The great British switch-off: how floating retreats, mobile-free pubs and sauna book groups are freeing people from their smartphones (www.theguardian.com)
What If We Can Never Trust A.I.? - Like humans, the technology will never be perfect. The question is what imperfections we’re willing to tolerate. (www.newyorker.com)
Forget Albums—Pop Stars Measure Their Careers in Eras Now - Since the earthshaking success of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, artists from the Weeknd to Ariana Grande have tried to imbue their live shows with a sense of history. (www.newyorker.com)
The Flawless Surface of Yves Saint Laurent - A new exhibition at the International Center of Photography presents the designer precisely as he wanted to be seen. (www.newyorker.com)
The Failures of the Fauci Hearing - Senator Rand Paul may have approached the matter with theatrics and ill will, but Dr. Anthony Fauci’s decision not to testify was a loss. (www.newyorker.com)
Why Is Europe Burning? - “We put all these ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and the result is massive fires that far exceed the extinguishing capacity of firefighting teams,” a Spanish firefighter said. (www.newyorker.com)
Mohsin Hamid Reads Haruki Murakami - The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Man-Eating Cats,” which was published in The New Yorker in 2000. (www.newyorker.com)
Obsession-Worthy Stories: A Washington Summer Roundtable - The co-hosts compare notes on the most captivating political dramas of the summer, from Fauci’s Senate hearing to China’s rise on the international stage. (www.newyorker.com)
Glen Hansard’s Street-Corner Stories - Both as a young busker and as a famous singer-songwriter, Hansard understood how to make people stop and listen and feel one single thing. (www.newyorker.com)
Abdul El-Sayed’s Argument for America—and Against His Own Party - The Michigan U.S. Senate candidate on campaigning with Hasan Piker, being a capitalist, and why his fellow-Democrats need to “stop compromising.” (www.newyorker.com)
The Democratic Socialist Running for Mayor of Los Angeles - The city-council member Nithya Raman was an ally of Karen Bass, but Raman launched a challenge against her to bring more “urgency” to fighting the city’s housing crisis. (www.newyorker.com)
The Outlandish Case Against James Comey - The prosecution’s central claim “would be laughable,” one former federal judge noted, if it weren’t intended “to deprive a man of his liberty.” (www.newyorker.com)
Wendy Wasserstein’s Prescient Play - Also: Misty Copeland’s Ballet Festival, the cogent poetry of Noname, the films of Otar Iosseliani, and more. (www.newyorker.com)
In “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Desire and Terror Meet - Jane Schoenbrun’s latest film, which follows a celebrated young filmmaker tapped to reboot an old horror franchise, is a cinematic manifesto that examines how art can inspire both love and fear. (www.newyorker.com)
How to Survive an Infestation of Toxic Caterpillars - The oak processionary caterpillar, which is spreading as Europe warms, fills the air with microscopic hairs that inflict excruciating rashes. (www.newyorker.com)
“The Samurai and the Prisoner” Fits a War Epic Into an Elegant Puzzle Box - In Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s historical drama, a series of puzzling crimes at a besieged fortress yields even more confounding questions about faith, war, and leadership. (www.newyorker.com)
The Accidental Architect of the Internet’s Brain - Steven Pruitt, who is widely regarded as the most prolific Wikipedia editor, has made more than six million edits to the site, and, by extension, has quietly shaped the raw material that every major A.I. chatbot was trained on. (www.newyorker.com)
Inside OpenAI’s Hack of Hugging Face - Hugging Face’s chief science officer recounts the cybercrime that signals a terrifying new era for A.I. (www.newyorker.com)
How Donald Trump Silenced the Voice of America - The agency was created to spread the story of freedom and democracy around the world. Now, with many of its journalists being paid to stay home, it’s delivering a very different message. (www.newyorker.com)
Memorandum from the National Review Committee for National Day Designations - The Committee continues to recognize National Pizza Day, but denies the petition for a distinct New York-Style Pizza Day. (www.newyorker.com)
“Furious” Is a Crime Drama for a Post-Epstein World - Elizabeth Meriwether’s new series, which follows a female killer seeking vengeance against a network of abusers, is brutal, nuanced, and, at times, surprisingly funny. (www.newyorker.com)
Will Left-Wing Democrats Reinvent the Party or Hurt Its Chances in November? - Bernie Sanders’s erstwhile campaign manager explains why he thinks it’s the former. (www.newyorker.com)