The New Yorker
Majority Rules
An unprecedented gerrymandering effort led by Donald Trump—and internal divisions among Democrats—has made Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s path to victory harder than ever. Jason Zengerle reports on the Brooklyn congressman’s quest to become the next Speaker of the House.
Today’s Mix
Benjamin Netanyahu’s War at Home
The Israeli Prime Minister’s government is bringing radical change to the country’s democratic institutions.
Massie Attack
Why has a Republican contest in Kentucky become the most expensive House primary of all time?
All of a Sudden, the Glories of Cannes Are Upon Us
In its first week, the seventy-ninth edition of the festival unveiled standout new works by James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.
Where Are the Tariff Refunds for American Consumers?
The Trump Administration has started repaying more than a hundred and fifty billion dollars to companies that paid its import duties. So far, most of their customers are still waiting to see much benefit.
Boots Riley, Marx Brother
The artist’s zany movies combine pop aesthetics with radical politics.
The Lede
A daily column on what you need to know.
Can the Democrats Take Back the Senate?
Their electoral prospects are finally improving, but opportunities can quickly give way to divisions. Does the Party have a plan?
The Pageantry and Flattery of Donald Trump’s Visit to China
The President’s talks with Xi Jinping, whose leadership style he seems to envy, yielded potential deals for airplanes and soybeans but no apparent agreement on Iran.
Keir Starmer Won’t Survive This
After a disastrous set of election results, the British Prime Minister’s authority is in tatters.
Will Donald Trump Be Allowed to Destroy His Records?
A law passed after Watergate makes Presidential records government property. The Trump Administration has declared it unconstitutional.
Why Spain Is Standing Up to Donald Trump
Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist Prime Minister, has led the European opposition to the Iran war from the start.
The Art of the Ceasefire
How President Trump’s approach to the war in Iran is turning endless conflict, interrupted by fleeting pauses, into the status quo.
The Fate of Twenty-one Los Angeles Siblings
Nearly two dozen kids were found at risk of abuse and neglect. Will their parents be held accountable?
The Prehistory of A.I. Slop
Before ChatGPT, there was the Plot Robot, Auto-Beatnik, and a century’s worth of schemes for automating authorship.
The Critics
“The Audacity” Is a Brutal Silicon Valley Satire with an Agenda
The AMC dramedy’s skewering of tech bros might feel familiar in 2026—but a focus on oft-overlooked elements of the world they’ve created gives the series a strange verve.
Rostam Batmanglij Wanders to the Edges of American Sound
The polymath musician, formerly of Vampire Weekend, likes to push our idea of what a pop song can be.
Mary Todd Lincoln Has Long Been Derided. Is Her Reputation Salvageable?
History knows the First Lady as a hysterical widow and a lavish spender. Her most recent biographer chooses to highlight her mental fortitude and political prowess.
The Hollow Trickery of “The Wizard of the Kremlin”
Olivier Assayas’s adaptation of a novel about a fictionalized adviser to Vladimir Putin reduces politics to personalities and atrocities to anecdotes.
Chaya Czernowin Gives Voice to a Wounded World
The composer’s work, featured at a recent festival in Germany, includes a howling denunciation of war crimes against children.
The Age of “Intentional” Drinking
Americans are losing their appetite for booze. Could the mini Martini lure them back?
What We’re Reading
A compact, elegant book that argues reasonableness is not the absence of convictions but the condition of living with others who don’t share ours; a surreal novel that riffs on the idea of drowned cities; and more.
Our Columnists
The Fastball Has Never Been Faster
Pitchers like Jacob Misiorowski are throwing harder than ever, a result of modern baseball’s pitching development. But what does that kind of velocity do to the human arm?
The Generation That Will Always Be Too Young to Smoke
A new law in the U.K. bars young people from buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives. For the British government, even a sixty-year-old will someday be underage.
What the Gerrymandering Wars Mean for the Midterms—and 2028
Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, on whether the Democrats can match the G.O.P. in the fight over redistricting.
While Donald Trump Adventures in China, D.C. Entertains Itself
The President swept off to Beijing to court Xi Jinping. Back Stateside, it was non-Presidential motorcades, video games, and a languid vibe at the White House.
Can Art Teach?
Calling something “didactic” has become grounds for immediate dismissal. But do the merits of works with an educational bent—from “The Pitt” to “Elizabeth Costello”—suggest we should think again?
Ideas
Do We Think Too Much About the Future?
For most of history, people didn’t try predicting it. Maybe that was wise.
How Americans Caught Gold Fever Again
Soaring gold prices, viral panning influencers, macho gold-mining reality shows, and Trump’s gold obsession have ignited a craze for prospecting not seen since 1849.
It’s Possible to Learn in Our Sleep. Should We?
.jpeg)
New research suggests that people can communicate and even practice skills while dreaming.
Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?
Amid contention, criticism, and compromise, a divided nation had to present a unified front. It came at a cost.
America at 250
Two hundred and fifty years into the experiment we still call America, The New Yorker is both looking back at our history of hopes and upheavals and looking ahead to ask what pulls us apart and holds us together. In this special issue, you’ll find essays, reportage, rediscoveries, and art that explore the paradoxes of our nation.
The Confessions of Isaiah Rashad
The Chattanooga rapper was anointed by Kendrick Lamar at the age of twenty-two. Then his life got more complicated.
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
The Looming Disaster of the Border Wall in Big Bend, Texas
The wall is opposed by environmental groups, local sheriffs, and a pro-gun YouTuber running for Congress. It’s happening anyway.
In Case You Missed It
.jpg)
The night it began, he’d had an unremarkable meal of chicken and rice. Sure, the chicken was dry, flavorless, and the rice, wet, also flavorless, but he had not found the meal particularly bad, and, after imbibing a large glass of cold filtered water, he’d experienced no gastrointestinal bloat. He’d done little of note after the meal. He’d sat on his sofa and watched TV: innocuous cooking shows, the news, “Jeopardy!”Continue reading »
The Talk of the Town
Daily Cartoon
