1. Tessa Hadley Reads John McGahern - The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Gold Watch,” which was published in The New Yorker 1980.
2. The Brazilian Director Who’s Up for Multiple Oscars - Kleber Mendonça Filho wants his films to reclaim lost history.
3. Gavin Newsom Is Playing the Long Game - California’s governor has been touted as the Democrats’ best shot in 2028. But first he’ll need to convince voters that he’s not just a slick establishment politician.
4. David Remnick on S. N. Behrman’s “The Days of Duveen” - In a wry Profile of the British-born art dealer Joseph Duveen, Behrman captures the workings of a canny commercial intelligence wreathed in connoisseurship and charm.
5. Restaurant Review: Lei - Annie Shi’s wine bar, on Doyers Street, is self-assured enough to practice restraint.
6. Molly Aitken on the Rajneesh Movement and Our Need for Connection - The author discusses her story “This Is How It Happens.”
7. “This Is How It Happens,” by Molly Aitken - Everyone loves you here. Most days you are pretty sure of that. Everyone touches you all the time.
8. Molly Aitken Reads “This Is How It Happens” - The author reads her story from the February 9, 2026, issue of the magazine.
9. Why the D.H.S. Disaster in Minneapolis Was Predictable - For decades, ICE and Border Patrol have operated with fewer constraints than typical law-enforcement agencies.
10. Trump’s Profiteering Hits 4 Billion - In August, I reported that the President and his family had made 3.4 billion by leveraging his position. After his first year back in office, the number has ballooned.
11. One Last Sundance in Park City - The most important film festival in America bade farewell to its Utah roots.
12. ICE’s Assault on a Minnesota School District - Liam Ramos, whose photo became a symbol of Operation Metro Surge, is one of several students in Columbia Heights who are now in federal custody.
13. From 9/11 to Minneapolis: How ICE Became a Paramilitary Force - “What we’re seeing in Minneapolis is really like the ‘Black Mirror’ version of how federal forces have been used in the past, where the federal agents are coming to do the violence, not protect against violence,” Garrett Graff says.
14. Miami’s Haitian Community Braces for Deportations - The Trump Administration’s plan to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Haiti puts hundreds of thousands at risk of returning to a country in crisis.
15. Are Democrats Right to Cut an Immigration Deal with Trump? - Congress has justifiably been criticized for rolling over to the President. But how it actually uses its leverage involves genuinely difficult trade-offs.
16. The City of Minneapolis vs. Donald Trump - The staff writers Emily Witt and Ruby Cramer, reporting from the occupied city, share interviews with the mayor, the police chief, and two citizens who were detained and interrogated.
18. The Schoolchildren of Minneapolis - As thousands of ICE agents arrived, kids started staying home from school. A local principal, teachers, and parent volunteers have banded together to keep the families safe.
19. What ICE Should Have Learned from the Fugitive Slave Act - Americans took to the streets to defend their neighbors in the nineteenth century, too.
21. A Century of Life in the City, at the Movies - Also: the dream-pop of Hatchie, Elevator Repair Service tackles “Ulysses,” the theatre-district pub Haswell Green, and more.
22. In “Pillion,” Gay B.D.S.M. Passions Edge Toward Dom-Com - Anchored by Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling’s superb performances, the British director Harry Lighton’s feature début brightens the bleak novel it’s based on.
23. Operation Trump Rehab - After a wave of public revulsion over the President’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, he offers a familiar playbook: distraction, disinformation, denial, delay.
25. America!: Mamdani Goggles and Other Products to Maximize a Brief Surge in Idealism - Maternal Labubus and whimsically shaped surveillance drones available now.
26. The Dry January Hangover - What began, in 2011, as part of a British woman’s half-marathon training has turned into a global phenomenon. Dr. Oz, and others, weigh in on whether the trend is actually useful.
27. “Heated Rivalry,” “Pillion,” and the New Drama of the Closet - Two new releases—one about a secret, slow-burn romance, the other about a quietly kinky relationship—build on a long history of depictions of the love that dare not speak its name.
28. What the Democrats Can Learn from MAGA - Republicans have built local networks that outlast campaigns. Can Democrats turn protest energy into lasting power?
31. How to Figure Out Your Life - Oliver Burkeman, the author of several books about getting comfortable with imperfection, discusses some books that have shaped his thinking about how to live a less harried, more enchanted life.
32. April Bernard Reads John Ashbery - The poet joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “A Worldly Country,” by John Ashbery, and her own poem “Beagle or Something."
34. The Cruel Conditions of ICE’s Mojave Desert Detention Center - How immigration authorities have weaponized medical neglect to encourage self-deportations.
35. The Forecast Wars on Weather Twitter - Traditional meteorologists speak in potentialities and probabilities. A new type of social-media influencer takes a different approach, exaggerating possibilities and fomenting hype in the lead-up to a big storm.
36. The Brilliance and the Badness of “The Sun Also Rises” - Although Ernest Hemingway’s novel makes positive claims about what one should be—brave, admiring of nature and grace—its architecture is held up primarily by hatred.
