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Debate

The Best Book-to-Screen Adaptations Out This December

The Best Book-to-Screen Adaptations Out This December

Published by skeptic

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at [email protected]. View All posts by Emily Martin It might be cold out, but the December adaptation news is piping hot. We have some exciting new movies getting theatrical releases this month. After all, we’re right in the middle of awards eligibility season, so Hollywood is releasing some of its best. On top of that, we’ve got another highly anticipated series streaming this month. With the weather outside being so frightful, and all the “quality time” you’ll be spending with your extended family this season, it’s time to tune in to these must-see adaptations. Nightbitch (Theatrical …

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson—Book Review by Bookish Elf

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson—Book Review by Bookish Elf

Published by skeptic

In her eagerly anticipated second novel following the success of Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson weaves an intricate tapestry of family history, personal tragedy, and cultural heritage in Good Dirt. This multilayered narrative explores how a single object—a centuries-old stoneware jar—becomes both a symbol of ancestral resilience and a catalyst for healing in contemporary times. A Family’s Legacy Preserved in Clay At the heart of this compelling narrative lies the story of the Freeman family, whose lives are forever altered when fifteen-year-old Baz is killed during a home invasion, and their cherished family heirloom—an antique stoneware jar known as “Old Mo”—is shattered. The jar, crafted by an enslaved potter named Moses in 1847, carries not just the family’s history but also a secret inscription that has inspired generations of Freemans to persevere through adversity. Masterful Storytelling Across Time Wilkerson demonstrates remarkable skill in weaving together multiple timelines and perspectives. The narrative moves seamlessly between: Present-day Connecticut and France, following Ebby Freeman’s journey of self-discovery The 1800s, tracing the jar’s creation and its journey north with Willis …

Explore an Online Archive of 2,100+ Rare Illustrations from Charles Dickens’ Novels

Explore an Online Archive of 2,100+ Rare Illustrations from Charles Dickens’ Novels

Published by José

As Christ­mas­time approach­es, few nov­el­ists come to mind as read­i­ly as Charles Dick­ens. This owes main­ly, of course, to A Christ­mas Car­ol, and even more so to its many adap­ta­tions, most of which draw inspi­ra­tion from not just its text but also its illus­tra­tions. That 1843 novel­la was just the first of five books he wrote with the hol­i­day as a theme, a series that also includes The Chimes, The Crick­et on the Hearth, The Bat­tle of Life, and The Haunt­ed Man and the Ghost’s Bar­gain. Each “includ­ed draw­ings he worked on with illus­tra­tors,” writes BBC News’ Tim Stokes, though “none of them dis­plays quite the icon­ic mer­ri­ment of his ini­tial Christ­mas cre­ation.” “Any­one look­ing at the illus­tra­tions to the Christ­mas books after A Christ­mas Car­ol and expect­ing sim­i­lar images to Mr Fezzi­wig’s Ball is going to be dis­ap­point­ed,” Stokes quotes inde­pen­dent schol­ar Dr. Michael John Good­man as say­ing. Pri­mar­i­ly con­cerned less with Christ­mas as a hol­i­day and more “with the spir­it of Christ­mas and its ideals of self­less­ness and for­give­ness, as well as being …

At Art Basel Miami Beach, Collectors and Gallerists Say the Energy is Back

At Art Basel Miami Beach, Collectors and Gallerists Say the Energy is Back

Published by skeptic

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday. On Monday night, art collector Craig Robins kicked off Miami Art Week by opening the doors to the headquarters of his real estate development company Dacra. Located in Miami’s Design District—home to the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami and many of the city’s galleries—Dacra’s offices were lined with works from Robin’s collection, including pieces by John Baldessari, Mickalene Thomas, Francisco Goya and Kai Althoff. Related Articles Robins played a key part in bringing Art Basel to Miami in 2002, working alongside collector and luxury retailer Norman Braman, and Art Basel’s then-director Sam Keller. At the time, the three men talked about wanting the city to have a cultural draw beyond its party scene. Over 20 years later, since the pandemic, that dream seems to have been achieved. As Robins told ARTnews Monday,  the city has gotten denser, property values have risen, and there are more tourists driving traffic to art spaces year round. “Covid catapulted …

Trump’s Predatory Version of ‘America First’

Trump’s Predatory Version of ‘America First’

Published by José

A conversation with David Frum on the dangers of Trump’s approach to the world Chip Somodevilla / Getty December 4, 2024, 5:38 PM ET This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Ronald Reagan, invoking the 17th-century Puritan John Winthrop, once compared America to “a shining city on a hill.” This image of visibility and power, my colleague David Frum writes in a new essay, “imposed extra moral responsibility on the city dwellers.” In the next Trump era, David argues, Reagan’s vision of America will disappear: “The hilltop will become a height from which to exercise arrogant control over those who occupy the lower slopes and valleys.” I called David to chat about the Trump administration’s zero-sum view of the world during Donald Trump’s first term and what to expect from the president-elect’s approach to foreign relationships come January. A Powerful Teacher Isabel Fattal: You write that …

