Podium

From the audience, the conductor of an orchestra is a mysterious, unknowable figure. They stand with their back to us, dancing and waving their arms in a series of incomprehensible gestures that the musicians on stage somehow interpret to make beautifully synchronised sounds. When the conductor turns around at the end of the piece to smile and take a bow, it is almost a shock: it is a real person up there, not some mechanical arrangement of limbs and baton.It is with the intention of demystifying this secretive profession…

The European Junior Karting Championships in Portugal played host to ugly scenes as Russian karting driver Artem Severiukhin performed a Nazi salute on the podium yesterday, as reported by the Daily Mail. The move drew swift condemnation and resulted in Severiukhin's sacking with immediate effect. Severiukhin raced in the European Karting Championship with Swedish team Ward Racing. The 15-year-old competed under the Italian flag to circumvent current sanctions that outlaw competitors racing under the Russian bannerdue to…