energy security. This is barely a week after climate scientists gave their starkest, final warning to keep fossil fuels in the ground or risk catastrophic, civilisation-threatening levels of global overheating.If your response to “energy security day” is to ask yourself: how on Earth can our leaders offer this as an adequate plan? After all the flooding, wildfires, heatwaves and storms; after all the scientific reports; after David Attenborough’s Climate: The Facts; after Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg and the millions of young people who refused to go to school; and poll after poll showing how concerned we now are; how we want our government to go much further and faster on climate policy. Do they really think we will swallow this Orwellian doublethink – hold two contradictory beliefs in our minds simultaneously, and accept them both? Are we really going to put up with this? Continued here

S8

What Is Disruptive Innovation? For the past 20 years, the theory of disruptive innovation has been enormously influential in business circles and a powerful tool for predicting which industry entrants will succeed. Unfortunately, the theory has also been widely misunderstood, and the “disruptive” label has been applied too carelessly anytime a market newcomer shakes up well-established incumbents. Continued here

S25

Catfish in Nigeria: we set about finding ways of making it more appealing African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) farming has become a popular agricultural business sector in Nigeria. This is because the species can adapt to a wide range of temperatures and to low oxygen and low salinity levels. Salinity refers to the salt content of water. And the fish matures in about six months. Nigeria is now the largest producer of catfish in the world and the livelihoods of millions depends on it. Despite being the highest producer of African catfish, the country is still struggling to bridge the gap between consumer demand and fish supply. The country’s annual fish demand is 3.6 million metric tonnes, but only 1.2 million tonnes is produced domestically. The shortfall is usually met through importing frozen fish. Continued here

S10

Helping Others at Work Without Burning Out Creating a culture of helping in the workplace is beneficial for both organizations and employees. Companies are more productive and profitable when their employees help one another, and research has shown the many benefits of workplace helping, including higher morale and job satisfaction for both the help provider and receiver. However, despite their best intentions, employees may sometimes fail to help one another due to a range of factors, including a lack of technical skills and social connections, time famine, and burnout. Many employees want to pitch in for their colleagues but may simply lack the time or energy to successfully follow through with their helping efforts. We know that companies run better when employees help one another, but we know less about how helping failures affect both the organization and the employees involved. Research on workplace failures in general suggests that employees don’t always handle them well. Oftentimes, they lose confidence in their abilities and may become discouraged from trying to help again in the future. Continued here

S6

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs The author, whose biography of Steve Jobs was an instant best seller after the Apple CEO’s death in October 2011, sets out here to correct what he perceives as an undue fixation by many commentators on the rough edges of Jobs’s personality. That personality was integral to his way of doing business, Isaacson writes, but the real lessons from Steve Jobs come from what he actually accomplished. He built the world’s most valuable company, and along the way he helped to transform a number of industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing. Continued here

S3

A Refresher on Statistical Significance When you run an experiment or analyze data, you want to know if your findings are “significant.” But business relevance (i.e., practical significance) isn’t always the same thing as confidence that a result isn’t due purely to chance (i.e., statistical significance). This is an important distinction; unfortunately, statistical significance is often misunderstood and misused in organizations today. And yet because more and more companies are relying on data to make critical business decisions, it’s an essential concept for managers to understand. Continued here

S41

Archaeology and genomics together with Indigenous knowledge revise the human-horse story in the American West Few places in the world are more closely linked with horses in the popular imagination than the Great Plains of North America. Romanticized stories of cowboys and the Wild West figure prominently in popular culture, and domestic horses are embedded in everything from place names, like Wild Horse Mesa, to sporting mascots, like the Denver Broncos.Horses first evolved in the Americas around 4 million years ago. Then horses largely disappeared from the fossil record by about 10,000 years ago. However, archaeological finds from the Yukon to the Gulf Coast make it clear that horses were an important part of ancient lifeways for the early peoples of North America. Continued here

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What to know about tax-free savings before the April 5 ISA deadline The window for making the most of your savings this tax year is closing. As the final day of the 2022-23 tax year, April 5 is your last chance to make full use of this year’s tax allowances. You can pay as much as £20,000 into a tax-free individual savings account (ISA) before this date. This annual limit has been frozen since 2017 and, unlike some other forms of tax relief, you cannot carry forward any unused ISA allowance. Continued here