38. The Beckhams’ Very Public Family Meltdown - They put their births and marriages in the spotlight, selling tabloid photos and making Netflix documentaries. Would their estrangement be any different?
39. Why Shouldn’t We Let Demons Do Homework? - Using a demon is not cheating. Cheating is pawning off somebody else’s work as your own. A demon is not “somebody.” A demon is a being of pure malice.
40. Why an Agnostic Animal-Rights Activist Went to Seminary - Wayne Hsiung has gone to court and done jail time to improve the lives of animals. Now he’s going to church.
41. TV Review: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” Streaming on HBO - There’s a lot of grime and grunting, but the show is saved by its two endearing leads.
42. Do Federal Officials Really Have “Absolute Immunity”? - After killings by ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis, a legal expert discusses how agents might be held to account by local authorities.
43. Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE - Long before the federal onslaught, a Twin Cities museum showed what it meant to find a home in America.
44. Alex Honnold and Netflix Team Up for a Corporatized “Free Solo” - In “Skyscraper Live,” the climber once again put his life on the line, but it was mainly the viewers who were on edge.
46. “Where Is the Shrine to Johnny Shines?” - “It should be thistle-covered, / a labor of thunder bent / through it.”
47. Maybe the United States Can Be One of Mark Carney’s “Middle Powers” - The Canadian Prime Minister offers the possibility of a calmer future.
48. How Shinzo Abe’s Assassination Brought the Moonies Back Into the Limelight - A shocking act of political violence exposed the cult’s deep influence.
49. What MAGA Can Teach Democrats About Organizing—and Infighting - Republicans have become adept at creating broad coalitions in which supporting Trump is the only requirement. Democrats get tied up with litmus tests.
50. Run-DMC’s School of Thought - Darryl (DMC) McDaniels dropped in on his old Queens elementary school to talk music with second graders, who weren’t too sure who he was.
51. “Ragtime” Cases the Landmark It Almost Blew Up - The cast of the musical, now at Lincoln Center, visits the Morgan Library to check out all the treasures that would have been lost if the plot had gone another way.
53. “Mami at Her Vanity,” by Julia Alvarez - “I watched as she tried on faces / before an evening out.”
54. Diagnosis: Wellness Guru - Infection can occur while browsing lymphatic rompers on Goop. Left untreated, you may end up making your own laundry detergent.
55. Morton Feldman’s Music of Stillness - In his centenary year, the increasingly revered composer offers an uneasy refuge from the algorithmic din.
56. How to Woo with Words Alone - Not everyone can be Shakespeare. That’s why a photo-free dating app is holding a workshop for users to polish their love language.
57. Nancy Kerrigan Persisted - The Olympic figure skater and all-American girl has overcome a lot, besides Tonya Harding. But, at a holiday ice show on Long Island, she still sparkles.
58. “Infinite Jest” Has Turned Thirty. Have We Forgotten How to Read It? - David Foster Wallace’s novel, in all its immensity, became the subject of sanctification and then scorn. But the work rewards the attention it demands.
59. Did a Celebrated Researcher Obscure a Baby’s Poisoning? - After a newborn died of opioid poisoning, a new branch of pediatrics came into being. But the evidence doesn’t add up.
60. Easter Island and the Allure of “Lost Civilizations” - Why Western writers have shrouded the history of Rapa Nui in myth and mystery.
62. Witnessing Another Public Killing in Minneapolis - Videos of Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting, rapidly disseminated on social media, reveal a brazen display of brute power.
63. The Battle for Minneapolis - As Donald Trump brings his retribution to a liberal city, citizens, protesters, and civic leaders try to protect one another.
64. “The Quiet House,” by Tessa Hadley - What was the point of keeping all those secrets? Wasn’t your story wasted if nobody knew it?
66. Gus Kenworthy Lived an Olympic Version of “Heated Rivalry” - Ahead of a comeback in Milan, the Olympic freestyle skier and actor discusses alley-oops, auditions, and coming out of the closet as a professional athlete.
67. Tessa Hadley Reads “The Quiet House” - The author reads her story from the February 2, 2026, issue of the magazine.
68. Trump’s Greenland Fiasco - The President caused a crisis in NATO and deepened European distrust toward the U.S. to end up with basically the same set of options that existed months ago.
69. Restaurant Review: Wild Cherry - Inside a playhouse now owned by A24, a new restaurant offers frogs’ legs, a killer cheeseburger, and a heavy dose of haute-theatrical glamour.
70. Emily Nussbaum on Jane Kramer’s “Founding Cadre” - Her startling 1970 article, based on months of reporting on radical feminist pioneers, was an outlier for the period—coolly observational but full of emotion.
71. Tucker Carlson’s Nationalist Crusade - The pundit’s contrarianism has swerved into openly racist and antisemitic tropes. What does his rise mean for the future of MAGA media?
72. William Eggleston’s Lonely South - In his show “The Last Dyes,” the photographer presents a world that feels fictional but fact-based.
