The New Yorker
Academic Freedom Under Fire
Campuses have been roiled by protests over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, while members of Congress call for faculty members to be disciplined for their views. Now academic freedom looks like a casualty. Politicians despise it. College presidents aren’t defending it. But it made our universities great, Louis Menand writes, and we’ll miss it when it’s gone.
Above the Fold
Essential reading for today.
Donald Trump’s Sleepy, Sleazy Criminal Trial
At his hush-money trial, for the first time in a decade, the former President is struggling to command attention.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Attacks on Her Fellow Republicans
The congresswoman is demanding Speaker Mike Johnson’s ouster. Is it principle—or a fund-raising ploy?
An Arizona Rancher’s Murder Mistrial and the Mood Shift at the Border
George Kelly was accused of killing a migrant. A tragedy quickly became a political cause.
Does the “Hot Hand” Exist in Hockey?
Hockey fans and players will tell you that, when the playoffs arrive, you have to go with the goalie who’s on a roll. Are they right?
The Scholar of Comedy
Jerry Seinfeld on how to write jokes, the ending of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and the world-historical struggle to invent the Pop-Tart.
Are We Living Through a Bagel Renaissance?
A new wave of shops has made its mark across the country—and shaken New York’s bagel scene out of complacency.
The Political Scene
The Supreme Court Appears Poised to Protect Trump
In arguments about Presidential immunity, the conservative Justices avoided mentioning Trump’s name, but made clear their interest in shielding former Presidents.
What Harvey Weinstein’s Overturned Conviction Means for Trump
The legal issue behind Weinstein’s successful appeal is also at the heart of the former President’s hush-money case.
Joe Biden and the Politics of Home Efficiency
Congressional Republicans say efficiency requirements are threats to liberty, but the Biden Administration’s new building codes are the latest in a long list of environmental wins.
King Donald’s Day at the Supreme Court
A political hit job? A military coup? Trump’s lawyer tests the boundaries of a truly imperial Presidency.
How Columbia’s Campus Was Torn Apart Over Gaza
The university asked the N.Y.P.D. to arrest pro-Palestine student protesters. Was it a necessary step to protect Jewish students, or a dangerous encroachment on academic freedom?
The Food Issue
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
When Babies Rule the Dinner Table
In the past two decades, American parents have started to ditch the purées and give babies more choice—and more power—at mealtime.
Why We Choose Not to Eat
Can the decision to forgo food be removed from the gendered realm of weight-loss culture?
In Search of Lost Flavors in Flushing
Rediscovering the tastes of childhood in New York’s biggest Chinatown.
How to Eat a Rattlesnake
In my native Oklahoma, snake meat was a masculine trophy, edible proof that you were willing to tangle with death.
The Critics
Love Means Nothing in Tennis but Everything in “Challengers”
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist sustain a three-way rally of romance in Luca Guadagnino’s almost absurdly sexy sports film.
Joanna Arnow’s Deceptively Plain Masterpiece
“The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” mines the comic potential of distance and framing, in an examination of degradations large and small.
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?
“Stereophonic” and “Cabaret” Turn Up the Volume on Broadway
David Adjmi’s cult-hit play features seventies-inspired rock songs by Will Butler, while Eddie Redmayne presides over a demonic version of the Kit Kat Club.
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.
Could “Mind the Game” Change the Way Sports Are Covered?
The podcast, co-hosted by J. J. Redick and LeBron James, combines analytical commentary with an insider’s perspective—and bypasses traditional media.
What We’re Reading This Week
A retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim, a collection of piquant essays on our predilection for minimalism, a memoir that charts the investigation of a mother’s murder across a quarter century, and more.
Secret Ingredients
The Most Treasured Jar in My Pantry
There is nothing “plain” about vanilla when your extract is home-brewed.
How to Season Your Food Like the French
I didn’t really know what black pepper was until I lived in Lyon.
The Unexpected Hero of My Baking Repertoire
Cakes that usually come at you two-fisted—pure butter and sugar—begin to relax when you swap some of the usual white-wheat flour for buckwheat.
A Tamarind Tree’s Sweet and Sour Inheritance
My ancestor was gifted a huge orchard just outside Delhi. The fruits it produced were the taste of my childhood.
Spoiler Alert: Leftovers for Dinner
How to host a dinner party for nine using a pre-trash haul from Too Good to Go and other food-waste apps. Carb-averse guests, beware.
Ideas
How to Die in Good Health
The average American celebrates just one healthy birthday after the age of sixty-five. Maybe it doesn’t have to be this way.
The “Epic Row” Over a New Epoch
Scientists, journalists, and artists often say that we live in the Anthropocene. Why do some leading geologists reject the term?
Get Real
Video-game engines were designed to mimic the mechanics of the real world. How perfectly can reality be simulated?
What Is Noise?
Sometimes we embrace it, sometimes we hate it—and everything depends on who is making it.
“Sparring Partner”
In J. J. Kandel’s short film, the lunch-break banter of a flirtatious pair of co-workers, played by Cecily Strong and KeiLyn Durrel Jones, gives way to uncomfortable revelations.
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
In Case You Missed It
It’s foul out there, he called, but she wasn’t in the main room.
He saw the signs of water ingress in the planks below the cabin windows. A wet stain that caught the light.Continue reading »
