Category Archives: Culture

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 29, 2025

A group of people with party hats on the dance floor.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features “Goodbye to All That,” by Lorenzo Mattotti.

What Zohran Mamdani Is Up Against

When the thirty-four-year-old socialist is sworn in as mayor, he will have to navigate ICE raids, intransigent city power players, and twists of fate and nature. By Eric Lach

Why Millennials Love Prenups

Long the province of the ultra-wealthy, prenuptial agreements are being embraced by young people—including many who don’t have all that much to divvy up. By Jennifer Wilson

Peter Navarro, Trump’s Ultimate Yes-Man

The tariff cheerleader established the template of sycophancy for Trump Administration officials. By Ian Parker

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – Dec. 21, 2025

In this issue, Sarah A. Topol on the dark side of fertility industry; Wyatt Williams on the writer Denis Johnson and his novella "Train Dreams"; Sam Kriss on A.I. writing; and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 12.21.25 Issue features Sarah A. Topol on the dark side of fertility industry; Wyatt Williams on the writer Denis Johnson and his novella “Train Dreams”; Sam Kriss on A.I. writing; and more.

They Answered an Ad for Surrogates, and Found Themselves in a Nightmare

Eve was one of dozens of Thai women who traveled 4,000 miles — only to be trapped by the dark side of the global fertility industry.

How ‘Affordability’ Became a New Magic Word for Politicians

A rallying cry for Democrats taps into frustration over the inaccessibility of a modestly nice American existence — even for those with a decent income. By Nitsuh Abebe

The Lives They Lived

Remembering some of the artists, innovators and thinkers we lost in the past year.

HARVARD MAGAZINE – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Cover of Harvard Magazine featuring turbulent ocean waves and the text "Food for Thought."

HARVARD MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Food For Thought’ – Why a Victorian-era case of cannibalism at sea still captivates Harvard students…

The 1884 Cannibalism-at-Sea Case That Still Has Harvard Talking

The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens changed the course of legal history. Here’s why it’s been fodder for countless classroom debates. by Adam S. Cohen

Getting to Mars (for Real)

Humans have been dreaming of living on the Red Planet for decades. Harvard researchers are on the case. by Olivia Farrar

Is Ultraprocessed Food Really That Bad?

A Harvard professor challenges conventional wisdom. 

Regenerative Biology’s Baby Steps

What axolotl salamanders could teach us about limb regrowth

The New Criterion – January 2026 Preview

About | The New Criterion

THE NEW CRITERION: The latest issue features

Reflections on the revolution: an introduction

On George Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796. by Roger Kimball

Conceived in liberty

On revolution and counterrevolution in America. by Myron Magnet

Burke’s revolutionary reflection

On the Gordon riots of 1780. by Dominic Green

The great divorce

On the causes of the American Revolution. by Andrew Roberts

HARPER’S MAGAZINE – JANUARY 2026 PREVIEW

HARPER’S MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘How Gaza Broke MAGA’ – Charlie Kirk and the end of the Israel consensus’

Turning Point

How the GOP consensus on Israel cracked by Andrew Cockburn

Power Brokers

What’s really behind your soaring utility bills by Nick Bowlin

If a Tree Falls

The trial of the Sycamore Gap killers by Rosa Lyster

Cover: Claremont Review Of Books – Winter 2026

Claremont Review of Books: The latest issue features ‘Special Anniversary Double Issue’….

Palace Intrigues

by Barry Strauss

The Lives of the Caesars

Imagine sitting near the apex of power in an empire and then being shown the door. You might want to write a tell-all book about it. If so, however, you would be advised to proceed with caution. Now, imagine what would barely be conceivable today: that you undertook to write your exposé while you were still in office. You would need all the finesse of a tightrope walker. 

The Lives of the Caesars

One Score and Five

by Charles R. Kesler

This essay is adapted from remarks delivered at the Claremont Review of Books 25th anniversary gala, held at the Metropolitan Club in New York City on November 6, 2025.

