Culture
The Design of “Maniac” Offers an Uncanny Imitation of Life
As if set-dressed in REM sleep, the Netflix series assembles a messy archive of cultural memory.
- Onward and Upward in the Garden
Why Are You So Good at Killing Your Houseplants?
One of the most nefarious myths—a true enemy of modern happiness—is the idea that some of us have green fingers or thumbs.
- Dept. of Design
Remembering Robert Venturi, the Close Reader of Architecture
Venturi and his partner, Denise Scott Brown, viewed architecture as a combat sport, but one that required wit and grace, as well as accommodation for the unusual, extrinsic, and incongruent.
The Latest
A Gay Photographer Chronicles His Intergenerational Trysts
In our current moment, which is vigilant against power imbalances, Matthew Morrocco’s celebration of intergenerational sex risks inducing discomfort, but his portraits present him and his models in tender symbioses.
Which Artists Should the Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa Invite to the Moon?
Maezawa has said that he would like his passengers on SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket to be drawn from a range of fields, including painting.
The Promise of Oil for the People Around the Caspian Sea
People go to Naftalan to bathe in the crude oil that pours like brown sludge from overhead tanks through gurgling pipes into stained baths, hoping to benefit from its alleged healing properties.
What’s New in Streaming: “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?,” a Documentary About Unredressed Injustice
Travis Wilkerson’s film is one of journalistic inquiry, family secrets, and self-questioning.
“Life Itself” Is Excruciating, Ill-Conceived, and Mainly About Death
In this solipsistic new feature, the writer and director Dan Fogelman dispatches his characters with all the feeling reserved for chess pieces.
Goings On
Richard Bean Takes on the Surprisingly Seedy World of Pro Snooker
The English playwright’s new comedy, “The Nap,” stars Ben Schnetzer as a rising champion and culminates in a live onstage tournament.
At Sofreh, a Prolific Home Cook Brings Persian Fare to Prospect Heights
In her restaurant début, Nasim Alikhani’s front-of-house style seems just as intuitive as her interpretations of a cuisine sorely underrepresented in the city.
Apothéke’s Boozy Prescriptions
Rite Aid-chic bartenders blend intoxicants with ingredients ranging from cucumber and lemongrass to roasted seaweed and duck fat at the Chinatown cocktail spot.
Introducing The New Yorker Recommends, where our writers share their cultural enthusiasms.
The Critics
“The Sisters Brothers” Is Not Your Average Western
In Jacques Audiard’s film, the characters played by John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix seem to be searching for a less violent way of being.
Rackstraw Downes and Malcolm Morley, Renegades from Sixties Abstraction
Downes’s meticulous restraint and Morley’s stylistic compulsions blazed new trails for painting.
Mind Games on “Maniac” and “Dietland”
Set in similar landscapes of unreality, the two shows reflect a familiar modern mood: we’re all living in crazytown.
“Washington Black” Reveals the Bonds of Both Cruelty and Compassion
The tormented friendship at the heart of Esi Edugyan’s third novel complicates the story of a slave’s path to freedom.
Most Popular
- 1.
- 2.Our Columnists
The Boys’ Club That Protects Brett Kavanaugh
- 3.A Reporter at Large
A Loaded Gun
- 4.Personal History
My Mother and Her Scammer
- 5.
Never miss a story! Click here to follow The New Yorker’s @culturedesk on Twitter. »
Photo Booth
The Animal and the Edible in Sarah Lucas’s Self-Portraits
In these images, Lucas is commanding and sober-seeming, even when her environs offer a subversive note of humor.
Podcasts
Illeana Douglas Steps Forward, and Rachel Carson at Sea
The actress describes her experience with Leslie Moonves, the former head of CBS, who she says derailed her career. And we go to sea with Rachel Carson.
Video
The Last Meal Before I Die: Ramen
From Maruchan to Momofuku, a look at America’s love affair with the savory noodle.