The Magazine
Innovation & Tech
April 22 & 29, 2024
Goings On
Goings On
Alex Garland and Park Chan-wook Reckon with America
Also: the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates its centennial, Method Man and Redman play Terminal 5, “The People’s Joker” parodies the Batman universe, and more.
The Food Scene
Mexican-ish Fine Dining, with Detours
Corima offers attention-grabbing tortillas, Japanese flourishes, and an ambitious tasting menu that hasn’t quite found its stride.
The Talk of the Town
Amy Davidson Sorkin on Trump’s many trials; Grenfell on the stage; what makes a work of art; the never-ending nineties; water in the desert.
Comment
Donald Trump’s Very Busy Court Calendar
The first criminal trial of a former President starts this week. After all the legal posturing, the action will finally get real—that’s the theory, anyway.
London Postcard
Hearing the Voices of Grenfell Tower
The survivors of the deadly 2017 London fire speak in a theatre piece opening at St. Ann’s Warehouse.
Dept. of Inspiration
The Evanescent Art of the Sandcastle
In a new book, “The Work of Art,” Adam Moss, the former editor-in-chief of New York magazine, draws out artists on what makes them make art.
The Pictures
Culling the Kim’s Video Mother Lode
“Interview with a Vampire”? Out. Snuff compilation? In. The cinematographer Sean Price Williams sorts the dusty stock of the legendary movie-rental store in a FiDi basement.
Death Valley Postcard
The Death Valley Lake That’s Gone in a Flash
Lake Manly forms in Badwater Basin only after especially heavy rains. Paddlers grab their paddles and go.
Reporting & Essays
Dept. of Medicine
How to Die in Good Health
The average American celebrates just one healthy birthday after the age of sixty-five. Peter Attia argues that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Annals of Sound
What Is Noise?
Sometimes we embrace it, sometimes we hate it—and everything depends on who is making it.
A Reporter Aloft
Are Flying Cars Finally Here?
They have long been a symbol of a future that never came. Now a variety of companies are building them—or something close.
Onward and Upward with Technology
Can the World Be Simulated?
Video-game engines were designed to closely mimic the mechanics of the real world. They’re now used for movies, TV shows, architecture, military trainings, virtual reality, and the metaverse.
Sketchbook
A Millionth-Anniversary Surprise
When one has been married forever, one sometimes feels that there is nothing new one will ever discover about one’s person, however . . .
Shouts & Murmurs
Shouts & Murmurs
Stories from the Trump Bible
And Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, “This trial is very unfair. You are a corrupt judge, and your wife is a very nasty woman.”
Fiction
The Critics
A Critic at Large
Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation
People may fervently espouse symbolic beliefs, cognitive scientists say, but they don’t treat them the same as factual beliefs. It’s worth keeping track of the difference.
Books
How Stories About Human-Robot Relationships Push Our Buttons
Two new novels, “Annie Bot” and “Loneliness & Company,” reflect anxieties about A.I. coming for our hearts as well as for our jobs.
Books
The Poet Who Took It Personally
Delmore Schwartz tried to change poetry, often by putting his own painful life on the page. The cost was that failure felt all the more acute.
The Art World
Anni Albers Transformed Weaving, Then Left It Behind
Her textiles are quiet revelations, but even her later prints show how restraint can generate ravishing beauty.
Pop Music
Olivia Rodrigo’s Relatable Superstardom on the Guts Tour
The pop star appears to revel in pleasure—even when she knows that whatever it is she’s thirsting after will probably get her into trouble.
The Current Cinema
“Civil War” Presents a Striking but Muddled State of Disunion
Kirsten Dunst plays a war photographer in the trenches of Alex Garland’s speculative dystopian thriller.
Poems
Cartoons
1/17
“We’ve made significant progress in T-shirt-cannon technology.”
Cartoon by Ellis Rosen
Cartoon Caption Contest
Puzzles & Games
Mail
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