The Netflix Royal Drama You Might Not Know About
Helen Lewis’s culture picks include a period drama on “the Habsburg Meghan Markle,” a “majestically petty” Clive James poem, and a certain royal memoir.
Go Ahead and Ban My Book
To those who seek to stop young people from reading The Handmaid’s Tale: Good luck with that. It’ll only make them want to read it more.
The Super Bowl Is an Economic Indicator
How the big game’s ads explain the crypto bubble, the price yo-yo, and the revenge of the touch-grass economy
Can Giorgia Meloni Govern Italy?
A founding European Union member adjusts to its new leader, whose rise breaks a postwar taboo.
America Has Gone Too Far in Legalizing Vice
Our hearts and minds are shaped not only by reason but also by our habits, which are just as often inexplicably self-destructive as they are reasonable.
Why We Lose Our Friends as We Age
The act of choosing friendships is what gives them value.
Attachment Style Isn’t Destiny
Our past experiences do shape our relationships. But we’re not doomed to repeat unhealthy patterns forever.
The Quiet Desperation of Tom Brady
There’s a reason it was so hard for him to retire—he knew the void it would leave.
The Case for a Four-Day Workweek in Maryland
“Given the obvious success of reducing work hours that we’re seeing in businesses across the country and across the world, it only stands to reason that Maryland should try this out.”
Society Tells Me to Celebrate My Disability. What If I Don’t Want To?
On living with cerebral palsy
Blue States Got Too Comfortable
The left has long believed that Democratic states are the future, whereas Republican states are the past. But migration data tell a different story.
What Politicians’ Libraries Tell Us
What, and whether, our world leaders read provides crucial insight into their minds and priorities.
Why Do Fascists Love Dante?
Italy’s far right has misguidedly claimed the medieval poet as one of its own for more than a century.
The Death of the Smart Shopper
Internet retail was supposed to supercharge the informed consumer. What happened?
What’s the Smallest Amount of Therapy That’s Still Effective?
Many people make meaningful emotional progress in just a handful of sessions.
Red Zeppelin
How China’s spy balloon blew up relations with the U.S.
Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes Had to Disprove a Misconception
A historic Super Bowl matchup defies professional football’s reluctance to let Black athletes call plays.
DEI Is an Ideological Test
New College is not a weak target, and if Christopher Rufo wants to challenge an entrenched bureaucracy, then he will have a fair fight.
The Catch-24 of Replacing Joe Biden
Democrats would like a new presidential candidate. The problem is that the current president is plugging along fine.
The Third Law of Magic
A short story
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