The Magazine
October 14, 2024
Goings On
Goings On
The Brooklyn Museum Celebrates Two Hundred Years
Also: The new piano bar So and So’s; Robert Downey, Jr., in “McNeal”; the Philly soul singer Bilal; and more.
The Food Scene
A Tiny Brooklyn Restaurant with Big (and Bewitching) Ideas About Dinner
Cafe Kestrel, in Red Hook, offers cooking that is highly idiosyncratic but not confrontational, from applesauce sundaes to Sunday-night curry.
The Talk of the Town
Jonathan Blitzer on Trump’s immigration record; Kate McKinnon’s etiquette training; Presidential pets; how Lee Jaffe captured the Wailers; Sunny’s.
Comment
Trump’s Dangerous Immigration Obsession
The daily stream of racism and mendacity has had a numbing effect. But the question of what Trump might actually do is a prospect that voters cannot afford to ignore.
Do’s and Don’ts Dept.
Etiquette Makes Kate McKinnon Sad
Over high tea, the former “S.N.L.” star puzzles over whether good manners are antithetical to humor.
Little Weasels Dept.
Can America Handle a Petless Presidency?
In an election season dominated by dead dogs, childless cat ladies, pets for dinner, and dumped bear cubs, the ferret lobby has some advice.
Being There
Bob Marley’s Accidental Photographer
Lee Jaffe, the musician’s friend, fixer, and collaborator, recalls falling in with the Wailers and compiling his new book, “Hit Me with Music.”
The Boards
A Play About a Bar, on a Barge Next to the Bar
In “The Wind and the Rain,” which is staged in the harbor and begins during Hurricane Sandy, Sunny’s Bar, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, is the subject of and the actual location for the final act.
Reporting & Essays
Onward and Upward with the Arts
The K-Pop King
Chairman Bang, the man behind BTS, is bringing his formula for creating K-pop idols to America.
Letter from Greenland
When the Arctic Melts
What the fate of Greenland means for the rest of the Earth.
A Reporter at Large
Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster
From crypto to A.I., the tech sector is pouring millions into super PACS that intimidate politicians into supporting its agenda.
Shouts & Murmurs
Shouts & Murmurs
Sleep Essential for Health
Donald Trump is lying next to you in the bed, wearing snug cotton pajamas printed to look like his signature blue suit. You want to tell him a few things you think he ought to know, but his fake snoring drowns you out.
Fiction
Sketchbook
Official Survey by the National Association of Toddlers
Why I took off my hat? Why my hat not on my head? And other important data points.
The Critics
Books
How John Lewis Put a Legacy of Heroism to Use
As the civil-rights era receded, his personal heroism loomed larger. But movement politics didn’t easily translate into party politics.
Books
Rachel Kushner’s Covert Op Against Realism
In her new spy novel, “Creation Lake,” Kushner attempts to expose the tradecraft of fiction itself.
The Art World
The Drawings the Shakers Got from God
An exuberant exhibit shows that, when it comes to art, the community should be known for far more than its furniture.
Musical Events
A Mesmerizing New Opera About a Sonic Cult
In Missy Mazzoli’s “The Listeners,” a group of suburbanites hear a low, pervasive hum that others cannot.
The Theatre
Doppelgängers Abound in “The Hills of California” and “Yellow Face”
In Jez Butterworth’s melancholy drama and David Henry Hwang’s mischievously postmodern play, stardom is both a lure and a lie.
Poems
Poems
“The Baltic Seas”
Robin Robertson’s new translation of a modern epic—first published, in Swedish, fifty years ago—traverses the shifting borders and legacies of a world at war.
Poems
“A Dream Dreamt by Fernando Pessoa in Which I Play the Role of Fernando Pessoa”
“Even here I can’t stop arguing with myself.”
Cartoons
Puzzles & Games
The Mail
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to [email protected]. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.