Saxophones, trumpets and drums are everywhere in New Orleans, the city where jazz was born. Musicians perform jazz sets on streets, inside cafes, bars, restaurants and auditoriums. It’s no wonder then that people from across the world visit the Big Easy, a moniker the city has earned for its easy-going lifestyle, to listen to some … Read more
So you can whip together a weekend bag or fit a fortnight’s worth of outfits into a rolling suitcase, but does your status as “packing guru” extend to your phone or tablet? Think of your device as a second carry-on, with its own packing list of apps that are essential for entertainment, getting around, safety … Read more
by Daniel Kehlmann; translated by Ross Benjamin This biographical novel centered on the Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst doubles as a study of art in the shadow of totalitarianism. After finding fame with silent films like “Pandora’s Box,” Pabst finds himself stuck in Europe as the Nazis come to power and compelled to make movies for … Read more
Ian Kumekawa’s new book, “Empty Vessel,” promises in its subtitle to tell “the story of the global economy in one barge.” Along those lines, you could think of our recommended books this week as the story of the global economy in one list: Besides Kumekawa’s book, we suggest fiction and nonfiction set in Mexico, Germany, … Read more
EMPTY VESSEL: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge, by Ian Kumekawa Container ships are designed to be blandly functional. Gigantic metal platforms, they chug along from port to port and are habitually taken for granted — until, that is, they run aground on the jagged rocks of catastrophe. When the pandemic arrived … Read more
In the 1980s, an assistant at Glamour took her romantic life to the next level with the aid of two lemons and a chicken. At the suggestion of one of the magazine’s editors, who was more or less following a recipe she’d found in an Italian cookbook, the assistant poked the lemons full of holes, … Read more
It was the cooking demo heard round the world. During the Covid-19 lockdown of December 2020, online sleuths stuck at home began digging up past public appearances of Hilaria Baldwin, a yoga instructor and the wife of Alec Baldwin. They were pointing out what they viewed as discrepancies in her Spanish accent and in stories … Read more
Artificial intelligence software has given editing tools a huge boost in power, far beyond the spell-checkers and grammar aids of yore. A.I. can proofread, rewrite, summarize and compose text, making it simple to craft clean, complex documents in a flash — even on a smartphone. If you haven’t dabbled yet, free offerings from Apple and … Read more
For the mom who likes dishy family sagas Vantage Point, by Sara Sligar An unthinkably rich brother and sister — heirs to a steel fortune — are haunted by a family curse and by compromising videotapes (possibly faked) that upend the brother’s Senate campaign. Also consider: “A Reason to See You Again,” by Jami Attenberg; … Read more
In an unusual but not unprecedented move, the prize board chose a fourth option after it couldn’t agree on the three less-heralded finalists.
