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Penn State kicks off Sunshine Slam by cruising past Fordham
Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Underperform Rating for Asana (NYSE:ASAN)
Snack maker Hearthside files for bankruptcy after child labor probeMarshall hires NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson as next coach after Charles Huff's departureRomania far-right candidate urges voters to turn up for scrapped electionHarbaugh vs. Harbaugh: Ravens-Chargers clash reignites a lifelong competition
Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc. Announces Monthly Operational Update for November 2024Las Vegas Drivers Alert: Upcoming I-15 Closures for South Widening Project
Is QUALCOMM Stock Underperforming the Dow?Syrian insurgents reach the capital's suburbs. Worried residents flee and stock up on supplies BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria is gaining speed with news that they have reached the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. The government on Saturday was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels’ moves around Damascus were reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander. They came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions. The factions are by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. An archbishop's knock formally restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and heads of state look on PARIS (AP) — France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral has formally reopened its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. The five-year restoration is widely seen as a boost for French President Emmanuel Macron, who championed the ambitious timeline, and brings a welcome respite from his domestic political woes. World leaders, dignitaries, and worshippers gathered on Saturday evening for the celebrations under the cathedral's soaring arches. The celebration was attended by 1,500 dignitaries, including President-elect Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For Catholics, Notre Dame’s rector said the cathedral “carries the enveloping presence of the Virgin Mary, a maternal and embracing presence.′′ Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Donald Trump to Paris with a full a dose of presidential pomp. And they held a hastically-arranged meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a day that's mixing pageantry with attention to pressing global problems. The president-elect's visit to France is part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire. Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Trump isn't back in office but he's already pushing his agenda and negotiating with world leaders NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is making threats, traveling abroad, and negotiating with world leaders. He has more than a month-and-a-half to go before he’s sworn in for a second term. But the president-elect is already moving aggressively to not only fill his Cabinet and outline policy goals, but also to try to achieve his priorities. In recent days, Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the country’s largest trading partners. That led to emergency calls and a visit. And he's warned of “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas doesn't release the hostages still being held captive in Gaza. South Korea's president avoids an impeachment attempt over short-lived martial law SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol has avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law. Most of Yoon's ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea. A survey suggests a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party. But the party also apparently fears losing the presidency to liberals. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting opens a door for many to vent frustrations over insurance The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO has opened the door for many people to vent their frustrations and anger over the insurance industry. The feelings of exasperation, anger, resentment, and helplessness toward insurers aren’t new. But the shooting and the headlines around it have unleashed a new wave of patients sharing such sentiments and personal stories of interactions with insurance companies. Conversations at dinner tables, office water coolers, social gatherings and on social media have pivoted to the topic. Many say they hope the new amplified voices can bring about change for companies often accused of valuing profits over people. 100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor recalls confusion and chaos during Japanese bombing 83 years ago PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The bombing of Pearl Harbor 83 years ago launched the United States into World War II. Two survivors are planning to return to the Hawaii military base on Saturday for a remembrance ceremony on the attack's anniversary. They are each over 100 years old. They will join active-duty troops, veterans and members of the public for a remembrance ceremony hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service. A third survivor was planning to join them but had to cancel due to health issues. The bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. An explosion destroys an apartment block in a Dutch city, killing at least 3 and injuring others THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An explosion and fire has rocked a neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, killing three people and injuring other people and destroying several apartments. The cause of the disaster is unclear. Emergency authorities said four people were rescued from the rubble and taken to the hospital. The mayor said rescuers were no longer looking for survivors but for eventual bodies, but could not specify how many people might still be unaccounted for. Residents of the northeastern neighborhood of Mariahoeve in The Hague heard a huge bang and screams before dawn. Dutch authorities have deployed a specialized urban search and rescue team to find victims. How 'Mufasa' rose with Aaron Pierre and Blue Ivy's voices along with new Lin-Manuel Miranda music SAN DIEGO (AP) — When Aaron Pierre was cast as Mufasa, the weight of following in the late James Earl Jones’ legendary footsteps was enough to rattle any actor. But instead of letting the pressure roar too loudly, he harnessed his nerves to breathe fresh life into his young lion character. Pierre found parallels between himself and his character while filming his leading role in “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which opens in theaters Dec. 20. He took the reigns as the new voice of Mufasa after Jones played the iconic King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King.” The prequel offers a fresh exploration into Mufasa’s origin story.Coffee aficionados may need to brace themselves for another jolt in prices as the cost of beans soared to unprecedented heights. T he price for arabica beans, the world's favourite variety, has peaked at a 47-year summit this week with an over 18% spike this year alone, edging past 3.44 US dollars (£2.70) a pound. At the same time, robusta coffee has also witnessed dramatic increases, touching 5,694 dollars (£4,460) per metric ton by late November. The jump in coffee commodity costs comes amid concerns about weather affecting major producers such as Brazil and Vietnam. Late last month, Nestle admitted its strategy to cope with the steep bean prices would be continued hikes and reducing package sizes. In UK supermarkets, the price of Nescafe Original Instant Coffee has surged by 15% year on year, based on data from The Grocer’s Key Value Items tracker. Nestle said: "Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of coffee, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products. As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible whilst maintaining the same high-quality and delicious taste that consumers know and love." But Will Corby, director of coffee and social impact at granary Pact Coffee, told The Grocer that he believes coffee beans have been "sold for far too cheap from its countries of origin to the West for far too long". Speaking to the industry publication, he asserted: "Huge coffee companies might say that these market highs are bad news, but, in reality, farmers are finally being paid enough to live on."
