Tag Archives: Culture

The New Criterion – January 2026 Preview

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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

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

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – Dec. 7, 2025

In this issue, David Darlington on the dangers of e-bikes; Carlo Rotella on A.I. in the classroom; Lizzy Goodman on the music of Shaboozey; and more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 12.7.25 Issue features David Darlington on the dangers of e-bikes; Carlo Rotella on A.I. in the classroom; Lizzy Goodman on the music of Shaboozey; and more.

The Shocking Crash That Led One County to Reckon With the Dangers of E-Bikes

Unregulated e-bikes are a growing danger on American streets. In one Bay Area town, a terrible accident finally led to reform.

Why Does A.I. Write Like … That?

If only they were robotic! Instead, chatbots have developed a distinctive — and grating — voice .By Sam Kriss

He Had the Worst Bloody Nose of His Life. That Was Just the Beginning.

The man’s unchecked bleeding was a mystery for years before a scan revealed the cause. By Lisa Sanders, M.D.

The Dark Secrets of the Writer Behind ‘Train Dreams’

An adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novella arrives at the same time as a new biography, unlocking one of his best-loved and least-understood books.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – DECEMBER 5, 2025 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘After The Inferno’ – Anger and questions in the wake of the Hong Kong fires…

Watching with horror from London last week as flames ripped through seven adjacent apartment blocks in Hong Kong, it was impossible not to think back to the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017, which exposed major systemic failures around UK social housing and eventually led to law changes around safety and accountability for high-rise buildings.

The comparisons with Hong Kong were not just visually obvious but also because the semi-autonomous city’s worst fire in decades appears to have followed months of complaints from residents about shoddy materials used in building works.

Hong Kong is of course a very different place to London, with politicians facing less public accountability in a political climate that makes it much harder for citizens to express dissent. But, as anger rises, hard questions are nevertheless being asked of authorities amid accusations of negligence and corruption.

Five essential reads in this week’s edition

The big story | Can Europe unite to tame Russia – without the US?
Washington’s Putin-appeasing plan for peace in Ukraine has failed, but many heard the death knell sound for European reliance on US protection, writes Patrick Wintour

Spotlight | If Rachel Reeves goes, will Keir Starmer fall with her?
British prime ministers rarely sack their chancellors – and when they do it almost inevitably leads to their own downfall. After last week’s budget, Starmer knows the same is true of him and Reeves, says Jessica Elgot

Feature | The dangerous rise of extremist Buddhism
Buddhism is still largely viewed as a peaceful philosophy – but across much of south-east Asia, the religion has been weaponised to serve nationalist goals. Sonia Faleiro investigates

Opinion | From the West Bank to Syria and Lebanon, Israel’s onslaught continues
Broken ceasefires, bombing, ground incursions and mounting deaths: Israeli imperialism is now expanding across the region, says Nesrine Malik

Culture | Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater: two men on the moon
As their 11th movie together, Blue Moon, is released, the actor and director tell Xan Brooks about musicals, the legacy of Philip Seymour Hoffman and what being bald and short does to your flirting skills

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 8, 2025

Trump admires a Christmas tree in his cavernous gilded ballroom.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features ‘Klaas Verplancke’s “White House of Gold” – Mar-a-Lago extravagance on Pennsylvania Avenue.

In the Line of Fire

During the Trump era, political violence has become an increasingly urgent problem. Elected officials from both parties are struggling to respond. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells

The Undermining of the C.D.C.

The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that it is hewing to “gold standard, evidence-based science”—doublespeak that might unsettle Orwell. By Dhruv Khullar

What Makes Goethe So Special?

The German poet’s dauntingly eclectic accomplishments were founded on a tireless interrogation of how a life should be lived. By Merve Emre

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – NOV. 30, 2025

Current cover

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 11.30.25 Issue features Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser on sixty former staff members of the Justice Department; Dennis Zhou on the novelist Solvej Balle; Linda Kinstler on neural implant technology; and more.

America’s Children Are Unwell. Are Schools Part of the Problem?

From A.D.H.D. to anxiety, disorders have risen as the expectations of childhood have changed.

The Athlete Trolling His Way Through Jiu-Jitsu’s Culture Wars

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has been increasingly embraced by right-wing influencers. Craig Jones is an unlikely counterforce. By Adrian Nathan West

I’m a Professor. A.I. Has Changed My Classroom, but Not for the Worse.

My students’ easy access to chatbots forced me to make humanities instruction even more human. By Carlo Rotella