The Magic of Bird Brains

Plus: why you can’t pack a bag; the year creators took over; and investigating your own murder. View in browser | Update your preferences Sunday, December 29, 2024 In today’s newsletter, bird brains, and then: • Why you can’t pack a bag • The year creators took over • Investigating your own murder Elements The Elephantine Memories of Food-Caching Birds Some animals can remember where they’ve buried hundreds of thousands of seeds. Why can’t we remember where we’ve put our eyeglasses? By Matthew Hutson Our journalism relies on your support. If you believe in a media that is fearless in the face of power, please subscribe today. Subscribe now Our Columnists 2024 in Review The Year Creators Took Over The attention economy has dominated the Internet for more than a decade now, but never before have its protagonists felt so central to American life—or had such direct access to the levers of power. By Kyle Chayka Open Questions Why Can’t You Pack a Bag? Our overstuffed suitcases burden us more than we realize. By Joshua Rothman 2024 in Review The Weird New Normal of Donald Trump in 2024 Radical revisionism is a strong contender for the theme of this disruptive year, in which some unique property of political alchemy managed to transform a defeated and disgraced ex-President into a perfectly electable Republican candidate. By Susan B. Glasser The Financial Page The Lonely Skepticism of a Bull-Market Skeptic Investors’ enthusiasm for A.I. has converted some longtime Wall Street bears into optimists. Jeremy Grantham is still waiting for the bubble to pop. By John Cassidy Culture Dept. The Writer’s Voice John Lanchester Reads “Signal” The author reads his story from the April 3, 2017, issue of the magazine. Poems “Prelude in Grey Major” “I was not alone, that much I know, / though no one was with me.” By Christian Wiman Poems “Bass Lake” “The year, that year, had been especially / cruel. Sickness and war.” By Safia Elhillo If you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter, please share it. Was it forwarded to you? Sign up. Fun & Games Dept. Shouts & Murmurs To the Detective Investigating My Murder I’m not dead, but a lot of people can’t stand me. What I mean is, they want to knock me off. My days are numbered. By Patricia Marx Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play our trivia game » P.S. When “Doctor Zhivago” was published in the U.S., in 1958, Pantheon Books printed just four thousand copies—but later that year the author, a Russian poet named Boris Pasternak, won the Nobel Prize in Literature. By the première of the film adaptation, on this day in 1965, the book had sold millions of copies. In 2001, James Surowiecki investigated the selling power of prize-winning. 🏆 What did you think of today’s newsletter? Let us know. If you like the daily newsletter, browse more New Yorker newsletters. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.