Alex Barron

Seeing Donald Trump through the lens of the German philosopher Hegel.

Two mothers meet on the playground, and things get weird.

Comedy, R. & B., and a blog that breaks down the politics of crossword puzzles.

“I guess it’s my fault for assuming that I was anything more than a glorified dipping sauce to you people!”    

George Packer and Amy Davidson join David Remnick to discuss the outcome of the 2016 election and what it means for the future.

If the 2016 election were adapted into film, it would need a very big rewrite. Here’s what the studio execs had to say.    

The myriad conflicts that make up the Syrian civil war can be traced back to a day when colonial powers divided the region. Can the pieces be put back together?

Omar Dawood describes daily life in a city where death is everywhere.

Put it in coffee. Smear some in your eyes. Inject it into your veins. It’s organic and gluten-free, and it will make you a living god.

Sharon Horgan, the creator of the new HBO series “Divorce,” talks with David Remnick about our culture’s changing attitudes toward marriage.

“I’m sending myself a video of me showing you how I can send myself a video. How on Earth did we ever live without these things?”

John Fahey, the inventor of fingerstyle guitar, adapted folk and blues techniques into something entirely new. His influence was as great as his life was difficult.    

Jenny Allen recites meditative verses for dealing with shmucks at work.    

Reed Birney reads Donald Barthelme’s short story “The School,” about a grade-school class faced with a series of deaths.

A dispatch from the construction site of President Trump’s wall.

The comic-book writer Marjorie Liu talks about her series “Monstress” and challenging the status quo.    

F. Murray Abraham reads Arthur Miller’s essay about the sweltering summers of New York City.

Elliot is really a sweet kid—it’s just that he bites. Hard. Parker Posey reads a short story by Demetri Martin.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the park, to inadvertently witness the dramatic breakup of these two people we have never met.

Small talk between strangers with dogs can be excruciating. But it also has its rewards.