Required Reading

This week, a giant sand maze in Miami, how to free yourself from big tech, Eric Adams’s bad luck streak, the fringe benefits of near-sightedness, and more.

This week, Israel destroys Gaza’s main library; a queer, climate-conscious song from Yo-Yo Ma; a giant pottery wheel, Spotify Wrapped, and more.

This week, the movement to “decolonize” chocolate, Lorraine Hansberry’s little-known lesbian fiction, corporate accents, and much more.

This week, the oldest plant-based red paint, the stories of queer Palestinians in Gaza, why women’s clothes don’t have pockets, and more.

This week, unopened 18th-century love letters, an unsung female archaeologist, Indigenous artists on the meaning of home, cookie-cutter holiday rom-coms, and more.

This week, why Toni Morrison left publishing, the Artforum open letter debacle, Halloween costumes only New Yorkers will understand, and more.

This week, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s enduring legacy, the “doyenne of Black horror,” the ultimate Jeff Koons Halloween costume, and why do cats meow?

This week, censorship of Palestinian journalists, early 2000s fashion’s healing powers, the uncertain future of Barcelona’s beaches, and why is there a sport called “conkers”?

This week, museums and mental health, Google aims for our wallets, the marketing psychology of floor designs, Crayola color theory, and much more.

This week, satellite images capture lines of cars carrying Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, an Ethiopian painting looted by the British Museum, digitizing Urdu script, and much more.

This week, a hunger strike to end caste discrimination, Glossier’s rise and fall, puppies perform Mozart, writers sue OpenAI, and why is everyone mad at Hasan Minhaj?