Skip to footer

Top Picks: Digital magazine LensCulture, the 'Independent Lens' documentary 'The Kill Team,' and more

The Dark Sky weather application tells you whether to bring that umbrella to work, Jessica Nadel's cookbook 'Greens 24/7' shows you how to put extra vegetables in everything from soups to dessert, and more top picks.

|
LensCulture/Lam Duc Hien
  • By Staff

Still cookin’

Last fall, seven veteran jazzmen who originally rose to prominence in the 1960s and early ’70s recorded a new album in Brooklyn, N.Y. The result, The Cookers: Time and Time Again, is a vibrant, swinging delight from first note to last. Among the musicians – most well into their 70s – are familiar names to aficionados: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Billy Hart (drums), George Cables (piano), and Cecil McBee (bass). 

War crimes

The “Independent Lens” documentary The Kill Team, directed by Dan Krauss, centers on infantryman Adam Winfield, who was serving in Afghanistan when his platoon committed war crimes. With the help of his father, Winfield tried to tell the military about what was going on, but he was soon threatened by his comrades and ultimately arrested for murder. The documentary, which contains strong language and graphic images, premières Jan. 19 on PBS at 10 p.m. 

Lens on the world

For those looking for inspiration to improve their photography skills, check out LensCulture, an online network and stunning digital magazine that highlights contemporary works. Collections delve into current global topics, such as “Iran’s Booming Consumer Culture”; creative digital manipulation projects; and everything from street scenes to travel landscapes. Go to lensculture.com. 

Rain predictor

If you wonder if you will need an umbrella to walk the dog, or if you want to hit the slopes just as the snow begins to fall, check out the Dark Sky weather application. The app uses GPS to deliver an up-to-the-minute forecast for your exact location, or any location you plug in. Users say it is scary spot-on, sending push notifications when precipitation will start and stop. It also offers a map of global precipitation and temperatures. It’s available in the iTunes Store for $3.99. 

Greens for winter blues

What better way to chase away the winter blues than with a generous helping of fresh greens? Jessica Nadel, who writes the popular food blog Cupcakes and Kale, has just published Greens 24/7, a cookbook that can help you swallow those extra vegetables with innovative recipes that tuck them into smoothies, soups, salads, entrées, baked goods, and even dessert. Spinach brownies, for real? It can’t hurt to try.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Top Picks: Digital magazine LensCulture, the 'Independent Lens' documentary 'The Kill Team,' and more
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2015/0116/Top-Picks-Digital-magazine-LensCulture-the-Independent-Lens-documentary-The-Kill-Team-and-more
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe