Innholdsfortegnelse for March 25-April 7, 2024 i New York Magazine

1 For New York’s latest cover story, critic Andrea Long Chu laid out the moral case for letting trans kids change their bodies (“The Right to Change Sex,” March 11–24). Family Abolition author M. E. O’Brien said she “found this essay profoundly invigorating and refreshing. The universal right to change our sex is fundamental to trans flourishing, a decent world, and a politics worth fighting for.” @JinkiesJerrica called it “unequivocally the best expository piece on trans rights and the culture war that I have read in the last 15 years. Medical transition is less about sex or gender, and more about freedom of choice and bodily autonomy. This is what our community should argue.” “This is the classic example of a good article by Andrea Long Chu, that makes good…

10. VIEWS: 5.5 MILLION DATE: May 31, 2021 “Muscle fiber recruitment.” 9. VIEWS: 5.8 MILLION DATE: Nov. 7, 2022 “Energy utilization and balance.” 8. VIEWS: 5.8 MILLION DATE: Mar. 28, 2022 “Optimize training and recovery.” 7. VIEWS: 5.8 MILLION DATE: Sep. 13, 2021 “The biology and psychology of ADHD.” 6. VIEWS: 6.4 MILLION DATE: Oct. 11, 2021 “The optimal fasting protocol.” 5. VIEWS: 6.4 MILLION DATE: Aug. 22, 2022 “It effectively acts as a poison.” 4. VIEWS: 6.8 MILLION DATE: Jan. 1, 2024 “A superhuman work ethic.” 3. VIEWS: 7.3 MILLION DATE: Dec. 4, 2023 “Pick ideal mentors and role models.” 2. VIEWS: 8.9 MILLION DATE: Sep. 27, 2021 “Control your dopamine release.” 1. VIEWS: 9.2 MILLION DATE: Sep. 6, 2023 “Tools to reshape negative emotions.”…

STRATEGIST WRITER Erin Schwartz set out to find the best shower curtain—something that would make even the bleakest of bathrooms look pleasant—and landed on Quiet Town’s Sun Shower (from $42). It’s the rare vinyl shower curtain that looks good enough to use on its own, which, Schwartz explains, “makes it a great fits-everyone option, from those with tiny showers trying to avoid the visual weight of a fabric curtain to people with large sunny bathrooms who want to take advantage of natural light.” The curtain is also considerably stronger and thicker than other vinyl options they liked; this helps keep it in place so water stays in the tub (not on your bathroom floor). Schwartz has been using the amber-hued one for over a year: “It’s odd to say about…

AFTER YEARS OF working remotely and in hybrid environments, my boyfriend just started a full-time, in-person position. Finding the ideal way to transport and warm up his lunch at work has been a big topic of conversation. I wanted to get him something thoughtful yet practical for Valentine’s Day and landed on this adorable electric lunch box. While it takes longer to heat his food with the lunch box than a microwave, he says the final result feels (and tastes) more natural. It’s particularly effective when warming up stews and soups. We’ve been on a Creole kick over the past few weeks, and it’s worked great with leftover jambalaya and gumbo.…

Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler, Complete Long, $600 “I’ve been using the Dyson Airwrap since 2021 to blow-dry my hair straight, and it’s great at that. It is also supposed to be able to curl my hair—and the curls look bouncy and soft. But despite months of trying, I’ve never been able to get them to last beyond a few hours. I tried all the tips but stopped short of using rollers to set the curls. Resorting to a $10 beauty technique to get a $600 hair tool to perform as advertised was one step too far.” vs. GHD Curve Classic Curling Iron, $209 “When I tested the Curve Classic, I quickly noticed it was lighter than the Airwrap and blessedly quiet—no loud motor blasting my ears. It took me 30 minutes…

BARB POLICASTRO Retired office manager, Pleasantville Who is your game date? My husband. He was my high-school sweetheart. Next year, we’ll have been together 50 years. It’s kind of obnoxious. We grew up on Long Island and I was a dreaded Islanders fan and he was a Rangers fan. When we started dating, he said, “This is not going to work. Somebody’s going to have to switch.” There was not much women’s empowerment back then, so I just said, “All right, I’ll change.” Now, I’m a bigger Rangers fan than he is. I tape the games so that if I’m at the game, I can watch it again when I come home. I’m ridiculous. Is this what you always wear? I have 22 hats currently. And I have a lot…

