When Mean Girls, the musical remake of the 2004 film, hit theaters in January, the film appeared to shock audiences for, well, being a musical. Theatergoers recorded the moment that their fellow viewers realized what kind of movie it was; in one video, the crowd groans loudly as soon as a character starts singing, before laughing at their own reactions. But the studio behind the remake wasn’t surprised by these responses.
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Sometimes, at a party or on the internet, you will encounter someone who is unimpressed by human ingenuity. The pace of technological progress has stalled, they’ll say. Our art is getting dumber. We aren’t as creative as we used to be.
He used caps lock, so you know he means it.
Of what, you may ask—love affair, divorce, death, storm
illness, joy, betrayal, revelation, blessing?
In my courtyard, a heap of stuff blown from many directions—
wet socks, branch about to bloom, TV antenna
bent-over window screen, a sandbag without sand.
I could set up shop, sell broken merchandise
to the broken, sell wails and sobs to the grieving.
The warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister represent many historic firsts.
Passing judgment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was never going to be simple for the International Criminal Court. Even harder than acting fairly and impartially would be appearing to have done so, in a conflict that stirs fierce passions the world over.
On top of that, equality before the law is a basic principle of justice, but until this point, the ICC has mainly prosecuted authoritarian and non-Western leaders.
Security forces in Pakistan arrested over 1,000 supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a march on the capital of Islamabad. Protesters had vowed to stage a sit-in until Khan — who has been imprisoned since August 2023 on what are widely viewed as politically motivated charges — was released, but ended their efforts after six people were killed.
Next week, our guest Chase Strangio will make history as the first openly transgender lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court. Strangio will argue on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project that Tennessee’s state ban on gender-affirming hormone therapies for transgender children is a form of sex discrimination.
We’re joined by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy as we continue our conversation on the Israeli-Lebanon ceasefire. We take a look at the mood within Israel, where Levy characterizes the Israeli public as “sour” about what is seen as a premature deal. “They would like to see more blood, more destruction in Lebanon,” says Levy. “Israel wants wars.
Nearly two months after Israel invaded Lebanon, a “fragile” ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Lebanon. Under the deal, Israel says it will withdraw troops from Lebanon’s south over a 60-day period, though Lebanese writer Lina Mounzer says “this is already being contradicted by the behavior and the directives of the Israeli army,” which continued to bomb Lebanese civilian areas through the waning hours of official hostilities.
It takes work to get empty bottles and cans to the right spot.
The national spare-bedroom supply could be put to better use.
They have a chance to show that government can devise effective solutions to everyday problems.
How much doomspending should you be doing?
A close adviser to Peter Thiel with ties across Silicon Valley, O’Neill reentered the mix in recent days for the No. 2 HHS job.
Makary emerged during the Covid pandemic as a critic of the FDA.
At least three informal advisers connected to the anti-vaccine movement are assisting Kennedy in filling out his staff as he prepares to lead HHS.
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
The final paid messages: Economy, culture wars and character.
Harris has ratcheted up her warnings about the dangers of a second Trump term in recent weeks.
The Democratic nominee isn’t campaigning much on the Biden administration’s bigger, slower-moving policies.
The Stanford University physician and economist, known for opposing Covid-19 lockdowns, has been tapped to lead the $47 billion biomedical research agency.
If his nomination is approved, the longtime associate of Peter Thiel will work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The list of air-travel fiascos this past year reads like a verse of “We Didn’t Start the Fire”: A chunk of plane fell off mid-flight. Boeing workers went on strike. A CrowdStrike software issue grounded thousands of planes worldwide. A major airline merger was blocked. Passengers were terribly unruly.
Photographs by Bryan Schutmaat
Drive far enough into Texas from the Louisiana border, and you’ll see the ground dry, the earth crumble into dust. Eventually, the photographer Bryan Schutmaat told me, the strip malls fade into the rearview mirror, the landscape opens, and the American West begins.
Schutmaat has long been fascinated by the West; as he toured with punk bands in his teens and early 20s, he felt himself drawn to the region and its open space.
