{"id":1834800,"date":"2026-07-21T17:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1834800"},"modified":"2026-07-21T17:00:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:00:56","slug":"ecfrs-summer-entertainment-list-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/ecfrs-summer-entertainment-list-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"ECFR\u2019s summer entertainment list 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Summer is here, and with it ECFR\u2019s entertainment list. As the year passes its midpoint, with headlines dominated by uncertainty, crises and conflict, it\u2019s time to take a break. And with the Annual Council Meeting 2026 held in Vienna, a city which provided one of the biggest intellectual movements of the 20th century, this year\u2019s entertainment list could hardly be anything but enlightening.<\/p>\n

This year, our contributors\u2019 choices take us to the US\u2014but far beyond the newspaper headlines\u2014to learn about the country\u2019s people, their fights and their struggles. With Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine showing no sign of abating, another recommendation for a book about the difficulty to survive provides insights about real life on the ground. We\u2019ll take a quick stop in Alexandria to learn more about books, libraries and the written world, and jump forward in time to England\u2019s Tudor court and what it meant to be powerful. Then our journey takes us to Nigeria\u2019s civil war, where we explore themes of identity, displacement, trauma, love and the enduring legacy of colonialism.<\/p>\n

Enjoy all of this and much more with the recommendations below. ECFR wishes its readers pleasant journeys and a restful summer.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n

\n Senior Advocacy Officer\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHalf of a Yellow Sun\u201d recounts the Nigerian Civil War (1967\u20131970), also known as the Biafran War, through the eyes of Ugwu, a village boy who comes to work for Odenigbo, a university professor. Alongside Odenigbo lives his partner, Olanna, who abandons her privileged life in Lagos to be with him; Olanna\u2019s twin sister, Kainene, who takes over her parents\u2019 business; and Kainene\u2019s British lover, Richard. Through their intertwined lives, Adichie explores identity, displacement, trauma, love and the enduring legacy of colonialism with remarkable empathy, allowing the reader to immerse themselves in Nigerian and Biafran perspectives of the time. She creates deeply compelling characters who exist against the vivid backdrop of the social and political realities of 1960s Nigeria. By foregrounding voices that have long been marginalised in European narratives, Adichie demonstrates exceptional prose and storytelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeloved<\/a>\u201d, by Toni Morrison<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Deputy Head, Rome office
Policy Fellow\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBeloved\u201d is inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner, an African-American slave who in 1856 escapes to the free state of Ohio. The book tells the story of escaped slave Sethe, her daughter Denver and a mysterious woman named Beloved. It covers multiple topics, including slavery, identity crisis, discrimination, the condition of female slaves, trauma and madness; \u201cBeloved\u201d mixes history, fiction and the supernatural. Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 for her novel, and the Nobel Prize in 1993 for her work.<\/p>\n

Ozark<\/em><\/a>, available on Netflix\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Deputy Head, Rome office
Policy Fellow\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOzark\u201d,an American crime thriller tv series with Jason Bateman, Julia Garner and Laura Linney (yes, the Laura Linney from Love Actually!) follows the story of the Byrde family, who move from Chicago to the Lake of the Ozarks region in Missouri. Family fights, strong women, weak men, strange people, plot twists, and beautiful and peaceful landscapes will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end of this four season and 44-episode show.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Communications Officer\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMy Life on the Road\u201d, by Gloria Steinem, is a splendid biography of the author\u2019s life as a writer, reporter and activist. This book is a compilation of the stories she learned on the road while growing up\u2014and afterwards, throughout the rest of her life.<\/p>\n

Here she describes her campaign trail: from Bobby Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, her early experience with social activism in India, of organising ground-up movements in the US and listening to people whose voices, ideas and values would inspire change and revolution. This book has some of everything: it is shocking, it is funny and it is inspiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Life on the Road\u201d is a great book for anyone who wants to understand the people behind the headlines. As Steinem points out, focus on country capitals often overshadow the lives of ordinary people and paint a distorted picture of a country. But through her travels, she shows how the true character of a place is found on its streets and roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Odyssey<\/a>\u201d, attributed to Homer (translated by Emily Wilson)<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