A LATE-NIGHT SCENE has emerged in Midwood, scattered between Kensington’s Little Pakistan and Little Odessa in Brighton Beach. The hours are in part designed to accommodate the area’s many Uber drivers; it helps that much of Uzbekistan’s food—dumplings, rice, noodles, plenty of meat—is the kind of straightforward, hearty cooking that tastes great around midnight. At the months-old Chayhana (488 Kings Hwy, nr. McDonald Ave.; instagram.com/chayhana_uzbek_restau-rant), owner Kamol Raupov’s recipes come from his family, which has been in the food business for generations: bowls of chewy lagman noodles, platters of grilled beef and lamb served over fresh-cut French fries, crusty rounds of the flatbread obi non, an assortment of kebabs that customers can pick from a brightly lit display up front. Get the lamb ribs, which are sprinkled with whole cumin seeds…

NICHOLAS GALITZINE used to hate his lips. “I thought they were very girlie,” says the 29-year-old English actor, who has a pair that would be the envy of any Los Angeles dermatologist’s waiting room. “People used to say I looked like a fish.” He hated his under-eye circles, too, which always made people worry he wasn’t sleeping enough. He blushes when I point out he’s objectively handsome. “I have what I call a ‘broken sponge,’” he explains. “I find it impossible to sponge up compliments. But I do like hearing them.” Galitzine lifts his cappuccino and sips. “I think I’ve always tried to detach myself from a self-image because as soon as I landed in L.A., everyone’s so beautiful here,” he says. “I decided the only thing that would nourish…

THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL isn’t what it used to be. Once, it was mainly for the inhabitants of that strange royal court we call the art world—for insiders, in other words. The past several Whitney Biennials have turned the tables. It is no longer a gathering of warring, incestuous tribes of gallerists and curators and hangers-on but an outward-facing event for everyone interested in art and culture and the issues that face humanity as a whole. The show isn’t for people like me; it’s for the public. These are the exhibition’s contemporary values—for better and worse. Underscoring the point is this Biennial’s title, “Even Better Than the Real Thing.” Named for a U2 song from 1991, it is a show gesturing at artificial intelligence that actually has very few works dealing…

For more culture coverage and streaming recommendations, see vulture.com. MUSIC 1. Listen to Cowboy Carter Giddyap, Beyhive. Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment, March 29. Exactly 20 months after serving note-perfect, sequined ballroom and house-music excellence on Renaissance, Beyoncé releases the second installment of an intended trilogy, trading the previous album’s disco grooves and programmed synths and drums for alternately racy and reflective country music. CRAIG JENKINS TV 2. Watch Ripley Just how talented is he? Netflix, April 4. Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, about a striving con artist, was famously adapted by Anthony Minghella (with Matt Damon, Jude Law at his most beautiful, and a wonderfully contemptuous Philip Seymour Hoffman). Director-writer Steven Zaillian gives it another go: Casting Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley is already a genius move. ROXANA…

The Who’s Tommy, Nederlander Theatre See him, feel him, touch him, heal him! The Pinball Wizard is back in the first Broadway revival of the Who’s epic rock opera since its 1993 premiere. Lempicka, Longacre Theatre Tony winner Rachel Chavkin directs belting queen Eden Espinosa in this audacious new musical about a groundbreaking Art Deco painter who survived two world wars while living a life of glamour on her own unwavering terms. Stereophonic, John Golden Theatre, previews begin April 3. David Adjmi’s gorgeously observed study of a Fleetwood Mac–like 1970s band’s precipitous rise was one of our favorite shows of 2023. The acting is killer, the songs (by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire) are spot on, and the clothes make everyone’s glutes look great. Cabaret,…