73. The Cruelty and Theatre of the Trump Press Conference - During the President’s second term, he and his staff have made the media briefing his signature rhetorical form.
74. The Country That Made Its Own Canon - When Sweden named its national treasures, the list was condemned as blinkered and dated. But it was also a chance to see the country anew.
75. How Donald Trump Brought Us to a “Rupture in the World Order” - The Washington Roundtable is joined by the former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt to discuss where President Trump’s turbulent week on the world stage leaves U.S. relations with Europe.
76. How Bari Weiss Is Changing CBS News - The New Yorker staff writer Clare Malone discusses her reporting on the new head of the news network, who made her name as a crusader against “woke” thinking.
77. How Tucker Carlson Became the Prophet of MAGA - Jason Zengerle, who wrote “Hated by All the Right People,” describes how an inside-the-Beltway journalist brought far-right extremism to the mainstream of American politics.
78. The Mayor of an Occupied City - Jacob Frey, of Minneapolis, is governing a city under siege by its own federal government.
80. How Do You Write About the Inexplicable? - In Karl Ove Knausgaard’s new cycle of novels, old mysteries reassert themselves.
81. National Security Begins Behind the Toaster - I’m not saying that the apartment’s a hotbed of narcotic activity, but does anybody need that many plastic baggies for sandwiches?
82. Louise Bourgeois’s Art Can Still Enthrall - Also: the many disciplines of Sudan Archives, a Max Ophüls retrospective, the facets of upstate cults, and more.
83. Challenging Official Histories in “Natchez” and “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” - Two stunning new documentaries—one filmed in Mississippi, and one in Russia—examine the ways that education comes up against indoctrination.
84. It’s Time to Talk About Donald Trump’s Logorrhea - How many polite ways are there to ask whether the President of the United States is losing it?
85. The 2026 Oscar Nominations and What Should Have Been Picked - It’s a pleasant surprise to find some of the year’s best movies enthusiastically acknowledged by the Academy, but plenty of greatness has been left by the wayside.
87. Two New Yorker Films Receive 2026 Oscar Nominations - The dark comedy “Two People Exchanging Saliva” and the dreamy animation “Retirement Plan” will vie in short-film categories at the ceremony in March.
88. TV Review: Ryan Murphy’s “The Beauty,” on FX and Hulu on Disney - Ryan Murphy attempts to comment on incels, celebrity culture, and the age of Ozempic in a new FX series about a drug that makes its users young and gorgeous—at a terrible price.
89. A Massacre in Mashhad - Under the cover of an internet blackout, Iranian security forces killed hundreds of demonstrators. Only now are details of the carnage starting to emerge.
90. I Need a Critic: One-Hundredth-Episode Edition - The hosts of Critics at Large offer advice on crafting the perfect road-trip playlist, reading in a second language, and how to choose a baby name.
91. Of Course You Can Bring Your Husband Along - Seriously, it’s electrifying how many third rails exist whenever he’s around, such as politics, or any subject that doesn’t revolve around him.
92. Should Progressive Organizers Lean More on the Church? - The anti-ICE protests—concentrated in Minneapolis—echo the mass mobilizations of 2020, and raise questions about what institutions and alliances make political dissent sustainable.
95. A Début Novel About the Quest for Eternal Youth - In Madeline Cash’s “Lost Lambs,” the distinction between responsible adult and dependent child has frayed.
96. The Best Books of 2026 So Far - Our editors and critics review notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
98. The Battle for One of the Richest and Smallest Counties in Texas - A few families have been duelling for control of Loving County for decades. Then the followers of a hustle-culture influencer moved in.
99. Bringing Zohran Mamdani to the Big Screen - In 2023, Julia Bacha began filming a backbench state assemblyman. Little did she know that she was making a documentary about the next mayor of New York City.
100. Why Albums Drop and Movies Launch - The ephemeral nature of contemporary music consumption has made it much harder to elevate an album—even a very good one—into the category of an event.
101. An Artist Seeks Reinvention by Living Off the Grid in “Far West” - In Stephen Michael Simon’s documentary, Lala Abaddon leaves New York City and finds peace and creativity in her new hardscrabble desert home.
102. How Europe Can Respond to Trump’s Greenland Imperalism - The President’s obsession with acquiring the Danish territory has put the transatlantic alliance at risk.
103. Can American Churches Lead a Protest Movement Under Trump? - The Sanctuary Movement was led by clergy, and many religious leaders are activists today. But, as congregations have shrunk, dissent has diminished.
105. An Unhappy Anniversary: Trump’s Year in Office - The toll of a destructive twelve months—and what can be done to repair the damage.
106. I Am the Person Who Controls Your Appliances - Speaking of, it’s time for me to turn your gas stove off.
107. The Overlooked Deaths of the Attack on Venezuela - To many on the ground, civilian fatalities were simply the cost of ousting Nicolás Maduro.
109. Faulty Gas Valve? Call the Famous Stove Lady! - Carlita Belgrove is the go-to stove whisperer, restoring the appliances of N.Y.C. élites and Hollywood actors. On a trip to the Hamptons, can she save her client’s Magic Chef?
110. Briefly Noted Book Reviews - “Scavengers,” “Some Bright Nowhere,” “Atlas’s Bones,” and “Everything Is Photograph.”
111. Small-Talk Road Map - Enter through Pleasantries and take a right at A.I. Watch out for the Gaps in Your Knowledge!
112. Inside Bari Weiss’s Hostile Takeover of CBS News - The network’s new editor-in-chief has championed a press free from élite bias, while aligning herself with a billionaire class more willing than ever to indulge Donald Trump.
115. “Psalm for the Slightly Tilted,” by Ilya Kaminsky - “This is not / a good year. / But it has / witnesses.”
116. From Selma to Minneapolis - On M.L.K. Day, the death of Renee Good calls to mind another woman who died protesting for the rights of others.
117. When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills - Early in his life, Sanders left the streets of Brooklyn for the woodlands of Vermont. What did the man bring to the state—and what did the state bring to the man?
118. For This Palisades Toymaker, Fire Safety Is No Game - Jeremy Padawer, whose company owns Squishmallows, is one of thousands devastated by last year’s fire. At a rally for the anniversary, he’s more passionate than ever about reform.
119. Ask Xander & Mariluisa - Relationship advice from the internet: on Friday Afternoon Sex Clubs, adoption, and synchronized waterskiing.
120. Mark Strong, on the Clock - On a break from playing Oedipus in the new Broadway production, the British actor stops by Federal Hall to chat politics, family dynamics, and being mistaken for Stanley Tucci.
121. The Congresswoman Criminalized for Visiting ICE Detainees - LaMonica McIver went to tour an immigration jail in her New Jersey district. Now she faces seventeen years in prison.
122. “Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck,” Reviewed - At the Met, the Finnish artist’s spare, melancholic work has the strange effect of jolting your senses.
123. How to Kill a Fish - The Japanese chef Junya Yamasaki mastered a butchery technique that results in tastier seafood—and he’s taught some Southern California fishermen how to do it, too.
125. The Ice Curtain - Since Putin invaded Ukraine, the short distance between Nome, Alaska, and Russia seems wider than ever.
126. “Light Secrets,” by Joseph O’Neill - Everyone’s done something good that’s hidden—the opposite of a dark secret.
128. Joseph O’Neill Reads “Light Secrets” - The author reads his story from the January 26, 2026, issue of the magazine.
129. Amanda Seyfried’s Epiphanies - The star of “The Testament of Ann Lee” and “The Housemaid” discusses letting go of judgment, working without hierarchies, and committing to the role of a woman possessed by faith.
130. Vinson Cunningham on Barry Blitt’s Obama “Fist Bump” Cover - Here’s one big risk a public satirist of racism takes: by displaying tropes and crude imagery, he reveals just how well he knows and can deploy them himself.
131. Joseph O’Neill on Why a Story Should Be Like a Poem - The author discusses his story “Light Secrets.”
132. Helen, Help Me: On the Phenomenology of Cheeseburgers - A New Yorker food critic answers questions about burger toppings, beef tallow, and the subjectivity of memory.
133. An Indigenous Community’s Spiritual Haunting - In “Jaidë,” or “House of Spirits,” the Colombian photographer Santiago Mesa documents a remote people facing a rash of youth suicides.
134. Can Trump Really Use the Insurrection Act? - An expert on Presidential emergency powers discusses the history and legality of military deployments in American cities.
135. Bob Weir’s Feral Radiance - The Grateful Dead guitarist had the nature of a well-meaning cowboy, and a lasting capacity to access wonder and deep engagement.
136. Why Trump Supports Protesters in Tehran but Not in Minneapolis - During the President’s second Administration, universal principles such as self-determination and due process are wielded only opportunistically.
137. When a Man Loves a Cello - For the concert soloist Steven Isserlis, the perfect instrument is a blessing—and a curse.
138. A Stark Warning About the 2026 Election, with Robert Kagan - Can American democracy come back from the brink?
139. Erich von Stroheim’s Spectacular Art Is Back - A new restoration of Stroheim’s unfinished 1929 drama “Queen Kelly” spotlights his reckless directorial career, which, though brief, is one of the greatest of all.
140. Nia DaCosta Injects New Blood Into “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” - In this gory sequel to Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later,” an undead threat that has ravaged Britain turns out to be no match for the reality of living human evil.
141. With the Podcast “I’ve Had It,” Jennifer Welch Goes “Dark Woke” on Politics - A left-wing, atheist reality-TV host from Oklahoma is one of the most popular liberal podcasters, channelling outrage with MAGA and with Democrats she views as complacent.
142. How Betting Took Over Sports - The reporter Danny Funt discusses his new book, “Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.”
144. What It’s Like to Be Trump’s Closest Ally Right Now - Britain still relies on the U.S. for so much. How long can it hold on?
145. The Mental Pratfalls of Anne Gridley, in “Watch Me Walk” - Also: Jodie Foster’s new movie, New York City Ballet’s winter season, music inspired by the poetry of the Black Arts Movement, and more.