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\n Editor\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With Christopher Nolan\u2019s big-screen version of \u201cOdyssey\u201d hitting cinemas in mid-July, there is no better moment to revisit Emily Wilson\u2019s translation, which deserves a place on any reading list. The story\u2014a man\u2019s 20-year journey home from war\u2014is well known, but Wilson\u2019s rendering lays bare the flaws in both its hero and his household. Odysseus, for all his cunning, loses all his men during his voyage back to Ithaca and, once home, dispatches every one of Penelope\u2019s suitors in a scene of slaughter that is excessive and genuinely uncomfortable to read. His son Telemachus, meanwhile, spends much of the poem sulking, more petulant adolescent than budding king.<\/p>\n

Wilson does not sand down these rough edges, nor does she soften the poem\u2019s darker vocabulary: where earlier translators reached for \u201cservants\u201d, she writes \u201cslaves\u201d, restoring an uncomfortable truth that previous polite translations had smoothed away. The effect is a text that feels more modern and raw; with heroes who are flawed, and their misfortunes partly the result of their own natures. Those wanting more should turn to the film \u201cThe Return\u201d (<\/em>2024), Ralph Fiennes\u2019s stripped-back 2024 take on Odysseus\u2019s homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cEndling<\/a>\u201d, by Maria Reva<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Programme assistant, Africa programme\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEndling\u201d, by Maria Reva, is a witty, powerful novel about three women whose lives intersect through Ukraine\u2019s booming marriage industry. What begins as a search for a missing mother and a fight to protect a rare species soon becomes an unforgettable road trip across a country on the brink of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion. Blending dark humour with emotional depth, Reva explores gender, survival and resilience in a story that lingers long after the final page.<\/p>\n

\u201cBundyville<\/a>\u201d, a podcast by NPR<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Policy Fellow\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Like most folk, I have an outsized love for my hometown community and, as a result, an exaggerated view of its historical importance. Thus, I believe that an armed standoff between a libertarian Mormon ranching family and the federal government outside of Las Vegas in 2014 was a precursor to the Trumpian years that followed\u2014and thereby I recommend my favourite podcast.<\/p>\n

Structured like a true-crime series, \u201cBundyville\u201d follows the Bundy family of Bunkerville, Nevada, through interviews with people at the centre of their fight with the federal government over cattle-grazing rights. Compared to January 6th 2021 and the right-wing unrest that followed, the conflict looks almost quaint; but it reveals just how deep American distrust of the government runs, and how far people will go in the name of \u201cfreedom\u201d.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Communications Intern\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a light summer read, this is not it. \u201cSalvage the Bones\u201d begins like a coming-of-age novel as 14-year-old Esch discovers love, desire and her changing body, all during a long Mississippi summer. But she is also growing up in a world shaped by poverty, neglect and misogyny, where the consequences of her choices fall far more heavily on her than on the boys around her. Hurricane Katrina approaches, but it is only one of the many forces threatening her family. Over 12 days, the novel paints a devastating portrait of those living on the margins, abandoned by the systems meant to protect them. This novel describes the quiet resilience of people forced to survive with almost nothing. It is a powerful reminder that disasters are never equal, and that for some, the storm began long before Katrina made landfall.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Office Coordinator\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cPapyrus\u201d,\u00a0by Irene Vallejo, is a captivating journey through the history of books, libraries and the written word in the ancient world. From Egyptian papyrus scrolls and the legendary Library of Alexandria, to the rise of the codex, Vallejo traces how books shaped civilisations and preserved human knowledge. Blending history, mythology, literature and personal reflection, she introduces a vibrant cast of emperors, librarians, scholars, poets and rebels whose lives were intertwined with the power of words. Along the way, she explores enduring themes such as education, censorship, identity and cultural memory. Both scholarly and accessible,\u00a0Papyrus\u00a0is a celebration of humanity\u2019s enduring love of stories and a tribute to the books that have carried ideas across centuries.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Office and Programme Coordinator\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Alaa Al Aswany\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThe Automobile Club of Egypt\u201d is entertaining and easy to read: but it is above all a thought-provoking account of Cairo in the 1950s that blends history, politics, love and family drama. Through the lens of a corrupt British-run club, Al Aswany exposes the hypocrisy and class struggles of colonial Egypt. The novel\u2019s multi-layered narrative follows a variety of characters\u2014from the club\u2019s elitist members to its marginalised Egyptian employees\u2014each grappling with power, identity and resistance. The book explores themes of power, justice, loyalty and social change, while Al Aswany\u2019s storytelling blends satire, social critique, sharp dialogue and vivid descriptions to make it the perfect summer read.<\/p>\n

