Death of a Tree

Some years ago I published a book called New York City of Trees. On facing pages of photographs and text, it presented portraits of fifty-five trees in the city’s five boroughs. One was of a Callery pear in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. A mid-sized tree covered in white blossoms each spring, glossy green leaves in the summer, and a mass of orange-yellow leaves in the fall, the species is a familiar sight in cities across the US. At the time of my book’s publication it was the second most widely planted species in Manhattan, after the honey locust. [...]

As I noted in my book, one day in 2008 I drove by and the Callery pear was gone. From friends at the Parks Department I learned that it had been cut down at the request of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as part of the planned extension of the 7 subway line to Hudson Yards, then in development. Three new buildings necessary for the subway would be built on the lot behind the tree. The Parks Department had approved the removal in exchange for a restitution payment of $22,500, which would cover the cost of planting thirty new trees elsewhere in the neighborhood. Benjamin Swett, The New York Review of Books

 

On Boredom

There is evidence to suggest that chronic boredom is becoming more common, and that this uptick has coincided with the rise of smartphones. In a paper published last year, researchers noted that the proportion of students in China and the US who described themselves as bored steadily increased in the years after 2010, during the first decade of smartphone dominance. Why might digital media have this effect? Research has shown that the main reason we pick up our phones or check our socials is to relieve boredom, but that the behaviour actually exacerbates it. One study, for instance, found that people who were bored at work were more likely to use their smartphones – and subsequently feel even more bored. Sophie McBain, The Guardian

further reading: Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi (Pan Macmillan), Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (Penguin), The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman (Vintage)

 

David Kertzer on what it means to have an American pope

Q: When you found out Robert Francis Prevost would become the next pope, what was your reaction?

It was a surprise, for various reasons. The favorites on the betting market were mostly Italian cardinals and one Filipino cardinal. Prevost initially had only a 2% chance of being elected; when the white smoke went up so quickly, his prospects dwindled to two-tenths of a percent. Everyone assumed that, with an election that quick, whoever was chosen couldn’t possibly be a dark horse. Additionally, it’s been taken as an article of faith by everyone in the Vatican that there would never be an American pope. The United States is too politically strong; it was thought that an American pope might be too intimidating. 

Q: How do you think an American “dark horse” gained favor in the conclave?

I believe that behind the scenes, Pope Francis had been promoting Prevost to some extent. A couple of years ago, Francis appointed him to a position within the Roman Curia, where he was responsible for selecting bishops worldwide. That allowed Prevost to get to know the cardinals within the Vatican, something that’s more difficult for cardinals who are based in other countries and continents. Prevost gained experience that Francis never had. He came to understand the power struggles and the politics of the Vatican. Before he was appointed to that position, he had also gained respect as the worldwide head of the Augustinian religious order.

Q: How have Italians reacted to Pope Leo XIV?

I think Italians always hope for an Italian pope — that’s how it was for centuries until recent decades. But judging by what the local newspapers are writing, Italians find the new pope to be likeable, approachable and humane. Some people, especially women, have said he has a “buon viso” — a good face, a friendly face. Jill Kimbal, News from Brown

Kertzer, a professor emeritus of social science, anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University, has spent decades studying and writing about papal history. At the end of the interview he talks about his present research: "I’ve become fascinated by one aspect of what happened when Benito Mussolini created anti-Jewish laws in 1938: Thousands of Jews, in an attempt to escape persecution, rushed to get baptized and have their racial identity changed from Jewish to Aryan — i.e., Catholic. In some cases, that decision literally saved their lives. It’s not something Italians like to think or talk about today.

Translation’s Drift

Translations that show the jamming—that are self-evidently translations—may be especially generative. In seeking to be both accurate and majestic, the creators of the King James Bible ended up conjuring all sorts of strange idioms that are now utterly familiar (a thorn in the flesh, know for a certainty, the root of the matter, turn the world upside down). Some theorists of translation even think that there’s an ethical imperative to signal the strain. Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books

 recensione a due nuovi libri sulla traduzione: The Philosophy of Translation, di Damion Searls (Yale University Press), e Speaking in Tongues, di J.M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos (Liveright).