146. A D.H.S. Shooting Puts Portland Back Under the Microscope - After a year under siege, the city’s police department contends with the tactics of federal immigration agents.
147. The Minnesota War Zone Is Trump’s Most Trumpian Accomplishment - The President may have started out by trash-talking America; one year into his second term, he is simply trashing it.
149. Album Review: Zach Bryan’s “With Heaven on Top” - The singer-songwriter has become one of the most popular musicians in America without much changing his no-frills approach.
151. Jay Powell, the Prepster Banker Who Is Standing Up to Trump - The seventy-two-year-old Fed chairman put to shame the heads of law firms, universities, and public companies who have caved to the White House.
152. Have You Saved Enough for Retirement If Your Life Culminates in Decades of Escalating Misfortune? - You need assets that grow in value constantly, like original paintings by legendary artists, or houses that haven’t been carried away by drones or invaded by mastermind insects.
153. Why Football Matters - It remains far and away the most popular sport in the U.S., even in the face of growing concerns about players’ safety. What do we get from the spectacle?
154. How Colombia’s President Reached an Uneasy Détente with Donald Trump - After the attack in Venezuela, its neighbor state reckons with U.S. aggression.
155. How Donald Trump Has Transformed ICE - A former D.H.S. oversight official on what, legally, the agency can and can’t do—and the accountability mechanisms that have been “gutted beyond recognition.”
156. Is Everything Going According to Marco Rubio’s Plan? - The Secretary of State is often described as the architect of U.S. policy toward Venezuela. How much control he actually exercises remains uncertain.
157. In Two Films About Palestinian Struggle, Time Is of the Essence - In “All That’s Left of You” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” medical emergencies beget agonizing moral conundrums.
159. Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, January 14th - A drawing that riffs on the latest news and happenings.
160. The Lights Are Still On in Venezuela - After the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro, some residents fear that one unelected despot has been swapped for another.
161. Reality Shows for Your Thirties - “My Super Sweet 36th Birthday” and “Punk’d: Medical Bills” available for streaming now.
163. “The Chronology of Water” Is an Extraordinary Directorial Début - Kristen Stewart’s first feature, based on a memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, packs great emotional power into its boldly original form.
165. What Comes After the Protests - The killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis will continue to bring people to the streets. Can it bring change?
167. Iran’s Regime Is Unsustainable - Political repression and a teetering economy have sparked widespread protests and chants of “Death to the Dictator.”
169. The Supreme Court Gets Back to Work - The Justices are heading into a busy, contentious season. The mood seems brittle.
170. The New York Shooting That Defined an Era - On a mild December day in 1984, a man named Bernie Goetz shot four Black teen-agers on a subway. The incident galvanized the city. Are we still living in its wake?
171. How Marco Rubio Went from “Little Marco” to Trump’s Foreign-Policy Enabler - As Secretary of State, the President’s onetime foe now offers him lavish displays of public praise—and will execute his agenda in Venezuela and around the globe.
172. Planes, Trains, and Maduro-mobiles - The Venezuelan politician is taking New York’s V.I.P. transit—Justice Department helicopter—from prison to court. But would it be quicker to take a pedicab?
173. The I.R.S.’s Money Pit - A mysterious hole on the sidewalk outside the agency’s headquarters hasn’t been filled for years. One lawsuit is seeking seven million dollars in damages.
174. How to Serve Like Marty Supreme - The costume designer Miyako Bellizzi has worked with the Safdie Brothers for years. Picking out Timothée Chalamet’s boxers was a new challenge.
175. The Backcountry Rescue Squad at America’s Busiest National Park - In the Great Smoky Mountains, an auxiliary team of élite outdoorsmen answers the call when park-goers’ hikes, climbs, and rafting adventures go wrong.
176. Letters from Our Readers - Readers respond to Tatiana Schlossberg’s personal essay about her leukemia diagnosis, Adam Gopnik’s review of a book about the origins of incarceration, and John Seabrook’s report on how stadiums are changing.
177. The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance - Silicon Valley envisions artificial intelligence ushering in an era of economic plenty. But what if the benefits are largely confined to corporations and investors that own the technology itself?
178. How WhatsApp Took Over the Global Conversation - The platform has become a core technology around the world, relied on by governments and extended families alike. What are we all doing there?
179. Peter Doig’s Histories of Ink - The artist camps out in a British warehouse to sign more than eight hundred works. Will chatting about Zohran Mamdani help pass the time?
180. Briefly Noted Book Reviews - “Sitting Bull’s War,” “Homeschooled,” “Lightbreakers,” and “Before I Forget.”
184. How to Recover from Caring Too Much - If you laugh at unfunny jokes, raise your hand too quickly, or can’t decide on your favorite color, you may be exhibiting a fawn response.
185. Mom and Dad: The Performance Review - Accomplished: Mom made partner and ditched skinny jeans; I quit cello and started seventh grade; Dad looked for a job.
186. The Bloody Lesson the Ayatollah Took from the Shah - With demonstrations in dozens of cities across Iran, Ali Khamenei and his regime are faced with a dilemma.
