January 6, five years later
Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.
How Donald Trump tried to ground NASA’s science missions
My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms
DISSENT MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Socialism in the City’…
Wolfram Lacher and Yvan Guichaoua
Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and Alan Yan
“What we have is a fundamental change in the age structure of society,” says John Rowe, professor of health policy and aging at Columbia University’s Aging Center, referring to the way we’re aging—and also the way we’re creating young people, with birth rates plummeting in most countries. Globally, fertility levels have dropped below the so-called population replacement rate of just over two births per woman.
It is a sea change—and one that raises big questions about how we both individually and collectively navigate what, in a sense, is our new old age. How, for example, should we spend our extra time? Should employment still be confined to a finite number of years, or instead ebb and flow throughout an entire lifetime? And where, in a world of acute housing shortages, will everyone live?
Here are our picks for the advances to watch in the years ahead—and why we think they matter right now.
By studying large language models as if they were living things instead of computer programs, scientists are discovering some of their secrets for the first time.
Omar Yaghi thinks crystals with gaps that capture moisture could bring technology from “Dune” to the arid parts of Earth.
Developers are navigating confusing gaps between expectation and reality. So are the rest of us.
THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features Barry Blitt’s “Guzzler” – Trump’s thirst for Venezuela.
He once defied the G.O.P. by blasting military interventions. But what looked like anti-interventionism is really a preference for power freed from the pretense of principle. By Daniel Immerwahr
The U.S., once Denmark’s closest ally, is threatening to steal Greenland and attacking the country’s wind-power industry. Is this a permanent breakup? By Margaret Talbot
As Secretary of State, the President’s onetime foe now offers him lavish displays of public praise—and will execute his agenda in Venezuela and around the globe. By Dexter Filkins
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 1.11.26 Issue features Sam Anderson on “The Pitt”; Matthew Shaer on bullying; Pahrul Sehgal on the “masculinity crisis”; and more.
Noah Wyle and his castmates turned one harrowing day at an E.R. into an unforgettable season of television. Can they do it again?
Why do men find it so hard to connect with other people, and their own emotions? By Parul Sehgal
They were developed during the civil rights movement to reduce harm, but their rampant use during anti-ICE protests has led to a new kind of violence. By Clayton Dalton
After his son was repeatedly attacked, Rick Kuehner reached out to his suburban school, to the police and to other parents. The violence only got worse. By Matthew Shaer
Donald Trump consigned the remnants of the rules-based international order to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea as US forces extracted Nicolás Maduro to face trial in the US. With allies and adversaries of Washington still adjusting to last weekend’s audacious assault on Caracas, Trump and his inner circle are thinking about their next steps to secure US interests in what they regard as “our hemisphere”.
Our reporting team, led by Latin American correspondent Tom Phillips, gauges the reaction to Maduro’s abduction on the ground in Caracas and among Venezuela’s closest neighbours, while Dan Sabbagh explains how the US military had planned and executed the operation.
Since the start of the US military buildup and blockade of Venezuela, Trump had claimed that Maduro needed to be “brought to justice” for his alleged role in drug trafficking, which Trump claimed had caused thousands of deaths in the US. But, as international commentators Julian Borger and Nesrine Malik explain, that has proved the thinnest of justifications and already by last Saturday it was clear that Venezuela’s huge oil reserves were uppermost on his mind.
Spotlight | Iran in turmoil
An ailing economy and plummeting exchange rate have prompted the biggest street protests in many years, report Deepa Parent and William Christou
Science | Is de-extinction really possible?
Bringing woolly mammoths and dire wolves back to life captured the public’s imagination last year but, Patrick Greenfield reports, there are questions around what can actually be achieved
Feature | The power and purpose of guilt
Psychologist Chris Moore saw first-hand how powerful and complex an emotion it is, as he explains to Emine Saner
Opinion | Adieu to the French art of lunch
Paul Taylor mourns the demise of a convivial lunch at a bistro serving freshly prepared food and the end of an unpretentious part of working culture
Culture | Is the crisis in masculinty just a joke?
It’s a ridiculous time to be male – and that’s good news for a new genre of social media comedy poking fun at the manosphere, finds Matthew Cantor
COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Portmeirion’ – A vision of the picturesque.
A peculiar genius
Kathryn Ferry salutes the fore-sight of Clough Williams-Ellis a century on from the opening of his Picturesque confection at Portmeirion in Gwynedd
The winter ritual of wassailing is an ancient plea for abundant apple harvests that is indulged in to this day, finds Laura Parker
Shoot for the stars
Relive the most memorable moments of the past 100 years with 22 incredible images chosen by Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson and Carla Passino
London Life
Will Hosie considers how water defines and divides Londoners and ponders the possible renewal of a rivalry between the National Gallery and Tate Modern, plus our writers have all you need to know this month
In the garden
Grow ground nuts, says Mark Diacono, and enjoy tubers with a taste of nutty new potatoes
Helen Allen’s favourite painting
The executive director of the US Winter Show picks an intriguing portrait sporting a quizzical look
Country-house treasure
John Goodall is captivated by the fighting cats in a 17th-century mosaic above the Long Library fireplace at Holkham Hall, Norfolk
The legacy: Agatha Christie
Kate Green acclaims murder-mystery-writing maestro Agatha Christie, whose 66 detective novels have sold more than two billion copies worldwide
Playing your cards right
Matthew Dennison is holding all the aces as he traces the history of playing cards right back to 9th-century China
The good stuff
Glide seamlessly into 2026 with Amie Elizabeth White’s stylish selections for the ski slopes
Interiors
Giles Kime welcomes the world of possibilities offered by free-standing kitchens and Arabella Youens admires the boot room of a house in Gloucestershire
Shining a light on the past
Carl Linnaeus’s glorious 18th-century herbarium is showcased in a new collection of exquisite photographs by Lena Granefel, discovers Christopher Stocks
Travel
Pamela Goodman takes in peerless Himalayan panoramas from a remote luxury lodge in India and, in her monthly column, wonders what the Normans did for us
Arts & antiques
Actor and poet Leigh Lawson tells Carla Passino why he will never part with memorabilia dedicated to music-hall queen Marie Lloyd, his great-aunt
Scale model
Abundant mackerel was once greeted with garlands thrown into the sea. David Profumo profiles Scomber scombrus
FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The World Minus One’ – The emergence of a post-American order.
Managing the global order with an antagonistic Washington. By Amitav Acharya
U.S. allies and partners are taking steps toward a post-American nuclear order.Rebecca Lissner, Erin D. Dumbacher
Beijing never bought the argument that reducing emissions would cause economic harm. Kelly Sims Gallagher
Allies fear that Washington is retreating from leadership at the worst possible time. Rishi Iyengar
THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest cover features Harry Bliss’s “Wintry Mix” – Braving the cold.
Voters voted for it, even if they weren’t sure what it was. But maps are the ideal metaphor for our models of what the world might be. By Adam Gopnik
The congresswoman split with the President over the Epstein files, then she quit. Where will she go from here? By Charles Bethea
Will Pope Leo XIV follow the progressive example of his predecessor or chart a more moderate course? His work in Chicago and Peru may shed light on his approach. By Paul Elie
Intellicurious 