The New Yorker
Rashida Jones Wonders What Makes Us Human
The actor discusses the encroachment of A.I., her adolescent tiff with Tupac, and her enduring love of philosophy, in an interview with Michael Schulman.
Above the Fold
Essential reading for today.
Did Joe Biden’s ABC Interview Stanch the Bleeding or Prolong It?
Campaigns require conviction—but must also be able to absorb bad news and pull out signal from noise.
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.
The Bidens Can’t Let Go
The President’s family has defended him by invoking his past. But these arguments aren’t landing, since the case against his Presidency is that he isn’t even capable of leading as he could twelve months ago.
Tory Tears on the U.K.’s Election Night
Viewed from across the pond, or even from across the Channel, the Labour Party’s wipeout win looks like an anomaly—a liberal bulwark against a wave of right-wing populism.
The Knotty Death of the Necktie
The pandemic may have brought an end to a flourishing history.
Fitzcarraldo Editions Makes Challenging Literature Chic
In ten years, the London publishing house has amassed devoted readers—and four writers with Nobel Prizes.
The Political Scene
This Is What the Twenty-fifth Amendment Was Designed For
If Joe Biden doesn’t willingly resign, there’s another solution, which would allow Democrats to unite around a new incumbent.
Why the French Far Right Triumphed
An expert on French politics explains where President Emmanuel Macron went wrong in calling a snap election.
The Reckoning of Joe Biden
For the President to insist on remaining the Democratic candidate would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.
Finally, a Leap Forward on Immigration Policy
President Biden has offered help to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, in the most consequential act of immigration relief in more than a decade.
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.
The Fiction Issue
“Kaho”
He may have been patiently waiting, for the longest time, for me to show up in front of him, she thought. Like an enormous spider waiting for its prey in the dark.
“Opening Theory”
Looking over at her, he starts to smile again—revising, she thinks, the presumption of failure.
“The Drummer Boy on Independence Day”
An indispensable part of the ceremony, of course, was the Civil War veteran, and at the time I’m telling about we still had one—a Confederate, naturally.
A Newly Discovered Story by E. L. Doctorow
A conversation with Bruce Weber, the author of a biography in progress of E. L. Doctorow.
The Last Rave
In the summer of 2020, I felt as if I’d entered the wrong portal, out of the world I knew and into its bizarro twin.
The Critics
What to Read This Summer
Ronan Farrow, Jia Tolentino, and other New Yorker writers on the classic books that changed their lives.
Kevin Costner’s “Horizon” Goes West but Gets Nowhere
The actor-director’s three-hour Western, the first installment of a planned tetralogy, rushes through its many stories and straight past American history.
Ivan Cornejo’s Mexican American Heartache
“Regional Mexican” music is booming, but one young singer is in no mood to celebrate.
“The Bear” Is Overstuffed and Undercooked
The Hulu series about a Chicago sandwich joint once felt like the best kind of prestige TV—but the new season has lost sight of what made it great.
The Euros Are Like Europe, Only Better
Something is afoot in this tournament, a spectacle that has been explosively enjoyable and peppered with surprises.
The Man Who Could Paint Loneliness
Though known for his gloomy landscapes, Caspar David Friedrich was chasing the sublime—the divinity, in all of nature, that made us seem small.
What We’re Reading This Week
A portrait of Harriet Tubman’s spiritual life amid physical torture and emotional terror; an acute critical history of reality TV; a rich collection of interviews with artists discussing their creative practices, from the odd to the inspirational; and more.
Love and Heartbreak
Sidebars from the Fiction Issue.
Bound Together
I felt that I was being tied to the women in my family, those who had come before and those yet to come.
Diorama of Love
Love is wherever love is felt, and with love being a complete statement, well, that’s enough.
Up the Stairs
Granddad had apparently taken the bus quite a distance and walked very far that day, to reach a certain apartment building.
Lost Stories
I promised myself that I would not write memoir again; it was too strenuous, too costly, too harmful, no matter how cathartic it might be.
Goings On
Recommendations from our writers on what to read, eat, watch, listen to, and more.
Arts in the Parks
Jackson Arn on three public art works, temporarily on display in Brooklyn and Queens, that prove that, sometimes, even bureaucrats get beauty right.
Summer Reading
Reflections from Ronan Farrow, Jia Tolentino, and other writers on the books that transported and transformed them.
A Little Bit of Everything at “Summer for the City”
Marina Harss on the Lincoln Center festival, which includes nightly dance parties. Plus: Jennifer Wilson’s favorite novels about vacations gone wrong, and more.
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.
Losing a Beloved Community
I wanted to understand how a radical evangelical church fused faith and a commitment to social justice. Instead, I watched it unravel.
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
In Case You Missed It
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, which was founded by a teen-ager, is trying to get the kids back on board.