187. Sadia Shepard Reads “Kim’s Game” - The author reads her story from the January 19, 2026, issue of the magazine.
188. “Kim’s Game,” by Sadia Shepard - She didn’t much care for him or his video camera. But then, she’s never much cared for anthropologists.
189. Denmark Is Sick of Being Bullied by Trump - The U.S., once Denmark’s closest ally, is threatening to steal Greenland and attacking the country’s wind-power industry. Is this a permanent breakup?
190. Patrick Radden Keefe on Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” - Capote’s journalistic transgressions were serious, but there is no denying the awesome influence of his work.
191. Sadia Shepard on Loss, Faith, and the Web Between Stories - The author discusses her story “Kim’s Game.”
192. Restaurant Review: Cove - With Cove, his fourth restaurant, in Hudson Square, the twenty-seven-year-old wunderkind chef cooks with a new expansiveness.
193. What Makes the Iranian Protests Different This Time - Unrest has spread across the Islamic Republic as it faces economic disaster at home and a profound weakening of its network of regional allies.
194. Lagos Is a Vortex of Energy - In a recent book, “Èkó,” the photographer Ollie Babajide Tikare captures the messiness and hope of the Nigerian city.
195. The Robot and the Philosopher - In the age of A.I., we endlessly debate what consciousness looks like. Can a camera see things more clearly?
196. TV Review: “Heated Rivalry,” Streaming on HBO Max and Crave - The show, a sexy romance between two closeted hockey players, began on a small Canadian streaming platform, but has become a huge, unexpected hit.
197. How an Attack on Obamacare Saved Abortion in Wyoming - In the most conservative state in the U.S., libertarianism can lead in surprising directions.
198. Donald Trump Was Never an Isolationist - He once defied the G.O.P. by blasting military interventions. But what looked like anti-interventionism is really a preference for power freed from the pretense of principle.
199. Is Donald Trump Creating the Conditions for Another World War? - “What you’re seeing both abroad and at home are completely optional conflicts created by the character of the President,” Jane Mayer says.
200. “Dead Man’s Wire” Is a Tangle of Loose Threads - In dramatizing a real-life hostage crisis from 1977, Gus Van Sant teases out enticing themes that remain undeveloped.
201. Minneapolis Reacts to ICE’s Killing of Renee Nicole Good - The city where George Floyd was murdered finds itself again at the epicenter of a national crisis.
202. Donald Trump’s New Brand of Imperialism - The historian Daniel Immerwahr says that Trump’s embrace of imperialist adventuring is not just about business interests—it’s an appeal to masculinity which “seems to sell.”
203. Does Every Marriage Need a Prenup? - The staff writer Jennifer Wilson explores why prenuptial agreements have boomed in popularity among millennial and Gen Z couples.
204. The Gospel According to Emily Henry - How the best-selling author of “People We Meet on Vacation” channelled her love of rom-coms—and her religious upbringing—into a new kind of romance novel.
206. The Zealous Voyagers of “Magellan” and “The Testament of Ann Lee” - In two portraits of seafaring religious zealots, the directors Lav Diaz and Mona Fastvold employ bold formal devices to hold their protagonists at a compelling remove.
207. Is Life a Game? - In “The Score,” the philosopher C. Thi Nguyen argues that play is the meaning of life.
208. Dances of the Georgian Court and Countryside - Also: Bang on a Can and St. Vincent in Richard Foreman’s “What to Wear,” the celestial folk of Cassandra Jenkins, Jennifer Wilson and Richard Brody on comfort in the cold weather, and more.
209. What “The Pitt” Taught Me About Being a Doctor - It’s as if the show’s creators absorbed every important conversation in health care today—and somehow transfigured it into good television.
210. In Tracy Letts’s “Bug,” Crazy Is Contagious - A Broadway revival arrives at a moment when paranoia plots are everywhere.
211. Why Donald Trump Wants Greenland (and Everything Else) - There’s no Trump Doctrine, just a map of the world that the President wants to write his name on in big gold letters.
212. Béla Tarr’s Unbroken Visions - In muckily deliberative masterworks such as “Sátántangó” and “The Turin Horse,” the Hungarian director monumentalized the process of decay and the passage of time.
214. The Aggressive Ambitions of Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine” - After his assault on Venezuela, the President is turning his attention to the rest of the Western Hemisphere.
215. AllTrails Guide to Cringe Mountain - The lower section of this trail is gentle and promises landscape features familiar to most millennials, including plenty of heckin’ puppers and doggos, the crying-laughing emoji, and adulting.
216. Mr. Mamdani’s (New) Neighborhood - The corner of the Upper East Side the Mayor will call home is both far and not so far from Astoria.
217. Do We Need Saints? - Divinely inspired figures have become a cultural fixation, appearing in prestige films, pop albums, and fashion. What explains this modern hunger for holiness?
220. The Former Trump Skeptics Getting Behind His War in Venezuela - A onetime adviser to Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney argues that the U.S. has been “too cautious” in its use of force since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
222. The Perils of Killing the Already Dead - Fear of what the dead might do to us didn’t start with Dracula, and it didn’t end with him, either.
