Author: Lance Garrison
The Israel-Hamas war was not as inevitable as you might think.
A few hours later, she joined the rest of the family for our last supper together. I don’t remember much of the evening; either I failed to capture that memory or I’ve erased it, too painful to keep. I do recall Julie had one bite of a friend’s homemade Key lime pie. Apparently, a sweet tooth never dies, even if you are about to. Before bed, Julie hugged and kissed each of us: her wife and two daughters; my brother, Jay, and his wife; and me. Tucked in under the covers, I pulled out my iPhone to continue a ritual…
Each week, readers submit thousands of comments on Opinion pieces. The word “appreciation” doesn’t begin to cover how our staff feels about them. Comments can challenge, gratify, inspire and anger us — sometimes all at once. They make us strive to do better.We recently reviewed some of the most engaging comment sections we’ve experienced this year (so far!) and decided we had to pay tribute. So we asked the authors of some of the relevant pieces to respond to what readers had to say. We hope you enjoy looking back at these conversations as much as we did.With readers’ permission,…
Readers discuss a guest essay that argued it would be a mistake to keep the former president off the ballot. Also: Political despair; nonelite colleges; dinners with Churchill.
Dec. 28, 2023 – The market for dietary supplements – vitamins, minerals, botanicals, herbs, and other products promoted as ways to help you feel better, look better, perform better, sleep better, and stay healthy – is booming, and that boom isn’t done. In 2021, U.S. consumers spent more than $48 billion on supplements; that number is projected to grow more than 5% annually over the next 5 years. The industry grew from about 4,000 products in 1994 to 80,000 in 2016. At least half of U.S. adults take dietary supplements, according to 2021 federal statistics. Three-quarters of the people who took a 2023 consumer survey…
Over recent days, I took on a daunting task — but a delightful one. I reviewed all the passages of prose featured in the For the Love of Sentences section of my Times Opinion newsletter in 2023 and tried to determine the best of the best. And there’s no doing that, at least not objectively, not when the harvest is so bountiful.What follows is a sample of the sentences that, upon fresh examination, made me smile the widest or nod the hardest or wish the most ardently and enviously that I’d written them. I hope they give you as much…
As Caldwell sums it up: “America’s discovery of world dominance might turn out in the 21st century to be what Spain’s discovery of gold had been in the 16th — a source of destabilization and decline disguised as a windfall.”Some of this year’s Sidney Award winners are kind of cerebral, but John Jeremiah Sullivan’s essay “Man Called Fran,” from Harper’s, is pure candy. Once you start reading it, you will not be able to stop. It starts when the author was bothered by a vague, unpleasant smell spreading through part of his house. He called plumber after plumber, but nobody…
It has been such a special political year, brimming with extraordinary, even historic moments. From an ex-president indicted to a Senate staffer busted for making porn at work, each fresh development made you proud to be an American.Singling out the exceptional events and players was tougher than ever. I mean, when Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t even merit a mention …. But making hard calls is part of my job, and the true standouts deserve a shout-out.Most Likely to Be Picked Last in Gym Class: Matt GaetzMany Americans fantasize about taking up their pitchforks and storming the boss’s office. But in…
Opinion We asked the staff of Times Opinion to share what we came across that permanently burned itself into our brains this year. From the things our columnists actually loved to the habits we’ll stick with; culture that was highbrow, normie or just made us laugh; things that made news this year to what was new just to us this year – this is what we’ll take with us into 2024. Animation by Talia Cotton; illustrations by Vinnie Neuberg Things Our Columnists Actually Loved Things Our ColumnistsActually Loved I’ve loved the Indigo Girls song “Closer to Fine” since the moment…
Mira Jacob is the author and illustrator of “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations.”The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and Threads.