Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed went from being seen as a potential anvil for the Democrats to a game-changer within the party. Read more in today’s WSJ Politics Newsletter: (on.wsj.com)
The civil lawsuit a young woman recently filed against Cornell University and seven fraternity brothers, alleging sexual abuse two years ago, has reignited America’s debate about sexual consent (on.wsj.com)
Voters from the left and the right are finding a common, populist ground targeting American corporations. And this anger is going beyond just Big Tech. Read more in today’s WSJ Politics Newsletter: (on.wsj.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)
Ernie Bushmiller’s Sunday Morning, Live - In 1976, the artist behind the “Nancy” comic was slighted on “S.N.L.” A new Off Off Broadway show tells the tale of the day after. (www.newyorker.com)
Ellen Allien’s Hill of Sound - On a trip to the Cooper Hewitt museum, the techno d.j. reflects on her latest album, “New Life,” and on how Michael Jackson and ABBA haunted her Berlin childhood. (www.newyorker.com)
How Test Engineers Decide What Counts as Good Enough - Test engineers stage reality, sometimes by extreme means, to make sure airplanes don’t fall apart, children can’t open pill bottles, and bears won’t break into coolers. (www.newyorker.com)
Arthur Jafa’s “I Am Tony,” Reviewed - In “I Am Tony,” a retrospective at the New Museum, the artist takes his remixing of the past to its outer limits. (www.newyorker.com)