NoneU.S. Bancorp announces quarterly dividends5 Tech Gifts This Mom Influencer Says Are on Her List — and Should Be on Yours Too
MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. ( NASDAQ:AMRK – Free Report ) by 9.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,017 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A-Mark Precious Metals were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 94.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in A-Mark Precious Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in A-Mark Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in A-Mark Precious Metals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors own 75.25% of the company’s stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, A-Mark Precious Metals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33. Insider Activity In other A-Mark Precious Metals news, CEO Gregory N. Roberts sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.44, for a total value of $999,680.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 28,202 shares in the company, valued at $1,281,498.88. This represents a 43.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . Also, Director Michael R. Wittmeyer sold 25,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total value of $1,146,048.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 292,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,973,927.25. The trade was a 8.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,316 shares of company stock valued at $4,911,036. 48.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders. A-Mark Precious Metals Price Performance Shares of AMRK opened at $28.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.91. A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.22 and a 1-year high of $47.39. The company has a market cap of $666.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of -0.06. A-Mark Precious Metals Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. A-Mark Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 34.04%. A-Mark Precious Metals Profile ( Free Report ) A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals trading company. It operates through three segments: Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services, Direct-to-Consumer, and Secured Lending. The Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services segment sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powders, wafers, grains, ingots, and coins. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. ( NASDAQ:AMRK – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for A-Mark Precious Metals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for A-Mark Precious Metals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
NoneCASEY: Four tales of consumer mail woes and the United States Postal ServiceNewly elected Jaffna district independent MP Dr. Ramanathan Archchuna has issued a public apology after occupying the seat traditionally reserved for the Leader of the Opposition during the ceremonial opening of the first session of the 10th Parliament. The incident unfolded when the MP refused to vacate the Leader of the Opposition’s seat despite repeated requests from parliamentary staff. As a result, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was compelled to sit at the corner of the front row. Addressing the controversy on his personal social media account yesterday, Ramanathan revealed that he had publicly apologised during an introductory workshop for newly elected MPs in Parliament. “I recognise the importance of maintaining decorum and respect in all discussions,” he wrote, expressing gratitude to his colleagues and the public for their understanding. Speaking to the media yesterday, Ramanathan explained that he had been unaware the seat was reserved for the Opposition Leader. “We were informed that MPs could sit anywhere, so I took the seat. Had it been marked or noted, I would not have done so,” he said. However, during the incident, Ramanathan reportedly told parliamentary staff, “Tradition is being changed,” when they asked him to move. The matter had also been raised with the Secretary-General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, but no action was taken as MPs had been informed they were allowed to sit wherever they chose on the day. Earlier, Speaker Ashoka Ranwala had indicated his intention to hold discussions with Dr Archchuna regarding the incident, stressing the importance of respecting parliamentary traditions.
Insurgents pick up speedOn Monday, it was reported that Penn State their full allotment of tickets, allowing 5,000 tickets to be sold to the general public, per Audrey Snyder of The Athletic. Nittany Lions fans and students immediately took to social media to complain that they had not received tickets. One post from a named Dylan Dawson garnered over 2.5 million views on X. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.Destra Multi-Alternative Fund Declares Year End 2024 Distribution
Thousands of Penn State Students Did Not Receive SMU Tickets, Blame CFP
Total Monthly Digital Colocation Revenue grew 111% Y/Y in November 2024 Total Current Operating Hash Rate (EH) of about 4.98 EH/s, with current total operating capacity of 129 MW and expected to grow to 153 MW upon Ohio facility completion MIDLAND, Pa., Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MIGI) (“Mawson” or “the Company”), a publicly-traded technology company focused on digital infrastructure platforms for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and digital assets markets, today announced its unaudited business and operational update for November 2024. Rahul Mewawalla, CEO and President said, “We are pleased to deliver another month of growth across our businesses with our total monthly revenue increasing year-over-year and month-over-month, highlighted by significant growth in our digital colocation revenue of 111% year-over-year. Following our recent honor of ringing the NASDAQ Closing Bell in celebration of the Company’s transformation, we continue to advance our innovative approach to providing digital infrastructure platforms and solutions. Our synergistic business portfolio and our enhanced strategic, operational, and technological capabilities are expected to continue to be a competitive advantage for us moving forward.” Unaudited financial and operational highlights for November 2024: Monthly Digital Colocation Revenue was up 111% Y/Y, growing from $1.98 million in November 2023 to about $4.18 million in November 2024. Total Monthly Revenue of about $4.91 million, up 2% Y/Y from November 2023 and up 0.5% M/M from October 2024; Monthly Energy Management Revenue of $0.33 million and Monthly Digital Assets Mining Revenue of $0.40 million. Current Total Operating Capacity of 129 MW and expected to grow to 153 MW upon full completion of Ohio facility. Combined Total Current Operating Hash Rate (EH) of about 4.98 EH/s (includes colocation and self-mining) 1 . Mawson supports innovative, agile, efficient, and scalable approaches to AI infrastructure and compute, and invites AI/HPC ecosystem companies to discuss opportunities to collaborate on artificial intelligence, high-performance and accelerated computing solutions. Conferences and Events Update Mawson has planned for its CEO and President, Rahul Mewawalla to participate in the following upcoming conferences and events. Please contact IR@Mawsoninc.com for further information. Northland Capital Markets Growth Conference - December 12, 2024 Axios Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit – December 16-17, 2024 in San Francisco ICR Conference 2025 – January 13-15, 2025 in Orlando Pacific Telecommunications Council - January 20-22, 2025 in Honolulu About Mawson Infrastructure Mawson Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ: MIGI) is a technology company that offers digital infrastructure platforms for AI, HPC, and digital assets. The Company’s digital infrastructure platforms can be used to operate computing resources for a number of applications, and are offered across digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and other computing applications. Our innovation, technology, and operational expertise enables us to operate and optimize digital infrastructure to accelerate the digital economy. The Company has a strategy to prioritize the usage of carbon-free energy sources, including nuclear energy, to power its digital infrastructure platforms and computational machines. For more information, please visit: https://www.mawsoninc.com . CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS The Company cautions that statements in this press release that are not a description of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words referencing future events or circumstances such as “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” and “will,” among others. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company’s current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company is contained under the heading “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 1, 2024, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 15, 2024, August 19, 2024, November 14, 2024, the Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2024, and in other filings that the Company has made and may make with the SEC in the future. One should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as may be required by law. For more information, visit us at https://www.mawsoninc.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mawsoninc/ Twitter: Mawson (@Mawsoninc) / X (twitter.com) Facebook: Mawson Inc | Pittsburgh PA | Facebook YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MawsonInc Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/mawsoninc Investor Contact: Investor Relations Team IR@mawsoninc.com Partnerships Contact: Partnerships Team Partnerships@mawsoninc.com Media and Press Contact: Media Relations Team mediarelations@mawsoninc.com Share this press release Twitter LinkedIn ___________________________ 1 Current Operating Hash Rate is based on the nameplate hash rate of the miners currently deployed.Romania's far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jj
Biden opens final White House holiday season with turkey pardons and first lady gets Christmas tree WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has kicked off his final holiday season at the White House, issuing the traditional reprieve to two turkeys who will bypass the Thanksgiving table to live out their days in Minnesota. The president welcomed 2,500 guests under sunny skies as he cracked jokes about the fates of “Peach” and “Blossom.” He also sounded wistful tones about the last weeks of his presidency. Separately, first lady Jill Biden received the delivery of the official White House Christmas tree. And the Bidens are traveling to New York later Monday for an early holiday celebration with members of the Coast Guard. Couple charged in ring suspected of stealing $1 million in Lululemon clothes MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Connecticut couple has been charged in Minnesota with being part of a shoplifting ring suspected of stealing around $1 million in goods across the country from upscale athletic wear retailer Lululemon.Jadion Anthony Richards and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, both of Danbury, Connecticut, were charged this month with one felony count of organized retail theft. Both went free last week after posting bail bonds of $100,000 for him and $30,000 for her. They're also suspected in thefts from Lululemon stores in Colorado, Utah, New York and Connecticut. They're due back in court next month. Formula 1 expands grid to add General Motors' Cadillac brand and new American team for 2026 season LAS VEGAS (AP) — Formula 1 will expand the grid in 2026 to make room for an American team that is partnered with General Motors. The approval ends years of wrangling that launched a federal investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, would not approve the team initially started by Michael Andretti, who has since stepped aside. The 11th team will be called Cadillac F1 and be run by new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter. The team will use Ferrari engines its first two years until GM has a Cadillac engine built for competition in time for the 2028 season. US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring from international soccer U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring from international soccer. Naeher is on the team’s roster for a pair of upcoming matches in Europe but those will be her last after a full 11 years playing for the United States. Naeher was on the U.S. team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2019 and the gold medal at this year's Olympics in France. She’s the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. Bah, humbug! Vandal smashes Ebenezer Scrooge's tombstone used in 'A Christmas Carol' movie LONDON (AP) — If life imitates art, a vandal in the English countryside may be haunted by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Police in the town of Shrewsbury are investigating how a tombstone at the fictional grave of Ebenezer Scrooge was destroyed. The movie prop used in the 1984 adaption of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol” had become a tourist attraction. The film starred George C. Scott as the cold-hearted curmudgeon who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who show him what will become of his life if he doesn’t become a better person. West Mercia Police say the stone was vandalized in the past week. Megachurch founder T.D. Jakes suffers health incident during sermon at Dallas church DALLAS (AP) — The founder of Dallas-based megachurch The Potter's House, Bishop T.D. Jakes, was hospitalized after suffering what the church called a “slight health incident.” Jakes was speaking to churchgoers after he sat down and began trembling as several people gathered around him Sunday at the church. Jakes' daughter Sarah Jakes Roberts and her husband Touré Roberts said in a statement on social media late Sunday that Jakes was improving. The 67-year-old Jakes founded the non-denominational The Potter's House in 1996 and his website says it now has more than 30,000 members with campuses in Fort Worth and Frisco, Texas; and in Denver. At the crossroads of news and opinion, 'Morning Joe' hosts grapple with aftermath of Trump meeting The reaction of those who defended “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski for meeting with President-elect Trump sounds almost quaint in the days of opinionated journalism. Doesn't it makes sense, they said, for hosts of a political news show to meet with such an important figure? But given how “Morning Joe” has attacked Trump, its viewers felt insulted. Many reacted quickly by staying away. It all reflects the broader trend of opinion crowding out traditional journalist in today's marketplace, and the expectations that creates among consumers. By mid-week, the show's audience was less than two-thirds what it has typically been this year. Pilot dies in plane crash in remote woods of New York, puppy found alive WINDHAM, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a pilot and at least one dog he was transporting died when a small plane crashed in the snowy woods of the Catskill Mountains, though a puppy on the flight was found alive with two broken legs. The Greene County sheriff’s office says Seuk Kim of Springfield, Virginia, was flying from Maryland to Albany, New York, when the plane crashed at about 6:10 p.m. Sunday in a remote area. Officials believe the pilot died from the impact. The surviving dog was hospitalized, while a third dog was not located. The flight was connected with a not-for-profit group that transports rescue animals. Warren Buffett gives away another $1.1B and plans for distributing his $147B fortune after his death OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett renewed his Thanksgiving tradition of giving by handing out more than $1.1 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four of his family's foundations Monday, and he offered new details about who will be handing out the rest of his fortune after his death. Buffett has said previously that his three kids will distribute his remaining $147.4 billion fortune in the 10 years after his death, but now he has also designated successors for them because it’s possible that Buffett’s children could die before giving it all away. Buffett said he has no regrets about his decision to start giving away his fortune in 2006. Pop star Ed Sheeran apologizes to Man United boss Ruben Amorim for crashing interview MANCHESTER, England (AP) — British pop star Ed Sheeran has apologized to Ruben Amorim after inadvertently interrupting the new Manchester United head coach during a live television interview. Amorim was talking on Sky Sports after United’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich on Sunday when Sheeran walked up to embrace analyst Jamie Redknapp. The interview was paused before Redknapp told the pop star to “come and say hello in a minute.” Sheeran is a lifelong Ipswich fan and holds a minority stake in the club. He was pictured celebrating after Omari Hutchinson’s equalizing goal in the game at Portman Road.Support Independent Arts Journalism As an independent publication, we rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. If you value