World
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?
As Sacks aged, he felt as if he were gazing at people from the outside. But he also noticed a new kind of affection for humans—“homo sap.” “They’re quite...
Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet’s “Christmas Avenue”
Last year, the Paris-based artist Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet did a residency at Villa Albertine, which gave him the opportunity to experience the bustling energy of the Big Apple. For the...
The New Studio Museum in Harlem Is a Landmark in the History of Black Art
I had to wait for the next generation—my older sister—to break through that uncertainty and introduce me to the political, social, and aesthetic significance of Harlem. In my sister’s...
Two New Movies Revivify the Portrait-Film Genre
Documentaries about individuals are ubiquitous, but “Suburban Fury” and “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” explore the filmmaker-subject relationship in ways that recall classics of the form....
Chloé Zhao Has Looked Into the Void
How did this book make its way to you?I was driving through New Mexico to the Telluride Film Festival, and that’s when Amblin [Steven Spielberg’s production company] called me...
A Holiday Gift Guide: Gear for the Coffee Nerd
When you make a purchase using a link on this page, we may receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The New Yorker.You probably know somebody who loves coffee: drinking...
Sarah Sherman Is Grosser Than You Think
Once Sherman began her set, though, storming onstage with her middle fingers raised and immediately insulting the audience (“Shut up! Fuck you!”), I realized that I was in for...
Are We Getting Stupider?
For nineteenth-century writers like Gustave Flaubert, the concept of stupidity came to encompass the lazy drivel of cliché and received opinion; one of Flaubert’s characters says that, in mass...
Building a State of Fear in “Extremist”
On November 16, 2023, Sasha Skochilenko, a thirty-three-year-old artist, poet, and musician, stood in court to give what is known in the Russian judicial system as the “last word”—final...