223. What Will Become of Venezuela’s Political Prisoners? - Jésus Armas, a prominent opposition leader, has been in prison in Caracas for the past year. With the country in turmoil, his mother worries about his fate.
224. ICE’s New-Age Propaganda - With its string of “wartime recruitment” ads, often featuring pop songs and familiar meme formats, the agency has weaponized social media against itself.
226. J. D. Vance’s Notable Absence on Venezuela - Was the Vice-President’s exclusion from the operation in Venezuela an expression of his anti-interventionist ideology—or a political calculation?
227. The Dramatic Arraignment of Nicolás Maduro - By forcibly bringing the ousted President and his wife into jurisdiction of U.S. federal courts, Trump will now have to accept that at least two Venezuelans deserve the basic right to due process.
228. Updated Rules for Children at Our Brewery - Our chairs are for sitting on, not for constructing elaborate forts.
229. What a Viral YouTube Video Says About the Future of Journalism - A streamer’s investigation of fraud in Minnesota garnered millions of views. His content was questionable, but his methods will likely inspire scores of imitators.
230. How Did Astoria Become So Socialist? - One neighborhood in New York has elected so many democratic socialists—including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani—that people have started calling it “the People’s Republic.”
231. Special Episode: After Maduro’s Ouster, What Are Trump’s Plans for Venezuela? - The President says the United States will “run” Venezuela. What that entails—and how far Trump will go in the country and in the broader region—remains unclear.
232. The Maduro Regime Without Maduro - A political scientist explains how the Venezuelan President ran the country, why he was so unpopular, and, after his seizure by the Trump Administration, who might take over.
233. Jack Smith’s Closing Argument - The former special prosecutor has no regrets about pursuing a case against Donald Trump.
235. Who’s Running Venezuela After the Fall of Maduro? - The country’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, is in the awkward position of having to appease two hard-line, opposing audiences: the Trump Administration and what remains of the Venezuelan regime.
236. The Making of the First American Pope - Will Pope Leo XIV follow the progressive example of his predecessor or chart a more moderate course? His work in Chicago and Peru may shed light on his approach.
237. Catch Marc Shaiman If You Can - On the eve of his new book, “Never Mind the Happy,” the composer dishes on his career ups and downs—from touring with Bette Midler to getting caught in Twitter wars.
238. Meet the Artist Keeping MetroCards Alive - Nina Boesch has been making art out of the cards for twenty-five years. What is she going to do now that they’re gone?
239. “Bear,” by Linda Gregerson - “I can’t quite tell, so muddy / is the newsprint, whether he’s looking // toward us or away.”
240. The Boyosphere - On today’s episode of the podcast, why mommies are obsolete and naps are for the weak.
241. Letters from Our Readers - Readers respond to Rebecca Mead’s Profile of Stephen Fry and Rivka Galchen’s piece about geothermal energy.
243. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Big Breakup - The congresswoman split with the President over the Epstein files, then she quit. Where will she go from here?
244. Kathryn Bigelow, Catastrophe Connoisseur - At the Intrepid Museum, the “House of Dynamite” director chats with an arms-control expert about duck and cover, radioactive subs, and how close we are to the end.
245. Book Recommendations for Men - Maybe the fellas should pick up “Belch! An Oral History of the Burp.”
246. Briefly Noted - “Heiresses,” “I Deliver Parcels in Beijing,” “A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls,” and “Estate.”
247. How Consent Can—and Cannot—Help Us Have Better Sex - The idea is legally vital, but ultimately unsatisfying. Is there another way forward?
249. Can We Save Wine from Wildfires? - The industry has lost billions of dollars, largely because smoke makes the drink taste like licking an ashtray. Now a team of scientists is chasing a solution.
250. The Folly of Trump’s Oil Imperialism - The President has made clear he wants to exploit Venezuela’s vast oil reserves; history suggests that it won’t be easy.
251. Allegra Goodman Reads “Deal-Breaker” - The author reads her story from the January 12, 2026, issue of the magazine.
252. Amanda Petrusich on Katy Grannan’s Photograph of Taylor Swift - Looking at this image is like seeing a picture of yourself taken just before something seismic happened.
253. “Deal-Breaker,” by Allegra Goodman - When he takes her in his arms, she wants to be with him forever. She wants everyone to know that they’re together, everyone except her mother.
254. All Hail the Jamaican Patty - A pastry as ubiquitous in New York City as pizza or bagels is getting its turn on the higher end.
255. What Will New York’s New Map Show Us? - Voters voted for it, even if they weren’t sure what it was. But maps are the ideal metaphor for our models of what the world might be.
256. Allegra Goodman on Writing a Serial Novel in Stories - The author discusses her story “Deal-Breaker.”
257. The Brazen Illegality of Trump’s Venezuela Operation - A scholar of international law on the implications of the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
259. Joan Lowell and the Birth of the Modern Literary Fraud - A century ago, an aspiring actress published a remarkable autobiography. She made up most of it.
