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David Downton’s Sketchbook

Simplify Cartoon

Into the Wild

A charming new coffee-table book and upcoming exhibition celebrate the stories and illustrations of Maurice Sendak, of Where the Wild Things Are

Lashana Lynch

The actress, who has played an Olympic athlete, a James Bond spy, and now a 19th-century warrior, credits her upbringing for her resilience

Open House

The James Rose Center, a modernist home in New Jersey, hosts an exhibition of art and furniture that align with the architecture’s Zen ethos

Straight Lace

Remembering Queen Elizabeth II

Whether one spent time with her in person or knew her only through her portraits, her warmth was always present

Love and War

Advise & Consent is rightly remembered as a classic Washington movie. It was also an important—if complicated—moment in gay history

The Nazis’ Most Formidable P.O.W. Camp

Ben Macintyre, author of a new book on epic escapes from the German stronghold Colditz, discusses everything from Truman Capote to dream dinner-party guests

Me, Myself & Ich

Social Studies

Ancient History

From operas on Nixon, Klinghoffer, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and women of the Gold Rush, John Adams progresses to Shakespeare

The State of Their Union

While the “bromance” between Barack Obama and Joe Biden has dominated headlines, the unseen tensions between the two have shaped politics

Staff Picks

Don’t miss Andy Borowitz’s account of America’s dumbest politicians; a hefty history of pop music; and the story of building Lincoln Center

Long Live the King

Ahead of his latest novel’s release, Stephen King divulges his writing routine and explains why social media is a “poison pill”

To Catch a Con

Rogue Agent dramatized one of the strangest criminal cases in recent British history. Its release helped lead to an international manhunt

Tales of Two Grifters

From Jared Kushner to an impostor M.I.5 agent, this week’s podcast has plenty of bad behavior—and more than a few laughs, thanks to Christopher Buckley

Senses and Sensibility

From Beethoven to Bach, Handel to Homer, so many of the greats throughout history lacked the precise faculty their art required. What does it all mean?

Catcher in the Wry

Eight questions with Christopher Buckley, ranging in subject from his comic pandemic novel and George Bush 41 to what his parents would have made of Trump

Moving Mountains

Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook

Murder, They Wrote

This month in mystery books, sequels improve on their predecessors—plus a locked-room puzzle from John Dickson Carr, as thrilling now as when it was first published, in 1944

When Menus Were the Main Event …

A delicious new book offers a visual history of menu design from 1800 to the present

Some Strings Attached

The little-known story of a wartime British ambassador who appeased Adolf Hitler but saw the error of his ways