The New Yorker
The “Epic Row” Over a New Epoch
Scientists, journalists, and artists often say that we live in the Anthropocene, a new age in which humans shape the Earth. Why do some leading geologists reject the term? Elizabeth Kolbert reports.
Above the Fold
Essential reading for today.
Who’s Afraid of Judging Donald Trump? Lots of People
At the ex-President’s criminal trial, where Trump has been reprimanded for intimidating a potential juror, and a man self-immolated outside, it has been challenging to find twelve people willing to sit in the jury box.
The War Games of Israel and Iran
While Netanyahu and the Islamic Republic exchange ballistic “messages,” the question of Palestine demands the moral and strategic courage of actual statesmen.
When a Pro-Free-Speech Dean Shuts Down a Student Protest
An online argument erupted after a video of a law professor grabbing a microphone from a student went viral. But the debate has obscured some fairly basic truths.
The Baltimore Oriole Who Looks Like a Cherub and Swings the Bat Like a Legend-to-Be
Jackson Holliday has had perfect swinging form since he was three years old. As a major leaguer, though, he’s still in his infancy.
East Palestine, After the Crash
More than a year after a train derailment and chemical fire in Ohio that made international news, residents contend with lingering sickness, uncertainty, and, for some, a desire to just move on.
How Stories About Human-Robot Relationships Push Our Buttons
Two new novels, “Annie Bot” and “Loneliness & Company,” reflect anxieties about A.I. coming for our hearts as well as for our jobs.
The Political Scene
Did Mike Johnson Just Get Religion on Ukraine?
The Speaker’s sudden willingness to bring foreign-aid bills to the House floor risks his Speakership—and Trump’s wrath.
Israel’s Momentous Decision
After Iran’s dramatic but largely ineffective attack, Benjamin Netanyahu’s response will have tremendous consequences.
Will Biden’s Pro-Labor Feats Matter in November?
The President is winning over union leaders, but not necessarily rank-and-file voters.
The Supreme Court Asks What Enron Has to Do with January 6th and Trump
The former President notwithstanding, the government’s position in Fischer v. United States is unsettling.
What Is Noise?
Sometimes we embrace it, sometimes we hate it—and everything depends on who is making it.
The Catastrophe in Gaza
Is This Israel’s Forever War?
Foreign-policy analysts whose careers were shaped by the war on terror see troubling parallels.
How Gaza’s Largest Mental-Health Organization Works Through War
Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei on providing counselling services to Palestinian children.
The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza
More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees. What do their futures hold?
My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza
In my homeland, where we used to cook and celebrate together, my relatives are eating animal feed to keep from starving.
How to Die in Good Health
The average American celebrates just one healthy birthday after the age of sixty-five. Peter Attia argues that it doesn’t have to be this way.
The Critics
The Tortured Poetry of Taylor Swift’s New Album
“The Tortured Poets Department” has moments of tenderness. But it suffers from being too long and too familiar.
How to Both-Sides a “Civil War”
In his new film, Alex Garland seems to be using our dire politics as buzzy I.P. while tap-dancing around conversations that might get him in trouble.
In Justine Kurland’s Photographs, a Mother and Son Hit the Road
Some of the portraits in “This Train” have an Edenic quality to them, as if Kurland is asking: What if my kid and I were the only two people in the world?
Ralph Fiennes Sidles His Way Into Power as Macbeth
A hit British production of Shakespeare’s ever-timely tragedy arrives in D.C.
The Rediscovery of a Depression-Era Masterpiece
A new restoration of Frank Borzage’s “Man’s Castle,” starring Loretta Young and Spencer Tracy, showcases the visionary Hollywood director’s lusty yet spiritual artistry.
Trump’s America, Seen Through the Eyes of Russell Banks
In his last book, “American Spirits,” Banks took stories from the news about rural, working-class life and turned them into fables of national despair.
What We’re Reading This Week
A collection of piquant essays on our predilection for minimalism, a striking début novel that touches on the welfare system, a memoir that charts the investigation of a mother’s murder across a quarter century, and more.
Goings On
Recommendations from our writers on what to read, eat, watch, listen to, and more.
It’s Taylor Swift Day, Again
An appraisal upon the release of the highly anticipated album “The Tortured Poets Department,” and our senior editor Tyler Foggatt’s picks for Swift’s most quietly devastating tracks.
A Classic Book Recalls When Preachers Were Rock Stars
A new reissue of Robert Shaplen’s entertaining account of the Henry Ward Beecher adultery trial harks back to a time in America that seems both incomprehensible and familiar, Louis Menand writes.
“The Sympathizer” Has an Identity Crisis
Inkoo Kang reviews HBO’s adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel—a genre-bending TV series that’s part espionage thriller, part war drama, and part Hollywood satire.
Mexican-ish Fine Dining, with Detours
In the Lower East Side, Helen Rosner visits Corima, which offers attention-grabbing tortillas, Japanese flourishes, and an ambitious tasting menu that hasn’t quite found its stride.
The Poet Who Took It Personally
Delmore Schwartz tried to change poetry, often by putting his own painful life on the page. The cost was that failure felt all the more acute.
Dept. of Recreational Use
On culture and cannabis.
Legal Weed in New York Was Going to Be a Revolution. What Happened?
Lawsuits. Unlicensed dispensaries. Corporations pushing to get in. The messy rollout of a law that has tried to deliver social justice with marijuana.
The Cannabis Edible Goes Mainstream
Amid the legalization of marijuana in many states, the market for cannabis edibles has become a showcase for clever design.
The Green Rush
An episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour that looks back on reefer madness and the rise of corporate marijuana.
Get Real
Video-game engines designed to mimic the mechanics of the real world are now being used in movies, architecture, and military exercises. How did software like Unreal Engine become the invisible infrastructure of our world?
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That they were “not young,” though described by observers as “amazingly youthful,” must have been a strong component of their attraction to each other.Continue reading »
How to Draw . . .
Highly specific art lessons from our cartoonists.
The Highest Tree House in the Amazon
In 2023, conservationists and carpenters converged on Peru to build luxury accommodations in the rain-forest canopy.
Ideas
Are Flying Cars Finally Here?
They have long been a symbol of a future that never came. Now a variety of companies are building them—or something close.
So You Think You’ve Been Gaslit
“Gaslighting” has evolved from a niche clinical concept to a casual diagnosis. Or maybe you’re just imagining it.
The Slouching Epidemic
Since the early twentieth century, poor posture has been linked to poverty, bad health, and civilizational decadence. But does the real problem lie elsewhere?
Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation
People may fervently espouse symbolic beliefs, cognitive scientists say, but they don’t treat them the same as factual beliefs. It’s worth keeping track of the difference.
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
In Case You Missed It
Fiction from the Archives
Haruki Murakami
Selected Stories
With the Beatles
“Had she vanished, like smoke? Or, on that early-autumn afternoon, had I seen not a real person but a vision of some kind?”A Shinagawa Monkey
“A life without a name, she felt, was like a dream you never wake up from.”Samsa in Love
“Samsa had no idea where he was, or what he should do. All he knew was that he was now a human whose name was Gregor Samsa. And how did he know that?”U.F.O. in Kushiro
“When he woke, he thought about his wife again. Why had she followed the earthquake reports with such intensity, from morning to night?”