Bullet Wounds Are Only Covered Under Our Platinum+ Package

Bullet Wounds Are Only Covered Under Our Platinum+ Package

Published by José

Image by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan earlier this morning, in what the New York Police Department is calling a “brazen, targeted attack.” “I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters, as quoted by CNBC. Let’s be clear: any act of violence or loss of life is a tragedy. But the internet’s indifference to Thompson’s passing — and gallows humor about the notorious deficiencies of the private insurance industry — are simultaneously ghoulish and illustrative of America’s profoundly dysfunctional medical system. “All human life is sacred, so it’s not proper to laugh when serious harm befalls someone,” one Bluesky user wrote. “The moral thing to do is instead charge them hundreds of thousands of dollars.” “Our apologies, but bullet wounds are only covered under our platinum+ package,” another user added. The reactions highlight widespread disillusionment and anger over a woefully inadequate …

Study examines link between psychopathic traits and emotional memory

Study examines link between psychopathic traits and emotional memory

Published by José

Psychopathic traits were not significantly associated with recall or recognition of emotional or neutral stimuli, according to a recent study published in the journal Memory. Psychopathy is characterized by interpersonal, affective, and lifestyle traits, such as a lack of empathy and impulsivity. In this work Rheanna J. Remmel and colleagues clarified how psychopathic traits might influence memory for emotional events, a function typically heightened by emotional valence. Despite existing evidence linking psychopathy to impaired emotional processing, the relationship between psychopathy and emotional memory remains unclear, with previous studies offering conflicting results. The authors were motivated by findings that individuals with psychopathic traits might show diminished preferential recall for emotional stimuli, which could impact learning from negative experiences and social bonding. The researchers recruited 82 male inmates from a county jail, ranging in age from 18 to 59 (average age of ~ 29 years). Psychopathic traits were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), which evaluates interpersonal, affective, and behavioral components of psychopathy. Memory abilities were measured using the Wechsler Memory Scale-IV (WMS-IV), which included …

HayMarket Books Runs Books Not Bars Fundraiser for the Holidays

HayMarket Books Runs Books Not Bars Fundraiser for the Holidays

Published by skeptic

Haymarket Books, a nonprofit book publisher dedicated to publishing books that foster social and economic justice, is currently running a holiday fundraiser aimed at connecting incarcerated people with radical books that educate on politics. These books are meant to provide support to people inside the prison system, an inherently violent place. They aim to raise $30,000 to buy and send at least 2,000 books to people in prisons. So far, 720 donors have donated $28,88.87, and any amount over their goal will be used to send even more books inside. They even have a Google Form where people can request a book for a loved one currently in the prison system. If you’d like to donate to the fundraiser, you can do so on Haymarket’s fundraising page. There isn’t a hard cut off date for the fundraiser, but it is intended to run during the holiday season. To learn more about Haymarket Books, and the 900+ titles they’ve published since 2001 (by everyone from Angela Y. Davis to Naomi Klein to Arundhati Roy), click here. …

Democratic States’ New Anti-Trump Strategy: Federalism

Democratic States’ New Anti-Trump Strategy: Federalism

Published by José

Resistance is not futile, although it might seem that way at the moment. No major protests are set to descend on the National Mall. Legal challenges to Donald Trump’s policies are likely doomed, given how far rightward the judiciary shifted during his previous administration. With Trump’s unified control of the Republican Party, which now has unified control of Washington, congressional oversight is defunct. That leaves a lone bastion of countervailing power, one force capable of meaningfully slowing the maximalist ambitions of the incoming administration: blue states, especially the 15 state governments where Democrats control the executive and legislative branches and, therefore, have more latitude to launch aggressive countermeasures. Over the past few months, a small coterie of wonks and lawyers—and a few farsighted Democratic governors—have been working in anticipation of this moment. They have prepared measures to insulate states from the Trump administration’s most aggressive impositions. They have constructed plans to preserve abortion protections within blue-state borders and to protect environmental regulations enshrined in their books; they have formulated legal strategies for at least slowing …

The Broken Places by Mia Sheridan: Exploring Darkness and Hope

The Broken Places by Mia Sheridan: Exploring Darkness and Hope

Published by skeptic

In her latest psychological thriller, The Broken Places, bestselling author Mia Sheridan weaves an intricate tale of trauma, healing, and unexpected love against the gritty backdrop of San Francisco’s underbelly. Following the success of her previous works like Bad Mother and All the Little Raindrops, Sheridan once again proves her masterful ability to blend romance with intense psychological suspense. Plot & Narrative Structure The story follows Inspector Lennon Gray, a complex protagonist struggling with her own past trauma while investigating a series of bizarre murders involving homeless individuals and an unknown hallucinogenic drug. When FBI Agent Ambrose Mars joins her investigation, the narrative takes on multiple layers of intrigue, exploring not just the central mystery but also themes of personal redemption and healing. Sheridan employs a unique narrative structure, interspersing the main storyline with podcast transcripts that provide crucial backstory and context. This innovative approach adds depth to the secondary characters while maintaining the story’s momentum. The author also effectively uses flashbacks to reveal Ambrose’s troubled past, creating a rich tapestry of interconnected lives and …