Owen Matthews Reveals ‘An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent’ in Riveting New Book [REVIEW]

March 26, 2020 by Leave a comment

Richard Sorge

Richard Sorge: (left) His official Comintern identity photograph, Moscow, 1924; (right) his police photograph after his arrest. (Photo on left courtesy Owen Matthews/Photo on right by SPUTNIK Alamy Stock Photo)

Formidable. Fleckless. Brilliant. Richard Sorge is the kind of spy who could make James Bond jealous. The information he provided to his masters was spot on, his escapades legendary. Now it is your turn to discover one of the Soviet Union’s most revered operatives in Owen Matthews’ fascinating book, An Impeccable Spy. Read more of this post

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‘Brother,’ Can You Spare Some Empathy? [REVIEW]

November 12, 2019 by Leave a comment

Turntable

David Chariandy’s Brother throbs with life, in part due to the music that permeates it. (Photo courtesy Canva)

A mother’s sacrifice. One girl’s ambitions. Two brothers’ dreams. And the act of violence that will change each of their lives forever. Discover why David Chariandy’s Brother has become one of the most beloved novels of our time. 

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‘Going Into Town’ Celebrates Everything We Love (and Love to Hate) About New York City [REVIEW]

March 13, 2019 by Leave a comment

New York City waterbug

In Roz Chast’s love letter to New York, Going Into Town, she reminisces about everything we love and loathe about the Big Apple, including its wildlife. (Illustration by Roz Chast)

From the very first time I stepped foot in New York City as a teenager, I’m one of those people who is simply crazy about the place. I love everything about it: from the sidewalk food vendors to the mom-and-pop coffee shops, from Little Italy and Chinatown to Wall Street and Battery Park. There’s a palpable energy there that throbs with life, like an irresistible rhythm that simply invades my soul, and I feel it every time I arrive. Now author and cartoonist Roz Chast captures every nuance of that experience in her love letter to Manhattan, Going Into Town.  Read more of this post

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‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ Dares to Enlighten [REVIEW]

March 12, 2019 by Leave a comment

Race, Feminism and Activism

Chaired by Hannah Pool, Pragna Patel (Director of Southhall Black Sisters), Emma Dabril (Visual Sociologist and Blogger), Reni Eddo-Lodge (Writer and Campaigner) and Shilpa Shah (Co-Founder of the Akashi Project) participate in a panel discussion on Race, Feminism and Activism (Photo by Barrow Cadbury Trust, Flickr)

I have always been keenly aware of racial discrimination, which might seem strange coming from a white man. But growing up in Southern California among a swelling Latino and Asian population, and then in the South where most of my friends had darker skin than I do, I thought I understood the divide. But after reading Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, I now realize why this conversation is still vital, especially now. Read more of this post

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