\u201cWolf Hall<\/a>\u201d, by Hilary Mantel<\/h2>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Editorial assistant\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s a reason everybody likes the Tudors. The dynasty, which began with Henry VII becoming king in 1485 and ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, was so embedded in rivalry, passion and intrigue that it has long provided rich material for all manner of cultural outlets. But perhaps no one captured the emotion behind the machinations of the Tudor court quite like the late Hilary Mantel. \u201cWolf Hall\u201d is the first in her trilogy of novels which imagine the consolidation of power and eventual fall from grace of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith who rose from obscure beginnings to become one of Henry VIII\u2019s most trusted advisers. While \u201cWolf Hall\u201d is a hefty book, with the paperback clocking in at 672 pages, it is nothing less than a page-turner; the plot, with its twists and turns, is aided by Mantel\u2019s gift for writing as if she were alongside Cromwell at court. For anyone who wants to remember why the Tudors remain so fascinating\u2014or who is discovering their story for the first time\u2014\u201dWolf Hall\u201d is one of the best places to begin.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/p>\n

\n
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\n Programme Coordinator, Middle East and North Africa programme\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEmpire of Pain\u201d is about three generations of the Sackler family. As the owners of the pharmaceutical company behind OxyContin, they are renowned for their philanthropy\u2014but notorious for the role they have played in the US opioid crisis. This book is a gripping story about greed, impunity, justice and the importance of investigative journalism.<\/p>\n

I also recommend, as an accompaniment, the book \u201cDemon Copperhead<\/a>\u201d by Barbara Kingsolver. Where Keefe does not let the reader forget that his book is non-fiction, Kingsolver makes them feel the impact and human cost of the opioid crisis.<\/p>\n

Recommended by<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
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\n Working Student\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mark Carney\u2019s speech at Davos brought renewed attention and relevance to Havel\u2019s 1978 essay, in which he analyses how the communist regime in Czechoslovakia functioned and sustained itself for decades. In his essay, Havel describes dissidence as a form of opposition that brings together thinkers from conservative circles, liberals and radical leftists, with Havel serving as a central and unifying figure. The core of the movement\u2014and its power\u2014lies in its non-negotiable demand to live in truth and in the parallel society of dissidents who shared this worldview. This is exactly what Havel brings to today\u2019s world of unorder: reject conformity and the ruthlessness dictated by others, stand for truth, and engage with those who share this bare-minimum vision and values.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\tThe European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors.<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ecfr.eu \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 O artigo anterior foi obtido e traduzido do site internacional da celebrity.land \u2019 Source Link <\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer is here, and with it ECFR\u2019s entertainment list. As the year passes its midpoint, with headlines dominated by uncertainty, crises and conflict, it\u2019s time to take a break. And with the Annual Council Meeting 2026 held in Vienna, a city which provided one of the biggest intellectual movements of the 20th century, this year\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1834800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entretenimento"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1834800"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1834802,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834800\/revisions\/1834802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1834800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1834800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1834800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}