On Sex, sexual desires and more by Persis Bekkering/nrc Amsterdam, July 29th 2021–Twelve years ago Maggie Nelson wrote Bluets, something between poetry, autobiography and philosophical treatise. The book, about the color blue, became a cult hit, which has now been translated. “The book is also about desire, about being horny, and being frustrated.” No, the…
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Grand mural projects by Jeremy Musson Amsterdam, 23 July 2021–In her book, Lydia Hamlett unpacks the literary, cultural and political significance of “the animated wall” Mural paintings are some of the most ambitious works of art commissioned by British patrons during the 17th and early 18th centuries. From Rubens’ work at Banqueting House, Whitehall, to…
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Madame Kim passed away on January 28, 2019, making this interview possibly the last sessional interview of her 92 years on earth. Although she dedicated her life to helping wartime rape victims, she received no official apology from the Japanese government. Her story will live on through her fighting spirit. Please watch this video and…
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Calaya is a first-time mother at the Smithsonian Zoo who couldn’t stop kissing her newborn right after she gave birth.
Soon after this film aired, Agafia found a helper who has now been living with her for more than a year. Georgy Danilov, 53, is from Orenburg. He is an Old Believer. It was Agafia’s spiritual father who found and blessed her helper. Georgy has been doing the toughest chores for almost two years: he…
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How big is the universe … compared with a grain of sand? ‘You’ll never get your head around how big the universe is,’ warns astronomer Pete Edwards of the University of Durham in this film about measuring astronomical distances. ‘There are as many stars in the universe as there are grains of sand on the…
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Read Rilke or the Artist as a Teacher Part III Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Writers are often asked: why do you write? Readers are never asked: why do you read? Literary theory does indeed look at all kinds of aspects of a work of art, but something is grossly neglected, according to literary scholar Jan…
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And yet so rich and easy Part II Amsterdam, 30 june 2021– One often hears that Rilke’s poetry is so difficult, so very incomprehensible. This is true for his mystical late work, but not for the poems from his middle period. These are surprisingly concrete and clear, if you make any effort to follow the…
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Part I Rainer Maria Rilke: Diary from Florence (Das Florenzer Tagebuch). Amsterdam, 30 june 2021–Rainer Maria Rilke was twenty-two when he traveled to Italy to view the art treasures of the early Renaissance. In his Florentine diary, which he wrote not in Florence but in the fashionable seaside resort of Viareggio, the young student makes…
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