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Happy songs: these are the musical elements that make us feel good Course Director, Music Psychology in Education, Performance and Wellbeing, University of Sheffield Music has a unique power to affect the way people feel and many people use music to enhance or change their mood, channel emotions and for psychological support. Continued here

S11

How young people are shaking off gender binaries Like many members of Gen Z, 20-year-old Rain Ashley Preece views gender outside of the Western established norms.“I think it is limiting everyone in society by saying there are only two genders – male and female,” says Cardiff-based Preece, who identifies as transgender male and uses he/they pronouns. “People may feel like they are both, neither or a bit of one or the other. I don’t personally feel completely masculine, even though I mostly see myself as a boy.” A series of VICE Voices surveys, conducted in 2019, shows many younger people share Preece’s views on gender: 41% of the survey’s respondents (all Gen Z) said they identified as “neutral on the spectrum of masculinity and femininity”. Fifty-five percent also said gender labels don’t help them “define who they truly are”, and 62% “felt strongly that people should be able to use any identity label with which they feel comfortable”. Continued here

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Does carbon capture and storage hype delay emissions cuts? Here's what research shows Is carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) an important tool for slowing climate change, or merely a way to justify the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels? I’m a social scientist who studies the politics of environmental technology and I have given this question a lot of thought.CCS is a technology that can separate out carbon dioxide (CO₂) from industrial facilities, like a coal-fired power plant or a cement factory, and sequester the CO₂ underground so as to keep it out of the atmosphere. Continued here

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The First Magician on the Vegas Strip One magic trick that Gloria Dea (1922-2023) did recently, before a small audience of fans gathered in her bedroom, was to apply lipstick (Wet n Wild’s Honolulu Is Calling, to be exact) without using a mirror. She stayed inside the lines, which is hard at any age, but at the time she happened to be ninety-nine years old. Dea had performed more traditional magic—mostly sleight of hand, with a specialty in billiard-ball manipulation—since she was a child. In 1941, when she was a teen-ager, she appeared at the Round-Up Room at the El Rancho Vegas, becoming the first magician known to have performed on the Las Vegas Strip. She was the trifecta of exceptionalism. She introduced this form of entertainment in Las Vegas (which has since become the epicenter of magic); she was notably young to be performing professionally; and she was a female magician, a rarity for sure when she appeared in the Round-Up Room, and, to this day, still an uncommon thing.Dea, who was an only child, was born in the Bay Area. Her mother, Martha, was a seamstress. Her father, Leo Metzner, owned a paint store, but his passion was magic, and after work he performed at clubs under the name the Great Leo. He began teaching Dea tricks when she was a preschooler, and had her performing onstage when she was five years old. Even then, she was sassy and self-assured. Once, when her father instructed her to do a certain trick, she refused because she thought it was stupid. She later recounted to her caregiver, Elizabeth Bowes, that the Great Leo shoved her onto the stage anyway, so she altered the trick to suit her exacting five-year-old standards. The relationship between father and daughter seems to have been complicated. For a time, they performed together, until one night an audience member commented that the little girl was a better magician than her father. After that, the Great Leo refused to appear onstage with her. Nonetheless, he continued to teach her tricks of the trade. By the time she was eleven, Gloria was one of the youngest members of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians and was regularly pulling two guinea pigs and a pigeon out of a hat onstage. “They never get stage fright, and neither do I,” she told a reporter from the Oakland Tribune, in 1934. Continued here

S5

Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which Do You Need to Work On? Although there are many models of emotional intelligence, they are often lumped together as “EQ” in the popular vernacular. An alternative term is “EI,” which comprises four domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Within those domains are twelve EI competencies, starting with emotional self-awareness in the self-awareness domain. Emotional self-control, adaptability, achievement orientation, and a positive outlook fall under self-management. Empathy and organizational awareness make up social awareness. Relationship management includes influence, coaching and mentoring, conflict management, teamwork, and inspirational leadership. Leaders need to develop a balance of strengths across these competencies. Assessment tools, like a 360-degree assessment that uses ratings from yourself and those who know you well, can help you determine where your EI needs improvement. To best improve your weak spots, find an expert to coach you. Continued here

