Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. By Ross Douthat Opinion Columnist This week the conservative writer Bethany Mandel had the kind of moment that can happen to anyone who talks in public for a living: While promoting a new book critiquing progressivism, she […]

The weekend rescue of uninsured depositors in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank was absolutely essential and absolutely frustrating. We have to stop getting ourselves into these messes, people. If the federal government hadn’t given a blanket of protection to all deposits, companies that had deposits in either of the banks above $250,000, the maximum that’s insured by the Federal […]

More from our inbox: To the Editor: Re “Voters Should Pick the Vice President,” by Greg Craig (Opinion guest essay, March 5): Mr. Craig’s article raises a larger question. The vice-presidential nominees of the two major parties are too often chosen largely or entirely because of their perceived ability to help elect their presidential running mate, rather than an apparent […]

The latest round of rhetorical warfare about America’s old-age entitlement system has revealed the poverty of our political vocabulary. Both parties talk about Social Security and Medicare as if they are antidotes to interdependence, when in fact they are vital facilitators of it. They treat them like savings plans into which today’s workers deposit money they will withdraw tomorrow. Some […]

ADIYAMAN, Turkey — Beneath each fresh mound in this rapidly expanding graveyard lies a tragedy. One morning at dawn, Zeki Karababa told me about his. Karababa’s brother, Hamit; Hamit’s wife, Fatma; and two children, Ahmet, 10, and Evra, 3, had been crushed when their apartment building crumbled in the earthquake. But that was just the beginning. “For three days there […]

More from our inbox: To the Editor: Re “My Plan to Extend Medicare,” by Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Opinion guest essay, March 8): President Biden’s Medicare plan rightly acknowledges the “rock-solid” role that this core social insurance program plays in the lives of some 64 million beneficiaries and in our nation’s overall health care ecosystem. He takes aim at a […]

For many months — since the 2020 campaign — Republicans have tried to portray Joe Biden as being too old to be president, as mentally deficient, as one small step away from death or disability. Democrats do themselves no favors when they let it be known, as they have in recent polling, that they too think he is too old […]

Imagine standing patiently in line, waiting to vote, and suddenly men with guns arrive on motorcycles and start shooting. Imagine men dashing into your polling unit, violently seizing ballot boxes and taking them away. Imagine other ballot boxes being destroyed. Imagine being beaten to keep you from voting for a particular candidate. Imagine a crowd of people chanting “We must […]

KYIV, Ukraine — A year ago, the capital where I am now was under siege by Russian forces. Sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the streets; missiles rained down on this and other cities across Ukraine. Many people, including Vladimir Putin, expected that Ukraine would quickly collapse. One year later, Russia’s barbaric attacks continue — but Kyiv stands strong and […]

Several years ago, I edited a story by the historian Alexis Coe about the different ways literary husbands and wives publicly acknowledge each other in their books. To summarize and perhaps oversimplify: Husbands tend to thank their wives for their actual labor, like editing and research help, while wives tended to thank their husbands for their emotional support, possibly suggesting […]