The U.S. budget deficit climbed to nearly 2 trillion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, deepening the federal government’s persistent red-ink trend (on.wsj.com)
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the administration is suspending several tech firms, including Microsoft, from a program that allows H-1B visa holders to apply for green cards (on.wsj.com)
Newly installed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said she wants to change a culture of “paternalism” at her agency (on.wsj.com)
I''m a 24-year-old data center engineer making six figures. There are pros and cons, but my career has advanced faster than I thought. (www.businessinsider.com)
“The Social Reckoning” Leaves Out the Human Element - In Aaron Sorkin’s overwritten sequel to “The Social Network,” inspired performances by Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White can’t bring the main characters to life. (www.newyorker.com)
“Degenerates” Is Funny, Pervy, and Startling - Else Went’s new play dares to display some empathy for the troubled denizens of the manosphere. (www.newyorker.com)
“The Social Reckoning” Shows How It All Went Wrong - Mark Zuckerberg, the C.E.O. of Meta, urged his employees to “move fast and break things.” Aaron Sorkin’s new film depicts the aftermath. (www.newyorker.com)
Why Donald Trump Is Pausing His Crackdown on Salvadoran Immigrants - The President’s delay in ending Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans highlights a tension between his nativist agenda and the industries that rely on immigrant labor. (www.newyorker.com)
Back to School, in Gaza - My nephews study in a big tent surrounded by bombed-out houses. They have no access to chairs or tables, so they sit on the dirt. (www.newyorker.com)
Will Netanyahu Escape His Reckoning? - In his bid for reëlection, the Israeli Prime Minister is doing everything in his power to smear his opponents and evade blame for the security fiasco of October 7th. (www.newyorker.com)
How the Billions from the Opioid Settlement Are Being Spent - Some of the money, which is difficult to track, has gone to recovery programs, but much of it has gone to law enforcement—for squad cars, jail costs, drones, and more. (www.newyorker.com)
The Fighting in Ethiopia Is Part of a Far Bigger Conflict - Powers in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and beyond are being drawn toward the conflict, which diplomatic efforts have failed to stop. (www.newyorker.com)
“Fear Fokol” Looks Inside the Private-Security Forces That Patrol Johannesburg - The patrolmen hired to protect the city’s wealth operate in a culture of paranoia, inequality, and fragile but well-armed masculinity. (www.newyorker.com)
How “Edinburgh” Reimagines Time to Tell a Story of Trauma - Alexander Chee’s début novel, published twenty-five years ago, collapses past and present in a brilliant account of abuse and its aftermath. (www.newyorker.com)
I’m Starting to Suspect That the F.D.A. Is Just Trying to Get Me to Cook - This morning, the agency urged me to immediately discard my store-bought rotisserie chicken and instead braise a lamb shank in a classic mirepoix. (www.newyorker.com)
MacKenzie Scott’s Substack Novel Can’t Escape the Amazon Juggernaut - Scott’s decision to self-publish could be seen as a protest against her ex-husband’s company—or as a sign of how profoundly it’s altered the publishing landscape. (www.newyorker.com)
How to Fight Your Landlord, the Heel - In Williamsburg, wrestlers dressed like Zohran Mamdani and a cockroach take turns in the ring. Their opponent? The big, bad Slumlord. (www.newyorker.com)
Why Is Illness So Hard to Write About? - A century after Virginia Woolf asked why sickness had failed to become one of literature’s great subjects, writers are still struggling to put physical suffering into words. (www.newyorker.com)
How Lists Became Our Greatest Defense Against Endless Slop - A form that was once emblematic of the internet’s frivolity has become our preferred way of expressing taste, with the New York Times and Letterboxd users alike clamoring to define the canon. (www.newyorker.com)
Year of the Horse - After a young tourist was killed in a Central Park carriage accident this summer, the City Council is considering whether to ban horse-drawn carriages forever. (www.newyorker.com)
The Battle for the Post-Trump Right - For decades, the Heritage Foundation was a conservative powerhouse. Can it stay relevant in the influencer age? (www.newyorker.com)