THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE:The 8.9.26 Issue features Kim Tingley on inflammation as a cause of disease; Heidi Julavits on predicting the weather; Aaron Timms on fans of Anthony Bourdain; and more.
When Vladimir Putin sent his tanks over the Ukrainian border to seize Kyiv in February 2022, it’s unlikely he evisaged the mess he finds himself in today. Four-and-a-half years later, Russia remains bogged down in what is no longer simply a ground war but one increasingly being fought in the air by drones.
After years of nightly attacks from Russian ballistic missiles and Iranian-designed Shahed drones, Ukraine has responded by scaling up to become the world’s leading manufacturer of unmanned systems. Its retaliatory campaign targeting Russian energy and retail infrastructure is bringing the war to the doorsteps of Russians in Moscow, Crimea and beyond, making life distinctly uncomfortable for Putin and his regime’s messaging over a “special military operation” that was expected to last days rather than years.
For our big story this week, Luke Harding gained exclusive access to Ukraine’s elite drone strike force, going behind the scenes with senior commanders.
Spotlight | Chaos on the streets of Ceuta People among the more than 70,000 who entered the Spanish enclave in north Africa last week describe the journey and their prospects to Okba MohammadandJavier Jennings Mozo
Technology | What if the streetlights have eyes? The new breed of camera-equipped streetlights has the potential to fight crime and track down missing persons. Or will it just take us one step closer to surveillance states, asks Zoe Williams
Feature | The Clacton klaxon: what Farage’s voters think of Britain The Reform UK leader’s constituency takes in genteel resorts and one of England’s poorest villages. With a snap byelection approaching, Tim Burrows finds out what residents want from him and their views on the country at large
Opinion | The battle of Elon Musk and the media The trillionaire Tesla owner has called the editor of the Economist a “traitor to the west” after a clash-filled interview. The truth must not be the loser, argues Jane Martinson
Culture | Why is the National Theatre shaking up Sophocles? Australian theatre director Benedict Andrews’ bold new London production Electra/Persona, starring Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss, fuses Sophocles and Ingmar Bergman. Mark Lawson asks what it tells us about how we live today
Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. By Evan Osnos
The Failures of the Fauci Hearing
Senator Rand Paul may have approached the matter with theatrics and ill will, but Dr. Anthony Fauci’s decision not to testify was a loss. By Amy Davidson Sorkin
How Roy Cohn Taught Donald Trump Everything
The lawyer who showed an outer-borough striver how to ignore the rules, avoid a paper trail, and make up a good story for the media. By Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE:The 8.2.26 Issue features Daniel Bergner on sibling therapy; Elisabeth Zerofsky on the Heritage Foundation crackup; Benoit Denizet-Lewis on Bill Maher; and more.
The billionaire’s company took on ominous loads of debt to build data centers around the world. The implications go far beyond Oracle. By Jonathan MahlerJim Rutenberg and Kirsten Grind
The news agenda has been so dominated for many months by a few big stories about perennial global hotspots and the biggest figures on the international stage, that one could accuse journalists of missing what was happening outside the US, Middle East or Ukraine. But as our south-east Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, explains for this week’s big story, the rapid rise and sudden explosion on to the streets of India’s Cockroach Janta party took everyone – especially Narendra Modi’s government – by surprise.
What began as a satirical protest when the chief justice of India compared the country’s unemployed youth to cockroaches has damaged prime minister Modi’s image as a “strongman” leader and loosened his grip over the media. But as Hannah explains, it’s not just that the joke has “legs” and strong visuals; young people want a viable future and change.
