Maraú Península: Studying Stones Can Rock Your World

A child squatting in front of large rocks.

Studying Stones Can Rock Your World

To think like a geologist is to contemplate timescales that stagger the imagination—and lay bare the planetary forces behind our earthly existence.

By Kathryn Schulz

An illustration of a book with leggings that are running.

From the News Desk

A person holding a poster of Taylor Swift at the D.N.C.

Comment

Do Celebrity Presidential Endorsements Matter?

It’s hard to empirically determine whether they drive voters to the polls. But they might have less measurable effects.

By Tyler Foggatt

The Sporting Scene

What Qinwen Zheng Could Mean for Tennis, and for China

The player known as Queenwen won Olympic Gold, and is breezing through the early rounds of the U.S. Open.

By Louisa Thomas

An illustration of a book with a knife sliced through the spine, with fallen paper shavings.

Editor’s Pick

Two hands hold a sandwich above the hood of a car on which sit two takeout containers and a black terrier.

The Food Scene

A Brooklyn Gas Station with Serious Grub

Inside a BP, Blue Hour offers a greatest-hits album of fast-food favorites made with high-quality ingredients and a considerable amount of care.

By Helen Rosner

An illustration of three books on a windowsill with an eye and a cloud appearing through the window.

Culture Dept.

To arms, wearing the same shirt, reach toward each other.

Fiction

“Greensleeves”

Was he surprised that she followed him? Probably not.

By Sigrid Nunez

A photo of Sigrid Nunez in purple. The background has some cursive writing on a green background.

This Week in Fiction

Sigrid Nunez on Beginning with Ambiguity

The author discusses her story “Greensleeves.”

By Deborah Treisman

An illustration of an open book with an orange cover.

Fifty Days of Flash Fiction

An illustration of a woman peeking out from under a chicken’s wing. The chicken is inside a goose, which is inside a pig.

Flash Fiction

“The Preparatory School”

I would go in terrified and feel calm again only once I was at least two blocks away.

By Hebe Uhart

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An illustration of a crossword puzzle wrapped around the arms of a person.

Fun & Games Dept.

People in a pool reflected in sunglasses.

Shouts & Murmurs

Come to Our End-of-Summer/the-World Party!

If we get stoned enough, we’ll probably sneak into the hotel pool—assuming it hasn’t become a smoldering cauldron of liquid sulfur, or whatever.

By Kira Garcia

A top hat with long legs on a beige background.

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

P.S. The wreckage of the Titanic was discovered on the ocean floor, roughly thirteen thousand feet deep, on this day in 1985. Twelve years later, James Cameron’s film brought the ship’s sinking to frigid, expensive life for a new generation. “If you are going to spend two hundred million dollars on a movie, this is the way to do it,” Anthony Lane wrote at the time.