Tag Archives: Books

Zyzzyva Magazine – WINTER 2025-2026

ZYZZYVA Magazine: The latest issue features…

Nonfiction

“The Fighters” by Joe Donnelly: on being transplanted as a boy from New Jersey to Ireland, and the grim school days spent at Willow Park primary school in Dublin.

“Fire Watching” by Harmony Holiday: a mediation on Los Angeles, its devastating fires, and finding meaning.

“The Deer” by Raia Small: “I have never killed anyone, so I can say that I don’t understand. But I am getting to know my own cruelties …”

Fiction

“A Long Line of Violence” by Tomas Moniz: A duo travels from the Mission District to Lassen Volcanic National Park to return a rifle to its battleground.

“Plums” by Feroz Rather: A young man steals as much time as he can with his beloved among the orchards and buses of his town in Kashmir.

“Viable” by Suzanne Rivecca: “The person I call in situations like this is Colette, the city government version of me, an abstinent ex-junkie disliked by the mayor, with a soft spot for schizophrenics, a love for lancing abscesses, and zero work/life balance.”

Poetry

Brian Ang, Nica Giromini, Kelly Gray, Michael Kennedy Costa, Kayla Krut, Maw Shein Win, Jared Stanley, and John Yau.

In Conversation

Chris Feliciano Arnold talks to Venezuelan scholar, journalist, and poet Boris Muñoz about literature, authoritarianism, and the importance of cronistas.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – THURSDAY, DEC. 11, 2025

U.S. Steps Up Campaign Against Maduro in Seizing Tanker Off Venezuela

President Trump has labeled President Nicolás Maduro a drug cartel leader and has suggested that U.S. strikes could expand to Venezuelan soil.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Machado Vows to End Maduro’s Rule in Venezuela

María Corina Machado appeared in Oslo as the Trump administration ramped up its pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump Doesn’t Want to Talk About Affordability. Democrats See That as a Gift.

As President Trump continues to brush off the issue, Democrats believe one of the biggest strengths in his first term could now become a major vulnerability.

How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed

Barred from leaving Romania, Andrew Tate courted powerful figures on the American right, from Tucker Carlson to Barron Trump. Then an extraordinary order let him go.

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

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT – DECEMBER 12, 2025

The TLS front page from the issue dated . Issue number

TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features ‘A Snail’s Tale – An unpublished story by Sylvia Townsend Warner…

Prince of the printed word

Tactful notes from a literary self-promoter By Nicola Shulman

Object of attention

Marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth By Devoney Looser

Wise fools

Irritating professors for the ages By Peter Thonemann

The Pursuit and the End

An unpublished story by Sylvia Townsend Warner, with a commentary by Peter Swaab By Sylvia Townsend Warner

THE NEW YORK TIMES – WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10, 2025

Inside the Pentagon’s Scramble to Deal With Boat Strike Survivors

Officials initially weighed sending survivors of U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling to a notorious prison in El Salvador, to avoid American courts.

Democrats Say Hegseth Balked at Call for Full Video of Boat Strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed congressional leaders about the monthslong military campaign targeting people suspected of trafficking drugs at sea.

The Challenges to Europe’s Security Go Beyond Trump’s Lack of Support

Europeans find themselves stranded between hostile powers, Russia and the U.S., with key decisions looming over the future of Ukraine.

Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour

President Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania was meant to alleviate concerns about affordability. But he kept going off script and dwelling on issues like immigration.

Stephen Miller’s Stock Sale Raises Questions, Ethics Experts Say

House Democrat Seeks to Impeach Kennedy for Undercutting Public Health

THE PARIS REVIEW ———- WINTER 2025/2026

THE PARIS REVIEW : The latest issue features Art of Criticism, Art of Poetry, Prose, Poetry and Art…

Hélène Cixous on the Art of Criticism: “There’s a feminist discourse that women can’t do it all. This is what many women experience, and it’s very difficult. But I am not like that.”

Alice Oswald on the Art of Poetry: “You come at poetry with the momentum of having failed. It’s only when other communication is absolutely impossible that a poem has to exist.”

