THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 10.19.25 Issue features Astead W. Herndon on the mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani; Emily Bazelon on the state of the rule of law in the U.S. under Trump; Andrew Ross Sorkin on 1929 and the rise of crypto investing; Parul Sehgal on Thomas Pynchon’s latest novel; and more.

The Battle Inside Israel Over Who Must Fight in Its Wars

The conflict over compulsory service for the nation’s ultra-Orthodox has become a stand-in for a larger struggle over the country’s right-wing, religious turn — and could determine its future.

Lady Gaga Was Always Gothic. Now the World Has Caught Up to Her.

At a moment when other pop stars are flirting with dark spectacle, Gaga’s “Mayhem” tour shows that she has perfected it. By Wesley Morris

What Trump’s War on Sanctuary Cities Is Really About

A movement born in churches to help vulnerable immigrants has become a constitutional battleground in Chicago and Portland, Ore.

Inside the Improbable, Audacious and (So Far) Unstoppable Rise of Zohran Mamdani

The story of the man most likely to be the next mayor of New York City — and the promise and peril his ascent poses for the Democratic Party.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 10.12.25 Issue features Amy X. Wang on “buy now, pay later”; Giles Harvey on the filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer; Bruce Schoenfeld on the L.A. Dodgers and its Latino fan base; and more.

If an Energy Drink Drank an Energy Drink, You’d Get a Celsius

How a turbocharged upstart brand came to threaten Red Bull and Monster’s dominance.

Thomas Pynchon Saw Where America Was Headed. What Does He See Now?

The novelist anticipated our bizarre present. How does his latest book hold up in an age of eroding reality? By Parul Sehgal

They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print.

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ has built a delirious new culture of consumption — and trapped users in a vortex of debt.