The New Yorker
The Master Builder
The British architect Norman Foster has built an unprecedented factory of fine design. Inside the world of the man who has created exquisite monuments for ultra-wealthy clients—from the ring-shaped headquarters for Apple, in California, to the towering new JPMorgan Chase building, in Manhattan. Ian Parker reports on an empire of image control.
Today’s Mix
How Much Power Does President Trump Have?
In his executive orders, Trump repeatedly asserted that he can make and interpret law, alongside Congress and the courts.
Should You Question Everything?
In “Open Socrates,” the philosopher Agnes Callard reminds us how thinking should feel.
How the Academy Awards Have Adapted to Catastrophe
The L.A. wildfires have resurfaced an old question: Are times too dark for a glitzy awards ceremony?
Is Social Media More Like Cigarettes or Junk Food?
Lawmakers attempting to regulate children’s access to social media must decide whether bans or warning labels are the optimal route for keeping kids safe.
What D.C. Saw at Donald Trump’s Second Inauguration
Thousands of MAGA supporters poured into the Capital One Arena as the new Administration took shape in ballrooms across the city.
The Lede
A daily column on what you need to know.
Donald Trump Plays Church
On Inauguration Day, the forty-seventh President cast himself as an especially favored vessel of the Almighty.
Donald Trump Invents an Energy Emergency
The Day One executive orders call for more drilling—something that, really, nobody wants.
Climate Whiplash and Fire Come to L.A.
Climate change has brought both fiercer rains and deeper droughts, leaving the city with brush like kindling—and the phenomenon is on the rise worldwide.
What Trump 2.0 Means for Ukraine and the World
The President’s various foreign-policy “personas” vacillate between a desire for domination and withdrawal.
What Happened on January 6th
On his first day back in office, Donald Trump granted clemency, in the form of pardons and sentence commutations, to some fifteen hundred people who were charged for their actions in the 2021 assault on the Capitol, including those convicted of seditious conspiracy or assaulting police officers. Amid Trump’s years-long effort to rewrite history, Luke Mogelson’s firsthand account of that day, “Among the Insurrectionists,” stands as a record worth revisiting.
Los Angeles’s Wildfire Crisis
Will L.A.’s Fires Permanently Disperse the Black Families of Altadena?
In a Los Angeles suburb, multigenerational families like the Benns found affordable housing and a deep sense of connection. After the devastating fires, many wonder whether they’ll be able to rebuild what they’ve lost.
The New Combustible Age
The Los Angeles fires hark to the nineteenth-century blazes that ravaged our cities—and point toward an even more flammable future.
The Victims of the L.A. Fires Have Nowhere to Turn
In the age of social media, every politician who has to stand in front of a camera after a tragedy turns into just another battle site in an endless culture war.
On the Ground During L.A.’s Wildfire Emergency
With four fires raging, tens of thousands have evacuated and others are confronting the precarity of where they live.
How Did the Los Angeles Fires Get So Out of Control?
A climate scientist discusses how to think about and weigh the variables that led to the current disaster.
The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires
For years, experts have warned that homeowner insurance in the state could easily collapse.
How a School Shooting Became a Video Game
Games are often blamed for gun violence, but the parents of one victim believe the form can raise awareness instead.
Our Columnists
Trump’s Inaugural Day of Vindication
The reëlected President reprised his “American Carnage” address, with repeated jabs at America’s “decline” under Biden, but his central theme, as always, was himself.
A Longtime Biden Adviser Gives a Final Defense of Bidenomics
Jared Bernstein says that Trump is inheriting a strong economy, but with less freedom to maneuver than he had during his first term.
The Cruel Abstraction of “Beast Games”
On a competition show made by the YouTube sensation MrBeast, the people are faceless and the challenges are vicious.
What’s Really Behind the House Bill to Ban Transgender Athletes from School Sports?
Trans people comprise a scant portion of athletes, at all levels, but the drive to bar them from participating in competitive sports has never been about numbers.
Is the TikTok Ban a Chance to Rethink the Whole Internet?
The billionaire Frank McCourt is launching a “people’s bid” to buy the app, replace its addictive algorithm, and give users greater control of their data. Is it a publicity stunt or a sincere attempt to reform the digital age?
The Critics
Under the Radar Keeps Rollin’ Along
Highlights include a spare reworking of the 1927 musical “Show Boat” and a surprisingly touching new piece by the shock connoisseur Ann Liv Young.
Washington’s Hostess with the Mostes’
Dinner parties in the capital have long been a path to power, but Perle Mesta had her eye on a different prize.
Are We Living in a Dystopia?
The sci-fi series “Silo” is the latest in a string of popular post-apocalyptic dramas with an increasingly uncanny resonance.
The Ghost’s-Eye View of Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence”
Doing his own camerawork, the director gleefully enriches the haunted-house genre with a simple but ingenious device.
Alex Stupak’s Seriously Playful Seafood Joint
At the Otter, the chef behind Empellón offers a fish-forward menu that performs tricks of the tongue.
How David Lynch Became an Icon of Cinema
The late director’s unique vision and the love that his persona inspires make it easy to forget how winding his path to greatness was.
Netanyahu’s Media Poison Machine
The talk-show host Yinon Magal is at the center of a campaign to protect the Prime Minister and destroy the opposition.
Ideas
Does One Emotion Rule All Our Ethical Judgments?
When prehistoric predators abounded, the ability to perceive harm helped our ancestors survive. Some researchers wonder whether it fuels our greatest fights today.
What’s a Fact, Anyway?
Journalists put more stress on accuracy than ever before. The problem is, accuracy is a slippery idea.
Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?
A scientist tried to discredit the theory that ultra-processed foods are killing us. Instead, he overturned his own understanding of obesity.
The Inner Lives of Insects
Insects make up about forty per cent of living species, and we tend to kill them without pause. New research explores the possibility that they are sentient.
Revisiting “The Plot Against America”
I read and reread Philip Roth’s book to try to understand the present, to make sense of what may happen.
Puzzles & Games
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