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Why Tetris is the 'perfect' video game "I played it for five minutes and I still see it in my dreams!" beams video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers (played by British actor Taron Egerton), his eyes bulging out with excitement, in a scene from new film Apple TV+ film Tetris. Rogers is trying to persuade a financier to part with millions, so he can secure the game’s international licensing rights. "This is poetry," he adds persuasively. "Art and mathematics working in magical synchronicity."Set in the 1980s, the film sees a plucky Rogers fly to the Soviet Union in a mission to bring Tetris – a game that blew his mind at a business expo – beyond the Iron Curtain. Meeting the game's creator Alexey Pajitnov in Moscow, he forms an unlikely partnership with him, and they race against time (and rogue KGB officers) to get Tetris out of the country. Continued here

S32

Hay fever: why some people suffer from it and others don't While the arrival of spring brings blooming flowers and trees, it also marks the beginning of allergy season for many people. Those who suffer from hay fever may start to notice familiar symptoms such as sneezing, itchy eyes and a runny nose. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, affects up to 42% of people and can significantly impact their quality of life during the spring and summer months. Continued here

S19

Dalai Lama identifies the reincarnation of Mongolia's spiritual leader - a preview of tensions around finding his own replacement More than 5,600 people had gathered for a March 2023 ceremony in Dharamsala, India, when the Dalai Lama indicated toward a young child beside him.According to the Dalai Lama’s website, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism identified the boy as the latest reincarnation of the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché, the faith’s leader in Mongolia. The previous Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa, the ninth to hold the title, died in 2012. Continued here

S45

A horse died on the set of The Rings of Power: more needs to be done to ensure the welfare of horses used in entertainment The recent death of a horse on the set of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the latest incident raising questions about how humans use horses for entertainment and sport.While a statement from producers said the horses’s cardiac arrest occurred before the day’s filming began, animal rights activists PETA used the death to call on all screen producers to replace on-set horses with CGI and mechanical rig alternatives. Continued here

S24

Amapiano Awards: South Africa's dance music scene spreads its joy across the world In 2019 amapiano began to dominate South Africa’s dance floors to such an extent that, by 2021, the first South African Amapiano Awards were held to mark the rise of the country’s most infectious new music export. In 2022, the South African dance music genre continued to expand its galloping world-wide reach. The annual awards are now an established event in South Africa’s music calendar. Read more: South Africa's dance music craze, amapiano, could conquer the world – if its stars step up Continued here

S21

3D printing promises to transform architecture forever - and create forms that blow today's buildings out of the water In the 1880s, the adoption of the steel frame changed architecture forever. Steel allowed architects to design taller buildings with larger windows, giving rise to the skyscrapers that define city skylines today.Since the industrial revolution, construction materials have been largely confined to a range of mass-produced elements. From steel beams to plywood panels, this standardized kit of parts has informed the design and construction of buildings for over 150 years. Continued here

S43

More Pacific rugby league stars are opting to play for their homelands over Australia or NZ - that's good for the game Sierra Keung has worked as an adviser to the NRL's wellbeing programme, including evaluating the inaugural Pacific Advisory Wellbeing Group conference.With this year’s National Rugby League (NRL) season now up and running, the prevalence of Pacific players in the tournament is again obvious to see. All NRL teams now feature stars with Pacific nations heritage – indeed, it’s hard to imagine the game without them. Continued here

S4

Why We Follow Narcissistic Leaders Uncertainty in the business world provides a ripe opportunity for narcissists — people who have a grandiose conception of themselves, are self-obsessed, and crave authority and control — to emerge as leaders. Narcissists are great at accumulating power and influence and their confidence and charisma create the illusion of them being the best person for the job when predictability is low. Continued here

S36

Surrogacy shake up in UK would create uneven treatment for birth mothers Surrogacy, where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person or couple to raise, is growing in popularity. There aren’t any comprehensive figures on the number of cases (partly because some surrogacy arrangements are made informally) but it’s clear it’s something more and more couples and individuals are considering.In the UK, surrogacy laws go back to the 1980s – and are long overdue an update. This is why the Law Commission – which keeps the law under review and recommends reform where it’s needed – has proposed changes to the law that aim to make the process smoother and more secure for everyone involved. Continued here

