Why Watergate continues to captivate

ABORTION RIGHTS IN AMERICA

The corporations helping elect anti-abortion Republicans. We’re not going back to the pre-Roe v Wade world — we’re going into a digital dystopia in which women and abortion providers can be relentlessly surveilled and tracked through the data they produce — something that was only a nightmare until the past decade. It demands new attention on the importance of not collecting data at all. The US already has by far the highest maternal mortality in the developed world and it’s getting worse. Hard evidence of what should be obvious — restricting abortion leads to higher mortality among women. Can progressive movements be taken back from elites? And what Americans really think about abortion — not much different to the rest of us.

HALF A CENTURY OF WATERGATE

Where other political scandals have faded, why does Watergate continue to exercise a compelling influence? Did it make it harder to hold presidents to account subsequently? Plenty of myths about Watergate, including the roles of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, need debunking. A new book — the latest of thousands — tries to do just that. And something usually forgotten in the history of Nixon: he was an extraordinarily progressive Republican.

FOOD AND FAMINE

Europe moves to curb chemical use in farming. Scenarios for a dramatic decline in global food production, while the UN warns of multiple famines. Russia’s weaponisation of food and the bigger global picture. How are Ukrainians talking about Russia’s attack on them? And housing shortages — can 3D printing (for younger readers, think the hype of blockchain, but ten years ago) come to the rescue? Elsewhere offshore: the Indian government has adopted Israel’s tactic of illegally demolishing the homes of those it deems opponents and critics. Japan continues to refuse to recognise same-sex marriages. The power struggle in Libya.

THE CRIME OF MAN’S LAUGHTER

Can humour and philosophy mix? When, if ever, does a comic become a philosopher? A book reviewer ruminates. Is laughter appropriate at all? Yer Greeks and yer Romans say not. (My favourite philosophy-as-comedy moment is in Animal Crackers:

Chico: Here’s what-a we got. Something was stolen. Stolen where? In-a this house. Stolen by who? “Somebody in the house.” Now to find the painting, all you got to do is go to everybody in the house and ask ’em if they took it.
Groucho: You know, I could rent you out as a decoy for duck hunters. You say you’re gonna go to everybody in the house and ask them if they took the painting. Suppose nobody in the house took the painting?
Chico: Go to the house next door.
Groucho: That’s great. Suppose there isn’t any house next door?
Chico: Well, then of course, we gotta build one.
Groucho: Well now you’re talkin’. What kind of a house do you think we ought to put up?
Chico: Well, I tell ya. Captain. You see, my idea of a house is something nice, and a-small, and comfortable.
Groucho: That’s the way I feel about it. I don’t want anything elaborate.

Meanwhile, among the empiricists: meet the latest type of charismatic star who melts you with magnetism. Hard to adjust: what clocks in superposition can tell us. And the latest in the Internet of Shit: daycare apps turn out to be ridiculously unsecure.

MISC (BUT MAINLY FATHERS)

The two best things I’ve read for a very long while: from Overland last summer, Rachael Hambleton on class in Australia, incarceration and her father. And at Meanjin, a memoir by Hila Shachar. Both must-reads.

If you enjoyed Top Gun: Maverick but were troubled by its imperialism/militarism/American exceptionalism/misogyny/rainbow-washing/formulaic nature/reliance on stock characters/ludicrous plot (hello, why can’t they use missiles?)/dearth of the barely disguised homoeroticism that really made the first one — then this podcast is for you. The Film Comment team take on Tom Cruise, nationalistic cinema, and the concept of the guilty pleasure.

FINALLY

As the proud co-owner of two cats and two greyhounds, and for sentimental reasons, I couldn’t go past this video for canine- and feline-related content this week. But for now, time to rest…