Books & Culture
Infinite Scroll
The Dada Era of Internet Memes
How the viral TikToks of a Chinese glycine factory elucidate our increasingly chaotic digital environment.
By Kyle Chayka
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Infinite Scroll
The Internet’s New Favorite Philosopher
Byung-Chul Han, in treatises such as “The Burnout Society” and his latest, “The Crisis of Narration,” diagnoses the frenetic aimlessness of the digital age.
By Kyle Chayka
The New Yorker Interview
How to Publish a Magazine in a Maximum-Security Prison
For decades, Wilbert Rideau investigated America’s prison system—from the inside.
By John J. Lennon
Persons of Interest
The Heart of Low
Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s marriage was one of the most extraordinary collaborations in rock. Now, a year and a half after Parker’s death, Sparhawk is back on the road.
By Justin Taylor
Cultural Comment
John Cazale’s Barbaric Squawk
He was Hollywood’s master of the everyday, an actor who looked, felt, and even squealed like one of us.
By Jackson Arn
Books
Annals of Gastronomy
Mastering the Art of Making a Cookbook
Working with Julia Child and a host of author-chefs, the editor Judith Jones transformed American kitchens.
By Adam Gopnik
Under Review
The Best Books We’ve Read in 2024 So Far
Our editors and critics review notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
By The New Yorker
Under Review
Why We Choose Not to Eat
Can the decision to forgo food be removed from the gendered realm of weight-loss culture?
By Molly Fischer
Page-Turner
Fifteen Essential Cookbooks
The kitchen guides that New Yorker writers and editors can’t do without.
By The New Yorker
Movies
The Front Row
“Civil War” Is a Tale of Bad News
Alex Garland’s grim political fantasy about secession and violence revolves around a war photographer but has little to say about the making and consumption of news images.
By Richard Brody
Director’s Commentary
Julio Torres on the Rocky Relationship That Drives “Problemista”
The director dissects a key scene that establishes the dynamic between his character, who is embroiled in the U.S.’s immigration systems, and Tilda Swinton’s “temperamental art-world lady,” down to the meanings of their hair styles.
By The New Yorker
The Front Row
The Rediscovery of a Depression-Era Masterpiece
A new restoration of Frank Borzage’s “Man’s Castle,” starring Loretta Young and Spencer Tracy, showcases the visionary Hollywood director’s lusty yet spiritual artistry.
By Richard Brody
Culture Desk
Can a Film Star Be Too Good-Looking?
Alain Delon and the problem of beauty.
By Anthony Lane
Food
Photo Booth
When Babies Rule the Dinner Table
In the past two decades, American parents have started to ditch the purées and give babies more choice—and more power—at mealtime.
By Alexandra Schwartz
Photography by Olaf Blecker
The Food Scene
The Return, Again, of the Power Lunch
Four Twenty Five, a luxe new dining room from the mega-restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, takes square aim at the expense-account crowd.
By Helen Rosner
The Food Scene
Mexican-ish Fine Dining, with Detours
Corima offers attention-grabbing tortillas, Japanese flourishes, and an ambitious tasting menu that hasn’t quite found its stride.
By Helen Rosner
On and Off the Menu
In the Kitchen with the Grande Dame of Jewish Cooking
Any home cook who’s hosted a Passover Seder or a Rosh Hashanah dinner has likely consulted a recipe by Joan Nathan.
By Hannah Goldfield
Listen to lively debates about the art of the moment.Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts »
Photo Booth
In Justine Kurland’s Photographs, a Mother and Son Hit the Road
Some of the portraits in “This Train” have an Edenic quality to them, as if Kurland is asking: What if my kid and I were the only two people in the world?
By Naomi Fry
Television
On Television
“The Sympathizer” Has an Identity Crisis
The HBO adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel is part espionage thriller, part war drama, and part Hollywood satire—wild genre shifts that come at the expense of its protagonist’s interiority.
By Inkoo Kang
On Television
“Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show” Is Exhibitionism as Art
Two years after “Rothaniel,” the comedian has committed another moving—and deeply entertaining—act of self-exposure.