A CLASSIC 20TH-CENTURY WAY for an outsider to achieve Establishment status has been to buy a British newspaper. From Canada, there were the outliers Max Aitken (who became Lord Beaverbrook), Conrad Black (who became Baron Black of Crossharbour—before disgrace, prison, and a presidential pardon), and the Thomson family (whose heirs became the first, second, and third Baron Thomson of Fleet); Robert Maxwell came via Czechoslovakia (and was elected a British MP—before mysterious death and disgrace); and, most dramatically, there was Rupert Murdoch from Australia. All became men of international clout and glamour by buying a piece of Fleet Street. This was, however, in another world. Newspapers were flourishing, the U.K. was a portal to Europe and beyond, and British status was … status. Prompting the question of why Jeff Zucker,…

CELEBRITY SHOPPING Molly Mahon Schumacher Throw-Pillow Cover, from $95 “We have a gray sectional in our living room, and visually it’s just a big block of gray, so I like to have punchy throw pillows to make it look better. Recently, I saw the Molly Mahon ones and really loved the patterns and colors. I like to buy them through Etsy because the pillows are already made.” Gardenheir Italian Garden Clogs in Bluebird, $78 “Everyone wears those Bottega rubber mules; these are the clog version but for $78. They’re built with a removable cork insole. When the shoe gets dirty, you take out the insole and rinse it down and the clog looks brand new. I do everything in these clogs, from gardening to traveling to walking around the city.…

AFTER THE FIRST use, the shelf life of lotion immediately shortens from two-to-three years to between six months and one year max, says Dr. Hope Mitchell of Mitchell Dermatology. Lotions that are “natural” or “organic” and don’t contain stabilizers or preservatives have an even shorter life span, as do formulas that include active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid or vitamin C. To avoid using expired lotion—usually indicated by a change in color or texture—dermatologist Dr. Marisa Garshick advises her patients to write the date they opened a product on its packaging. If you accidentally use lotion that has expired, it’s unlikely to harm your skin. Just don’t expect the same soothing, hydrating, or brightening benefits you’d get with a fresh bottle.…

I REALIZED MY ERROR as soon as we arrived in Malta. It was sunny and 75 degrees, and I had packed for 40-degree weather. Thankfully, squished between a down vest and an insulated jacket, I had one Smartwool tank top, which I wound up wearing on every hike during our trip. The shirt got wet, but it wicked moisture so effectively that I never felt swampy. The fabric provided such good moisture management and odor resistance that I felt fine wearing it the next day after airing it out on our hotel balcony at night. I’m a thru-hiker, so I have a high tolerance for rewearing the same workout clothes, but I maintain that this shirt is so stinkproof that anyone could wear it for a week straight and not…

EVEN AMONG THE culinarily inclined, Suzanne “Suzy” Cupps stays under the radar. Mention her to industry folks and they will offer an admiring nod plus the highest praise a chef can muster: “Yeah, she can cook.” She is best known as the executive chef of Danny Meyer’s restaurant at the Whitney and a short-lived sit-down concept from the lunch chain Dig—and she has her fans. To fund her new restaurant, Lola’s (2 W. 28th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; lolasnyc.com), she turned to former regulars. “We raised $1 million in $20,000 increments,” she says. “No one wants to be telling me what to put on the menu. They’re just super-excited to support us.” Lola is the Tagalog word for “grandmother,” and the name is an homage to Cupps’s own grandmother, who fled…

IN FEBRUARY 2023, the news broke that Percival Everett would be publishing his 24th novel, James, a retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from enslaved Jim’s perspective, for an advance of more than $500,000. Some Everett devotees (myself included) wondered if, after years of inventive, philosophical, and absurdist work displaying a dizzying range—mute baby geniuses, nutty heist plots, post-westerns, and metacommentaries on race and publishing—he was finally selling out. After all, though Everett has increased in stature recently—he’s been a Pulitzer and Booker finalist for 2020’s Telephone and 2021’s The Trees, respectively, and his breakout, 2001’s Erasure, an incendiary publishing-world satire, was recently adapted into the comparatively defanged Oscar-winning film American Fiction— his books have not sold in great numbers. His subject matter can be eclectic. The cast of characters…