our coverage and want to support more of it, consider becoming a member today . Already a member? Sign in here. Support Hyperallergic’s independent arts journalism for as little as $8 per month. Become a Member We’re proud to present our list of the best art books of 2024 for your holiday reading, and perhaps to inspire your gifting this winter. Our editors and critics read across genre, subject, and pace this year, from memoirs and graphic novels to catalogs, artist books, and everything in between. Hyperallergic Editor-in-Chief Hrag Vartanian muses on the poignant work of photographer Diana Markosian in Father , while critic Alexandra M. Thomas recommends Nikki A. Greene’s book reframing the study of Black visual art and musical production. Read on for Reviews Editor Natalie Haddad on Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects , Associate Editor Lisa Yin Zhang on scholar Anne Anling Cheng’s essay collection, my love of Audrey Flack’s memoir, and more ordered by publication date in the list below. As always, we approach the “art book” category with flexibility, considering titles that seam the art world with its incalculable intersections with other fields. Let us know what your top books of 2024 are, and happy reading! — Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor This late-November 2023 tome, edited by Andrea Myers Achi , the curator of the eponymous exhibition that ran this year at The Met and the Cleveland Museum of Art, includes 40 essays to contextualize the almost 180 works and 30 lending institutions, mostly focused on the 4th to the 15th centuries in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Achi begins with a prologue that contextualizes how novel it is to center Africa in academic, commercial, and aesthetic conversations about the “Byzantine Empire,” otherwise known as the Eastern Roman Empire, which lasted from 330 CE until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Of particular note are lavishly illustrated sections on “Bright as the Sun: Africa After Byzantium,” which looks at how Orthodox Christian communities in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia thrived in their regions. Another section, “Legacies: Black Byzantium,” looks at the continued influence of Byzantium in Africa through the present day. The book is an amazing textbook for the dozens of new courses now being taught on race in the premodern world and also pairs well with The Met’s current exhibition on Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now , which continues through February 17, 2025. — Sarah E. Bond Buy on Bookshop | Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 2023 Get the latest art news, reviews and opinions from Hyperallergic. Daily Weekly Opportunities Like Manchester, England, or Detroit, Michigan, Pittsburgh is a gritty, post-industrial metropolis that suffered under the degradations of neoliberal economic collapse a generation ago. Unlike Manchester or Detroit, Pittsburgh’s vibrant music scene hasn’t been as celebrated, at least among casual listeners. Photographer Erik Bauer offers an important corrective in that regard in his path-breaking Had to Be There: A Visual History of the Explosive Pittsburgh Underground, 1979-1994. Featuring evocative, intimate, and combustive photographs of largely forgotten (but no less important) Pittsburgh punk acts like Savage Amuse, the Beach Bunnies, the Bats, and Eviction, Bauer’s work provides an archive of a particular time period, including considerations of beloved but long-gone venues such as the Electric Banana and the Syria Mosque. The period covered in Baur’s book is right when Big Steel was in free fall and the population of Pittsburgh cratered out, yet ironically it was also a time of great cultural firmament, as underground musicians and artists attracted to the basement-floor cheap rent set up shop in neighborhoods like the South Side and Oakland, where true punk had its last Rust-Belt hurrah. — Ed Simon Buy the Book | Mind Cure Records, January 2024 This novel has stayed with me since I read it in late spring . It begins haphazardly, echoing the life of the protagonist, Cyrus Shams, but after battling some of his demons, he happens upon the solo exhibition of a dying Iranian artist, Orkideh, at the Brooklyn Museum and his life slowly starts to shift. If you’re in a transitional moment in your life, this book will help lubricate your mind to allow that transformation to ferment. And buckle up for the ending; it’s worth the wait. — Hrag Vartanian, Editor-in-Chief Buy on Bookshop | Knopf, January 2024 Sometimes a book about an artist and their work strikes a chord. So it was for me with Raven Chacon: A Worm’s Eye View from a Bird’s Beak . Considering Chacon’s sophisticated, multidimensional relationship with sound, whether noise music or chamber music or something altogether undefinable, this pun might feel trite. But with contributions from writer and critic Aruna D’Souza, Sámi filmmaker and reindeer herder Marja Bål Nango, poet Sigbjørn Skåden, curator Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation), and others — plus a lexicon of Chacon’s musical notations — this book resonates with an energy similar to that of the Diné artist’s deeply relational, highly collaborative practice. Published in conjunction with his traveling solo exhibition at the Swiss Institute in New York and Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum in Northern Norway/Sápmi, the monograph guides readers through the sites and sounds of Chacon’s career, from 1990 to 2023, and draws connections between the survivance of Navajo and Sámi peoples who share Indigenous histories that colonialism has attempted to annihilate. The book acts much like one of Chacon’s scores, offering a structure for improvisation. Begin anywhere. Correction: Begin where you are. — Nancy Zastudil Buy on Bookshop | Swiss Institute and Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, February 2024 I first encountered an artwork by Audrey Flack in 2021 at the Yale University Art Gallery. I was a few months out of college, unsettled by the world, and battling mixed feelings about returning to New Haven when I saw her 2012 screenprint “The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa” on view in a show featuring alums of the school. As I quickly discovered, Flack’s work is an antidote to disillusionment of any kind — personal, artistic, political — and this memoir is no exception. She passed away at the end of June at 93, leaving behind a generous trove of wisdom, anecdotes, priceless perspectives on her decades-long career, and, of course, this book, narrated in her droll, candid voice. Flack recounts the venomous sexism and everyday abuses of New York’s male-dominated Abstract Expressionism crowd, the insidious classism that kept her and other working-class artists in an uphill fight to stake a claim in the art world, and the challenges of maintaining a feminist, photorealist practice while raising two children on her own. In a Hyperallergic Podcast episode a few years ago, she spoke with Editor-in-Chief Hrag Vartanian and artist and educator Sharon Louden. Paired with that illuminating conversation, With Darkness Came Stars sings with Flack’s indefatigable creative spirit, one that pushed her to constantly learn and evolve. — LA Buy on Bookshop | Penn State University Press, March 2024 Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a landmark in its own right, renowned for its sumptuous Venetian palazzo-style courtyard and vast collection of over 7,500 paintings, sculptures, furniture, and objets d’art. Then, of course, there’s the infamous, unsolved 1990 heist in which 13 artworks were stolen. But less is known about the groundbreaking woman behind the collection and the building that houses it. Chasing Beauty by author Natalie Dykstra is an impeccably researched, intimate look at the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner herself. She was a woman who lived far before her time, and who used the advantages born to her — wealth, charm, intelligence, and style — to leave an undeniable cultural legacy. From the first pages of Chasing Beauty , you understand that you will be learning about a woman of contradiction, whose vitality was often too much for those around her, and sometimes even herself. In short, an unmistakably modern woman. As Dykstra writes, “In her own time and now, Isabella Stewart Gardner seems like a bright sun — we can look around her but not directly at her. She radiates but confuses.” Chasing Beauty breaks through that cloud of mystery and presents a woman who absorbed all life could offer and forged her own path, leaving behind much more than just a collection of art. Whether visiting her museum or reading about her, you are