Table of Contents

November 28, 2016

Cover Story

Our First Lady of Sorrows

Natalie Portman dons a pillbox hat for the role of a lifetime. By Boris Kachka

On the Cover: Natalie Portman. Photograph by Alex Prager for New York Magazine.

Features

Lego Is the Perfect Toy

How did a piece of plastic retain its progressive cred while embracing “conflict play”?

By Genevieve Smith
Let’s See How Alive We Can Be

Elizabeth Gilbert was already having a crazy year.

By Jessica Pressler

Intelligencer

The Kleptocracy Preps for Pennsylvania Avenue

Conflicts so brazen and unprecedented they already feel like old news.
Should We Be Angry or Optimistic?

Mulling the point of protest.
Maybe the Internet Is Just Terrible After All

Fake news is the easiest of the problems to fix.
How to Take Back the Counterculture

The Obama years were too soft anyway.
This Woman’s Place

My plan for helping white male liberals.
The Urbanist: The Frankenmansion

Megahouses smack in the heart of the city are sprouting up all over the globe. And they’re not all built for Russian oligarchs.
Reread: November 15, 2004

The mood after Bush beat Kerry, and the ways our writers thought about it.

Culture

The Cut

Just Pretty

Because there are worse things to ponder than a beautiful dress.

Departments

Gift Guide

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