Twenty-five years after his cult TV series, Kir Royal, director Helmut Dietl has now come released a sort of ?sequel? for the big screen. Zettl focuses on the high-flying career of a ruthless media man in Berlin. As satire, however, the frigid figures in Zettl fail to warm up to viewers. ...
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The New York Times dives into the data streams of the self-trackers. N+1 assesses "The Intellectual Situation". In the Onfray vs. Freud debate, BHL defends the psychoanalyst against fatuous platitudes. Peter Nadas tells Magyar Narancs that capitalism will be to blame if Hungary goes to the dogs. For Tony Judt, re-education is the only way to combat authoritarianism. And in Salon, Miroslav Kusy explains that, in Slovakia, "the people" have been replaced by "human beings", but "citizens" have yet to be invited into the political arena.
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In Eurozine, Kenan Malik asks what makes a real Muslim. For Osteuropa, Serhij Zadan travels though Ukraine's death valley. Wired visits old hackers. The most pig-headed of them, Richard Stallman, explains in the Boston Review, why cloud computing means thinking like a sucker. Frontline crosses the digital divide to where linux has transformed the lives of children in rural Bengal. The NYRB looks at why, after receiving 26 billion dollars in aid, Ethiopians are still hungry. In Magazin, the psychoanalyst Jürg Atlin warns about over-enthusiasm for cleansing in the wake of the paedophile scandals. Magyar Naracs observes a sacralisation of the state in Poland.
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In Salon, Viktor Erofeyev explains what Katyn means to the Russians. Krytyka Polityczna cannot understand the Polish hysteria over Lech Kaczynski. N+1 is impressed by Brian Ferneyhough's will to avant-garde. Opendemocracy predicts a bumpy ride for Hungary. The Nation celebrates the rodent-nibbled photographs of Miroslav Tichy. In Le Monde, Michel Onfray is hoisted by his own petard while fulminating about "pissoir literature". In the London Review, Benjamin Kunkel celebrates the majestic style of Marxist thinker Fredric Jameson. The Boston Globe gives the cream to the copycats.
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The most worrying thing about the far-right Jobbik party is its appeal for young intellectuals, writes Elet es Irodalom. In Le Point, Bernard-Henri Levy asks whether Godard was an anti-Semite. Adam Michnik pays his respects to Lech Kaczynski in the Gazeta Wyborcza. Prospect describes how respect for the religious feelings of Muslims is causing many a British playwright to self-censor. In Le Monde, Tahar Ben Jelloun sees a black cloud over the banlieues. Edith Grossman remembers the dark clouds that came with "Don Quixote". Paul Krugman builds a green economy for the New York Times Magazine.
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The Nation reveals why Raul Hilberg was so bitter about Hannah Ahrendt. In Nepszabadsag, Agnes Heller tells the Hungarians, on the eve of their general election, not to be cowed by the far-right. In the LRB, Colm Toibin studies the fly on the scarf of Giovanni Agostino della Torre. In Telerama, Claire Denis declares her love for the Foreign Legion. Tygodnik believes that the Mexicans understand Kapuscinski better than the Poles. The New York Times investigates the love that dare not squawk its name.
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In 3 Quarks Daily, we learn how someone can be considered "untouchable" and arrogant at the same time. Wired introduces a man with a savant-like ability to exploit security flaws. Tygodnik celebrates 65 years of being Catholic and not anti-Semitic. Newsweek asks whether the Ipad will turn the internet into a completely closed system. Slate reviews Paul Berman's new book on the Islam debate between Pascal Bruckner and Timothy Garton Ash. In Salon, Adam Michnik picks apart nationalism in the post-communist world. In Das Magazin, Elisabeth Badinter does not believe the hype about breastfeeding.
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In the NYRB, Edmund White falls under the spell of John Cheever and his graceful tragedy. Lettre International focusses on Iran, Istanbul and those who died in the First World War. In the Guardian, Tony Judt constructs a new liberal vision using the ideas of the grandfather of conservatism. In Outlook India, Arundhati Roy marches with the Maoists into the heart of India. In Nouvel Obs, Jorge Semprum and Hans Magnus Enszensberger exchange views about Germany.
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The New York Times investigates the new hunger for reality. In Salon, Andrzej Stasiuk sees only individual realities. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, the ethnologist Tomasz Rakowski describes the reality of the Polish poor mines. Sometimes you can turn reality on its head, El Pais reads in the Financial Times. Le Monde diplomatique gives the low-down on the ACTA talks. And the New Yorker dreams of less polish and a bit more grit.
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In Magyar Narancs Agnes Heller demands more civil courage of the Hungarians. Mohammed Ali Atassi explains in Qantara, why conservatives in Egypt see women as candy: either wrapped or covered in flies. Oliver Roy outlines in Resetdoc, why's there not so much as a hair's breadth between the Christian right and the secular left. In Magazin, the philosopher Ludwig Haslar tells the Swiss that if they want mediocrity today, they cannot expect the superman tomorrow. Jonathan Safran Foer tells Prospect why he neither wants a chicken in his bed nor on his plate. The NYT embarks on a human-flesh search and finds a kitten killer.
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The New Yorker tells the story of how corrupt podiatrists almost brought down the US health system. In Polityka, the Kapuscinski biographer Artur Domoslawski explains how he thinks the legendary reporter should be read. In Tygodnik, Zygmunt Bauman calls for more understanding for Kapuscinski. Magyar Narancs celebrates the ban on Holocaust denial in Hungary. In Le Point, Jorge Semprun asks whether Claude Lanzmann is the only person who's allowed to talk about the Holocaust. Wired describes how Google learned how to tell the difference between a hot dog and a poached pooch.
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In Eurozine, the Transylvanian-Hungarian-Armenian writer Kinga Kali tells the story of a "virgjinesha". Prospect celebrates the next art superstar, Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. The Gazeta Wyborcza explains how young people use the web. The New Yorker sends out a message to the depressed: stay away from psychiatric literature. Outlook Indian learns to play Carnatic music online. The London Review swims with the salmon sages.
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The Atlantic finds out why the Chinese are not enemy number one in cyberspace. Elet es Irodalom asks why no one in Hungary is interested in former informers. In New Statesman, Tariq Ramadan can't tell us what a moderate Muslim is. The Guardian hearkens to the ticking bomb in Emily Dickinson's bosom and links it to the shards of crockery on the floor. And if it can't smoke, El Pais Semanal wants everything painted black.
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In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
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In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
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Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
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