swept into her world, one where she poured herself into an “all-consuming pursuit for beauty” that became her life’s work. — Michelle Young Read the Review by Lauren Moya Ford | Buy on Bookshop | Mariner Books, March 2024 This book is an incisive meditation on hate, fame, family, literature, and friendship. The gruesome assassination attempt in 2022 at the Chautauqua Institute by a person who is never named in the memoir becomes the foundation of Knife , which refuses to play the victim but instead reflects on the human condition and the bonds that make life worth living. You discover that Rushdie, while an A-list literary figure, doesn’t appear to be liked by many in his field, and clearly beyond. But it doesn’t stop him from living life bravely through his words and recording his ruminations that include insights about social awkwardness (the brief Eric Fischl anecdote might interest art worlders) and even his own journey to healing. In the hands of a literary giant, even the worst tragedy can become the material that honors our common humanity. — HV Buy on Bookshop | Random House, April 2024 Hilary Harkness: Everything For You The phantasmagorias represented in Hilary Harkness’s monograph Everything for You depict so much that the far right in the United States wants to erase from existence: gloriously hot gay sex, gender-bending of all sorts, the realities of racism in the US, and the horrifying folly of war. And she does it all with a wry, dark humor. Harkness’s witty painted worlds riff on artistic and literary histories, as well as American history, and feel timeless in many ways, but offer a particularly compelling commentary at this moment. In a time when K–12 teachers and college professors are already being forced to submit curricula for review so that legislators and school administrators can curtail conversations on race, LGBTQ+ rights, and topics like Palestine, this book would almost certainly be banned were it ever to appear on a syllabus in countless jurisdictions around the country. All the more reason to pour yourself a strong drink or a cozy mug of tea, and keep yourself warm for at least a little while during the winter we have ahead of us with this sexy and knowing compendium of Harkness’s body of work. — Alexis Clements Read the Review | Buy on Bookshop | Black Dog Press, June 2024 Nate Powell’s timely Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbooks Got Wrong adapts James Loewen’s groundbreaking critique of American history textbooks into a text-heavy, beautifully drawn, and accessible graphic novel. Powell created a companion volume that revisits the original’s dissection of national myths and explores the omissions, distortions, and Eurocentric biases found in traditional educational materials. With specific examples, he illustrates how hero-making, American exceptionalism, historical inevitability, and racist perspectives are used to sanitize and obfuscate the genocide of Native peoples, slavery, and class inequality in America. Later history is analyzed with a reexamination of Reconstruction, “the American Century,” the Civil Rights Era, the Vietnam War, 9/11, and the Iraq War. By methodically correcting misinformation and illuminating excluded facts, a counter-narrative of American history emerges; Loewen and Powell maintain that history is never neutral. Quoting George Orwell from 1984, they argue that “who controls the present controls the past,” and that those in power shape the way history is written and taught. Lies My Teacher Told Me is a particularly essential book in this time of Trump’s reascendancy, when education — including art historical pedagogy — is threatened by the far right and Project 2025. — Jesse Lambert Buy on Bookshop | New Press, April 2024 There are many reasons to celebrate this catalog, but Dare Turner’s story of her great-uncle Harry “Timm” Williams alone is worth a read — I’m not going to spoil it. How rare it is to find such honest, complicated writing about art, and in this essay, like much of the book, you feel the winds of new energy that will continue to lift Native and Indigenous art to the fore of conversations around contemporary art, particularly in North America. Beautifully designed and illustrated, this is what I hope all museum exhibition catalogs can be. — HV Buy the Book | Baltimore Museum of Art, May 2024 Casa Susanna: The Story of the First Trans Network in the United States, 1959–1968 traces the history of an unsung haven run by Susanna Valenti and her wife, Maria, in upstate New York, where guests were free to live their lives as women, if only for a weekend. The story is a necessarily painful one: The years in which Casa Susanna was most active were dangerous ones for trans people, who faced the constant risk of violence, incarceration, and institutionalization. But it’s the hundreds of illustrations and archival photographs that form the heart of this essay collection on what the late activist Kate Cummings called “another universe” in her 1992 memoir, quoted in this book. “After years of hiding behind closed doors, venturing out only after dark, not daring to speak in case my voice betrayed me I was suddenly liberated into a society where I was not only tolerated but understood and welcomed,” she continued. Historian Susan Stryker’s introduction perhaps best frames the value of honoring the Casa Susanna community, particularly as trans people face increasing threats to their lives and autonomy. “A transphobic world tries to sweep all of the gender-trash into the same waste bin, regardless of how we might distinguish ourselves from one another,” Stryker writes. “I now see the people who frequented Casa Susanna as, if not exactly my sisters, then certainly my ancestors, comrades, and beloved kin.” — LA Buy on Bookshop | Thames & Hudson, May 2024 Last month I attended an event that included a reading from Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects by one of the book’s editors, artist Chris E. Vargas. The book, which has also been presented in exhibition form, is co-published by the Museum of Trans Hirstory & Arts, a conceptual art project by Vargas. The book deserves to be on this list for its breadth and importance alone — as AX Mina wrote here in Hyperallergic , “It’s hard to overstate the importance of a book and exhibition series like Trans Hirstory in a time of historic attacks against trans and LGBTQ+ rights both in the United States and around the world.” It includes a kaleidoscopic array of ancient to modern objects, from icons like the first transgender pride flag to esoteric historical ephemera to contemporary artworks, with accompanying texts, attesting to the multitudes that compose trans identities. But as Vargas’s reading brought the book’s contents to life, it also underscored the need for a permanent Museum of Trans Hirstory & Arts, for everyone to visit — not just to shed light on unrecorded visual histories by trans creators but also because gender is lived by all of us one way or another. — Natalie Haddad, Reviews Editor Buy the Book | Hirmer Publishers, June 2024 Caitlin Cass’s Suffrage Song: The Haunted History of Gender, Race, and Voting Rights in the U.S. stands out as both a piece of art and a comprehensive history of the women’s suffrage movement. The book contains a range of illustration styles, fold-out pages, a subtle color-coding system, newspaper clippings, and elaborate hand-drawn typography. Using ghosts and haunting as a metaphor for the unrealized and ongoing quest for justice, Cass delves into the different eras of the movement. She explores the individual lives and stories of both well-known and lesser-known figures, including Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Mary Church Terrell, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ella Baker. Touching on the struggle for Native and Asian-American rights, Cass also features less celebrated activists such as Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota) and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. She examines the movement’s internal struggles, highlighting tensions around race, class, and strategy, arguing that progress was neither linear nor universally agreed upon. Cass’s intersectional approach exposes the racist compromises made by White suffragist leaders and in Hamer’s words declares, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” — JL Buy on Bookshop | Fantagraphics Books, June 2024 Solomon J. Brager’s deeply moving graphic memoir Heavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Empire, and Memory intertwines themes of identity, family history, colonialism, and genocide. Through meticulous research and interviews, they piece together the harrowing experiences of their family’s survival — and loss — during the