The Squid Game Secret
People have chalked up the South Korean TV show’s unprecedented popularity to word of mouth. Here’s the real source of its success
Jaden Michael
Colin Kaepernick meets his match in the star who plays him as an aspiring high-school football player grappling with racism in Colin in Black & White
Staff Picks
This week, don’t miss a collection of letters by writers from Beckett to Vonnegut; a history of the 13th Tour de France; and a guide to the world’s most peculiar foods
Opera Pick of the Week
From Brussels, The Time of Our Singing, an operatic mixed-race American family saga, speaks to our historical moment with an eloquence that transcends it
Honor Swinton Byrne
The actress reveals what it’s like to act alongside her mother
Jerusalem Syndrome
The Christian obsession with the holy city has played a key role in creating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and remains a stumbling block to its resolution
Exposing Her Weiner
Huma Abedin claims she had never heard of sex addiction until her husband’s sexting scandal broke
The Lap of Luxury
A new memoir reveals the late Karl Lagerfeld in all of his complexity
Striking a Chord
Songs that register with us all, from LCD Soundsystem, Grace Jones, Elton John, and more
Taxi Driving
An illustrated history of the New York taxicab recalls the glory days of early motorized cars and spacious Checkers
Flipping the Godfather Script
Mario Puzo was an avid gambler, novelist, and pizza eater. But there was one department where he could use some help: screenwriting
A Podcast Full of Treats (and a Few Tricks)
From Kylie Jenner’s “swimsuits” to a zombie hotel, we’ve got it all this week
Opera Pick of the Week
Love hurts in Jenůfa, Leoš Janáček’s tragedy from the hinterlands of Moravia, brought to thrilling life at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London
Pfizer v. Trump
Inside Pfizer’s high-stakes coronavirus-vaccine trials and Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine them
Risky Business
The notorious Jazz Age madam Polly Adler played hostess to every gangster, politician, and writer of the Roaring 20s—even, she once claimed, to F.D.R.