In “The Lost World,” the second of a two-part Annals of Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert writes about human-driven mass extinctions and about the future of geology. (Part one is here.) Fossil records of strange and fantastic creatures that no longer walk the Earth (plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, dodos, and awesome megafauna), have long inspired artists as well as historians. They’ve even been the source of humor—cartoons about extinction have a long history in the pages of The New Yorker. See a selction above.
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Culture Desk
New York City Travel Posters Through the Decades
Images from a century past showcase colorful dreams of a magnetic metropolis.
By Nicholas D. Lowry
Cryptic Crossword
Beginner-Friendly Cryptic No. 1
We’ve added some hints and explainers to make this puzzle a little less cryptic.
By Paolo Pasco
Our Local Correspondents
Canoeing in a Superfund Site
Paddling in the Gowanus Canal, in Brooklyn, has inspired one recovering lawyer to write poetry about toxic sludge, floating condoms, and gentrification.
By Eric Lach