2023
December
14
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

December 14, 2023
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

I recently watched the Netflix series “All the Light We Cannot See.” Of course, the Nazi villain was a psychopath, as Nazis tend to be in modern imaginings. Then I read today’s review of “The Zone of Interest,” by our film critic, Peter Rainer. 

The most chilling thing about the Nazis was probably that, in many ways, they were just normal people. Evil is most dangerous when it is insidious, slipping into the mundane. Each of us can easily guard against becoming a jewel-obsessed Nazi lunatic. But Peter’s column is a poignant reminder of how assiduously we must watch, not the things that enrage us, but the things that don’t.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Reuters
A protester holds signs during a protest against the ultra-low emissions zone in London, Sept. 23, 2023. Drivers in outer London pay a £12.50 ($16) daily fee if their vehicles do not meet required emissions standards.

Patterns

Tracing global connections

Monitor Breakfast

Troy Sambajon/The Christian Science Monitor
Independent presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West speaks to reporters at the Monitor Breakfast Dec. 14, 2023, at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington.

On Film

Courtesy of A24
In “The Zone of Interest,” Hedwig Höss (Sandra Hüller), wife of the head of Auschwitz, raises a family next to the concentration camp.

The Monitor's View

Reuters/Aly Song/File Photo
A Volkswagen electric vehicle makes a debut during an auto show in Shanghai, China, on April 17, 2023.

A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Viewfinder

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
International artist Bruce Munro's "Field of Light," made of more than 17,000 solar-powered lights, illuminates Freedom Plaza near the United Nations headquarters in New York, Dec. 13, 2023. The installation stretches from 38th Street to 41st Street on the city's East Side and will be in place for a year. The fiber-optic, stemmed spheres of light change color gradually, giving the exhibit new character over time.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us today. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Chile’s fascinating struggle to rewrite its own constitution. A previous draft failed to pass after being panned as too liberal. The new draft has swung the other direction. What are voters thinking as they cast ballots this weekend?

We’ll also have Peter Rainer’s review of “Wonka.” You won’t want to miss it. 

More issues

2023
December
14
Thursday
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