The New Yorker

Inside this week’s issue: nyer.cm/LfVNuXB

For those who have never truly been lonely, the psychological pain of that feeling can be hard to fathom. A.I. companions offer a potential solution—but at what cost? nyer.cm/7HPphVM

Bánh Anh Em is a much anticipated restaurant from the team behind the popular Bánh, but the new downtown spot “feels more ambitious, more focussed, more mature,” Helen Rosner writes. nyer.cm/8yWRe24

In our attempts to curb crime in America, have we misunderstood the problem? Malcolm @Gladwell explores the motivations behind violent acts. nyer.cm/8ECR28W

Vermont, which “feels like the frontier of climate change in the Northeast,” has been hit by one intense flood after the other, John Seabrook reports. River scientists and policy-makers from the state have come up with a radical plan to counter the threat. nyer.cm/TX1ZX2c

“I wanted to be something to him. Something that would last more than one night.” Fiction by Souvankham Thammavongsa. nyer.cm/JalP5a8

The neo-reactionary blogger Curtis Yarvin wants to destroy American democracy. With the Trumpian right embracing strongman rule, his ideas have found mainstream purchase. nyer.cm/hqib3ZS

Alicia Johansen and Fred Thornton changed their lives in hope of getting their baby back. They didn’t realize there would be competition. Inside the rise of a legal strategy that helps foster families adopt by battling the birth parents in court. nyer.cm/Hw6YavT

If everyone has impostor syndrome, does it exist at all? nyer.cm/u74JeYV

“You have all these dreams that you’re going to keep getting better and better. And then in reality you just start getting worse, and you don’t even understand why.” Read a short story by Sally Rooney. nyer.cm/y2W9qlY

Recently ICE agents appeared on a Little League field in Manhattan. Coach Youman Wilder told a group of kids who were being interrogated to get behind him and said to the officers, “You don’t have more rights than they do.” Read the story: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/e-PV0q

The students targeted for their pro-Palestine advocacy don’t know how they ended up on a blacklist that was then acted on by the State Department. A federal trial aims to get answers. nyer.cm/qeiGpvn

After accidentally killing his toddler son, the pediatrician Greg Gulbransen set out to help not just patients but strangers. “Feeling needed, feeling useful, feeling important—they’ve helped me hide the demons,” he said. nyer.cm/qfEwQiY

A cartoon by Mick Stevens. #NewYorkerCartoons See more cartoons from this week’s issue: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/E-6s6B

The Department of Commerce manages a vast portfolio, from the National Weather Service to the U.S. Census. But the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, sees himself primarily as President Trump’s dealmaker-in-chief. nyer.cm/TeRYRzt

In Boston, the most consequential and far-reaching trial of the second Trump Presidency has been set in motion: A.A.U.P. v. Rubio, which challenges the Administration’s systematic campaign to arrest, detain, and deport pro-Palestinian student protesters. nyer.cm/twztkHc

The Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh plays the most badass position on the field—and he is among the best at doing that, @louisahthomas writes. nyer.cm/J2OuGRV

Haruki Murakami reflects on his T-shirt collection, including one he loves to wear in the U.S. “Americans sometimes call out, ‘Love the shirt!’ The ones who do this usually have that ‘I love ketchup’ look about them,” he writes. nyer.cm/5JFr6ly

In today’s crossword: “The Lincoln Highway” author Towles (four letters). nyer.cm/et6DoK8