Nostalgic Cravings at the Minnesota State Fair
In the lead-up to the Minnesota State Fair, a twelve-day fête of starch and fat which marks the end of every summer, the event’s organizers release a highly anticipated list of…
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What’s the Deal with U.F.O.s?
I ran these notions by Arlan Andrews, a retired mechanical engineer and author who is the founder and director of SIGMA, a think tank of sci-fi writers that advises the government and…
The Photographer Who Looked Past the Idea of Italy
In postwar Italy, the decisive moment was most often one of contrasts—between the wrinkled faces of the agrarian past and the well-tailored suits of Italy’s economic boom, between…
The Political Trickery of “Eddington”
With this humiliation, Joe snaps, and, in short order, commits several shocking acts of deadly violence. His brazen maneuvers to cover his tracks soon give rise to tense standoffs with…
“I Who Have Never Known Men” Is a Warning
When my twelve-year-old self picked up “I Who Have Never Known Men” from a church rummage sale in 1998, I was certain it was a book written for children. I don’t remember why. Maybe it…
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The Ministry of Joyce McDonald’s Sculptures
Terence Davies, who died in 2023, at the age of seventy-seven, is the most original modern British director. He was in his forties when he made his first feature, “Distant Voices, Still…
What to Make of the Mother Who Made You
It is hard to overstate the literary impact, in 1997, of Arundhati Roy’s début novel, “The God of Small Things.” A family drama set in a small town in Kerala, in southern India, it was…
Sabrina Carpenter’s Comedy of Errors
Earlier this summer, the pop star Sabrina Carpenter released “Manchild,” the first single from her seventh album, “Man’s Best Friend.” It’s a fluffy screed against a dude mired in an…
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Why Are Kids So Funny?
My daughter, Alice, is almost two, and quite funny. Although she can say short sentences—“I need cake!”—her humor isn’t particularly verbal. Instead, she giggles while stumbling around in…
The Waldorf-Astoria’s Fresh Bid for Dining Relevance
Waldorf has brought in Michael Anthony, the longtime executive chef of Gramercy Tavern (where he remains), to create the menu. A hotel restaurant—especially a high-end one, especially a…
The Lush Pain Music of Nourished by Time
Marcus Brown’s voice is a crooner’s voice, a baritone, emanating notes from some spot in his body deeper than his chest. Biologically speaking, this is impossible. But taking in his vocal,…
Pictures of Life on a Christian Commune
Kate Riley’s ambitious début novel, “Ruth,” opens in 1963, the year that its protagonist, Ruth Scholl, is born into a scrupulously managed Christian commune in Michigan. She grows up with…
Local Gems: Cultural Institutions
On the occasion of our third centenary issue—this one culture-themed—we asked our writers to share one of their most treasured cultural institutions, big or small. Whether it’s a beloved…
“Caught Stealing” Makes New York a Comedic Criminal Nightmare
From the start of Darren Aronofsky’s new film, “Caught Stealing,” it’s apparent that it hits the sweet spot of his cinematic artistry—the right scale, the right scope. Set in the summer of…
André Holland on Stories of Community
It’s about to be a very busy season for the actor André Holland. His latest film, “Love, Brooklyn,” begins its theatrical run on August 29th. A day after, he will start a new run of Tarell…
Scenes from the “This Is Spinal Tap” Cutting-Room Floor
In 1982, I began shooting an almost entirely improvised film,“This Is Spinal Tap,” which also happened to be my first as a director. It transformed my life and the lives of my three…
Racing Mount Pleasant Makes Quiet Emotions Sound Grand
The Frank O’Hara poem “Katy” features seven lines of self-assessing declarations. It is the fifth line that I get the most mileage out of: “I am never quiet, I mean silent.” When I am…
How to Survive Your Song Going Viral on TikTok
If you’ve heard the 2019 hit song “Tek It,” by the New York City-based band Cafuné, there’s a good chance it’s not the version that the group originally created. A clip on YouTube with…
When the Man Tried to Sell Minimalism to the Counterculture
“The Man can’t bust our music,” an advertisement in the underground newspaper Berkeley Barb proclaimed, in November, 1968. The accompanying image showed seven presumed radicals huddled in…
“Eden” Is a Desert-Island Thriller That Despoils Itself
The new movie “Eden” features bursts of foul temper, wild sex, grisly violence, and nihilist ideology—a departure, you might say, for Ron Howard, a director whose cinematic disposition can…
Cindy Sherman’s and Rea Irvin’s Eustace Tilley
For a hundred years of New Yorker history (except once, in 2000, for our seventy-fifth anniversary), our covers have featured drawings, not photographs. For the September 1 & 8, 2025,…
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Latest Epiphanies
“Elizabeth Gilbert has a new memoir out.” The mere sentence radiates gentle inspiration—watercolors, billowy pants with elephants printed on them, sparkly truthtelling in a big straw hat.…
How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge
When I was growing up, a critic was a jerk, a crank, a spoilsport. I figured that was the whole idea. My favorite characters on “The Muppet Show” were Statler and Waldorf, the two geezers…