Ballet in Brazil’s ‘Crackland’. By Nacho Doce (*unlocked) On the outskirts of Sao Paulo in Brazil, the rough Luz neighbourhood – known as Cracolandia or “Crackland” locally for its widespread use of crack cocaine – might seem a world away from the beauty and
JONATHAN MANTHORPE: International Affairs August 28, 2015 Europe’s dysfunctional and divisive refugee policies have now collapsed entirely in the face of the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. The latest visible expression of that
BRIAN BRENNAN: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS August 2015 The newspapers couldn’t figure out how to classify Colleen Peterson’s singing when she was first making her way in the music business in the late 1960s. Neither could the record industry. Sometimes she was listed under folk,
This week we bring to you an eclectic array of stories. Inside our site find works on David Simon’s new U.S. TV series on HBO; the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, migrants, and columns that will provoke — at least —
BRIAN BRENNAN: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS August 2015 Nobody had ever made a living playing Irish traditional instrumental music so Paddy Moloney followed his mother’s advice and got himself a day job. He worked from nine to five as a clerk at a Dublin building
By Todd Reubold, Ensia August, 2015 From rhinos to #CecilTheLion, we live in a world where stories of species loss and illegal wildlife trade dominate the conservation headlines, so a good news story every now and then is a welcome surprise. Three years
JONATHAN MANTHORPE: International Affairs August 20, 2015 Among the many compelling pictures in recent weeks of would-be refugees swarming across the Mediterranean one from the Greek island of Lesbos caught my attention in particular. It was a short video of an infuriated
Seventy years ago this month the Pacific War of World War II ended, and the Atomic Age began. First off this week, F&O focuses on the war, and continuing aftermath: Japanese Remorse: Once More With Feeling, by Jonathan Manthorpe (*subscription) Japan’s current Prime
By Manu Saunders, Ensia August, 2015 Does the natural world have any relevance to modern science? Of course it does; but sometimes it seems like that’s not the case. This is a myth perpetuated directly and indirectly through media, policy decisions, academic disciplines,
BRIAN BRENNAN: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS August 2015 John Neville was a star of the London stage during the 1950s, excelling both in Shakespearean roles and in productions of contemporary plays. Though known primarily as a classical actor with impeccable diction, Neville surprised critics and