The New Yorker
Regime Change in America’s Back Yard
What comes after Nicolás Maduro’s ouster in Venezuela? Jon Lee Anderson reports.
Today’s Mix
The Folly of Trump’s Oil Imperialism
The President has made clear he wants to exploit Venezuela’s vast oil reserves; history suggests that it won’t be easy.
Can Professional Women’s Soccer in the U.S. Keep Up with the Global Market?
The ability of the National Women’s Soccer League to retain Trinity Rodman, one of its biggest stars, could determine its future.
The Brazen Illegality of Trump’s Venezuela Operation
A scholar of international law on the implications of the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
What Will New York’s New Map Show Us?
Voters voted for it, even if they weren’t sure what it was. But maps are the ideal metaphor for our models of what the world might be.
The Lede
A daily column on what you need to know.
A Reckoning for the Stalled Gaza Peace Plan
A meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump may determine whether the agreement advances—or hardens into a permanent order.
Trump, Epstein, and the Women
The Epstein files are a vast trove of documents and will take time to absorb, but Trump made his attitude about women clear long ago.
The Right Wing Rises in Latin America
The new President of Chile joins a new class of leaders trying to seize the future by rewriting the past.
Trump Dishonors the Kennedy Center
A memorial to John F. Kennedy and his respect for the freedom of the arts has been renamed for a man with authoritarian instincts.
What Zohran Mamdani Is Up Against
When the thirty-four-year-old socialist is sworn in as mayor, he will have to navigate ICE raids, intransigent city power players, and twists of fate and nature.
Is Cognitive Dissonance Actually a Thing?
A foundational 1956 study of the concept, focussed on a U.F.O. doomsday cult, has been all but debunked by new research.
Joan Lowell and the Birth of the Modern Literary Fraud
A century ago, an aspiring actress published a remarkable autobiography. She made up most of it.
Goings On
Recommendations on what to read, eat, watch, listen to, and more.
January Festivals Bring the Weird, Wonderful Shows
Helen Shaw on New York’s hottest time of the year, theatrically speaking, Plus: Sheldon Pearce on Winter Jazzfest’s Brooklyn Marathon; and more.
“Father Mother Sister Brother” Explores the Mysteries of Family Life
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Richard Brody reviews Jim Jarmusch’s three-part drama, starring Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett.
All Hail the Jamaican Patty
Helen Rosner on how a pastry as ubiquitous in New York City as pizza or bagels is getting its turn on the higher end.
Reading for 2026
To start the new year, our critics are looking back on the last one, sifting through the vast number of books they encountered in 2025 to identify the experiences that stood out.
A Mexican Couple in California Plans to Self-Deport—and Leave Their Kids Behind
Can undocumented parents elude ICE capture for one more year, until their youngest turns eighteen?
Dept. of Hoopla
Matching, messaging, regretting.
A Photographer’s Portraits of Her Dad
In the nineteen-eighties, Janet Delaney took pictures of her father at work, and came to a deeper understanding of who he was.
The Critics
“Young Mothers” Is a Gentle Gift from the Dardenne Brothers
In Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s latest drama, set in and around a Belgian maternity home, several teen-age moms seek to break through cycles of poverty, addiction, and neglect.
The Organists Improvising Soundtracks to Silent Films
Early on, movies had no sound, but musicians provided live accompaniment. The tradition continues.
What Can Conversion Memoirs Tell Us?
Two recent books follow young religious converts down the winding back roads of belief.
It Takes Only Five Paintings to See Helen Frankenthaler’s Genius
In a small show at MOMA, Frankenthaler seems to make paint its own living force, untouched by an artist.
Tyler Mitchell’s Art-Historical Mood Board
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The thirty-year-old star photographer became famous for his reference-rich images of Black beauty, but his strongest work suggests a tender eye for imperfection.
“No Other Choice” Eliminates the Competition with Style
In Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s crime novel, Lee Byung-hun plays a newly laid-off executive who launches his own campaign of mass termination.
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How Taylor Swift’s Engagement Ring Is Changing the Diamond Game
For decades, couples were told to value a certain kind of rarity. The jewelry designer Kindred Lubeck, with the help of her most famous client, is popularizing the unique qualities of old-mine-cut stones.
Our Columnists
Donald Trump’s Golden Age of Awful
A damage assessment of the President’s first year back in the White House.
Americans Won’t Ban Kids from Social Media. What Can We Do Instead?
Free-speech norms and powerful tech companies make legal restrictions unlikely—but social changes are already taking place.
The Weirdly Refreshing Honesty of the Oscars of TikTok
The app might wreak havoc on users’ mental health, but there was a satisfying frankness at the gathering about the fact that everything in life is now fodder for content.
The Biggest Threat to the 2026 Economy Is Still Donald Trump
Many analysts are predicting an election-year upturn, but they aren’t accounting for the President’s ability to cause more chaos.
Natalia Lafourcade Reimagines Mexican Folk Music
The former teen pop star has become a new emblem of “Veracruz sound.”
Ideas
The Psychology of Fashion
Our garments offer glimpses of the unconscious; we may also choose them because they feel nothing like us—because they allow us, briefly, to become someone else.
Is the Dictionary Done For?
The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.
What If Readers Like A.I.-Generated Fiction?
If economic and technological transformations have changed our relationship with literature before, they could do so again.
Why Millennials Love Prenups
Long the province of the ultra-wealthy, prenuptial agreements are being embraced by young people—including many who don’t have all that much to divvy up.
Dyslexia and the Reading Wars
Proven methods for teaching the readers who struggle most have been known for decades. Why do we often fail to use them?
Takes
Revisiting notable works from the archive.
Katy Grannan’s Photograph of Taylor Swift
Looking at this image is like seeing a picture of yourself taken just before something seismic happened.
A. J. Liebling’s “The Great State”
For all the humor in his reporting, Liebling recognized Louisiana’s governor as something more than another political buffoon. That insight made the piece a classic.
Otto Soglow’s Spot Art
Fifty years after his death, the work of the pioneering New Yorker cartoonist still appears in every issue.
Mary McCarthy’s “One Touch of Nature”
A reader trusts the author’s voice instinctively, charmed by its opaline assessments and zinging aperçus. Still, one can quibble.
Puzzles & Games
Take a break and play.
In Case You Missed It
The Talk of the Town
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