Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a new adaptation of Homer’s epic tale of Odysseus’ perilous journey home after the Trojan War, is already being described as a case study in post-traumatic stress disorder. But even more so, actor Matt Damon’s tortured and broken portrayal of Odysseus offers a look into what psychologists call moral injury. According...
When photography emerged in the 19th century, many predicted the death of painting. If a machine could reproduce reality more quickly and accurately than any artist, what purpose would painting serve? The response was robust. As photography assumed some of painting’s representational functions, artists became increasingly experimental, developing ever more innovative styles: Impressionism, Expressionism, and eventually...
‘An early work that stands out in my mind is Record for Hattie [1975], which is about my great-aunt Hattie Parson Keys. When she passed, I inherited her ephemera – notes, letters, dance cards, gloves, handkerchiefs – essentially her life’s mementos. I made the piece so long ago, but I think my process is the same to...
How low is too low when it comes to testosterone levels? When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July 2026 that U.S. service members ages 30 and older will have their testosterone tested every year, neither he nor the Pentagon specified what level of the hormone would be considered “low” enough to require treatment –...
U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated his trade war with Canada, announcing 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, from wine and hockey sticks to cement and dairy products. The new rates will take effect in 30 days. The White House claims the increase, imposed under a rarely used provision of the...
In 1806, the Parisian gastronome Grimod de la Reynière launched a new periodical, the Journal des Gourmands et des Belles in post-revolutionary France. From the first issue, it set out to provide readers with advice on food, fashion, and theatrical life, all in one publication. Almost entirely forgotten today, the journal was perhaps the first...
Gallerists, aristocrats, and curators are finding fresh uses for the grand salons and parklands of historic estates to create a summer art boom beyond the UK’s cities ‘The English country house is the greatest contribution made by England to the visual arts,’ wrote the civil servant Sir Ernest Gowers in 1950, at a time when...
Eighteen artefacts from the Kingdom of Benin have been returned to Nigeria by three Swiss museums. The courtly and religious objects are among the famous ‘Benin Bronzes’, which were looted from the Kingdom of Benin – in modern-day Nigeria – at the end of the 19th century. Switzerland also returned to Nigeria five artefacts seized...
Film photography is experiencing a resurrection, summoned by unlikely conjurers: Gen Z. It wasn’t too long ago that analog photography – which uses photographic film and chemical processing – was declared all but dead, relegated to the province of niche hobbyists and professional artists. Digital cameras had taken over nearly all areas of photographic production....
“Reasonable Doubt” was not the first rap album I ever owned. But Jay-Z’s debut was the first hip-hop album I bought with my own money. More importantly, it was the first one I studied as a young writer who aspired to become a rapper, a dream that eventually came true. Jay-Z sounded cool in a...
