Cy Twombly, Gerry Adams, Alcoholism, Shipwreck, Private Equity

Cy Twombly And The Transforming Power Of Art

Jerry Saltz | Vulture | 5th April 2018

Enthrallingly flamboyant appreciation of Cy Twombly’s painting, and of his relationship with Robert Rauschenberg. “Somehow, by deploying only the barest rudiments of art, Twombly has been able to make an art that rises to the level of epic poetry and fills you up with the sweep of history and fiction. He’s one of the few 20th-century painters who produces the same capacious sensations we get while reading Virgil, Homer, Sappho or Keats. A silent sonorous world opens” (1,700 words)

Gerry Adams: Armed Action Is Legitimate

Jörg Schindler | Der Spiegel | 6th April 2018

Chilling interview with the now-retired leader of Sinn Fein about the struggle for Irish independence, and his own part in 30 years of violence in which 3,600 died. “Of course, it would’ve been far better if not one person was killed or injured. But you don’t pursue and you don’t get progress without struggle. And I say that as someone who has lost a lot of family members and friends and who has been tortured and shot myself. I’ve been there, and I’ve been at many, many funerals” (2,400 words)

Judging A Book By Its Recovery

Clancy Martin | Bookforum | 6th April 2018

Unflinching review of ‘The Recovery’, Leslie Jamison’s book about alcoholism and writing. “Speaking as an alcoholic writer, who is married to an alcoholic writer, I think everyone who loves an alcoholic writer should read this book. It is also essential reading for alcoholics, with one caveat: Jamison’s descriptions of drinking are so evocative that those who have just quit drinking, and haven’t found their footing as nondrinkers yet, might find them triggering. But this too is a compliment” (2,700 words)

The Clock Is Ticking

William Langewiesche | Vanity Fair | 7th April 2018

A major merchant ship sinks somewhere in the world every two or three days, but such tragedies get little notice because the sea swallows the evidence. The foundering of the American-flagged El Faro in 2015 was the worst US maritime disaster in three decades. The cargo ship sailed into a hurricane off the Bahamas and went down with 33 lives. How could that happen? Recordings reveal that the captain trusted an online weather service rather than the evidence of his own eyes (10,600 words)

The Working Person’s Guide To Private Equity

Hamilton Nolan | Splinter | 4th April 2018

Private equity is a great business — if you are a private equity manager. “Most people have little idea what private equity actually does. The truth is terrifying. If you have seen the movie ‘Goodfellas’, you may recall the scene where the mob takes over a bar: they run up bills on the company’s credit, rob the place blind, and then, when they’ve gotten as much as they can, burn the place down and walk away. That is only a slight exaggeration of the business model of private equity” (1,800 words)

Video of the day I Hacked An Election

What to expect:

Practical demonstration of how easily an American electronic voting machine can be hacked (4’23”)

Thought for the day

We keep a special place in our hearts for people who refuse to be impressed by us
Jean de La Bruyère

Podcast of the day The Visions Of Philip K. Dick | Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky and guests discuss Philip K Dick’s claim to have experienced alternative realities
(26m 19s)