S12

The iconic pasta causing an Italian-American dispute "Right now, we can't talk about anything else," my friend, a foreign affairs reporter in Rome, wrote to me. She wasn't talking about politics, but about pasta carbonara. A few minutes after her message, a New York writer friend told me he was being flown to Rome in a hurry to investigate the topic.On 23 March, the Financial Times published an article on Italian food expert Alberto Grandi, who claims that the iconic Roman dish was actually invented by Americans. Ever since, there's been an uproar across Italy. "Why is everyone so passionate about it?" I wondered. "And who invented the real carbonara?" Continued here

S44

The Millionaires' Factory lays bare the good and bad about Australia's millionaire manufacturer - Macquarie bank The Millionaires’ Factory, subtitled “the inside story of how Macquarie Bank became a global giant” by financial journalists Joyce Moullakis and Chris Wright is an impressive, informative book that I enjoyed reading. As well as providing insights into the Australian financial giant’s evolution, organisation, scope and success, it says a lot about Australia’s financial history. Continued here

S42

Ontario's new child welfare policy is promising, but youth leaving care need more support During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario’s Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services placed a moratorium on its child welfare policy that requires youth to leave foster care and group homes once they turn 18. At the same time, the province committed to a child welfare redesign to strengthen support for youth leaving care. The moratorium expires on March 31, with a redesigned policy coming into effect on April 1. While the new policy appears promising for youth leaving care, there are some important gaps that require the Ontario government’s attention. Continued here

S20

Can this former CEO fix the World Bank and solve the world's climate finance and debt crises as the institution's next president? Over the past two years, a drumbeat of calls for reforming the World Bank has pushed its way onto the front pages of major newspapers and the agenda of heads of state.Many low- and middle-income countries – the population the World Bank is tasked with helping – are falling deeper into debt and facing growing costs as the impacts of climate change increase in severity. A chorus of critics accuse the World Bank of failing to evolve to meet the crises. Continued here

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Too many digital distractions are eroding our ability to read deeply, and here's how we can become aware of what's happening -- podcast Science + Technology Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation Continued here

S17

This course uses science fiction to understand politics Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. While watching “Andor” – a science fiction TV series that is part of the “Star Wars” galaxy of films, books and TV shows – I realized that what fascinates me most about science fiction is the political aspect, especially regarding power. Continued here

S28

Why some people lose their accents but others don't - linguistic expert The way a person speaks is an intrinsic part of their identity. It’s tribal, marking a speaker as being from one social group or another. Accents are a sign of belonging as much as something that separates communities.Yet we can probably all think of examples of people who seem to have “lost” their regional or national accent and of others whose accent stays firmly in place. Continued here

S35

Cuban election: high turnout despite opposition call for boycott Results of the five-yearly Cuban national assembly elections on March 26 will have disappointed opposition figures, who had called for a boycott to signal unhappiness with the government’s performance.Two-thirds of the electorate submitted valid votes (that were not spoiled nor blank) despite opposition calls for people to stay away. Given all the difficulties and tensions of the past few years, the high numbers of voters seems to suggest that, although it is under strain, the Cuban political system is more resilient than expected. Turnout had been dropping since the days of former leader Fidel Castro, and poor voter numbers could have signalled significant dissatisfaction with the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez. Continued here

S23

MLK's vision of social justice included religious pluralism - a house of many faiths The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been the subject of ongoing debate ever since his assassination on April 4, 1968. Today, those invoking King’s memory range from Black Lives Matters organizers and President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Educators trying to teach Black history call on his principles, even as their opponents claim that lessons about systemic racism go against King’s desire not to judge people “by the color of their skin.” Continued here

S15

Ukraine war: US issues Nato weapons playing cards to help Ukraine avoid friendly fire Nato members and other western countries are stepping up their supply of weapons to Ukraine. The UK recently pledged to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks, while the US has promised 31 Abrams tanks, and is sending older models to get them to the battlefield as soon as possible. Germany has dispatched 14 of its renowned Leopard 2 tanks.Other nations have or are in the process of sending anti-tank and anti-air systems, artillery pieces, drones and tanks. These modern sophisticated weapons will be key to the success of Ukraine’s spring counter-offensive which is believed to be poised to begin. Continued here

