Style
André Aciman on Reading—and Misreading—Emotions
Each of the novellas that make up André Aciman’s new book, “Room on the Sea,” picks apart the intricacies of how people comprehend the feelings of others—or fail to....
The Internet Wants to Check Your I.D.
The app Tea is a kind of digital whisper network for women. No men are allowed to join. Those who wish to be members must submit evidence, including selfies,...
King Princess’s Homecoming
After the Civil War, the German-born Jewish businessman Isidor Straus moved with his family to New York City. Straus was enterprising and handsome, with small round spectacles, an angular...
There Is More to French Opera Than “Carmen” and “Faust”
Virginia Woolf, in her essay “The Lives of the Obscure,” savors the potential fascination of reading authors whom posterity has cast aside: “One likes romantically to feel oneself a...
The Iranian Revolution Almost Didn’t Happen
Strange to think, but there was a time when the United States’ most steadfast ally in the Middle East was Iran. In 1953, the C.I.A. had backed a coup...
How the Poet James Schuyler Wrung Sense from Sensibility
The American poet James Schuyler composed his first significant poem during a nine-week stay at the Payne Whitney Westchester psychiatric clinic, in White Plains, New York, in late 1951....
Amy Sherald’s “Trans Forming Liberty”
The cover of the August 11, 2025, issue, by the artist Amy Sherald, is a portrait of the trans model and performance artist Arewà Basit. The art work is...
Three Plays on the Pancake
Pancake Soufflé at Pitt’sIt’s arguable that this dish, the flagship dessert at chef Jeremy Salamon’s proudly kitschy Red Hook restaurant, isn’t actually a pancake: no pan, no cake. But...
Sterling K. Brown’s Upstanding Archetype
There’s a certain face that only Sterling K. Brown can make. It is yoked to no particular emotional state, and emerges just as often when the actor is conveying...
The Banal Provocation of Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans
Two American blondes have recently hawked denim. Beyoncé, an ambassador for Levi’s, dressed in outlaw drag, arrives at a semi-deserted laundromat. She slinks out of her 501s, revealing her...
