Books & Culture
- The Front Row
“Belarmino,” a Hidden Masterwork Starring a Portuguese Boxer Who Could Have Been a Contender
The director Fernando Lopes weaves the competitive aspect of boxing deeply into his vision of Belarmino’s troubled self-awareness.
- The Front Row
The Thrills and Frustrations of a Rediscovered Thelonious Monk Recording
“Palo Alto,” a previously unissued concert recording of Monk and his quartet, from 1968, offers distinctive and illuminating pleasures.
The Latest
A Life-Saving Race Against Time and Traffic, in “Blood Rider”
In Nigeria, motorcyclists deliver blood to patients, including to those who have just given birth.
The 2020 National Book Awards Longlist: Translated Literature
The ten books being considered for the award are all works of fiction, originally published in eight different languages.
The 2020 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature
Several books on this year’s list depict children making sense of death and the afterlife.
How Cameo Blew Up During Quarantine
With live events cancelled, people are increasingly marking birthdays, graduations, and breakups with shout-outs from C-list celebrities.
The Critics
Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s Music for a Future That Never Came
Rediscovering an outsider artist’s enchanted take on electronic music.
Goya and the Art of Survival
In the turbulent Spain of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Goya skimmed waves of change that swamped others.
When a Virus Becomes a Muse
Hervé Guibert wrote about the ravaging of AIDS in controversial, self-exposing, always defiant fiction. A revival of his work places it within the canonical literature of illness.
Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music
The field must acknowledge a history of systemic racism while also giving new weight to Black composers, musicians, and listeners.
Goings On About Town
MOMA Reopens with an Iconic Milton Glaser Mural
To safely welcome visitors back, the museum is offering timed tickets.
Touchstones of El Salvador in New York
At Pupusas Ridgewood, in Queens, and Mirna’s Pupuseria, in Brooklyn, find griddled masa cakes, cashew-fruit juice, and other transportative treats.
The High Line Reopens, with Tickets
A portion of the elevated park, designed for the pleasures of walking for its own sake, is now available to the city’s masked flâneurs.
Photo Booth
The Photographer Peeking at Your Phone
Jeff Mermelstein’s photo collection “#nyc” captures the quotidian dramas taking place on the phone screens of unsuspecting strangers.
Podcasts
What to Do with a Confederate Monument?
A small town struggles with a statue honoring men who fought for secession and slavery, and with the meaning of its history. Plus, the long shadow of Richard Wagner on modern culture.
Video
A New Yorker Cartoonist Demonstrates How to Draw a City
Jeremy Nguyen discusses how to capture the feel of a neighborhood in an illustration, and how that’s changed during the pandemic.