CATEGORIES

THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR

IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.

THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR

THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS

THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR

PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.

A Truly Great Time

This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.

The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking

THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.

FRIENDS Like THESE

When Brian Jordan Alvarez finally made it big with his FX series, English Teacher, he brought his friends along with him, just like they'd always dreamed. Except one.

THE LATE EIGHT

AFTER THEY MISSED THEIR CRUISE'S ALL-ABOARD TIME, A GROUP OF PASSENGERS WAS STRANDED ON A REMOTE ISLAND IN AFRICA. THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

WHAT IS MAHA?

HOW WELLNESS CULTURE, WITH LEGITIMATE CONCERNS (and Some Conspiratorial Beliefs), TURNED INTO A POLITICAL MOVEMENT THAT'S POISED TO TAKE OVER WASHINGTON.

The Story Is Offline

Alleged murderer Luigi Mangione left a digital trail but no answers.

120 MINUTES WITH...Alex Cooper

The podcaster launched an \"electrolyte beverage\" with a ski-themed party for her thirstiest fangirlies.

The Battle of the Trump Transition

Nationalists, misfits, Reaganites, and dorks jockey for position.

Enchanting and Exhausting

Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.

Nicole Kidman Lets Loose

She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.

How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality

Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.

The Art of Surrender

Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.

The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back

ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.

Showing Its Age

Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.

Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth

Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.

REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK

THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.

Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras

A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.

Gwen Whiting

Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.

Neighborhood News: The Blockbuster Banana

Maurizio Cattelan's 2019 art-prank piece sells for $6.24 million at Sotheby's, becomes snack.

Power: Kerry Howley

Revenge Does Take Time' What it's like to be on Trump's enemies list.

Trapped in Time

A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.

Polyphonic City

A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.

Lear at the Fountain of Youth

Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.

A Belfast Lad Goes Home

After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.

The Pluck of the Irish

Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"

Houston's on Houston

The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.

A Brownstone That's Pink Inside

Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.