The 12.3.23 Issue

Highlights

The Chicken Tycoons vs. the Antitrust Hawks
As part of a broader campaign against anticompetitive practices, the Biden administration has taken on the chicken industry. Why have the results been so paltry?
By H. Claire Brown
CreditPhoto illustration by Pablo Delcan
I Wanna Be Curated: Can You Really Put Punk in a Museum?
In Las Vegas, the answer is a resounding yes — and why not throw in a wedding chapel and a bar, too?
By Brett Martin
CreditJamie Lee Taete for The New York Times
Behind the Scenes of the Most Spectacular Show on TV
Months of preparation, hundreds of staff, convoys of cutting-edge gear: inside the machine that crafts prime time’s most popular entertainment.
By Jody Rosen
CreditBrian Finke for The New York Times
Why Anonymous Sperm Donation Is Over, and Why That Matters
Activists are trying to end secrecy for sperm and egg donors — a campaign that troubles some L.G.B.T.Q. families.
By Emily Bazelon
CreditPhoto illustration by Derek Brahney

I’m White. Should I Repatriate My African Art?
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on whether to return artwork to its original source.
By Kwame Anthony Appiah
CreditIllustration by Tomi Um
THE Ethicist
My Dead Relative May Have Been a Racist Gangster. How Can I Help His Kids?
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on how to support family amid troubling circumstances.
By Kwame Anthony Appiah
CreditIllustration by Tomi Um
The Ethicist
Martin Scorsese’s Unwise Guys
From Travis Bickle to the protagonist of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the director has excelled at depicting a certain kind of male antihero.
By Jim Shepard
CreditPhoto illustration by Alex Merto
Screenland
The Longer This Cake Soaks, the Better It Is
The faint bitterness of Thai tea gets absorbed into tres leches, checking the sweetness, so it’s just enough.
By Ligaya Mishan
CreditLinda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.
Eat
Kids’ Books That Don’t Ignore the Dark Side of Life
It would be tempting to allow my son to believe in a world that will never betray him, but I want him to know better.
By Rachel Vorona Cote
CreditDavid Williams for The New York Times
Letter of Recommendation

Poem: I look at the world
A poem from Langston Hughes discovered by a rare-books cataloger in Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
By Langston Hughes
CreditIllustration by R. O. Blechman
Poem
Judge John Hodgman on What to Do With Takeout Sauce Packets
His wife’s stash is getting out of hand.
By John Hodgman
CreditIllustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy