2026-03-10 02:11:58
The Marek Janowski box of Bruckner symphonies I find to be the best Bruckner overall. And yes I do know many other versions, even Hermann Abendroth, though I cannot hold a candle to one MR reader I met recently who may know seventy or more versions of Bruckner’s 8th.
Vladimir Jurowski has recorded Maher 1, 2, 4, 8, and with 9 on the way and I read somewhere he will be doing the entire cycle. I expect these will end up as my set of choice.
Both are worthy of your notice, and they put to rest the myth that all the best conductors and orchestras operated in the now somewhat distant past.
On a related note, I flew to Pittsburgh recently to hear Honeck conduct Bruckner’s 8th (it is there I met the MR reader). I was amazed how good the overall performance was, and arguably Pittsburgh is now one of the two or three best orchestras in this country, at least for their favored repertoire. Go hear them if you can, Bruckner being their specialty.
The post Recent recordings of “big symphonies” appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-10 00:22:16
1. What people get wrong about women’s rights (Alice Evans, The Economist).
2. The case against liberal interventionism.
3. More government by GPT (NYT).
4. “In 2013, museum management considered introducing a scheme to suction dust off tourists as they walked down the corridor leading to the Sistine Chapel while blasting them with cold air to reduce their body temperature and perspiration. The plan was aborted, presumably for logistical reasons.” (FT)
5. The ongoing migration of Kiwis.
6. Roger Garrison, RIP. And an obituary.
The post Monday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-09 23:15:20
Iran was once one of the key oil suppliers to the world. No longer. Its exports, constrained by sanctions, amount to less than 2 per cent of global supplies, most of which go to China at discounted prices.
A similar change has taken place in Venezuela. Once a star of world oil and one of the founding members of Opec, today it can hardly even be called a petrostate. It produces less oil than the US state of North Dakota and a quarter as much as neighbouring Brazil.
Here is more from Daniel Yergin at the FT.
The post Iran/Venezuela facts of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-09 16:38:03
Here is the NYT obituary.
The post Country Joe McDonald, RIP appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-09 15:36:06
Given the rapid pace of advancement of AI, how should academic journals adapt to these changes? One issue might be an excess of submissions, but what other questions should be considered here? Which reforms should be made?
Your thoughts would be most welcome.
The post Academic journals and AI bleg appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
2026-03-09 12:49:26
Frank McLynn, Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution. The best book on its topic, and one of the best books on Mexican history flat out. Everything is explained with remarkable clarity. By the way, the central government never really has controlled the entire country, or not for very long anyway.
Sean Mathews, The New Byzantines: The Rise of Greece and Return of the Near East. Anexcellent and original book, somewhere between a history and travel book. Views Greece as part of “the Middle East.” I found every page interesting.
Robert Polito, After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan’s Memory Palace. An informationally dense, rambling, and frequently insightful and obsessive book about the “late” career period of Bob Dylan. When does his “late” period start? 1990 perhaps? I remember thinking in 1990 that we were well into Dylan’s late career phase. But that was thirty-six years ago!
Muriel Spark, The Driver’s Seat. If you like her at all, you will be entranced by this one. With a radical ending, as you might expect.
Richard Holmes, The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, and the Crisis in Belief. A fun new book on Tennyson’s relations with the science of his time, and how he drifted away from religious belief.
Partha Dasgupta, On Natural Capital: The Value of the World Around Us, is a popular summary of some of his thinking on valuing the environment and natural resources.
Davd Epstein, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. A good popular look at what the subtitle promises.
José Donoso, The Boom in Spanish American Literature: A Personal History is a good lshort overview, noting that Donoso’s own The Obscene Bird of Night is one of the great underrated works of 20th century literature.
The post What I’ve been reading appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.