Spotlight | ‘Smoke covered the sun’ Angelique Chrisafis hears from people evacuated from France’s Gironde region near Bordeaux as southern Europe battles wildfires, the spread and ferocity of which have shocked everyone
Spotlight | Blue horizons for Gaza’s children Sea pools made out of sandbags and rubble are part of Amjed Tantesh’s project to give traumatised children a brief respite from war, reports his niece and our Gaza reporter Seham Tantesh
Feature | A Hiroshima journey from anger to peace Simon Hattenstone meets Koko Kondo, who survived the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and hears about the publication of her father’s long-forgotten diary written in the aftermath of that horrific day in 1945
Opinion | Andy Burnham’s ticket to major change The UK prime minister’s first policy announcement on cut-price bus fares signals more than a cheap gimmick, says Jonathan Freedland
Culture | John Carpenter interview The uncompromising film director talks to Steve Rose about his shock and horror Hollywood career and his new music album
We overlook the importance of insects at our peril, says Charles Harris, as he marvels at the fruit flies that share our genes and the moths that supply strands of silk
A room with a clue
Deborah Nicholls-Lee searches high and low for the concealed rooms and secret spaces that are an intriguing quirk of so many British country houses
Luxury
Facials, fragrance and bold and beautiful summer jewellery with Amie Elizabeth White, plus a few of the Duchess of Beaufort’s favourite things
Born to be wild
Charles Quest-Ritson visits East Lambrook Manor in Somerset and is heartened to find the home of Margery Fish’s ‘jungle gardening’ in good hands
Vicki Anstey’s favourite painting
The adventurer chooses a work showcasing human resilience
Country-house treasure
John Goodall surveys artworks by the Staithes Group — the first English Impressionists — at Brockfield Hall, North Yorkshire
Revival and renewal
In the second of two articles, John Goodall explores James Wyatt’s influence on the interiors at Curraghmore in Co Waterford
The legacy
Kate Green lauds Benjamin Britten’s lasting impact on Arts and culture in his beloved Suffolk
Winging it
Mark Cocker examines the folklore and infamy of the magpie
Where there’s a grill, there’s a way
John Lewis-Stempel reads the smoke signals as a barbecue fires up Neolithic nostalgia
Alders and betters
Alnus glutinosa is an ancient pioneer species with a key role to play on our riverbanks, as Vicky Liddell discovers
Interiors
Arabella Youens admires the colour and comfort added to a Jersey farmhouse and a splash of zest is best for Amelia Thorpe
Travel
Rosie Paterson enjoys an island paradise off France’s Côte d’Azur
Arts & antiques
Grégoire the grey toad brings a wealth of pleasure to Frederick Fischer, Lalique UK managing director, as he tells Carla Passino
A kind of magic
Multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist Es Devlin shares the secret of her success with Corinne Julius
Gadi Eisenkot, whose view of war is shaped by the loss of his son, is, in manner and character, the anti-Bibi. By David Remnick
The Men Who Made Theory French
French theory, as taught in American classrooms, has acquired a reputation of forbidding difficulty and hauteur. A new history seeks to surface its human side. By Dayna Tortorici
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE:The 7.26.26 Issue features Matthew Shaer on the American car industry and E.V.s; Billy Brennan on dementia patients recovering mental faculties right before dying; Yudhijit Bhattacharjee on the hunt for counterfeiters; and more.
Soccer is perfect for screens. But being there in person showed me a side of the sport — and of my fellow human beings — that I’ll never forget. By Sam Anderson and Sara Messinger
Across the globe, wildfires are on the move. Acrid smoke from huge Ontario fires choked major cities across Canada and the US last week, while in western Europe, France, Portugal and Spain have each been torched by a record-breaking number of blazes for this time of year.
In the UK, parched conditions after a hot dry summer have helped fuel blazes from national parks to cities. Last weekend, firefighters were tackling a blaze on Arthur’s Seat, the volcanic outcrop in the middle of Edinburgh. The week before, dozens of crews were confronted by a wildfire in north-east London.
Because of the climate crisis, fires are burning simultaneously in more places around the world – and they are often hotter, less predictable, and greater in number. For our big story, Ajit Niranjan surveys what seems to be a new normal and considers the impossible decisions specialist fire crews are making when multiple fires are burning in different parts of the world.
In Australia, bushfires have always been part of the country’s landscape. Graham Readfearn talks to some of those who have learned to live with the ever-present danger and asks what they can teach others in this rapidly changing world.
Spotlight | Trump is risking midterm disaster. Why? Less than a month after hailing a ceasefire, Trump resumed strikes on Iran – a move experts warn could prolong the war and hurt Republicans in upcoming elections. Robert Tait asks what is going on
Science | Is the world facing a male reproductive crisis? Reports of falling sperm counts and testosterone levels have fuelled fears over chemicals, pollution and modern lifestyles. Hannah Devlin investigates
Feature | The business of rewilding Intensive farming has all but destroyed England’s ancient woodlands and freshwater wetlands. On a farm in Lincolnshire, a radical aristocrat hopes to show there’s money in protecting nature. Patrick Barkham went to find out
Opinion | What’s left after this World Cup? A kind of messy hope Kazakhs cheering Uzbeks, Bengalis wild for Argentina … This tournament was once a playground for nationalism. Now it shows how flimsy that allegiance is, argues Jonathan Liew
Culture | All shook up: the return of Alabama Shakes With Brittany Howard at the helm, the American three-piece band are back with a new album railing against the state of the US in 2026. Dave Simpson caught up with them
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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