America’s unbreakable fixation with football will only lead to more injuries like Damar Hamlin’s. A uniquely American concoction of capitalism and culture has allowed football to continue to thrive, even as the dangers it presents to players, both professional and amateur, have become clearer. Football remains the biggest hit on TV.
Democracy Now interviews director Santiago Mitre about “Argentina, 1985,” his dramatization of the Trial of the Juntas, when a civilian court prosecuted Argentina’s former military leaders for brutal crimes committed during the U.S.-backed right-wing military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. The film just won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in a Non-English Language and is also shortlisted for an Oscar for best international film.
“Honey Cake and Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors” was organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. More than one survivor remembers sustaining fellow-prisoners with vivid descriptions of the foods they’d eaten in their earlier lives.
If only Emancipation actually had a memorable message. Despite a committed cast and stunning cinematography, the film’s script is too blunt and the direction too ham-fisted to make it anything more than another rote entry in the slavery-movie genre.
Dave Kellaway reviews Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Demon Copperhead and reflects on her contribution to literary fiction. She is one of the best living writers of the socially engaged novel.
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