Holocaust. Acknowledging gaps and uncertainties, family legends are investigated, like the story that their great-grandfather, a boxing champion who fought Nazis in the streets, clobbered Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels and was summoned to court for it. Another recounts how their great-grandmother disguised as a nurse broke family members out of an internment camp in occupied France. The family stories are woven together with historical reflections and glimpses into Brager’s present-day life — scenes of obsessive researching, interactions with family, and tender moments with their partner. Noting that imperialism gave birth to fascism, Brager sets their family’s history against the backdrop of German colonization, resource extraction, and genocide in Africa, taking into account concurrent racist attitudes in Germany. Critically examining their family’s pre-Nazi wealth and later White privilege in the US, Brager wrestles with ideas of being both victimized and complicit in violence. The book poignantly opens and closes with Brager, also a boxer, sparring with the ghost of their great-grandfather. — JL Buy on Bookshop | William Morrow & Company, June 2024 As the author myself, I know what it is like to pull at a thread. I’ve spent almost four years looking at a sliver of the life of spy and art historian Rose Valland for my forthcoming book, The Art Spy . When I came across The Case of the Disappearing Gauguin , a book about a single painting, I knew what it took for author Stephanie Brown, an assistant program director in museum studies at Johns Hopkins University, to unravel its fascinating story. In the book, the reader is taken on an adventure that begins the moment the painting “Flowers and Fruit” leaves Paul Gauguin’s hands in 1889. We learn how a well-known work of art, by an artist who never knew fame in his lifetime, can slide in and out of authenticity, and even be deemed lost when it never was. By diving deep into one painting, Brown reveals the contradictions and idiosyncrasies of the art world, and asks a fundamental question: What does authenticity mean in art, and who gets to define it? — MY Read the Review | Buy the Book | Rowman & Littlefield, July 2024 Eunsong Kim’s The Politics of Collecting: Race and the Aestheticization of Property is sure to upset the academic priesthood of conceptual art, among whom the holy saint of Marcel Duchamp is the pinnacle of any canon. But her book goes far beyond that to explain how it isn’t only historical museums that are problematic. Modern and contemporary museums and various art institutions have their own issues as they parrot managerial concepts and reproduce their patron class for a public that might not understand the subtext. After reading this book, you might wonder if artists and curators deserve better in the venues that showcase their work. Perhaps Kim’s text will ignite some of the much-needed change, but only if art people are ready to really look in the mirror and figure out what toxic systems we’re inadvertently reproducing, sometimes mindlessly, and how we can improve. Check out my podcast with the author if you need more convincing. — HV Buy the Book | Duke University Press, August 2024 Colonial museums are all alike; each community whose culture was stolen mourns and fights in its own way. Fifteen Colonial Thefts , a collection of simultaneously heartbreaking and fiercely inspiring narratives, proves that repatriation of heritage in Africa goes far beyond the Benin Bronzes and other headline cases. The point of the book is not to multiply miseries, but to celebrate agency. The contributors explain the social roles once played by these stolen “belongings” (a descriptor which contributors Goodwin Gwasira and Priya Basil propose using instead of the insufficient term “objects”) before their taking and then describe the transformations possible once they’re sprung from their display case or, more often, storeroom imprisonment. The book becomes a joyful conspiracy between African, European, and American provenance researchers, historians, artists, performers, and community members, all plotting together for the future. Even the contributors’ bios fizz with possibilities, like that of the artist and scholar Fogha Mc Cornilius Refem (aka Wan wo Layir), who says he was the first-ever recipient of “the official and prestigious ban” from Berlin’s controversial new African art museum, the Humboldt Forum. May we all aspire to be so discomfiting. — Erin L. Thompson Buy on Bookshop | Pluto Press, August 2024 A book about 10 years of a podcast that uses a long-form interview format might bring to mind lengthy transcripts, show notes, or other semi-boring documentary-style attempts to capture the original — if not spontaneous — energy of conversations played out over time. But Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue disrupts those expectations, as does the aim of the Broken Boxes Podcast itself — and, arguably, any significant artwork. This standalone publication accompanies an exhibition of the same name at the Albuquerque Museum in New Mexico, curated by Ginger Dunnill and Josie Lopez, and offers readers a generous selection of images and personal accounts from artists who have participated in the podcast, which Dunnill launched in 2014. Dunnill’s creative spirit is evident throughout the book, revealed through her commitment to experimenting with a medium in service of transmitting contemporary artists’ ideas and voices on topics such as decolonization, Indigenous sovereignty, the commercial art market, friendship, mental health, academia, and more (side note: For readers who prefer conventional, homogenous graphic design, this book will be a disruption in that realm as well). — NZ Buy on Bookshop | University of New Mexico Press, August 2024 Black is not really a color, the righteous physicist says. It is simply the absence of light. But for James Baldwin, this never made sense; he once described black in an essay: “The light is trapped in it and struggles upward, rather like that grass pushing upward through the cement.” The most basic yet perplexing of artistic elements receives a dedicated dissection this year with The Color Black: Antinomies of a Color in Architecture and Art . Mohsen Mostafavi, a Harvard design professor, maps a history of theory and visual narrative through an impressive inventory of examples, from the work of Theaster Gates to Kara Walker and Georgia O’Keefe; from Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage in the English countryside to the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Abetted by a rich philosophy courtesy of German Marxist art historian Max Raphael, translated here into English for the first time, The Color Black shifts our perception of that which we take for granted. All instances of blackness start to seem, as Baldwin suggested, like miraculous feats of nature. — Greta Rainbow Buy the Book | MACK, August 2024 Though not what springs to mind as an “art book” per se — and perhaps because of this — curator and scholar Sarah Lewis’s The Unseen Truth captures a cross-section of issues that are central to art history and criticism: race, sight, and narrative. Homing in on the 19th-century Caucasus War as a turning point in how Americans have come to understand the term “Caucasian,” Lewis mines a web of pop culture, media and messaging, photography, visual art, and political power that reshaped whiteness and racism. From the “racial detailing” practices that bake racism into the everyday to the fiction sharpened by then-President Woodrow Wilson’s administration, this thorough study is one you should consume in pieces. I recommend absorbing a chunk, putting the book down, and keeping it in your mind as you move about your daily life — wandering through museums, commuting, reading literature. Lewis’s attention to vision as “never purely a retinal act” will change the way you see. — LA Buy on Bookshop | Harvard University Press, September 2024 “How is it that a figure so encrusted with racist and sexist meaning, so ubiquitously deployed to this day and so readily recognized as a symptom, should at the same time be a theoretical black hole, a residue of critical fatigue?” That’s scholar Anne Anlin Cheng writing on the “yellow woman” in Ornamentalism (2018), basically the Bible for a specific kind of Asian-American theory nerd, like me. But as opposed to the über-confident, almost sparking kineticism of her voice in such academic works, the narration in Ordinary Disasters: How I Stopped Being a Model Minority is uncertain and wobbly. For fair reason: As Cheng wrote the book, she was coping with cancer, COVID-19 had just made landfall, and her mother was losing her mind. “All my usual resources — my intellectual work, my