Radical Republican

by Randy E. Barnett

Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation

Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation

In the early hours of March 11, 1874, word spread around Washington that Charles Sumner was on the brink of death. The 63-year-old senator from Massachusetts had suffered a massive heart attack the previous evening. By 9 a.m., a crowd of several hundred had gathered in front of his home on Lafayette Square. “Colored men and women mingled with white in knots about his home,” wrote The New-York Tribune. Government workers, merchants, shopmen, waiters, and even “old colored women with baskets and bundles on their arms” stood together. Many were crying and begging to be let inside. They were stopped by one of Sumner’s friends and two policemen standing guard at the front door.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 22, 2025

Illustrated figures doing whimsical activities in an M.C. Escher-style building.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features Cartoons & Puzzles: A magazine maze, cartoonists on their forebears, Stephen Sondheim’s puzzle love, a hundredth-birthday diary, and more.

The Year In Trump Cashing In

In 2025, the President’s family has been making bank in myriad ways, many of them involving crypto and foreign money. By John Cassidy

In the Wake of Australia’s Hanukkah Beach Massacre

A conversation about the country’s unique Jewish community and rising levels of antisemitism.

The Federal Judge at the Trump Rally

Emil Bove violated a basic tenet of judicial ethics, presumably on purpose. By Ruth Marcus

History’s Judgment of Those Who Go Along

Some civil servants and senior officials in the Trump Administration are experiencing bouts of conscience

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – Dec. 14, 2025

In this Great Performers issue, some of the year's best actors show us how they conjure feelings on cue; Wesley Morris invents his own categories of awards; and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 12.14.25 Issue features Great Performers issue, some of the year’s best actors show us how they conjure feelings on cue; Wesley Morris invents his own categories of awards; and more.

We Asked 10 of the Year’s Best Actors How They Conjure Feelings on Cue

Teyana Taylor, Liam Neeson, Rose Byrne and more of our best actors on how they summon the emotions that move us.

This Year’s Film Performances Were So Good, We Had To Invent New Awards

Best Acting in a Helmet, Best Nervous Breakdown, Craziest Charm—the film performances so good Wesley Morris had to invent his own categories. By Wesley Morris

Why Won’t Senators Stand Up to Trump? We Asked 3 Who Called It Quits.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – DECEMBER 12, 2025 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘Blocked!’ – Why Australia banned kids from social media (and what they think of it)

Millions of teenagers in Australia woke up on Wednesday to find themselves locked out of social media accounts after the government introduced a ban for under-16s – the first of its kind – on the platforms.

Far from being a kneejerk response to a moral panic, it’s a move backed up by detailed investigation into the effects of unfettered online access on children – and one that several other countries are poised to follow. Australian eSafety research found seven in 10 children aged 10 to 15 had encountered content associated with harm online. Three-quarters of those had most recently encountered that – including misogyny, violence, disordered eating and suicide – on a social media platform.

“We are seeking to create some friction [in the] system to protect children where previously there has been close to none … We are treating big tech like the extractive industry it has become,” Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, told an audience earlier this year.

Spotlight | Syria, one year after Assad
While country’s return to global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestically old grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the state. William Christou reports from Damascus

Feature | The inside story of the race to create the ultimate AI
In Silicon Valley, rival companies are spending trillions of dollars to reach a goal that could change humanity – or potentially destroy it. Robert Booth reports

Feature | On the trail of London’s snail farming don
Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has vowed to spend his remaining years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empire. Jim Waterson caught up with him

Opinion | What words are left to describe Trump’s global rampage?
Deadly US boat strikes in the Caribbean are the latest example of a president corrupting both the law and morality, argues Jonathan Freedland

Culture | The best books of 2025
From fiction to food, people to poetry, science to sport: Guardian critics round up the year’s essential reads

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 15, 2025

The lights of traffic on a New York City avenue form a festive Christmas tree.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features ‘Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet’s “Christmas Avenue”’ – The celebratory chaos of the season.

The Trump Administration’s Chaos in the Caribbean

Pete Hegseth’s conduct is a case study in how the government’s growing sense of heedlessness and unaccountability is shaping disastrous policy. By Jonathan Blitzer

Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?

The scientist was famous for linking healing with storytelling. Sometimes that meant reshaping patients’ reality. By Rachel Aviv

How to Leave the U.S.A.

In the wake of President Trump’s reëlection, the number of aggrieved Americans seeking a new life abroad appears to be rising. The Netherlands offers one way out. By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian