I live in New York City, which fashions itself as many things: the financial capital of the world, the media capital of the world, and obviously, the bagel capital of the world. But I like to think of it as something else as well: the zero-sum capital of the world. Or at least, the US. […]

Chloé Zhao’s lyrical, elegiac new film Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, has been an Oscars frontrunner since its festival release earlier this year. But as it made its way to mainstream theaters over Thanksgiving week, a new narrative emerged with a central question: Is this film, built around the harrowing death of […]

It was not a particularly subtle gift, but as the recipient himself would probably admit, he’s never been a particularly subtle guy.  When President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea last month, President Lee Jae Myung presented him with a bejewelled golden crown, a replica of one worn by ancient Korean rulers.  The gift came […]

Last January, when Reagan-appointed Judge John Coughenour became the first federal judge to block President Donald Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship, he did not mince words. “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades,” Coughenour said. “I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is.” Coughenour was […]

America is out of the business of giving patronizing lectures to other governments about how to run their countries and trying to mold other societies in its own image… except for the countries of Western Europe.  With little fanfare, the Trump administration released its long-awaited National Security Strategy Thursday night. The NSS is a periodically […]