S9

6 Strategies for Leading Through Uncertainty It seems that any given week provides ample reminders that leaders cannot control the degree of change, uncertainty, and complexity we face. The authors offer six strategies to improve a leader’s ability to learn, grow, and more effectively navigate the increasing complexity of our world. The first step is to embrace the discomfort as an expected and normal part of the learning process. As described by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, leaders must shift from a “know it all” to “learn it all” mindset. This shift in mindset can, itself, help ease the discomfort by taking the pressure off of you to have all the answers. Continued here

S29

What's the most sustainable way of dealing with Japanese knotweed? Here's what we found When it was introduced to Europe in the mid-19th century as an ornamental plant, Japanese knotweed, known as Reynoutria japonica var japonica, quickly went rogue. Despite not being native to the British Isles, it was able to rapidly form self-sustaining colonies in the wild. Today, this invasive plant is found across much of Britain and Ireland. It is often spotted growing in areas influenced by people such as waste ground, along riverbanks, roadsides and railway lines. Continued here

S22

Article withdrawn on 30 March 2023 We have withdrawn the article titled, “Leo Frobenius made African rock art famous, but is tainted by racism and a lack of understanding”. Following a review we decided to remove the article from the site… Continued here

S27

What the complicated social lives of wasps can teach us about the evolution of animal societies It’s spring in England. The daffodils are in full bloom. A queen yellowjacket (Vespula) wasp emerges from your loft, dopey with hibernation and hungry for nectar. She starts to build a paper nest in which to raise a family. It will be a large family. But for now, she works alone. Wasps are poorly studied compared with other social insects, like bees and ants. But wasp societies are a fascinating example of a social insect (an insect that lives in a group) because their societies are so varied. Comparing their genetic makeup with other social insects helps bolster our understanding of how animal societies evolved. Continued here

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As the global musical phenomenon turns 50, a hip-hop professor explains what the word 'dope' means to him After I finished my Ph.D. in 2017, several newspaper reporters wrote about the job I’d accepted at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor of hip-hop.The writer may not have meant it the way I read it, but the terminology was significant to me. Hip-hop’s early luminaries transformed the word’s original meanings, using it as a synonym for cool. In the 50 years since, it endures as an expression of respect and praise – and illegal substances. Continued here

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Gwyneth Paltrow's Trial Is Her Best Role in Years One of the lessons of adulthood is that life is hard and, as one grows older, will likely get harder. There are the enduring personal pressures: making a living, finding and keeping a mate, potentially raising children, and inevitably experiencing embarrassment, grief, and death. And then there are the larger issues, whose spectres grow more haunting with every passing year: war, inequality, political strife, global economic collapse, environmental apocalypse. Taken together, it's enough to drive anyone to the brink. So it is perhaps no wonder that one of the most-watched news events of late has been Gwyneth Paltrow's trial, in Utah civil court, for a luxury-ski-resort accident from her past. It's as if we were all waiting to exhale, and Paltrow finally gave us permission.For those who have somehow managed until now without this precious diversion, which kicked off last Tuesday and is expected to draw to a close on Thursday, here are the basics: in February, 2016, Paltrow, who is fifty, was vacationing with her family at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah—a site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the location of Chelsea Clinton's eighteenth-birthday celebration, in 1999. Terry Sanderson, a seventy-six-year-old retired optometrist, was at the resort at the same time as Paltrow, and in 2019 he filed a lawsuit accusing her of having committed a "ski and run." According to Sanderson, he was skiing on the beginner slope when he was struck from behind by the Oscar-winning actress and the founder of Goop, who did not stop to help him because she was distracted by her kids. Sanderson says that he suffered various physical and mental injuries from the collision (broken ribs, brain trauma) and originally sought 3.1 million dollars in damages, though that sum has since been reduced to three hundred thousand dollars. Continued here

S26

Endometriosis: black women continue to receive poorer care for the condition Endometriosis is a common chronic inflammatory condition that affects an estimated one in ten people assigned female at birth. The condition causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow elsewhere – including on the ovaries, intestines, bladder and bowels. Symptoms can affect the whole body, but often include severe pelvic pain, painful periods, pain during sex, infertility and fatigue. There are a number of reasons for why this is the case – including barriers to gynaecological care and systemic racism in the medical field. But this means that black women may suffer for many more years as a result without a proper diagnosis or treatment. Continued here

