Maraú Península: Why Liberals Struggle to Defend Liberalism

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Why Liberals Struggle to Defend Liberalism

We may be months away from the greatest crisis the liberal state has known since the Civil War. How come it’s so hard to say what we’re defending?

By Adam Gopnik

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From the News Desk

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Comment

Ukraine Faces a Crucial Moment in the War

Two years after Russia launched its invasion, the fighting is shifting in its favor.

By Joshua Yaffa

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The Political Scene Podcast

Why Vladimir Putin’s Family Is Learning Mandarin

During the past few weeks, American political discourse has been consumed by what’s happening inside a N.Y.C. courtroom. But the world outside it hasn’t stopped.

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Editor’s Pick

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The New Yorker Interview

Aasif Mandvi Contains Multitudes

The actor and comedian on his “Daily Show” breakthrough, writing the roles he wanted to see, and playing a new kind of character in “Evil.”

By Inkoo Kang

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Culture Dept.

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The Current Cinema

All the Films in Competition at Cannes, Ranked from Best to Worst

The twenty-two films that premièred in the 2024 festival’s main program offered much to savor and revile.

By Justin Chang

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Harvard Postcard

Blood! Fur! Harvard’s Latest Nightmare: Mice

The dean of students said a pro-Palestine encampment near freshman dorms was disrupting studies. But freshmen pointed to a different disruption: a rodent infestation.

By Eren Orbey

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Poems

“From ‘Heritage’ ”

“I was born in the month of the Blood Wolf Moon.”

By Elise Paschen

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Poems

“The Call to Worship”

“I prefer a theology of silence, the eschatology / of the shrug.”

By Bob Hicok

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Fun & Games Dept.

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Shouts & Murmurs

Identified

Non-U.F.O.s: Wizard in balloon. Confirmed origin: Oz. Prophet on flying horselike creature. Confirmed origin: Mecca. Undead in cape. Confirmed origin: Caucasus region.

By Ian Frazier

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Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play our trivia game »

P.S. “Miles Davis was one of the geniuses I couldn’t shut up about,” Richard Brody writes, about the incandescent musician, who was born on this day in 1926. Brody recalls attending a show at Carnegie Hall, in 1974, and encountering a “wall of amplified sounds that pounded and clashed, its mighty and sharp-edged blocks crashing into each other and giving off kaleidoscopic sparks.”