By Inkoo Kang
On Television
“In the Know,” a Promising Satire of NPR That Never Quite Tunes In
The stop-motion comedy from Zach Woods, Brandon Gardner, and Mike Judge lacks the zingy acuity of its creators’ best work.
By Sarah Larson
On Television
The Dark Delights of a Millennial “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine star as spies-for-hire posing as husband and wife—and embody their generation’s emotional and economic malaise.
By Inkoo Kang
The Theatre
The Theatre
Ralph Fiennes Sidles His Way Into Power as Macbeth
A hit British production of Shakespeare’s ever-timely tragedy arrives in D.C.
By Helen Shaw
Postscript
Christopher Durang’s Stage Directions for Life
The Tony-winning playwright’s dark, antic satires were many people’s gateway to theatre. I was one of those people.
By Michael Schulman
The Theatre
The Avant-Garde Is Back on the Launchpad
The Wooster Group gives the Richard Foreman play “Symphony of Rats” its signature spins.
By Helen Shaw
The Theatre
“The Who’s Tommy” Plays the Old Pinball
The 1993 musical’s already bizarre story, derived from Pete Townshend’s beautiful 1969 album, is even less clear in Des McAnuff’s reanimation for Broadway.
By Helen Shaw
Music
Pop Music
The Tortured Poetry of Taylor Swift’s New Album
“The Tortured Poets Department” has moments of tenderness. But it suffers from being too long and too familiar.
By Amanda Petrusich
Pop Music
Olivia Rodrigo’s Relatable Superstardom on the Guts Tour
The pop star appears to revel in pleasure—even when she knows that whatever it is she’s thirsting after will probably get her into trouble.
By Amanda Petrusich
Pop Music
Vampire Weekend Doesn’t Want Your Defeatist Grousing
The band’s new album, “Only God Was Above Us,” is a treatise on inheritance, decay, generational dissonance, and the delicate idea of choosing optimism.
By Amanda Petrusich
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Alicia Keys Returns to Her Roots with Her New Musical, “Hell’s Kitchen”
In her musical opening on Broadway, Keys tells a story very much like her own life—but don’t call it autobiographical. Plus, Rhiannon Giddens on the Black roots of country music.
With David Remnick
More in Culture
On and Off the Avenue
Spoiler Alert: Leftovers for Dinner
How to host a dinner party for nine using a pre-trash haul from Too Good to Go and other food-waste apps. Carb-averse guests, beware.
By Patricia Marx
Goings On
Teresita Fernández’s Shifting Sculptural Landscapes
Also: Kamasi Washington, “The Outsiders” reviewed, Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival, and more.
Annals of Gastronomy
In Search of Lost Flavors in Flushing
Rediscovering the tastes of childhood in New York’s biggest Chinatown.
By Jiayang Fan
Annals of Gastronomy
A Martini Tour of New York City
My month of vermouth-rinsing and fat-washing.
By Gary Shteyngart
Screening Room
Flirtation and Confrontation in “Sparring Partner”
In J. J. Kandel’s short film, the lunch-break banter of a flirtatious pair of co-workers, played by Cecily Strong and KeiLyn Durrel Jones, gives way to uncomfortable revelations.
Film by J. J. Kandel
Text by Lauren Elyse Garcia
Secret Ingredients
The Unexpected Hero of My Baking Repertoire
Cakes that usually come at you two-fisted—pure butter and sugar—begin to relax when you swap some of the usual white-wheat flour for buckwheat.
By Ruby Tandoh
The Current Cinema
Love Means Nothing in Tennis but Everything in “Challengers”
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist sustain a three-way rally of romance in Luca Guadagnino’s almost absurdly sexy sports film.
By Justin Chang
Profiles
Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar
Since leaving “Top Chef,” Lakshmi has found herself in a period of professional uncertainty. What better time to try standup comedy?
By Helen Rosner
Secret Ingredients
The Most Treasured Jar in My Pantry
There is nothing “plain” about vanilla when your extract is home-brewed.
By Ina Garten