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Our Correspondents on the Biggest Music, Shows and Books in Their Parts of the World


Ours Reporters around the world cover breaking news, major investigations and fundamental stories of their regions. But they’re not just reporters, they’re residents of the countries they cover, whether Japan, Kenya, Iraq or Australia. Like residents everywhere, they follow and notice the groundbreaking novels, blockbusters, hit TV shows, and unmissable pop songs that everyone is listening to. discussion in corners of the world.

As the summer ended, we asked reporters to share a little bit about their lives. Here are some cultural works that resonated with them.

“Everybody, and I mean everyone, has either read, is reading, or at some point is embarrassed for not reading ‘African Women’s Sex Lives.’” says. Abdi Latif Dahirour East African correspondent.

The book consists of 32 first-person accounts of African women, born from a blog founded by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, the book’s Ghanaian author, who also shares her personal journey towards self-reliance. by sex. Published in 2021, the book “has exploded since it came out,” said Dahir, who wrote about the phenomenon. The frank conversations about sex, freedom and spirituality show no signs of slowing down: This spring, a reading session staged in a 200-seat Nairobi auditorium was completely sold out.

One of the biggest Japanese cultural exports of the past year was “Maria Beetle,” a novel by Kotaro Isaka that was turned into a movie, “Bullet Train,” starring the Japanese protagonist Brad Pitt. and Sandra Bullock. Motoko Rich, our Tokyo office manager, Mr. Isaka summary and his perception of the novel’s transformation. (The original Japanese background, he said, doesn’t matter much: “I don’t know that much about Japan either.”)

She noted that the other crowning phenomenon of the year was Atarashii Gakko!, a dance and vocal group that made their international debut with 88aging, an American music company that represents many Asian-American artists. Consisting of four young women wearing high school uniforms, Gakko! have amassed a huge following on TikTok, Spotify and YouTube, with their hit song “Nainanai” being streamed millions of times.

“Married at First Sight”, a reality show that originated in Denmark many years ago and has branches around the globe, including United Statesis a unlikely candidate to raise eyebrows in 2022.

But when the Israeli version featured a gay couple this year, in the show’s fifth season, viewers in the country attention, Times correspondent in Jerusalem, Isabel Kershner said. Same-sex weddings are not officially recognized in Israel, where the Orthodox state religious authorities have a monopoly on legal Jewish marriage. Until recently, same-sex couples had to travel to another country to get married, then register their marriage after returning home.

A legal case changed this year, when an Israeli court ruled that marriages performed through an online civil marriage service, based in Utah, will be sanctioned by the country. So the pairing of Guy Dalal and Matan Weiss, the couple on the show, prompted a lot of conversation – if the controversy was minor, perhaps because the show tends to appeal to a liberal audience in Israel. Instead, much of the response, Ms. Kershner reported, was “like ‘so long’.”

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, before Boris Johnson’s resignation – and perhaps as a much-needed distraction from everyday crises – many Londoners were mesmerized this summer by the trial. “Wagatha Christie”, said. Megan Speciaa reporter in London.

An online feud that escalated into a smear trial, the scandal featured two women married to famous athletes: Coleen Rooney, wife of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, and Rebekah Vardy, who Married to Jamie Vardy, a Leicester City striker.

Ms Rooney has accused Ms Vardy of selling information about her personal life to a tabloid, citing her own Instagram as evidence – hence the moniker “Wagatha Christie”, a hybrid cheeky by Agatha Christie, mystery writer, and the acronym WAG, refers to the wives and girlfriends of famous athletes. Ms. Vardy accused Ms. Rooney in the High Court of defaming her; in July, a judge decided not to smear. But the world has yet to hear the final news of Wagatha: Miss Rooney has just signed an agreement to help make the trial a a documentary for Disney+.

Actor Lee Jung-jae, who has been popular in his native South Korea for nearly three decades, became famous to the rest of the world with his lead role in “Squid Game,” Netflix’s hit series earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

But it was his debut as a director with the movie “Hunt” that became a surprise blockbuster in Korea this summer, said Choe Sang-Hun, our head office in Seoul. (The film premiered in May at the Cannes festival.)

A horror film set in the 1980s, “Hunt” follows two government agents who are trying to uncover an assassination plot and has won critical acclaim for its skillful consideration of the relationship. complexities between South Korea and North Korea. North American audiences can look forward to the film later this year.

When asked to identify the Australian summer song, Damien Cave, our head of office in Sydney, reminded colleagues in the Northern Hemisphere of the obvious: “It’s winter here.” But he did have an answer about a dominant musical, saying it was Kid Laroi, a teenage Australian rapper and “the most compelling musical Australia has produced in years.”

For those looking for a quieter distraction, he notes that a much-discussed novel this summer is The Dictionary of Lost Words. an early work by Pip Williams. The novel tells the story of words that have been dropped or dropped from the original Oxford English Dictionary. It became the first Australian book to be published selected for Reese Witherspoon’s book club.

“Stefania,” a soaring stone culvert of the Ukrainian band Kalush, which was inspired by the lead singer’s mother. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, folk hip-hop was reinterpreted as a paean of homeland, says Jane Arraf, our Baghdad office head who helped report from the ground in Ukraine this year, said.

Kalush perform their song at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in May, bringing a moral, musical victory to Ukraine. In the months since, “Stefania” seems to be ubiquitous on the streets of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Ms Arraf said: “It’s almost disloyal now to just pay attention to the usual pop music or hit TV series.

In Egypt, the annual Ramadan TV season brings the launch of much-anticipated, big-budget programming. This year, the third season of “The Choice,” a popular political drama that blends fiction with fact and combines never-before-seen footage of famous characters, has caused controversy over the role of the actor. performance by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, president of Egypt since 2014.

“Everybody was in awe of it and its political ramifications,” said Vivian Yee, our Cairo bureau chief, noted that the Department of Defense is listed as a collaborator in the credits. On the show, Mr. el-Sisi is portrayed as a hero who conquers enemies like the Muslim Brotherhood – a description that critics of the show have called overblown political propaganda. . On that night a controversial special episode airedThe president stated in a speech that every word of the series is true.

There is a growing trend in Brazil’s art world to elevate the work of self-taught artists from the country’s slums, the densely poor neighborhoods of Brazil’s largest cities.

Perhaps no artist has received more attention this year than Jota, says Jack Nicas, our Brazil office manager. The 21-year-old artist started painting on cardboard from discarded boxes; this year he was featured prominently in one of the biggest Brazilian newspapers.

Times South Asia bureau chief, Mujib Mashal, credits one book that has made history this year: Geetanjali Shree’s “Tomb of Sand”, the first novel written in Hindi to win an Award International Booker for Translated Fiction Books. (Several novels by Indian or Indian-born authors have won the English Audiobook award, including Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children.)

Although winning the International Book Award represents a turning point for Indian literature written in Hindi, “Tomb of Sand” is not without its controversies. Following a complaint about the book’s depiction of two Hindu gods, Ms Shree canceled an event scheduled in her honor at a hotel in Agra, India.

Arraf, the Baghdad bureau chief, said the death of Iraqi poet Mudhafar al-Nowab, aged 88, brought his protest poetry to the forefront in Iraq this summer. Mr al-Nowab, who used to live in the United Arab Emirates, is a valuable voice among dissidents in Iraq, many of whom have cited his work as they take to the streets to protest against the government three years ago.

The poet had long lived in exile in many countries, including Syria and Egypt, before his death this year. He may be more harsh than unaccustomed readers might expect. One poem includes the lines: “I pee on the police officer. It was the age of urine. I pee on tables, parliaments and ministers without shame. “



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