The Secret History of T. S. Eliot’s Muse

For years, Emily Hale was the object of his longing and the source of his inspiration. Was the loss of their romance a boon for his poetry?

1h

Introducing “Books for the Midnight Hour”: What We Read When the World Gets Dark

A video series, by passionate readers, about what literature can say and do.

1d

The Fatal Flaw of “The Queen’s Gambit”

The Netflix series copies virtually everything from Walter Tevis’s novel, apart from its central tension.

3d

The Best Books We Read in 2020

The fiction and nonfiction, old and new, that kept us going.

4d

Samantha Hunt Reads Yiyun Li

The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “A Sheltered Woman,” by Yiyun Li, from a 2014 issue of the magazine.

4d

What Henry Adams Understood About History’s Breaking Points

He devoted a lifetime to studying America’s foundation, witnessed its near-dissolution, and uncannily anticipated its evolution.

4d

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“Wintering,” “We Keep the Dead Close,” “Bring Me the Head of Quentin Tarantino,” and “Music for the Dead and Resurrected.”

5d

Why New York’s Mob Mythology Endures

We hang on to legends of the Mafia’s inner workings as parables for the wider world.

5d

Paul Theroux on Making Sense of One’s Life

The author discusses “Dietrologia,” his story from this week’s issue of the magazine.

5d

Sunday Reading: Whodunnits and Other Mysteries

From The New Yorker’s archive: stories about secrets and unsolved crimes.

6d