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3 ways Ottawa can rebuild trust following changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement Unless the Supreme Court of Canada rules the original agreement is unconstitutional, the new deal on refugee claimants is likely to stand. Justin Trudeau’s government has invested significant political and diplomatic capital in negotiating the amendment. It was agreed in principle almost a year ago, but implementation had stagnated. As late as the end of February 2023, David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, hinted that no change to the agreement was likely. Continued here

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Roxham Road: Asylum seekers won't just get turned back, they'll get forced underground -- podcast In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, migration expert Christina Clark-Kazak explains the devastating consequences of last week’s meeting between United States President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The meeting resulted in significant changes to a cross-border agreement and has already impacted the lives of thousands of asylum seekers attempting to make a life in Canada. We explore what these changes will mean for those people searching for a safe home who are now being turned away from Canada. We also discuss the racialization of Canada’s immigration policies. Continued here

S39

Ukraine recap: as spring arrives in Ukraine an offensive against Crimea could be on the cards Over the past few weeks there have been a growing number of reports that Russia is recruiting workers and – according to some sources, using forced labour – to dig trenches and build fortifications in Crimea across areas they would be forced to defend were Ukraine to make the peninsula a major objective of its spring offensive.Activity is mainly focused on the areas around the Isthmus of Perekop, a roughly 19-mile long stretch of land which connects Crimea to the Ukrainian mainland. Its strategic importance is obvious when you think there have been fortifications dug there on and off for 2,000 years. Continued here

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The Wait for the Trump Indictment Is Finally Over In America, the freedom of the press is often exercised as the freedom to congregate in exactly the same place at the same time, not doing much. Two Saturday mornings ago, former President Donald Trump posted on his proprietary social-media platform, Truth Social, declaring that he would be indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney three days later—“on Tuesday.” That Monday, reporters from multiple continents and every major news network set up camp outside the seventeen-story Art Deco courthouse in lower Manhattan, where criminal defendants in the borough are taken for arraignment. Television cameras were planted side by side below a tent at the corner of Centre Street and Hogan Place, in view of the courthouse’s main entrance, where Trump would presumably be brought in, either with or without handcuffs. (What kind of visual they would get was a big subject of debate among the reporters.) A smaller pack of cameras was set up half a block south, near an entrance to the City Clerk’s office building, where witnesses were said to emerge after sitting for the grand jury. Network trucks and satellite vans took up parking spots usually enjoyed by city employees who work in the municipal building across the street from the courthouse. Technicians and camera operators, hopping out of these trucks and vans, put up portable generators and ran thick black cables along the sidewalks. Under the white tent, behind the cameras, bright key lights were stood up and turned on. And then everyone waited.Reporters at stakeouts—both the ones who wear makeup and stand in front of the cameras, and the ones who walk around with notebooks in their hands—usually don’t have any special access to information. They learn about things through push notifications, Twitter, and calls from their bosses. And from one another. In New York, veteran camera operators and photographers who work for the local networks have known one another for years, if not decades, and are well practiced in the art of time-killing small talk and jocular, productive bullshitting. Rumors swirled about the details of the nearly five-year investigation that had led to this moment—what Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, was thinking, and what the grand jury, which was looking into Trump’s 2016 pre-election hush-money payment to an adult film star, was doing. Continued here

S69

An American Tragedy, Act III Former President Donald Trump, twice impeached, yet impervious to shame, was indicted Thursday on criminal charges related to the payment of hush money to a porn star. There was a time in American history, almost impossible to recollect now, when such a sentence, such a plot point, would have been beyond our imagining. That has not been the case for a very long time.In early 2016, the ascent of such a clownish demagogue, a sleazy real-estate hustler who had only begun to reveal the full depths of his bigotry and authoritarian impulses, was a laugh line. At the time of his last State of the Union address, Barack Obama gave an airily confident interview to Matt Lauer, of NBC, asserting that the “overwhelming majority” of the electorate would see through Trump’s “simplistic solutions and scapegoating” and elect Hillary Clinton. Lauer pressed Obama: “In no part of your mind and brain can you imagine Donald Trump standing up one day and delivering the State of the Union address?” Continued here

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Indigenous knowledge offers solutions, but its use must be based on meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities As global environmental challenges grow, people and societies are increasingly looking to Indigenous knowledge for solutions. Indigenous knowledge is particularly appealing for addressing climate change because it includes long histories and guidance on how to live with, and as part of, nature. It is also based on a holistic understanding of interactions between living and non-living aspects of the environment. Continued here

