I Write About the Law. But Could I Really Help Free a Prisoner?
For years as a journalist, I’ve covered attempts to exonerate incarcerated people. But a letter from Yutico Briley led to a different kind of story.
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The 7.4.21 Issue
Highlights
CreditRuddy Roye for The New York Times - Essay
The War on History Is a War on Democracy
A scholar of totalitarianism argues that new laws restricting the discussion of race in American schools have dire precedents in Europe.
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CreditFlip Schulke/Corbis/Getty Images Is There a Right Way to Act Blind?
Activists slammed the TV show “In the Dark” for casting a sighted actress in a blind lead role. But what if blindness is a performance of its own?
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CreditIllustration by Dadu Shin A Few Tennis Pros Make a Fortune. Most Barely Scrape By.
The superstars of pro tennis get paid staggeringly more than everyone else. Can a new players’ association help level the court?
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CreditIllustrations by Mario Meneses
LeVar Burton’s Quest to Succeed Alex Trebek
“ ‘Jeopardy!’ is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant.”
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CreditMamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times TalkWhat Should I Do With My Grandfather’s Cringey Canvases?
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on the nudes that are no longer socially acceptable.
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CreditTomi Um The EthicistLetter of Recommendation: Gossip
As it says in Proverbs: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels.”
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CreditGwendle Le Bec Letter of RecommendationThe Best Way to Cook Vegetables: Low and Slow
Crisp vegetables are often prized, but long-cooking them into tenderness can bring out their deepest flavors.
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CreditDavid Malosh for The New York Times. Food stylist: Sue Li. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas. EatWhen James Baldwin Was a ‘Has-Been’
A never-aired interview with the writer emerges — at a moment when we’re as attentive to him as ever.
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CreditPhoto illustration by Trevor Davis Screenland
How to Undress Someone Quickly
Don’t start frantically grabbing at someone’s garments; trust is key. Let the person you’re disrobing do some of the work.
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CreditIllustration by Radio TipThe ghazal is an M.C.’s form: repeating words, a rhyme scheme and self-referential. The good ones become like a prayer.
By Agha Shahid Ali and
CreditIllustration by R. O. Blechman PoemJudge John Hodgman on the Gendering of Sipping Straws
A mother-in-law takes a jab at her son-in-law’s drinking preferences.
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CreditIllustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy Judge John Hodgman
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