The Year in Slop

During a difficult year, comic relief came from unexpected places.

Our columnist on digital culture suggests technology—or anti-technology technology—to give this holiday season.

“Tomorrowland Amerifair,” a previously unpublished piece by the late artist and writer.

When I began forgetting words in midlife, I wondered if it was menopause—and worried that it was something more.

Whether you’re a pundit, a politician, or an A-list comedian, the best media strategy these days is a D.I.Y. stage set and a microphone.

When you’re waiting for a flight, what’s the difference between out there and in here?

In a new standup special, and a début novel, the comedian navigates murky, post-#MeToo terrain: not quite exiled, not quite welcomed back.

In the Swiss Alps, a plan to tidy up Romansh—spoken by less than one per cent of the country—set off a decades-long quarrel over identity, belonging, and the sound of authenticity.

A foundational 1956 study of the concept, focussed on a U.F.O. doomsday cult, has been all but debunked by new research.

In the wake of President Trump’s reëlection, the number of aggrieved Americans seeking a new life abroad appears to be rising. The Netherlands offers one way out.

Nick Allen’s venue in Dimes Square was a popular gathering spot for right-wing Zoomers. Now he’s opening a new club called Reign, an attempt to build a lasting cultural institution.

Also: Murray Hill’s holiday variety show, Kara Young and Nicholas Braun in “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” James L. Brooks’s anti-romantic comedy “Ella McCay,” and more.