Essay
List of Essay articles
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Screengrabs from political videos on Tiktok show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on the platform. The images are inside phone frames on a pink and blue background. Politics Is TikTok’s Newest Dance Move
The controversial social media app is defining the 2024 election.
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An illustration shows a No. 1 foam finger with a bandage around its fingertip. Why America Should Drop Its Obsession With Being No. 1
A letter from Singapore to the next U.S. president.
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Filmmakers, one positioned behind a camera, stand in an opulent room with paintings, a mantle and bust, while making a movie. Merchant Ivory Is So Much More Than Costume Dramas
Some of the most British movies in history were made by a team of outsiders to that culture.
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In this black-and-white photo from 1984, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega is seen in profile as he speaks to a crowd of reporters and citizens at an outdoor press conference. Ortega gestures with one open hand and holds a microphone in the other. Members of the press hold up cameras or jot in notebooks. Is Nicaragua’s Dictatorship Nearing Its End?
How the once-revolutionary Ortega regime may have destined itself to the dustbin of history.
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A photo collage illustration shows Kamala Harris in profile with her hand resting on her chin. She is framed by pages torn from the covers of two books on a blue color field, titled "An Open World" and "Losing the Long Game." Preparing for a Less Arrogant America
A close reading of two books by authors who advise Kamala Harris reveals a vision for a humbler approach to foreign policy.
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Salman Rushdie holds up his book on a black stage. Salman Rushdie’s Next Act
In his life-affirming memoir “Knife,” the writer shows how society must respond to untrammeled hatred.
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Shyamalan on the set of his 1999 film “The Sixth Sense.” M. Night Shyamalan Pulls Off the Ultimate Twist
For 25 years, the director has been doing something few else would dare try in wide-release, thrill-ride cinema.
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A building with the words "Chinese Imperial post Office" on it. Atop the image is a red stamp with Chinese characters and the words "Chinese Imperial Post One Dollar" in English. The Hidden History of China’s Post Office
What the making of a national mail system reveals about the country’s push for modernization.
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A painting shows a man surrounded by mostly women wearing dresses of the court of France in an ornate room. What We Can Learn From America’s First Diplomat
Benjamin Franklin leveraged a soft touch—and humor—to further U.S. goals.
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A pedestrian passes vandalized European Parliament election posters of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party on a street in Paris on June 27. The West Misunderstands Its Own Far Right
The right-wing parties poised to take power aren’t populist. They’re something much worse.
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Illustration of a torn map of Europe revealing Donald Trump Trump’s Return Would Transform Europe
Without Washington’s embrace, the continent could revert to an anarchic and illiberal past.
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An illustration shows symbols from the U.S. dollar acting as balloons as they lift George Washington from the dollar bill as he sits atop a globe throne. Don’t Bet Against the Dollar
U.S. competitors are pushing the limits of autonomy within a dollar-based system, but there isn’t a real global alternative—and the world is far from an inflection point.
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Theodor Meron, an elderly man wearing a hat and glasses, is framed between two columns with names etched into them as he stands at a memorial for children killed in Sarajevo. The Man Who Tried to Save Israel From Itself
This time, Israel must heed Theodor Meron’s warning.
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A photo collage illustration shows the Star of David from Israel's flag overlaid atop a WWII-era map of China and a photo of Jewish refugees lined up against the rail of a ship as they attempt to flee Europe. What if Israel Had Been in China?
How Albert Einstein, a Brooklyn dentist, and pre-World War II Chinese leaders tried to create a Jewish homeland in Yunnan.
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A photo illustration shows a deflated plastic globe with a pen speared into it. Where Global Governance Went Wrong—and How to Fix It
International agreements have not balanced our freedoms in the way that they should.
