The New Yorker
F.D.R.’s Election Lessons for Biden and His Party
Less than six weeks before Democrats formally choose their nominee, Evan Osnos writes, the President is marching down a path of constant peril.
Above the Fold
Essential reading for today.
The Message of the Supreme Court’s Wild Ride of a Term
The anxiety about distinguishing a President from a king, which framed this Court term, is inextricably intertwined with the end-of-democracy theme of the 2024 Presidential race.
Joe Biden’s Less-Than-Awful Press Conference
The political crisis over the President’s reëlection campaign enters its third week, very much unresolved.
The Controlled Normalcy of Kamala Harris’s Trip to Las Vegas
On Tuesday, with Joe Biden’s campaign in free fall, the V.P. travelled to Nevada for what some hoped would be her launch as the Democratic Presidential candidate.
The Upstarts at Wimbledon
Despite a run of stability at the top of the game, women’s tennis is still open to surprise.
The Surreal Simulations of a Reality-TV Restaurant Empire
It’s a reunion every night at the “Vanderpump” establishments in Los Angeles.
The Interviews Issue
A week of conversations with figures of note.
The Political Scene
Joe Biden’s Cynical Turn Against the Press
After a wave of intense scrutiny, the President and his campaign have begun to target the media, and many of his supporters have followed suit.
The Kamala Harris Social-Media Blitz Did Not Just Fall Out of a Coconut Tree
The memes, riffs, and fancams represent a vaguely hallucinatory near-consensus that the Vice-President’s time is now.
A Congressional Democrat Explains Why He’s Standing with Biden
Robert Garcia, of California, knows that the President had a bad debate. He thinks Democrats should back him anyway.
What Lessons Do the Stunning Results of the French Election Offer?
President Macron’s gamble in fighting the far right has to be declared, if not a success, at least not an absolute failure.
Maya Rudolph Is Ready to Serve
The actress and comedian on motherhood, studying the lives of billionaires for her show “Loot,” and her “S.N.L.” portrayals of women in the spotlight—from Beyoncé to Kamala Harris.
From the Interviews Issue
Ira Glass Hears It All
Three decades into “This American Life,” the host thinks the show is doing some of its best work yet—even if he’s still jealous of “The Daily.”
Lena Dunham’s Change of Pace
The “Girls” creator is working on a new semi-autobiographical TV series and finishing up a memoir. But, she says, “I definitely don’t want to be my own muse.”
Nicolas Cage Is Still Evolving
The actor talks about the origins of “Adaptation,” his potential leap to television, and the art of “keeping it enigmatic.”
How Lonnie G. Bunch III Is Renovating the “Nation’s Attic”
The Smithsonian’s dynamic leader is dredging up slave ships, fending off culture warriors in Congress, and building two new museums on the National Mall.
Kevin Costner Goes West Again
The actor and director, whose film “Horizon: An American Saga” has been in the making for decades, thinks of the Western as America’s Shakespeare.
Why Jerrod Carmichael Turned His Life Into a Reality Show
The comedian discusses “artists’ lib,” putting a billboard in his home town to get his mother’s attention, and his new effort to “Truman Show” himself.
The Critics
“Fly Me to the Moon” Lacks Mission Control
This rom-com about the marketing of the Apollo space program, starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, has an inconsistent tone.
Kendrick Lamar’s Freedom Summer
In his new video for “Not Like Us,” the hip-hop artist claims victory in his long battle with Drake.
“Sing Sing” Puts a Prison Theatre Program in the Spotlight
Greg Kwedar’s film, starring Colman Domingo and Clarence (Divine Eye) Maclin, brings us deep—though not deep enough—into the process of rehabilitation through art.
The Changing World of Nature Documentaries
The genre is reckoning with the fact that the lush landscapes and the species it showcases may soon be gone forever.
The Euros Are Like Europe, Only Better
Something is afoot in this tournament, a spectacle that has been explosively enjoyable and peppered with surprises.
A Scabrous Satire of the Super-Rich
In Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s “Long Island Compromise,” wealth is a curse. Or is that just what we’d like to think?
What We’re Reading This Week
A family novel about class, suburban life, and kidnapping; a story that moves between the viewpoints of refugees and xenophobic vigilantes in a fictional Sicilian village; a moody novel that captures the inertia of early adulthood; and more.
The Culture Wars Inside the New York Times
Joe Kahn, the newspaper’s executive editor, wants to incentivize his staff to take on difficult stories, even when they might engender scrutiny, or backlash.
Goings On
Recommendations from our writers on what to read, eat, watch, listen to, and more.
Giddy Joy at MOMA and Summer Podcast Picks
Hilton Als on Tadáskía’s awe-inspiring installation, Sarah Larson shares a selection of seasonal podcasts, the viciously funny camp farce “Oh, Mary!” moves to Broadway, and more.
Summer Reading
Reflections from Ronan Farrow, Jia Tolentino, and other writers, on the books that transported and transformed them.
An Ingenious French Comedy of Art and Friendship
Richard Brody reviews Pascale Bodet’s film “Vas-Tu Renoncer?,” based on the relationship of Édouard Manet and Charles Baudelaire.
The Central Park Boathouse Is Back and Better
Helen Rosner visits the tourist-bait canteen, recently reopened under new ownership, which is more satisfying than it has any right to be.
Ideas
Do the Democrats Have a Gen Z Problem?
Young people were critical to Biden’s victory in 2020, but recent polls indicate that loyalty might be fraying. Voters of Tomorrow is trying to get the kids back on board.
Losing a Beloved Community
The majority of American evangelicals are politically conservative. A small, radical church community in Philadelphia aspired to reclaim evangelicalism from the right.
Would You Clone Your Dog?
We love our dogs for their individual characters—and yet cloning implies that we also believe their unique, unreproducible selves can, in fact, be reproduced.
The Knotty Death of the Necktie
The pandemic may have brought an end to a flourishing history. For all the accessory’s absurdity, it deserves a moment of mourning.
Thrown Overboard at Sea
In 1996, a cargo ship had set sail from Spain and into the Atlantic, when two stowaways were discovered on board. The pair of young men from Romania likely hoped to disembark in Canada. Stowaways are frequently discovered on such voyages, and most of the time, Scott L. Malcomson wrote, in his piece about the incident, it is “not a big deal.” But the captain of this ship reacted badly. And the harsh punishments meted out to those two men—and a third illegal passenger found on a subsequent voyage—set in motion a crisis of ethics and justice at sea.
January 12, 1997
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
In Case You Missed It
The Fake Oilman
Alan Todd May passed himself off as an oil magnate, insinuated himself into West Palm Beach high society, and conned people out of millions.