The New Yorker Summaries and Reviews
See all summaries and reviews from The New Yorker at a glance.
An Economics Lesson from Tolstoy
The Russian novelist believed that the dismal science was inescapably suffused with morality and politics.
The New Yorker, 2024
ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web
OpenAl’s chatbot offers paraphrases, whereas Google offers quotes. Which do we prefer?
The New Yorker, 2023
The Terrifying Choices Created by Wildfires
Many Californians are confronting a series of confounding decision – among them, whether they should fight or flee.
The New Yorker, 2022
The Great Siberian Thaw
Permafrost contains microbes, mammoths, and twice as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere. What happens when it starts to melt?
The New Yorker, 2022
Is It Time for a New Economics Curriculum?
“The Economy,” a new textbook, is designed for the post-neoliberal age.
The New Yorker, 2021
When Shipping Containers Sink in the Drink
We’ve supersized our capacity to ship stuff across the seas. As our global supply chains grow, what can we gather from the junk that washes up on shore?
The New Yorker, 2022
Salman Rushdie on the Fatwa That Endangered His Life
From the New Yorker archive
The New Yorker, 2022
The Miseducation of Maria Montessori
Her method was meant for the public. Then it became a privilege.
The New Yorker, 2022
Can Gettr Become the Online Gathering Place for Trump’s G.O.P.?
With Big Tech cracking down on COVID-19 and election misinformation, sites with more permissive posting rules are courting prominent figures on the right.
The New Yorker, 2022
What It's Like to Fight a Megafire
Wildfires have grown more extreme. So have the risks of combatting them
The New Yorker, 2021
How Venture Capitalists Are Deforming Capitalism
Even the worst-run startup can beat competitors if investors prop it up.
The New Yorker, 2020
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful – but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.
The New Yorker, 2021
Has the Pandemic Transformed the Office Forever?
Companies are figuring out how to balance what appears to be a lasting shift toward remote work with the value of the physical workplace.
The New Yorker, 2021
Why Remote Work Is So Hard – And How It Can Be Fixed
The challenges aren’t just technological. They’re managerial.
The New Yorker, 2020
Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth?
The critique of economic growth, once a fringe position, is gaining widespread attention in the face of the climate crisis.
The New Yorker, 2020
Will This Year’s Census Be the Last?
In the past two centuries, the evolution of the U.S. Census has tracked the country’s social tensions and reflected its political controversies. Now its future is in question.
The New Yorker, 2020
"Reverse Innovation” Could Save Lives. Why Aren't We Embracing It?
Cheap and simple medical devices could improve performance and lower health-care costs, but first they have to overcome deeply rooted biases.
The New Yorker, 2019
The Invention – and Reinvention – of Impeachment
It’s the ultimate political weapon. But we’ve never agreed on what it’s for.
The New Yorker, 2019
Who Owns South Africa?
A fiercely debated program of land reform could address racial injustice – or cause chaos.
The New Yorker, 2019
Can Carbon-Dioxide Removal Save the World?
CO2 could soon reach levels that, it’s widely agreed, will lead to catastrophe.
The New Yorker, 2017
Are Things Getting Better or Worse?
Why assessing the state of the world is harder than it sounds.
The New Yorker, 2018
China’s Selfie Obsession
Meitu’s apps are changing what it means to be beautiful in the most populous country on Earth.
The New Yorker, 2017
Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds
New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason.
The New Yorker, 2017
High-Tech Hope for the Hard of Hearing
Scientists searching for ways to restore hearing have been making a number of promising discoveries.
The New Yorker, 2017
The World Is Running Out of Sand
It’s one of our most widely used natural resources, but it’s scarcer than you think.
The New Yorker, 2017
Is the Gig Economy Working?
Many liberals have embraced the sharing economy. But can they survive it?
The New Yorker, 2017
The Really Big One
An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.
The New Yorker, 2015
After the Islamic State
As the caliphate crumbles, rival movements struggle for the soul of Sunni jihadism.
The New Yorker, 2016