personal faith in justice and self-determinism, my sense of self-mastery — crashed around me, inadequate to the forces hitting me,” she writes in the introduction. “These essays are a way back to myself, or, more accurately, to arrive at a self that I have yet to fully own.” There’s a certain sense of whatever the intellectual equivalent of body horror is to watching a mind you admire so greatly scramble, suffer, and sometimes, fall short in that attempt to claw back into herself. But it’s affecting and charming for that quality, too. We all know artists who seem to have found the winning formula in their work and subsequently forgot what it meant to keep up the effort. Not Cheng. This essay collection returns to the form’s roots in Montaigne — the French essayer : to try. — Lisa Yin Zhang, Associate Editor Buy on Bookshop | Pantheon Books, September 2024 Wrapped in luxe maroon cloth and stamped golden cover art, Sci-fi, Magick, Queer LA: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation as an object is as sumptuous and sensual as its contents. The catalog compiles essays and images spanning the development of a remarkable social milieu in 1930s–’60s Los Angeles. From avante-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger to historian Jim Kepner to writer Edythe D. Eyde (also known as Lisa Ben and Tigrina The Devil Doll), the book documents a burgeoning community centered around a love for science fiction and occultism. Its contributors elucidate a special moment in LA history when these movements offered means of escapism for midcentury queer people dreaming of other realities. Whereas gay bars were subject to police raids, sci-fi and occult collectives operated mostly under the radar, often gestating an unexpected space for queer connectivity. Its pages are decorated with beautifully reproduced images from the exhibition — erotic and fantastical drawings, images of early cosplay, film stills, ephemera from the foundational ONE Archives, and more. The exhibition at the USC Fisher Museum of Art is part of Pacific Standard Time ‘s Art and Science Collide initiative and continues through March 15 of next year, but the book proves a beautiful standalone resource, replete with luxe two-page spreads and essays decorated with jewel-tone inks. — Jasmine Weber Buy on Bookshop | Inventory Press & ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, October 2024 Nikki A. Greene’s Grime, Glitter, and Glass is a captivating examination of artwork by Renée Stout, Radcliffe Bailey, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and others. Greene introduces the concept of “visual aesthetic musicality” to reckon with the powerful interplay between Black art and Black music. Her analysis encourages further exploration of the sonic elements of contemporary Black art, from Bailey’s “soundscapes” and Campos-Pons’s live performance practice to the “feminist funk power” of Stout and late musician Betty Davis. Greene’s voice as a remarkable scholar and self-proclaimed pseudo-musician is potent: “I invite readers to follow my remix of the history of art since I play new chords within a discipline that has traditionally not included poor Black girls like me,” she writes in a prelude titled “The Cadences of Black Art.” Grime, Glitter, and Glass is a must-read that is as delightful and prismatic as its magnificent title. — Alexandra M. Thomas Read the Review by Nereya Otieno | Buy on Bookshop | Duke University Press, October 2024 There is a certain set of presuppositions that people bring to the idea of the “Renaissance”; that this was a period marked by learning and light, illumination and renewal. That which is strange, eccentric, or disturbing is thus relegated to a Medieval past, but the weird can often be the most illuminating creative force. University of Verona art history professor Bernard Aikema and Fernando Checa Cremades, the former director of Madrid’s storied Prado Museum, reevaluate how we define Renaissance art in this ingenious collection from Cernunnos which focuses on the Flemish fabulist Hieronymus Bosch, but then expands outward. By recontextualizing the Renaissance in downright gothic terms, Bosch becomes the primogeniture of an alternative school of the period that is marked by the monstrous as much as the humanistic. Aikema and Cremades’s argument isn’t a boring rehash of the Northern versus the Italian Renaissance debate. This alternative school isn’t marked by geography as much as it is by perspective, so that Giuseppe Arcimboldo joins Netherlandish counterparts like Pieter Brueghel in their turn towards the bizarre. An illuminating and essential collaborative study that’s lushly illustrated. — ES Buy on Bookshop | Cernunnos, October 2024 In the 1970s, Minimalist artist Donald Judd drew an isolated and tiny town in West Texas into conversation with the wider art world. Since then, Marfa has become an art mecca – and Ballroom Marfa, a free, contemporary art space founded in 2003 by Virginia Lebermann and Fairfax Dorn, has been one of its standard-bearers. Ballroom Marfa: The First Twenty Years takes us into the Chihuahuan Desert for a multifold view of one of the most remote international art destinations, collecting images, writing, and other ephemera from two decades of art and performance facilitated by the center . “It was like going to a cult city,” writes John Waters, who executed one of the first activations at the art center, with a performance in 2004. Artist Mel Chin, who held his “Fundred Dollar Bill Project” there in 2010, reflects, “Being from Texas, it is always a joy to see other parts of the state ... it just opened up this part of Texas that I had not frequented.” One of the best parts of the book is the mass of personal recollections by participating artists and performers, all of whom convey the deep effects of the land, Judd’s legacy, and the opportunities the unlikely space afforded them in their own words. A thorough and fascinating survey of an unusual relationship between art, place, and people, Ballroom Marfa is the next best thing for those of us unable to jaunt through the wilds of West Texas. — Sarah Rose Sharp Buy on Bookshop | Monacelli Press, October 2024 This particular Venn diagram of Korean feminist artists produces 42 subjects, compiled by Dr. Kim Hong-hee (with a contribution from Kim Hyesoon) across 15 different themes — from “Body Art” to “Queer Politics” to “Ecofeminism” —with a further emphasis on essentialism or deconstructionism. In the first section, Kim offers the thematic guideline of “Femininity & Sexuality” and mirrors this with a pair of artists: the more established Yun Suknam, and the emerging Jang Pa. Yun’s enchanting figurative sculptures in painted wood and paper offer whimsical, representational takes on feminine identity, while Jang’s paintings are graphic, grotesque, and lush. Kim argues their differing approaches beyond the generation gap; Yun’s focus on the relationship-orientation of women, and Jang’s “gynocentric” approach show a social evolution in the “secret” life of women. Such rigorous exemplars and comparisons abound in every chapter, unpacking Korean social norms through the lens of several generations of feminist art. Korean Feminist Artists is not just a terrific primer for anyone hoping to wade into the waters of contemporary Korean art, but a fascinating form of wayfinding through waves of Korean society — feminist, artistic, and beyond. — SS Buy on Bookshop | Phaidon Press, October 2024 Founded as a magazine by publisher Eric Nakamura in 1994 in Southern California and co-edited by the late painter Martin Wong, Giant Robot was both disruptive to and representational of a diverse Asian diasporic experience. From humble beginnings, the magazine found a voracious audience and developed into a multifold entity including art galleries and exhibitions, as well as brick-and-mortar toy stores in New York, LA, and San Francisco. This new publication presents dozens of the most significant articles within the deeply influential magazine’s 68-issue run from its founding through 2011 — with topics ranging from manga and toys to the history of Japanese incarceration in the US, from skateboarder Peggy Oki to Cibo Matto, Slumdog Millionaire , and so much more — and features an updated addendum and commentary from an entire generation of culture-makers who cite Giant Robot ’s influence in the formation of their own identity as Asian Americans. It’s a comprehensive tribute to a vanguard undertaking that moved the needle on Asian-American culture, comprising a boundless blender of food, art, music, travel, fashion, politics, and beyond. — SS Buy on Bookshop | Drawn & Quarterly, October 2024 Accompanying the exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum curated by Dalila