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Magic

Cultural Comment

The Real Gift of the Magi

What all the mythology and history of the magi suggests is that no bright lines exist to separate fakery from faith.
Culture Desk

The Magic and Melancholy of Dungeons & Dragons

A new film adaptation of the role-playing game unexpectedly opens the trapdoor of memory.
Afterword

The First Magician on the Vegas Strip

Gloria Dea began performing when she was five years old. Even then, she was sassy and self-assured.
Culture Desk

My Daughter, the Magician’s Apprentice

When my daughter turned three, I started to learn magic. As the primary caretaker for her, I had hours and hours to fill each day.
Shouts & Murmurs

Spells to Ward Off the Sunday Scaries

Soar back to your master, across the celestial plane. Let me revel in this classic episode of “The Mindy Project.”  
Under Review

The British Socialist Who Rewrote the World for Children

How E. Nesbit used her grief, her politics, and her imagination to make a new kind of book for kids.
Shouts & Murmurs

How David Blaine Performs Everyday Tasks

Using the Bathroom: David stands upright in a stall for seven days. He consumes only water, and is not allowed to use the toilet.
Screening Room

Casting a Spell for Connection During the Pandemic

In “The Love Spell,” by the filmmakers Jane Stiles and Meryl Jones Williams, a young woman appeals to celestial bodies to turn the tide of her loneliness.
The New Yorker Radio Hour

Maggie Gyllenhaal on “The Deuce,” and the Illusionist Derren Brown

The actress discusses her character’s journey from street walker to director. Plus, a magic performer reveals the secrets to his success.
Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, December 18th

“Due to market fluctuations, magic beans were a safer bet.”
Culture Desk

The Twenty-Five-Year Journey of Magic: The Gathering

Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon: Monday, July 27th

A Critic at Large

Sight Unseen

Fiction

The Waitress

Fiction

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

Onward and Upward with the Arts

Music To Your Ears

Profiles

A Pickpocket’s Tale

Page-Turner

So Many Weird Worlds: A Conversation with Ricky Jay

Page-Turner

Ask an Academic: Nuns Gone Wild