Finally, the Beginning of Trump’s End - Reflections on a midterm campaign in which our octogenarian President waged war—against algae in the Reflecting Pool. (www.newyorker.com)
The Insistent Monumentality of “La Bola Negra” - In Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s historical triptych, dramas of gay repression and liberation dovetail in ways more reductive than illuminating. (www.newyorker.com)
Life as a D.C. Insider, as Imagined by a D.C. Outsider - I text my best friend, Coal Lobby, and ask if he wants to play outside. “Sorry, I have to be at the Capitol today,” he replies. He adds a sad emoji. I cry. (www.newyorker.com)
Nothing Is Stopping the Flood of A.I. Political Ads - An A.I.-generated Josh Shapiro talking about “deleting incriminating e-mails.” An A.I.-generated Abdul El-Sayed and the words “DEATH TO AMERICA.” They’re not real, but can voters tell the difference? (www.newyorker.com)
Did the World Just Gain Hundreds of Millions of Alzheimer’s Patients? - A new definition of Alzheimer’s includes people without symptoms. Experts are fiercely divided over whether that makes sense—and whether the new drugs really help. (www.newyorker.com)
Reliving the Bronx’s Biggest Battle - In 1776, Continental Army soldiers defended what is now Glover’s Rock from the British. The other day, reënactors did it all again at Orchard Beach. (www.newyorker.com)
The Trouble with Saying What You Mean - In “The Channel,” the poet Jana Prikryl borrows voices from Shakespeare and her own past to explore exile, family, and the possibilities of expressing private grief. (www.newyorker.com)
Why Immigration Agents Don’t Quit in Protest - How a culture of dehumanization and denial keeps ICE and Border Patrol personnel “at war with an enemy that does not fight back.” (www.newyorker.com)
Roy Lichtenstein’s Witty Critiques of Masculinity - The artist’s best work, in a new retrospective at the Whitney Museum, directs his campy humor at gender stereotypes. (www.newyorker.com)
The Telephone’s Tangled History of Intimacy and Control - “Music Against the Night,” “Her Kind,” “A World We Share,” and “The Flying Death.” (www.newyorker.com)
The MAGA Faithful Eye the Exits - With polls suggesting a bleak midterms for the G.O.P., Trumpworld in D.C. is girding itself for congressional subpoenas and preparing pardon requests. (www.newyorker.com)
New Jersey, the Diesel State - A data center in the Meadowlands recently leaked five thousand gallons of fuel into a nearby creek. The Riverkeeper of the Hackensack gives a tour. (www.newyorker.com)
Dante de Blasio Is Off Vocal Rest - As a newborn, the son of the former mayor won free music lessons for life at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music—and then he quit. Now he’s finding his way back to the notes. (www.newyorker.com)
How Democrats Are Reclaiming the Politics of Populism - In the midterms’ most competitive races, Democratic candidates are reviving an old party message: that the Republicans are selling out to the highest bidder. (www.newyorker.com)
An Exiled Filmmaker’s Unsparing View of Contemporary Russia - Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” is the first independent feature to portray Russian life during the war with Ukraine. (www.newyorker.com)