The Magazine
March 7, 2022
Goings On
Tables for Two
Every Night Is a Party at Dept of Culture Brooklyn
At a new Nigerian restaurant in Bed-Stuy, Ayo Balogun makes communal dinners for twelve that might include scorching fish pepper soup, a funky stew made with fermented locust beans, and spiced grilled octopus.
By David Kortava
Art
The Rich Legacy of Buddhism
The Brooklyn Museum exhibits some seventy objects of Buddhist art, made in fourteen countries between the second century A.D. and the early two-thousands.
The Talk of the Town
David Remnick on Vladimir Putin’s historic delusion; building a better COVID test; “The Music Man”; Ai Weiwei’s exhibit of fakes; the chill rise of glaive.
D.I.Y. Dept.
Glaive Is Acing Hyperpop, Failing Math Class
The seventeen-year-old pop singer, who began making music as a COVID diversion, chats in his bedroom about his inspiration (girls), his current grade in math (54), and life as a sudden star.
By André Wheeler
Innovation Dept.
Breathalyze Your Way to a COVID Diagnosis
Bo Gehring, eighty, has helped Jeff Koons with 3-D imaging, invented motorcycle brakes, and made a hamburger fly, catching the eye of Steven Spielberg. Next up: a low-tech COVID test.
By Sue Halpern
The Boards
Band Camp on Broadway
Blake Lively and Seth Meyers came out to salute the première of “The Music Man”; so did forty-five New York teen-agers armed with clarinets and sousaphones.
By Sarah Larson
U.K. Postcard
Ai Weiwei’s Fake-Art Exhibit
The artist and activist does a final inspection of the antiquities (some counterfeit) and the scan of his brain after a police beating (real) at his new show, which mixes the phony and the authentic.
By Daniel Penny
Comment
Putin’s Bloody Folly in Ukraine
The Russian leader’s assault on a sovereign state has not only helped to unify the West against him; it has helped to unify Ukraine itself.
By David Remnick
Reporting & Essays
A Reporter at Large
The Elephant in the Courtroom
A curious legal crusade to redefine personhood is raising profound questions about the interdependence of the animal and human kingdoms.
By Lawrence Wright
Portfolio
In Ukraine, Daily Life in the Face of War
Through years of conflict, people in eastern Ukraine have sought a semblance of normal existence—one that’s now under siege.
Photography by Mark Neville
Science
A Journey to the Center of Our Cells
Biologists are discovering the true nature of cells—and learning to build their own.
By James Somers
Annals of Activism
The Youth Movement Trying to Revolutionize Climate Politics
Sunrise has already shifted the conventional wisdom about climate change. Now it wants to create a mass movement, combining street protest with policy negotiation, while there’s still time.
By Andrew Marantz
Shouts & Murmurs
Fiction
The Critics
The Theatre
Shifting Identities in Sanaz Toossi’s “English”
In a play about a TOEFL class in Iran, speaking a second language isn’t just a way to say the same things differently but a way to be different.
By Alexandra Schwartz
Books
Claire-Louise Bennett’s Women Without a Story
In “Checkout 19,” the author once again wages war against narrative, filtering experience through thoughts, textures, and the dark core of the self.
By B. D. McClay
The Art World
Making Way for Faith Ringgold
At ninety-one, the veteran American artist is sorely overdue for canonical status.
By Peter Schjeldahl
Books
The Crisis That Nearly Cost Charles Dickens His Career
The most beloved writer of his age, he had an unfailing sense of what the public wanted—almost.
By Louis Menand
Books
Briefly Noted
“Rebels Against the Raj,” “Eating to Extinction,” “Strangers I Know,” and “Very Cold People.”
The Current Cinema
The Grim Intensity of “Huda’s Salon”
Hany Abu-Assad’s thriller is rubbed raw by the politics of the occupied territories, yet it doesn’t feel like an issue movie.
By Anthony Lane
Poems
Cartoons
1/13
“That word-puzzle gloat of yours is getting old fast.”
Cartoon by Julia Suits
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“New format—this is the semifinal.”
Cartoon by David Sipress
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“Bad enough you’re leaving—did we really need a closing ceremony?”
Cartoon by Liza Donnelly and Carl Kissin
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Cartoon by Roz Chast
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“Oh, this is coffee. I’m just an intern.”
Cartoon by Maddie Dai
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“The police want to ask you a few questions about where you get such good health insurance at such an affordable rate.”
Cartoon by P. C. Vey
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“He’s got a weak left hook, but what do I know, I’m only your mother.”
Cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein
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“Did you get my e-mail about who takes out the trash today?”
Cartoon by E. S. Glenn
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“Well, my baby finally left me. Where do I sign?”
Cartoon by Liana Finck
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Cartoon by Ellis Rosen
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Cartoon by Colin Tom
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“Wow, the stars are really organized tonight.”
Cartoon by Michael Maslin
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“Sorry, if you want access to my emotions, you’re going to have to subscribe to my Patreon.”
Cartoon by Jerald Lewis
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Cartoon Caption Contest
Puzzles & Games Dept.
The Mail
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