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On June 20, Major League Baseball staged a game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala.: a 'tribute game.' Rickwood was the home of the Birmingham Black Barons, a team in [...]

A sampler from this year's Salzburg Festival Salzburg, Austria As usual, the Salzburg Festival is loaded with concerts, recitals, and operas. Plays, too--although these play second fiddle to the music. [...]

In April, the U.S. House approved aid to Ukraine, along with aid to Israel and Taiwan. Some congressmen, in relief and joy, waved Ukrainian flags. Others booed and jeered them. [...]

Tucson, Ariz. Vernon L. Smith has been associated with many institutions, and he has been given many honors. He is the type of person after whom institutions and honors are [...]

A big city is no place for music in the summer. Certainly people thought so before air conditioning. The Boston Symphony Orchestra still decamps to Tanglewood, in the Berkshires. The [...]

'It's a miracle,' everyone says. It's a miracle that Michael Lockshin's adaptation of The Master and Margarita made it to Russian screens. It's a further miracle that it has stayed [...]

In the early 2000s, after 9/11 and the launch of the War on Terror, Bernard Lewis was in great demand. He was the 'dean of Middle East historians,' as many [...]

In the Ukraine war, there has been a great deal of excellent reporting. And brave reporting. Many journalists have been killed. I think of Vira Hyrych, a Ukrainian who worked [...]

Stravinsky wrote a ballet about a firebird. Katherine Balch has written a piece about fireflies. It is a piece for orchestra, which she calls musica pyralis. What we know as [...]

His last name is a mouthful: 'Rusesabagina.' Around the world, he is generally known as 'the hotel manager.' This is because of a 2004 movie, Hotel Rwanda. Don Cheadle portrayed [...]

In September, there was a contretemps in the U.S. Senate: Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, relaxed the dress code (unwritten). No more would men be required to wear a coat [...]

In Yefremov, Russia, a 13-year-old girl drew an anti-war picture in school. Her name is 'Maria,' or 'Masha.' Her drawing led to the arrest of her father, Alexei Moskalyov. Masha [...]

In 2012, the Obama-Biden campaign aired a television ad, ending with the following words on the screen: 'Mitt Romney. Not one of us.' Who was 'us'? This was never quite [...]

For many generations, James Fenimore Cooper was a household name. And his books were household books, so to speak. Everyone read the Leatherstocking Tales--a series of five novels, including The [...]

'It would be so boring just being a businessman,' said Jimmy Lai, as the Chinese government was tightening the noose around Hong Kong. 'I want to make my life more [...]

'I have no enemies, and no hatred.' So wrote Liu Xiaobo in December 2009, shortly before he was sentenced. Perry Link and Wu Dazhi have written a new biography of [...]

Natan Sharansky spent 405 days in a punishment cell. This was considered 'a kind of record,' he says. A punishment cell is small, cold, dark. You get three pieces of [...]

The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On 'Liberal' as an Adjective, by Michael Walzer (Yale University Press, 176 pp., $30) Few words are more confusing, or potentially confusing, than 'liberal' [...]

San Diego Bill Walton, being a basketball legend, has a platform. Over the years, he has used it for a variety of purposes. Last year, he began to use it [...]

On February 3, a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spewing hazardous materials. East Palestine is a town of 4,800 on the Pennsylvania border. Its slogan is 'The Place You [...]

'Is this a dream?' Alejandra kept saying. 'Am I dreaming?' Alejandra is nine years old, and she was hugging her father, whom she hadn't seen in almost three years. He [...]

If he had written only histories, he ought to be known as a great historian. If he had written only biographies, he ought to be known as a great biographer. [...]

An immortal singer, 100 years on Maria Callas was born on December 2, 1923--so the world is marking her centennial. 'The world'? Well, pockets of it. The classical-music world, certainly, [...]

The article focuses on key events in classical music in New York in 2024, including the New York Philharmonic's 2024–25 season opener, pianist Emanuel Ax's performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto and the Metropolitan Opera's "Grounded," composed by Jeanine Tesori.

The article discusses various aspects of race and identity in America. It begins with a tribute game in Major League Baseball to honor the Negro Leagues, where Reggie Jackson, a former player, shares his experiences of racism during his career. The author reflects on their own experiences and beliefs regarding race-consciousness and the importance of representation. They also touch on the selection of Supreme Court nominees based on race and gender, and the complexities of navigating race and identity in society. The article concludes with the author's commitment to their ideals of color-blindness and equality, despite the challenges and complexities of addressing racism and discrimination. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the Salzburg Festival's varied programming and performances. Topics include the casual dress trend among performers, notably pianist Evgeny Kissin's uncharacteristic attire; the staging of Mieczysław Weinberg's opera "The Idiot," exploring its historical and musical context; and the notable performances by pianists Alexandre Kantorow and other artists, highlighting their exceptional technical skills and the evolving expectations of classical music audiences.