260. A Photographer’s Portraits of Her Dad - In the nineteen-eighties, Janet Delaney took pictures of her father at work, and came to a deeper understanding of who he was.
261. Gaza After the Ceasefire - A Palestinian businessman on the persistent humanitarian crisis in the territory, and what he hopes might change.
262. Demi Moore Talks with Jia Tolentino - The star discusses some of her demanding roles from decades of filmmaking.
264. How Taylor Swift’s Engagement Ring Is Changing the Diamond Game - For decades, couples were told to value a certain kind of rarity. The jewelry designer Kindred Lubeck, with the help of her most famous client, is popularizing the unique qualities of old-mine-cut stones.
265. January Festivals Bring the Weird, Wonderful Shows - Also: “Tartuffe” mania, the guitar stylings of William Tyler and Yasmin Williams, Justin Chang’s movies for a new year, and more.
266. “Young Mothers” Is a Gentle Gift from the Dardenne Brothers - In Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s latest drama, set in and around a Belgian maternity home, several teen-age moms seek to break through cycles of poverty, addiction, and neglect.
267. Bryan Washington Reads Yiyun Li - The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “A Small Flame,” which was published in The New Yorker in 2017.
268. A Day in My Highly Optimized, Convenient Life - With a single tap on the screen, I open the blinds, with another, I turn on the espresso machine, and with a third, I review the footage from my Ring camera.
269. What Zohran Mamdani and Michael Bloomberg Have in Common - As mayors, the socialist and the plutocrat each embody outsized ideas of the city—and distinct forms of capital.
271. Reading for the New Year - The first installment in a series of recommendations by New Yorker writers.
272. Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, December 31st - A drawing that riffs on the latest news and happenings.
273. Donald Trump’s Golden Age of Awful - A damage assessment of the President’s first year back in the White House.
275. A Mexican Couple in California Plans to Self-Deport—and Leave Their Kids Behind - Can undocumented parents elude ICE capture for one more year, until their youngest turns eighteen?
276. Finishing School: Hands Off Our Pencils - Given the wild fluctuations in the market, I did what anyone with a crippling dependence on pencils would do: I took inventory.
277. A Reckoning for the Stalled Gaza Peace Plan - A meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump may determine whether the agreement advances—or hardens into a permanent order.
279. Natalia Lafourcade Reimagines Mexican Folk Music - The former teen pop star has become a new emblem of “Veracruz sound.”
280. “The Ice-Skater,” by Kanak Kapur - The man from Kabul had warned about the number of men assigned to each room. “I won’t lie to you,” he had said. “You’ll be uncomfortable. You’ll have to adjust.”
281. Kanak Kapur on Migrant Labor and Skating in Dubai - The author discusses her novella “The Ice-Skater.”
282. The Weirdly Refreshing Honesty of the Oscars of TikTok - The app might wreak havoc on users’ mental health, but there was a satisfying frankness at the gathering about the fact that everything in life is now fodder for content.
283. Why A.I. Didn’t Transform Our Lives in 2025 - This was supposed to be the year when autonomous agents took over everyday tasks. The tech industry overpromised and underdelivered.
284. Bill Clinton’s M10: The Story Behind My Favorite Cartoon - When the cartoon appeared, it attracted immediate attention.
288. “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Edited by Someone in Couples Therapy - Oh, I won’t ask for much this Christmas, mainly because “asking” suggests that you’re doing me a favor, when, in actuality, I’m setting some healthy boundaries.
289. Daily Cartoon: Thursday, December 25th - A drawing that riffs on the latest news and happenings.
290. How Should We Approach A.I. in 2026? - The rapid normalization of artificial intelligence is forcing a reckoning with how much of the future is being shaped by hype rather than utility.
291. What Can Conversion Memoirs Tell Us? - Two recent books follow young religious converts down the winding back roads of belief.
292. Thelma Golden on the Literature of Harlem - The director of the Studio Museum chooses some of her most beloved books about the neighborhood—both as a place and as an anchor for Black cultural consciousness.
293. Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, December 24th - A drawing that riffs on the latest news and happenings.
294. Trump, Epstein, and the Women - The Epstein files are a vast trove of documents and will take time to absorb, but Trump made his attitude about women clear long ago.
295. “No Other Choice” Eliminates the Competition with Style - In Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s crime novel, Lee Byung-hun plays a newly laid-off executive who launches his own campaign of mass termination.
296. Americans Won’t Ban Kids from Social Media. What Can We Do Instead? - Free-speech norms and powerful tech companies make legal restrictions unlikely—but social changes are already taking place.
297. Dear Pepper: Slaying the Self-Doubt Dragon - It is easier for me to write my truth than to speak it.
298. The Right Wing Rises in Latin America - The new President of Chile joins a new class of leaders trying to seize the future by rewriting the past.
300. Patricia Lockwood Reads Elizabeth Bishop - The poet joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “In the Waiting Room,” by Elizabeth Bishop, and her own poem “Love Poem Like We Used to Write It.”
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