Magazine
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Judge John Hodgman on Birthday Traditions
Abigail writes: During birthdays, my mother makes everyone say nice things about the birthday honoree. I am one of four…
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Poem: Postlude
In a poem of mine, I once borrowed the lines “If you can’t be free, be a mystery” from Rita…
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These Literary Memoirs Take a Different Tack
IN CERTAIN FAMILIES, there’s only room for one storyteller, and in mine, it was my grandfather. Grandpa O’Grady was always…
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The Ancient History and Enduring Appeal of Flying a Kite
ONE NIGHT AROUND two millenniums ago, a Han dynasty general sent a square-shaped assemblage of bamboo and cloth into the…
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Why Is Every Young Person in America Watching ‘The Sopranos’?
Listen to This Article Audio Recording by AudmTo hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download…
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Stop Spreading the News: The Case for a New York Without Tourists
Disasters never really make sense. Part of the brilliance of Damon Lindelof’s HBO adaptation of “Watchmen” was its ability to…
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A Perfect Pancake for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner
Madhur Jaffrey once made me a stack of warm besan cheela for breakfast — crisp-edged, soft-centered, chickpea-flour pancakes. Or was…
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Theater’s New Glass Menageries
IN A WORLD filtered through screens, a condition made even more acute during pandemic lockdown, the theater’s most anachronistic thrill…
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What Does It Mean to Eat What You Fear?
THE BOX JELLYFISH pulses through the water, so translucent it appears more outline than flesh, with its dropped handkerchief of…
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When Dasani Left Home
The city shrinks from view. Cars pass along the highway. Dasani Coates looks out the window, seeing trees and snowy…