Annals of Technology
Does A.I. Need a Constitution?
A new set of precepts is meant to make the chatbot Claude wise, decent, and safe. It also marks a striking transfer of public responsibility from constitutional government to private tech firms.
By Jill Lepore
Letter from the Southwest
The Antifa Trial
After a shooting at an ICE facility, protesters were charged with attempted murder—then the government added terrorism charges.
By Rachel Monroe
The Current Cinema
In “Kontinental ’25,” a Guilty Conscience Isn’t Enough
In Radu Jude’s blistering contemporary riff on Roberto Rossellini, a tragic death sends a bailiff spiralling into a futile campaign of self-flagellation.
By Justin Chang
Pop Music
The BTS Machine Lurches Back to Life
The biggest band in the world took a nearly four-year hiatus. A new album, “Arirang,” heralds their meticulously plotted return.
By Mitch Therieau
On Television
“Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat” and Age of the Prestige Prank Show
The series, returning for a second season, is the latest example of a new breed—one that relies on elaborate, full-immersion experiments rather than on one-off stunts.
By Inkoo Kang
Musical Events
A “Baritenor” Soars in “Tristan und Isolde”
At the Met, Michael Spyres uses his broad vocal range to stunning effect, but Lise Davidsen loses power when she leaves her brilliant upper register.
By Alex Ross
The Front Row
In “Yes,” an Israeli Filmmaker Charges Israel with Self-Satisfied Brutality
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Nadav Lapid’s furiously satirical drama, about a musician’s willful complicity in a war he reviles, tells a vast story of personal and national degradation.
By Richard Brody
Under Review
Liza Minnelli’s Uncharacteristic Pivot to Self-Disclosure
In a new memoir, Minnelli discusses her life more candidly than she has before. But her truest self has always emerged on stage.
By Matt Weinstock
What We’re Reading
A book of essays that explores what we want from the lives that we secretly imagine for ourselves; an engrossing novel that follows a teen-age girl in working-class Tokyo as she desperately tries to achieve financial stability; and more.
Profiles
Robyn, on Her Own
The pop star brings motherhood and middle age to the dance floor.
By Jia Tolentino
Books
Engels in the Outfield
A radical history of the Mets insists that baseball can still be the people’s game.
By Adam Gopnik
Letter from Havana
Is Cuba Next?
Trump’s campaign to topple foreign adversaries encounters a battered but defiant regime.
By Jon Lee Anderson
The Weekend Essay
My Season of Ativan
Both of my parents were in hospice, on opposite coasts. Then I found out that I had breast cancer.
By Amanda Peet
Dispatch
What the War Has Done to Iranians
A civilian in Tehran chronicles a country trapped between bombardment and repression—too terrorized to move, let alone start an uprising.
By Cora Engelbrecht
In Case You Missed It
I had not noticed him. He came to stand in front of me, and asked if I was nervous, doing that, talking in front of people. He said he’d seen me looking at my notes, practicing. I do this all the time, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. I said, “I was nervous, but once I’m talking, I am fine.” He asked me if I taught, like my friend whom he knew from work. I spoke in a matter-of-fact way. I didn’t laugh or giggle when he wasn’t funny.Continue reading »
Daily Cartoon
“It’s your bracket—I’m afraid it’s busted.” Cartoon by Tyson Cole