Takes
The New Yorker’s writers, editors, and supporters revisit notable works from the archive.
Bill McKibben on Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”
Her reporting was quickly attacked by the industry she called into question, setting the playbook for companies that profited from tobacco, opioids, and fossil fuels.
Stephen Colbert on Kenneth Tynan’s Profile of Johnny Carson
From Hollywood to the Hasty Pudding, we waft like smoke from an unfiltered Pall Mall through Carson’s worlds, most of which are gone.
Paige Williams on Marquis James’s Preview of the Scopes Monkey Trial
When a high-school teacher in Tennessee agreed to be prosecuted for teaching evolution, The New Yorker, still in its first year, sent a reporter.
Jhumpa Lahiri on Mavis Gallant’s “Voices Lost in Snow”
The author on the New Yorker story that inspired her story “Jubilee.”
Zadie Smith on Grace Paley’s “My Father Addresses Me on the Facts of Old Age”
The author on the New Yorker story that inspired her story “The Silence.”
Ottessa Moshfegh on Harold Brodkey’s “The State of Grace”
The author on the New Yorker story that inspired her story “The Comedian.”
John McPhee on His Childhood Appearance in The New Yorker
The little boy in the piece was definitely me, and the moment I saw it I developed a lifelong affection for the magazine.
Molly Fischer on Mark Singer’s “Mom Overboard!”
The article, which appeared in the Women’s Issue, asks what happens when three women leave élite careers to stay home with their children.
Ina Garten on Calvin Tomkins’s Profile of Julia Child
The outlines of her biography—the cookbooks, the TV stardom—are familiar to many of us. Tomkins captures what set her apart.