“Bitter Christmas” Is Pedro Almodóvar’s Gift to Us - In the dazzling meta-drama, two filmmakers—one the brainchild of the other—ponder what friends owe one another and what artists owe themselves. (www.newyorker.com)
How an Unlikely Charles de Gaulle Bio-Pic Conquered France - Bringing the French general to the big screen has historically been a fraught enterprise. Antonin Baudry says that his two-part epic succeeded because it “managed to crack the character.” (www.newyorker.com)
The Technofeudalist Nightmare of K-12 Curricula - Public schools are financing private capital's love affair with ed-tech and A.I. Students are paying the price. (www.newyorker.com)
“Club Kid” and the New Fatherhood - The archetype of the father onscreen has come a long way from the patriarchs of the postwar era. The new film “Club Kid” joins a wave of recent works that interrogate what we want from dads today—in art and in life. (www.newyorker.com)
The Candidates Who Defeated the Politics of White Grievance - Will Democrats’ breakthrough in the South transform their party’s view of a winning campaign? (www.newyorker.com)
Dear Age-Gap Expert - It’s common for energy levels to decline as people age. Additionally, the American Civil War was particularly exhausting. (www.newyorker.com)
What Is It About Rock Music and Fascism? - A recent survey of pop stars’ flirtations with Nazi imagery raises questions about morality, media, and spectacle. (www.newyorker.com)
Intimate Books About Self-Analysis and Spirituality - Meghan O’Gieblyn, the author of “Will and Attention,” on writing about oneself. (www.newyorker.com)
Now What?: How the Midterm Results Will Change America - Republicans have suffered one of the worst midterm defeats in modern history. As they regroup, and Democrats weigh what to do with their new power, New Yorker writers asked people from across the political spectrum—from Pete Buttigieg and Zohran Mamdani to Sarah Longwell and Oren Cass—what comes next. (www.newyorker.com)
The Afterlife of Diana’s Revenge Dress - Three decades ago, the Princess of Wales responded to Charles’s televised confession of infidelity with what would become the most famous little black dress of all time. Now it’s up for auction—and Camilla is Queen. (www.newyorker.com)
The Mothers We Pay - Two début novels, Courtney Bush’s “Learning” and K Chiucarello’s “Nanny Nanny,” look at the rewards—and the perils—of losing one’s self in child care. (www.newyorker.com)
What Jensen Huang’s Affair Means for Nvidia - What did Huang—and the Trump Administration—know about the alleged Chinese spy he was involved with? (www.newyorker.com)
What Is Biography For? - In “Transcendence for Beginners,” the philosopher Clare Carlisle suggests that any life, even an ordinary one, is a portal to divinity. (www.newyorker.com)
Gifts for Discerning Design Lovers - Everyday objects that are utilitarian, durable, minimalist, and aesthetic—and likely to sell out. (www.newyorker.com)
Changing Our Relationship to Technology Will Require Collective Action - Many of us are making individual efforts to use our phones less, or to avoid A.I. But we will need to work together. (www.newyorker.com)