ECFR’s summer entertainment list 2025 - European Council on Foreign Relations

Summer is here, and with it ECFR’s entertainment list. As the year passes its midpoint, with headlines dominated by uncertainty, crises and conflict, it’s 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’s entertainment list could hardly be anything but enlightening. This year, our contributors’ choices take us to the US—but far beyond the newspaper headlines—to learn about the country’s people, their fights and their struggles. With Russia’s 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’ll take a quick stop in Alexandria to learn more about books, libraries and the written world, and jump forward in time to England’s Tudor court and what it meant to be powerful. Then our journey takes us to Nigeria’s civil war, where we explore themes of identity, displacement, trauma, love and the enduring legacy of colonialism.

Italian climber Pietro Vidi has just made the second ascent of Drifter’s Escape 5.15a (9a+) trad in Squamish. The route was established by Connor Herson in July 2025 after two seasons of effort. Herson proposed a grade of 5.15a, and Vidi has confirmed that proposal. This makes Drifter’s Escape the world’s first trad climb with a confirmed grade of 5.15a. Vidi sent it in 15 sessions and 10 lead attempts. “The line is absolutely gorgeous, following two gently overhanging, parallel cracks towering above the city, offering some of the sickest grips around,” said Vidi. “The process was a pretty tough one. It’s been a while since I’ve put this many sessions into a project, and as usual, I got totally obsessed. This time was especially all-consuming. It felt like the Drifter was watching me from every angle of town. Everywhere I went, I could see the Chief and that curving white panel staring back at me.”

Kris Jenner allegedly “flipped out on camera” after finding out her past affair is included in a new biography about her daughter, Kim Kardashian. “Citizen Kim: The Woman Who Created the Future” author Jonathan Van Meter, who has extensively spent time with the reality-famous clan, said in a new interview that Kardashian had called him “late at night” a few months ago.