Prose by Eve Babitz, Marlene Morgan, Alec Niedenthal, Gwendoline Riley, and Elias Rodriques.

Poetry by Millicent Borges Accardi, Monzer Masri, Alice Oswald, Jana Prikryl, and Ed Roberson.

Art by Ali Banisadr, Pippa Garner, Joan Jonas, and Mieko Meguro; cover by Adebunmi Gbadebo.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2025

Supreme Court Is Asked to Take Another Ax to Campaign Finance Limits

The case centers on efforts by Republican officials to lift limits on how much money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates.

A Key Question for the Supreme Court: What About the Fed?

On Monday, the justices seemed poised to allow President Trump to remove officials but appeared to struggle with how to insulate the Federal Reserve

Trump Insists Tariffs Will Buoy the Economy. For Now, He’s on Damage Control.

President Trump rolled out a bailout for farmers as he makes the case that his policy is working — or will soon.

A Frustrated Congress Pushes the Pentagon to Produce the Boat Strike Orders

In a sign of bipartisan vexation with the Defense Department, the defense policy bill aims to compel the Pentagon to share execute orders and documentation.

In Thailand and Cambodia, Taking Shelter (Again) as Fighting Reignites

Hundreds of thousands of people fled a deadly border conflict, the authorities said, some sheltering at a racetrack in Thailand and some near temples in Cambodia.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2025

Obamacare Users Face Higher Deductibles, Higher Premiums

People who have insurance under the Affordable Care Act are being asked to pay more for plans that will cover less of their care.

China’s Trade Surplus Climbs Past $1 Trillion for First Time

President Trump’s tariffs weren’t enough to hold back the global export flood by China, which pushed past last year’s record in just 11 months.

China’s Weak Currency Is Powering Its Exports, Drawing Criticism

Supreme Court Considers Trump’s Power to Fire Independent Officials

The Supreme Court has generally allowed the firings to take effect through temporary emergency orders. This case is an opportunity for a conclusive ruling.

These Independent Agencies Could Be Affected by a Supreme Court Case

Must the Military Disobey Unlawful Orders? Pam Bondi Has Said Yes.

As a lawyer, Ms. Bondi, now the attorney general, filed a Supreme Court brief last year saying service members who followed such orders were committing crimes.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2025

Conservative Project at Supreme Court Meets Trump’s Push to Oust Officials

President Trump has repeatedly ousted leaders of independent agencies despite federal laws meant to shield those regulators from politics.

How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans’ Faith in Immigration

Former President Biden and his top advisers rejected recommendations that could have eased the border crisis that helped return Donald Trump to the White House.

For Landmark Test of Executive Power, Echoes of a 1930s Supreme Court Battle

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s efforts to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission leader offer parallels to the current fight over President Trump’s actions.

Superpower Competition: The Missing Chapter in Trump’s Security Strategy

President Trump is shifting from discussion of the long-lasting competition among the world’s biggest economies and nuclear powers.

Hegseth Skirts Questions About Releasing Video of Sept. 2 Boat Attack

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2025

Battlefield Picture Worsening for Ukraine as Trump Pushes Peace Plan

Russian forces have advanced on several fronts in recent weeks. Vladimir Putin says Russia will achieve its territorial aims by whatever means necessary.

Trump’s National Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy

President Trump’s new strategy describes a country that is focused on doing business and reducing migration while avoiding passing judgment on authoritarians.

The Supreme Court, Once Wary of Partisan Gerrymandering, Goes All In

The court’s conservative majority said that Texas’ asserted political motives justified letting the state use voting maps meant to disadvantage Democrats.

Have Trump’s Tariffs Hit the ‘High-Water Mark’?

Companies are petitioning for exemptions from the Trump administration’s high levies on foreign-made goods, saying they hurt business and raise prices.

Angst Turns to Anger in Hollywood as Netflix Hooks Warner Bros.

Much of the entertainment capital fears that Netflix’s deal will lead to more job losses and theater closings and fewer boundary-pushing movies.