OR THE PAST three years, one of the biggest podcasters on the planet has told a story to millions of listeners across half a dozen shows: There was a little boy, and the boy’s family was happy, until one day, the boy’s family fell apart. The boy was sent away. He foundered, he found therapy, he found science, he found exercise. And he became strong. ¶ Today, Andrew Huberman is a stiff, jacked 48-year-old associate professor of neurology and ophthalmology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is given to delivering three-hour lectures on subjects such as “the health of our dopaminergic neurons.” His podcast is revelatory largely because it does not condescend, which has not been the way of public-health information in our time. He does not give…

I’VE BEEN SHOPPING for a perfectly deep sofa for over 20 years. I couldn’t afford one right out of college, so when my recent book garnered a modest TV-development deal, I knew a couch exactly 40 inches deep would be my reward. I tested sofas from Sundays, Burrow, and the Restoration Hardware outlet, but nothing was quite right. Then I went to my sister’s new house in Connecticut. As soon as I saw her sophisticated yet hardy couches, I gasped. They were from the Pierson collection at Room & Board and—bless—40 inches deep. I got mine covered with a velvety teal fabric called Vance Bali. The whole thing, plus tax and delivery, cost a sobering $3,900. However, the woman I dreamed I’d be would own this couch, so I purchased…

“I like jeans to be simple and easy, and this pair from Copenhagen-based Sunflower is precisely that. The wash is understated; the fit is straight, so not too loose or too skinny; and the price is right.” Sunflower Straight-Leg Jeans, $228 “A pair of A.P.C. jeans was a wardrobe staple in 2001, and luckily nothing has changed in 20 years. The break-in period on Japanese raw-selvedge denim can be challenging, but nothing looks better than a worn-in pair of New Standards.” A.P.C. New Standard Jeans, $240 “If you want something a bit looser, maybe in a washed black, this pair of Italianmade mid-rise, straight-leg jeans from one of the ‘Antwerp Six,’ Dries Van Noten, will hit the spot.” “These feel a little dressier than the other options, which is good…

FOOD RESTAURANT REVIEW I HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT of chile con queso as a Texas dish until the first time I went to Chihuahua,” the Mexican-food expert Diana Kennedy once wrote. Many of the staples of American Mexican food—not to mention Tex-Mex—have their origins just over the border. Quesadillas, burritos: They come from the north, which makes sense, as northern Mexico is the land of wheat and the flour tortilla. But as Fidel Caballero, the El Paso–born, Chihuahuaraised chef and owner of the recently opened Corima, told Eater, “It’s not just about burritos, my friend.” The restaurant, which began life as a series of pop-ups, is taking norteño cooking out of the quesadilla shops and planting its flag in fine dining. The space—long, deep, dark, a block west of Dimes Square’s…

SINCE THE Harlem Renaissance, Black women have shaped the culture: In 1948, Jean Blackwell Hutson was appointed curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and in 1968, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer founded the National Black Theatre. Yet only now are the majority of the neighborhood’s most prominent theaters and museums being led simultaneously by Black women—women who are fortifying and expanding their establishments in spite of funding cuts for libraries and arts programs across the city. Black culture is often recognized as important only in retrospect; consider the recent opening of “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an amendment to its famously disgraceful 1969 exhibition on the same subject. But take a stroll further uptown and you’ll find a group of…

ON ANY GIVEN night in New York, you can find a comedian testing out material about Israel and Gaza. A theatrical comic like Gianmarco Soresi might joke about talking to his less progressive family members about Israel-Palestine (“It makes you miss those easier-to-swallow debates, like trans women playing sports”). Palestinian American comedian Atheer Yacoub might share a joke about being fluent in “checkpoint Hebrew” (“I have friends who are like, ‘You know, I couldn’t learn a new language if there was a gun to my head’—‘You sure about that?’”). Recently, Geoffrey Asmus, who has a penchant for dark non sequitur, began a bit by talking about his desire to blow up obnoxious party buses. “Let’s make [this neighborhood] look like Gaza,” he said. Amid groans, he tagged the joke with…