Carolina Izzo keeps good company. Colin – McCahon that is – stands by the window. Van Dyck is resting under covers in the corner and Toss Woollaston is lying on the table awaiting further dental work. But it’s not the big-name guests commanding the most attention at the Italian art conservator’s Wellington studio. Propped on Read more
Pope Benedict has withdrawn to Castel Gandolfo while his successor is chosen. But few know that the papal summer residence of almost 400 years has a curious history, serving as a hideout for Jews, delivery ward and target for paparazzi. In the late evening of Aug. 6, 1978, a heavy iron chain was pulled across Read more
Near the opening of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man(1916), James Joyce’s alter ego Stephen Dedalus opens the flyleaf of his geography textbook and examines what he has written there: Stephen Dedalus Class of Elements Clongowes Wood College Sallins County Kildare Ireland Europe The World The Universe Most of us will, no doubt, remember Read more
The global war on drugs has cost billions and taken countless lives — but achieved little. The scant results finally have politicians and experts joining calls for legalization. Following the journey of cocaine from a farm in Colombia to a user in Berlin sheds light on why. “Pablo Escobar said to me: ‘One shot to Read more
Thirteen years ago, researchers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum began the grim task of documenting all the ghettos, slave labor sites, concentration camps and killing factories that the Nazis set up throughout Europe. What they have found so far has shocked even scholars steeped in the history of the Holocaust. The researchers have cataloged some Read more
Only five Catholic cardinals, considered princes of the church who vote for the pope, have resigned — or been kicked out – since 1791. When British Cardinal Keith O’Brien announced his resignation Monday as a Scottish archbishop, he also said he would not do the most important task of a cardinal: vote for the next Read more
American sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson is championing a controversial new approach for explaining the origins of virtue and sin. In an interview, the world-famous ant reseacher explains why he believes the inner struggle is the characteristic trait of human nature. Edward O. Wilson doesn’t come across as the kind of man who’s looking to pick Read more
As I’ve been promoting this week, today was Google Hangout day for the Southern Cross New Media Project folks: Sarah Coppola and Emilie Ng from Cradio and James Bergin and I from Icon Media/Station 15 etc. And we were joined by the very impressive young man Brandon Vogt, who is doing some fantastic work in communicating Read more
Thanks to extensive research and noticeable changes in weather and storm prevalence, it’s getting harder to turn a blind eye to the reality of climate change. Since the Industrial Age spurred the increasing usage of fossil fuels for energy production, the weather has been warming slowly. In fact, since 1880, the temperature of the earth has Read more
There’s something in religious tradition that helps people be ethical. But it isn’t actually their belief in God. A couple of years ago, the idea of God came up, in an incidental way, in the Contemporary Moral Theory course I teach. I generally try not to reveal my particular beliefs and commitments too early in Read more