Welcome to the Mafia Presidency
That’s a nice business you’ve got there.
What Really Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane
Five years ago, the flight vanished into the Indian Ocean. Officials on land know more about why than they dare to say.
Nobody Cares If Music Is Real Anymore
“Rubber burns, the map fades away / Chasing the ghosts of yesterday.” Sure, fine.
Doomed to Be a Tradwife
Can a marriage ever truly be equal?
America Is Killing Its Chance to Find Alien Life
Cuts to NASA mean that the U.S. likely won’t build the next great space observatory.
Trump Targets Google After Meta and X Payouts
Mark Zuckerberg paid $25 million. Elon Musk followed with $10 million. Now it could be Sundar Pichai’s turn.
The Most Perverse Part of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
The Republican megabill could be setting America up for the worst energy-affordability crisis since the 1970s.
Trump World’s Wizard of Oz Problem
Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon don’t speak for Trump or his base. So why do people think they do?
The ‘Dirty and Nasty People’ Who Became Americans
How 13 colonies came together
The Actor Who Documented His Grief—And Shared It With the World
After his wife died two years ago, Richard E. Grant began to film himself talking about his bereavement, creating a remarkable record of life after loss.
This Summer’s Most Pointless Sequel Is Here
The latest Jurassic World film somehow makes dinosaurs boring.
A Sea Story
One of the worst maritime disasters in European history took place in 1994. It remains very much in the public eye. On a stormy night on the Baltic Sea, more than 850 people lost their lives when a luxurious ferry sank below the waves. From a mass of material, including official and unofficial reports and survivor testimony, our correspondent has distilled an account of the Estonia’s last moments—part of his continuing coverage for the magazine of anarchy on the high seas.
The Most Mysterious Cells in Our Bodies Don’t Belong to Us
You carry literal pieces of your mom—and maybe your grandma, and your siblings, and your aunts and uncles.
Why Rich People Don’t Cover Their Windows
An unexpected status symbol has become a fixture of high-end homes.
Thank God for The Bear
Season 4 of the FX show is exactly what it—and we—needed.
A Red Sprite Gives Astronauts an Incredible Light Show
A powerful discharge lit up the sky high above a thunderstorm over Mexico.
Ah, Exactly What the Founders Wanted!
“Understandably, after almost 250 years, the legislature is tired of being a coequal branch of government and wants to take a nap.”
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
The Ciceronian Secret to Happiness
To feel good, do good.
‘Success Addicts’ Choose Being Special Over Being Happy
The pursuit of achievement distracts from the deeply ordinary activities and relationships that make life meaningful.