S40

In Turkey, women are feeling the worst aftershocks of the earthquake disaster - this disparity may lead to dwindling trust in government When natural disasters strike, women and girls tend to experience disproportionate challenges and heightened risks.They are much more likely than men to experience sexual violence and health problems. Women and girls also face greater professional and educational setbacks. Continued here

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Melania Trump Seen Wearing "I Don't Care" Jacket PALM BEACH (The Borowitz Report)—Melania Trump, who made headlines in 2018 by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?," was spotted wearing the garment again Thursday evening.Mrs. Trump, who was seen in the controversial jacket while taking a stroll around the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, offered no explanation for donning it other than that she "was really in the mood to wear it tonight." Continued here

S46

Attention plant killers: new research shows your plants could be silently screaming at you If you’re like me, you’ve managed to kill even the hardiest of indoor plants (yes, despite a doctorate in plant biology). But imagine a world where your plants actually told you exactly when they needed watering. This thought, as it turns out, may not be so silly after all.A team led by experts at Tel Aviv University has shown tomato and tobacco plants, among others, not only make sounds, but do so loudly enough for other creatures to hear. Their findings, published today in the journal Cell, are helping us tune into the rich acoustic world of plants – one that plays out all round us, yet never quite within human earshot. Continued here

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An Australian Standout at This Year's New Directors/New Films Series What's exciting about the annual New Directors/New Films series, which runs through April 9th at MOMA and at Film at Lincoln Center, is the discovery of filmmakers, usually young ones, who pose new questions and seek new answers to the practice of filmmaking itself. It's what Dwayne LeBlanc does in the venue-confined but far-reaching short film "Civic" (screening tomorrow and Saturday), which I wrote about in the current issue of The New Yorker. And it's what the Australian filmmaker Alena Lodkina does in her second feature, "Petrol," which plays on Thursday and Saturday. Lodkina borrows one of the most familiar of young filmmakers' tropes—the drama of a film student struggling to complete a thesis film—and transforms it into something as original as it is personal.The originality of "Petrol" comes via ricochet. Lodkina bounces her theme off one of the monumental achievements in modern cinema: the œuvre of Jacques Rivette. She transforms his obsessions with cinematic history into a confrontation with personal history, his visions of a comprehensive network of hidden connections into an intimate story of an uncertain quest. She grabs one of Rivette's prime formats—the mirroring, doubling, and convergent relationships of two women, as in such films as "Le Pont du Nord" and "Céline and Julie Go Boating"—and adds to it the ethical challenges of her own artistic practice. Continued here

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Friday essay: could a reinterpreted Marxism have solutions to our unprecedented environmental crisis? In 2021, Kohei Saito’s Capital in the Anthropocene became a publishing sensation in Japan, eventually selling more than half a million copies.That astonishing achievement becomes even more extraordinary when one considers that Saito, an academic at the University of Tokyo, has for some years been rearticulating materialist philosophy based on a close reading of Karl Marx’s unpublished manuscripts – not exactly the kind of enterprise that traditionally results in bestsellers. Continued here

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Clout-lighting: pranking your partner for likes is a surefire way to get dumped this April Fools' Day What would you do to get more likes or shares on your favourite social media platform this April Fool’s Day?Would you blast an airhorn in your partner’s ear while they’re sleeping, record and upload their reaction online? Would you put hot chilli in their food, then film and share their distress? Continued here

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Manhattan grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump, showing he, like all other presidents, is not an imperial king A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on March 30, 2023, for his alleged role in paying porn star Stormy Daniels hush money.The New York Times reported that it is not yet clear what exact charges Trump will face, but a formal indictment will likely be issued in the next few days. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is the first prosecutor ever to issue an indictment against a former president. Trump is still the center of several ongoing investigations regarding other alleged criminal activity, including actions he took while in office. Continued here

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Accidents on Chinese projects are rampant, but why does Indonesia's economy still depend on China? Chinese investment in Indonesia has been under the spotlight again this year, after a deadly riot at a nickel processing and refining plant of PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi. One Chinese and one Indonesian worker died in the incident. The company belongs to China-based Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co. Ltd.Another China-backed project, the long-awaited Jakarta Bandung High Speed Train, has been making headlines for its rising costs and for a series of accidents between 2019 and December 2022 that have killed three Chinese workers and injured others. Continued here

