The New Yorker
Behind the Scenes of a Short-Lived Broadway Musical
The theatre director Rachel Chavkin is known for unconventional hits such as “Hadestown.” Why did her latest Broadway project, “Lempicka,” fail to catch on? Rachel Syme reports.
Above the Fold
Essential reading for today.
The New Generation of Online Culture Curators
In a digital landscape overrun by algorithms and A.I., we need human guides to help us decide what’s worth paying attention to.
Why the Summer Could Be Disastrous for Ukraine
Amid a new advance by Russian forces, Zelensky faces enormous challenges in marshalling the equipment and the manpower necessary to keep them at bay.
The Trials and Tribulations of the Boymom
A new book encapsulates the zero-sum thinking that affects much of contemporary parenting discourse.
Master of Make-Believe
Zach Horwitz appeared to be thriving in Hollywood, with a young family, movie roles alongside famous actors, and a booming investment business. Then the F.B.I. showed up.
The Political Scene
The Texas School District That Provided the Blueprint for an Attack on Public Education
When conservative activists began waging battle against diversity plans, some had a much bigger target in mind.
Is the Biden Campaign Running on False Hope?
Most polls show Trump leading in swing states, but the Democratic Party strategist Simon Rosenberg believes the President’s chances are better than the surveys suggest.
Vermont Moves to Hold Fossil-Fuel Companies Liable for Climate-Change Damage
A new constituency is willing to stand up to Big Oil (and Gas and Coal): state government.
In the Bronx, Donald Trump Goes to His Hateful, Happy Place
“Like it or not, this is a rally,” the former President said, seemingly a little embarrassed by the unremarkable size of the crowd.
Piecing Together the Secrets of the Stasi
After the Berlin Wall fell, agents of East Germany’s secret police frantically tore apart their records. Archivists have spent the past thirty years trying to restore them.
All the Films in Competition at Cannes, Ranked from Best to Worst
The twenty-two films that premièred in the 2024 festival’s main program offered much to savor and revile.
The Critics
A Brilliant Neglected Novel About the Search for a Lost Older Lover
“Nocturnes for the King of Naples,” by Edmund White, stands outside current fashions, with its refined pleasures and its nuanced accounts of gay lives.
Chatsworth, Revisited
“Picturing Childhood” highlights the private, familial side of a storied estate.
An Egyptian Photographer’s Portraits of a Changing Sinai
Rehab Eldalil’s images of the Jebeleya tribe portray the land and its inhabitants as intimates.
A Road Warrior’s Driving Lessons in the Thrilling “Furiosa”
George Miller’s latest addition to the “Mad Max” franchise plunges into the backstory of the action hero introduced by Charlize Theron.
The Fashionista Modernism of Yuja Wang
The star pianist uses her glamour to lead audiences out of their comfort zones.
The Journalist Biography in an Age of Crisis
A memoir by Nicholas Kristof and a biography of Barbara Walters invoke halcyon days in the news business. What can we learn from their lives?
What We’re Reading This Week
A professor’s consideration of liberalism and anxiety, sprinkled with pop-culture references; a portrait connecting Charles Darwin and Emily Dickinson through their enchantment with nature; a biography that merges literary obsession and detective work; and more.
Ideas
Is Reality TV Abusive?
Contestants are barely paid, and the experience can be harrowing. Former cast members of “Love Is Blind” are speaking out—and calling for solidarity.
Not Your Childhood Library
An ambitious experiment is changing the way librarians work with their homeless patrons and challenging how we share public space.
Summer Camp and Parenting Panics
Camps once sold a story about social improvement. Now we just can’t conceive of an unscheduled moment.
Can You Read a Book in a Quarter of an Hour?
Phone apps now offer to boil down entire books into micro-synopses. What they leave out is revealing.
Images of Climate Change That Cannot Be Missed
Just as we risk becoming inured to the crisis, an exhibition, “Coal + Ice,” serves as a stunning call to action.
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The Sherpa Who Conquered Mt. Everest
Seventy years ago today, the first climbers reached the top of the earth’s highest peak. The Western media mostly framed the feat as a Western achievement, focussing on the explorer Edmund Hillary. The staff writer Christopher Rand’s 1954 piece follows the man who reached the summit with Hillary, the expert guide Tenzing Norkay. Rand’s story is full of charming details about Norkay and the ways that unexpected fame changed his life, with religious and Cold War tensions flickering in the background.
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