The Immortal Mel Brooks

The 2,000-year-old man turns 97 this summer. I talked with him about fighting in World War II, his life in comedy, and the secret to happiness.

IN DEFENSE OF HUMANITY

We need a cultural and philosophical movement to meet the rise of artificial superintelligence.

The Canadian Way of Death

The nation legalized assisted suicide-and exposed the limits of liberalism

Writing in the Ruins

The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck cuts through dogma, fractures time, and preserves rubble

Surrender to Steely Dan

How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners

Call of the Wild

The enduring appeal of watching human beings attempt to master the Alaskan backcountry

Night at the Vatican

After the tourists go home, a museum's collection tells its own story

THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE

The future of the democratic world will be determined by whether the Ukrainian military can break a stalemate with Russia and drive the country backward-sperhaps even out of Crimea for good

American Madness

Thousands of people with severe mental illness have been failed by a dysfunctional system. My friend Michael was one of them. Twenty-five years ago, he killed the person he loved most.

The New Anarchy

America faces a type of extremist violence it does not know how to stop.

The Age in Your Head

I'm 53 years old. I feel 36.

How to Look at a Vermeer

The artist left behind few clues about his life or intentions, but the paintings themselves teach the viewer new ways to see.

The Poet Facing Down the End of the World

Jorie Graham has a message for us

The Pornography Paradox

Reformers fear that ever more outré sites are warping users' desires. But transgression has always been part of the appeal.

How Taylor Swift Infiltrated Dude Rock

On the unlikeliest, most fruitful collaboration in contemporary music

The MAGIC KINGDOM of RON DESANTIS

My very British romp through America's weirdest state

IS HOLOCAUST EDUCATION MAKING ANTI-SEMITISM WORSE?

Using dead Jews as symbols isn't helping living ones.

The Ice-Cream Conspiracy

STUDIES SHOW A MYSTERIOUS HEALTH BENEFIT TO ICE CREAM. SCIENTISTS DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

America's Future is at Sea

The nation is ceding the seas to its enemies. It's not too late to avoid catastrophe.

"Two of Every Race"

A family's impossible quest to erase prejudice through transracial adoption

"We Belong Here"

In 1991, the family landed at a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia. There, Al-Badry got his first camera, a Pentax K1000.

We're Already in the Metaverse

Reality is blurred. Boredom is intolerable. And everything is entertainment.

A New Way to Read Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald never explicitly states Jay Gatsby's race.

Second Life

During Donnie's first week in the mixed unit (drugs and crazy), a girl threw a TV set out the window because she thought it was criticizing her. Donnie walked to the window to look. \"Probably was,\" he mumbled.

Love Annihilated

The Irish writer Sebastian Barry's great subject

The Scandalous, Clueless, Irresistible Oscars

How the Academy holds on to its prestige despite a history of embarrassment

We're All Invited to the Lighthouse

On the Isle of Skye with Virginia Woolf and my mom

In Their Feelings

The indelible, indomitable voices of Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey

Judy Blume Goes All the Way

A new generation discovers the poet laureate of puberty.

Arnold's Last Act

What happens when the Terminator turns 75