The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize has the character of a freedom prize. Often, peace and freedom blend. What is peace, anyway? It is more than the absence of war. It [...]

Oleh Sentsov is a filmmaker who has not had much time to make films of late. From 2014 to 2019, he was a political prisoner of the Kremlin--one of the [...]

Long ago, Marilyn Horne's father told her, 'Remember, Peanut: The only thing that separates you from the rest of humanity is a little piece of gristle in your throat.' He [...]

Oslo People can be very impressive, whether they want to be or not. Life throws terrible challenges at them, and they rise to meet them. I have met many such [...]

On March 15, Vladimir Kara-Murza gave a speech to the Arizona legislature. 'These are very dark times in Russia,' he said. 'These are times when we have hundreds of political [...]

Spivey Hall hosted Leif Ove Andsnes, the Norwegian pianist, in recital. Spivey Hall is on the campus of Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, about fifteen miles south of Adanta. [...]

Long ago, I made a rule: I had to separate art from politics. Otherwise I would be driven nuts. There will always be people whose politics you object to. If [...]

You hear 'the Ukraine' less often these days--'the Ukraine' instead of 'Ukraine,' without the definite article. 'The Ukraine' implies a region of something broader; 'Ukraine' implies nationhood. Also, people are [...]

Many people, when they think of a conductor, think: 'Muti.' He fits the popular conception of a conductor: in comportment, in knowledge, in charisma, in longevity. Born in 1941, he [...]

In September 1993, the International Olympic Committee made its announcement about 2000: The Summer Games would be held in Sydney. The Chinese government had wanted those Games. And it almost [...]

'New York is the last place I would want to be right now,' said a young friend of mine on the phone, making me gulp a little: I live right [...]

Kyiv Like you, perhaps, I grew up with 'Kiev'--as in 'chicken Kiev' and 'The Great Gate of Kiev.' Here in the city itself, they want 'Kyiv.' Why? Fussiness? An urge [...]

Miami Like many Latin Americans--and many other people--Leopoldo Lopez took part in family gatherings on Sundays. From older relatives, he heard about a great-grandfather of his: Eudoro Lopez. This Lopez [...]

Victory City, by Salman Rushdie (Random House, 352 pp., $30) For 40 years, people have said that novels by Salman Rushdie are 'magical.' The new one certainly is. It is [...]

On February 1, an audience gathered at the Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C., to see a new documentary. Its subject: Father Georgy Edelstein, a brave and truth-telling priest in Russia. [...]

Simply put, '2047 has arrived.' These are the words of Nathan Law, a Hong Kong democracy leader, now in exile. Hong Kong was supposed to have 50 years, starting with [...]

You may not have heard--but Bashar al-Assad has just been reelected president of Syria with 95 percent of the vote. Syrian politics is getting more competitive, Waad al-Kateab notes. When [...]

The voice and face are perfectly familiar, to someone who grew up with them. I am talking with Marvin Kalb, via Zoom. For 30 years, he was a reporter and [...]

The article discusses how some Republicans today are echoing sentiments that were traditionally associated with the Left, particularly in their views on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It highlights instances where Republicans have blamed the United States for provoking Russia's actions and draws parallels between current Republican rhetoric and past leftist criticisms of American foreign policy. The article also touches on the shifting political landscape and the evolving perspectives within the Republican Party, contrasting them with historical conservative positions. [Extracted from the article]

Gulchehra Hoja is well named. Her first name refers to the face of a flower: warm, smiling, full of hope. Her last name means 'teacher,' or 'knowledgeable person.' 'Gul,' as [...]

Any political pro, R. or D., would have to admit this is a pretty good pitch: What happened to the promise of California? State of natural wonders and free spirits, [...]

Every now and then, East Africa breaks into world consciousness. It happened in the mid 1980s, when Ethiopia underwent a terrible famine. Teams of pop stars made two hit 'charity [...]

In the last several years, I've heard the word 'fancy' a lot--as in 'you people with your fancy books and your fancy degrees and your fancy music and your fancy [...]

Sculpture parks are rare enough--certainly as compared with art museums--but the Liberty Sculpture Park is rarer still. It has a theme: the oppression of the Chinese government and the heroism [...]