Scruggs, this catalog surveys the life and work of the radical Black feminist artist and activist Elizabeth Catlett. Moving chronologically from her birth in Washington, DC, in 1915 to her Howard undergraduate years and early career in Chicago and New York City through to her ultimate exile in Mexico in the 1960s, the book underscores the inextricability of Catlett’s creative output from her leftist politics, and in particular her advocacy for Black and Mexican women. In these pages, you’ll find over 150 works spanning her nearly seven-decade career, including linocut prints, lithographs, terracotta sculptures, and murals, as well as insightful essays by editor Scruggs (recently named the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s inaugural African American art curator) and an assemblage of art historians and curators. To call Catlett a “trailblazer” feels cliched and insufficient, yet that’s precisely what she was: She melded art and activism, enacting her politics as an educator and organizer while establishing an iconography of justice as a sculptor and printmaker. At last, a visionary gets her due. — Sophia Stewart Read the Review by Alexandra M. Thomas | Buy on Bookshop | University of Chicago Press Baya Mahieddine, the self-taught Algerian artist who enthralled the Paris art world in the 1940s, is often reduced to the men whom she inspired, among them Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. (The former, in fact, envied her seemingly boundless creativity .) But Alice Kaplan’s biography of painter and sculptor doesn’t let her backstory overshadow the merit of her work. Orphaned as a child and adopted by a French intellectual in Algiers who recognized the young girl’s creative gifts, Mahieddine was discovered at just 16 years old, making her debut at a 1947 art show in Paris whose catalog included a preface from none other than André Breton. Once Mahieddine returned to Algeria, her wunderkind status quickly faded, and with it her place in the annals of art history, but her work endures: her vital, vibrant gouache paintings — which featured bright colors and bold patterns and often took female figures and Algerian folk tales as their subjects — remain a marvel of outsider art, ripe for rediscovery. — SS Buy on Bookshop | University of Chicago Press, October 2024 In a small photo book, an artist goes searching for her father, a man whom she, her mother, and her brother left when she was only seven years old and without saying a proper goodbye. This intimate exploration includes photographs that mostly render the absences out of frame in a way that is as emotional as it is visual. While her father would also search for her and her sibling, she would eventually track him down. The heartbreaking story of loss, searching, and finding that which you might not understand is lovely. It reminds us that sometimes we cannot grasp something even when it’s right in front of us. — HV Buy on Bookshop | Aperture, November 2024 We hope you enjoyed this article! Before you keep reading, please consider supporting Hyperallergic ’s journalism during a time when independent, critical reporting is increasingly scarce. Unlike many in the art world, we are not beholden to large corporations or billionaires. Our journalism is funded by readers like you , ensuring integrity and independence in our coverage. We strive to offer trustworthy perspectives on everything from art history to contemporary art. We spotlight artist-led social movements, uncover overlooked stories, and challenge established norms to make art more inclusive and accessible. With your support, we can continue to provide global coverage without the elitism often found in art journalism. If you can, please join us as a member today . Millions rely on Hyperallergic for free, reliable information. By becoming a member, you help keep our journalism free, independent, and accessible to all. Thank you for reading. Share Copied to clipboard Mail Bluesky Threads LinkedIn Facebook
Opposition fighters are closing in on Syria’s capita l in a swiftly developing crisis that has taken much of the world by surprise. Syria's army has abandoned key cities with little resistance. Nervous residents in Damascus describe security forces on the streets. The state news agency has been forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad has left the country. Who are these opposition fighters? If they enter Damascus after taking some of Syria’s largest cities , what then? Here’s a look at the stunning reversal of fortune for Assad and his government in just the past 10 days, and what might lie ahead as Syria’s 13-year civil war reignites. The aim? Overthrow the government This is the first time that opposition forces have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when the country’s troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The approaching fighters are led by the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Both have been entrenched in the northwest. They launched the shock offensive on Nov. 27 with gunmen capturing Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and the central city of Hama, the fourth largest. The HTS has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. But the group said in recent years it cut ties with al-Qaida, and experts say HTS has sought to remake itself in recent years by focusing on promoting civilian government in their territory as well as military action. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that the aim of the offensive is to overthrow Assad’s government. Possible rifts ahead The HTS and Syrian National Army have been allies at times and rivals at times, and their aims might diverge. The Turkish-backed militias also have an interest in creating a buffer zone near the Turkish border to keep away Kurdish militants at odds with Ankara. Turkey has been a main backer of the fighters seeking to overthrow Assad but more recently has urged reconciliation, and Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement in the current offensive. Whether the HTS and the Syrian National Army will work together if they succeed in overthrowing Assad or turn on each other again is a major question. Others take advantage While the flash offensive against Syria’s government began in the north, armed opposition groups have also mobilized elsewhere. The southern areas of Sweida and Daraa have both been taken locally. Sweida is the heartland of Syria’s Druze religious minority and had been the site of regular anti-government protests even after Assad seemingly consolidated his control over the area. Daraa is a Sunni Muslim area that was widely seen as the cradle of the uprising against Assad’s rule that erupted in 2011. Daraa was recaptured by Syrian government troops in 2018, but rebels remained in some areas. In recent years, Daraa was in a state of uneasy quiet under a Russian-mediated ceasefire deal. And much of Syria's east is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group backed by the United States that in the past has clashed with most other armed groups in the country. Syria's government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. What’s next? Much depends on Assad’s next moves and his forces' will to fight the rebels. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces have started carrying out the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. And Syrian troops withdrew Saturday from much of the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, according to a pro-government outlet and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. If that city is captured, the link would be cut between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where he enjoys wide support. “Homs to the coastal cities will be a very huge red line politically and socially. Politically, if this line is crossed, then we are talking about the end of the entire Syria, the one that we knew in the past,” said a Damascus resident, Anas Joudeh. Assad appears to be largely on his own as allies Russia and Iran are distracted by other conflicts and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has been weakened by its war with Israel, now under a fragile ceasefire. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, seeks urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition,” saying the situation is changing by the minute. He met with foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran on the sidelines of the Doha Summit. President-elect Donald Trump in his first extensive comments on the developments in Syria said the besieged Assad didn’t deserve U.S. support to stay in power. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump posted on social media. ___ Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.