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Sven Beckert, historian: ‘Capitalism is not natural; in fact it is very strange’

29 September 2026 at 20:26
The historian Sven Beckert, on the terrace of Laie bookstore on September 22, 2026.

A merchant named Robert Keyne showed up crestfallen before the General Court of Massachusetts in Puritan Boston in 1639. His offense: trying to sell at the highest possible price and buy at the lowest possible price, putting his profits above the interests of the community. The judges showed no mercy: they fined him £200 for a practice they described as “extremely wicked and corrupt” and for having embraced “false principles.” Yet those are the same principles that now seem completely natural to us and structure our entire lives.

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The German-American historian surveys the history of capitalism in a 1,400-page book.

Lady Gaga, Lena Dunham and surrogacy: Why isn’t it causing a scandal in the United States?

29 September 2026 at 10:57

All three are well-known, globally recognized, and outstanding women in their fields. All three became mothers just days ago, almost simultaneously. All three had children without giving birth to them: one adopted, two used a surrogate. And all three, despite their different methods and the ways they told their stories, received the same warm congratulations. But are the three cases the same? In the United States, for a large majority, the answer is yes.

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Khloé Kardashian with her son, born via surrogacy, in a moment from the reality series 'The Kardashians,' in 2022.

© Getty Images

Lady Gaga (left) and Lena Dunham.

Florida and Texas: The frontiers of reproductive health and abortion access in the US

28 September 2026 at 18:01

Known as the tomato capital of the United States, Immokalee is an agricultural community in southern Florida. A couple of hours from cosmopolitan Miami, palm trees stand beside dirt roads where cucumber, pepper, and eggplant are grown; hens roam the yards of small houses and people carry shovels and hoes. Although it is part of Collier, one of the state’s wealthiest counties, there is no hospital with a labor and delivery ward or specialists to handle an obstetric emergency. Pregnant people must drive up to an hour to receive care.

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© Desirée Yépez

More than one million Latinas of reproductive age live in Florida; almost half are mothers.

Madonna and Taylor Swift, queens of an MTV VMA ceremony steeped in nostalgia for Dolly Parton, Nirvana and George Michael

28 September 2026 at 07:39

It has been 42 years since MTV began honoring what it knows best and what, at the time, few people valued: music videos. Four decades have passed and much has changed in the industry. There is no self-respecting artist today who does not present their projects visually, especially in this internet era. A lot has changed since 1984, but only to grow bigger. On Sunday night, artists once again proved it.

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© Rich Polk (Billboard via Getty Images)

Taylor Swift accepts the award for video of the year for 'The Fate of Ophelia' at the MTV Video Music Awards held on September 27, 2026 in Los Angeles.

‘Forgotten Island’ turns children’s animation into a song to friendship and roots: ‘Diversity makes us stronger’

25 September 2026 at 18:13

There is nothing a good plate of lechón (piglet) can’t achieve. So can a story that has been in the works for a decade and speaks of friendship, migration, change, roots and food (yes, lechón too), one that is animated and aimed primarily at children, yet carries a message not only for kids. It was over dishes like that and other traditional Filipino foods that Forgotten Island was cooked up for years. Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, who are friends, colleagues and something like compatriots, have been passionately shaping the story all these years, and finally on September 25, 2026, it is opening in movie theaters worldwide.

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© Cortesía de Dreamworks

Jo and Raissa, the lead characters in 'Forgotten Island' (DreamWorks, 2026), directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.

Darth Vader alongside Picasso and Banksy: George Lucas’s ambitious museum opens in LA

22 September 2026 at 16:03

Explaining the world through images. Humanity has been doing it for millennia: from cave paintings to photography, cinema, living-room television and the omnipresent screens of today. Over the past decades, if there is anyone who has known how to create emotion through images, that is George Lucas, 82, director, writer, producer and the creative mind behind phenomena that have shaped contemporary culture, such as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. And his eye for visual narratives has not been limited to film: for decades (funded by the lucrative returns of cinema), he has also devoted himself to art collecting, and possesses an immense collection of roughly 40,000 works that he has now decided to share with the world.

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© Eric Thayer (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

A drone view of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art at Exposition Park in L.A.

Allianz retira su patrocinio del Festival de las Ideas tras las protestas de varios participantes por sus vínculos con Israel

By: EP
15 September 2026 at 14:58
Allianz se ha desvinculado del Festival de las Ideas de Madrid y retira así su apoyo económico como patrocinador del evento después de que el cineasta Rodrigo Sorogoyen, la presentadora Inés Hernand, la escritora Alana S. Portero o el cantante Rodrigo Cuevas hayan puesto "en suspenso" su participación en el certamen hasta que este no renunciara al "apoyo económico" del patrocinador Allianz por sus vinculaciones con Israel.

Gallardón defiende que una operación del Canal de Isabel II tuvo informes "favorables" y ningún perjuicio para Madrid

By: EP
15 September 2026 at 12:32
El exministro de Justicia y expresidente de la Comunidad de Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, ha expresado que la compra por parte del Canal de Isabel II de la empresa colombiana Inassa tuvo informes "favorables" y ha defendido que no causó "absolutamente" ningún perjuicio ni para el ente ni para la región.

Pablo Alborán desfila para Adolfo Domínguez en la Fashion Week de Madrid

By: EP
14 September 2026 at 18:49
Pablo Alborán ha vuelto a aparecer públicamente y lo ha hecho por sorpresa, convirtiéndose en uno de los grandes protagonistas de la jornada inaugural de la Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid. El cantante malagueño ha sorprendido al desfilar para Adolfo Domínguez en el Invernadero del Palacio de Cristal de Arganzuela, una inesperada reaparición que llega después de varias semanas alejado de los escenarios debido a la neumonía que le obligó a cancelar parte de sus compromisos profesionales.

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