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The Loss and Damage Fund: How can Indonesia use it to boost climate adaptation efforts Climate finance was at the centre of The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt last year. For many, the highlight was the agreement to establish a fund to assist developing countries in responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change. The term “loss and damage” is still loosely defined, but in general it refers to the negative consequences or costs incurred from the ongoing effects of climate change. Continued here

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5 books for kids and teens that positively portray trans and gender-diverse lives International Transgender Day of Visibility is an opportunity to celebrate trans and gender-diverse people – and to raise awareness of the ongoing discrimination they experience.Trans and gender-diverse people experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal behaviours than the general population. Continued here

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Mass Casualty Commission report details the Nova Scotia shooter's abuse of sex workers Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission has released its final report on the largest mass murder in Canadian history — highlighting how the perpetrator, although known to the police, was able to escape arrest for charges of intimate partner violence and illegal gun possession. On April 18-19, 2020, starting in Portapique, N.S., a single gunman murdered 22 people over a 13 hour period while dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a mocked up RCMP cruiser. He was finally shot by police officers at a gas station as he filled up a car taken from one of his last victims. Continued here

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Hear Ye, Hear Ye! An Indictment Has Dropped! Follow @newyorkercartoons on Instagram and sign up for the Daily Humor newsletter for more funny stuff.© 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices Continued here

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Trump indictment won't keep him from presidential race, but will make his reelection bid much harder A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The specific state charges, reports The New York Times, “remain a mystery” but will be related to the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of Trump for making hush money payments to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.At the same time, Trump is expected to continue his campaign for the presidency, seeking to regain in 2024 the position he lost in 2020 to Joe Biden. Continued here

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Nova Scotia's Mass Casualty Commission calls for stricter gun control laws R. Blake Brown was commissioned by the Mass Casualty Commission to write an Expert Report on the history of gun control.The final report of the Mass Casualty Commission investigating the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead makes several recommendations to meaningfully change Canada’s gun laws. Continued here

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Why ASEAN countries should not look at Thailand for legalising medical cannabis Cannabis use was decriminalised in Thailand since June 2022. Yet almost a year on, the country still lacks a comprehensive legal framework to regulate the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis or marijuana products.Amid the legal ambiguity, a fast growing cannabis industry has emerged with significant implications for both Thailand and the broader Southeast Asia region, home to some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Continued here

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What does Trump's indictment mean for his political future - and the strength of US democracy? Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former US President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate. But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical. Continued here

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Telehealth has much to offer First Nations people. But technical glitches and a lack of rapport can get in the way Telehealth has been a game changer for many First Nations people globally, including in Australia.It has allowed First Nations people to access health care close to home – whether that’s screening for health issues, diagnosing illness or monitoring existing conditions. It has done this while minimising exposure to COVID. Continued here

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Listen! The simple thing the finance sector can do for Indigenous customers that can change people's lives Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous, Diversity and Inclusion), Griffith University The story of the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, whose name and marketing misled thousands of customers into believing it was Indigenous owned and run, is a stark example of how Australia’s financial regulations have let down Indigenous people. Continued here

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As the US pushes to make daylight saving permanent, should Australia move in the same direction? Sunday will mark the end of the Daylight Saving Time (DST) in eastern Australia, but there are many who would like to see it last longer or permanently.Twice a year, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and South Australia make this shift. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not change times. In those states the issue has been hotly debated for years. But what would be the benefit of making time permanent, and is it feasible? Continued here

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Has GPT-4 really passed the startling threshold of human-level artificial intelligence? Well, it depends Recent public interest in tools like ChatGPT has raised an old question in the artificial intelligence community: is artificial general intelligence (in this case, AI that performs at human level) achievable?An online preprint this week has added to the hype, suggesting the latest advanced large language model, GPT-4, is at the early stages of artificial general intelligence (AGI) as it’s exhibiting “sparks of intelligence”. Continued here

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Curious Kids: what happens if you don't get enough sleep? What would happen to a person if they didn’t get the sleep they needed? Hedya, age 11, AustraliaThis is a really good question Hedya, because it makes us think about how important sleep is. Actually, sleep is one of the most important things we do. Continued here