Ross Douthat reads the poem “The Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot as a reflection of this year’s themes.

A fitting poem for a transformative year.

Voters keep resolving to change our country and yet we are increasingly disappointed in those we elect.

A fitting poem for a transformative year.

The 2025 revolt against process signaled the final collapse of a powerful idea that once promised to hold the country together.

Standing together on behalf of those who flee oppression is a very Christmas thing to do.

After winning an Emmy, Stephen Colbert spoke about creating a “show about love.” In its homestretch, “The Late Show” is fulfilling that promise.

Few things can calm a savage heart like being genuinely listened to.

Three lessons from a London commune.

Far-right mobilization is not an inevitable consequence of the precariousness of our times.

Readers respond to a guest essay on the incoming mayor’s universal child care plan. Also: A gift that never grows old.

Nvidia, OpenAI and other major artificial intelligence companies all invest in one another. This carries some risks, as Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal explains on “The Ezra Klein Show.”

Tracy Alloway of Bloomberg News walks through the signs to watch for if an A.I. bubble is coming.

There are some possible explanations for what’s happening with seemingly conflicting macroeconomic data.

The war on public health is a battle to the death.

When I first moved to New York City, Marty Reisman befriended me.

Trump’s deal preserves many of the ties to China that the law was designed to sever.

Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, the hosts of the economics podcast “Odd Lots,” walk through how Trump’s tariffs, A.I. and the vibecession are making for a strange close to the year.

Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal, the hosts of the economics podcast “Odd Lots,” walk through how Trump’s tariffs, A.I. and the vibecession are making for a strange close to the year.

When people’s cognition is splintered or absent, they are absorbing the emotions around them with no filter to protect them.

The irony of our secular age is that theology is more powerful than ever.

President Trump should press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ease military pressure on Gaza, Lebanon and Syria for the sake of his own policy.

Readers discuss whether or not to quit hosting holiday celebrations. Also: How to lighten the load for busy judges.

There are no wallflowers in Trump’s White House.

The columnist Michelle Goldberg believes Democrats — and the nation — lose when they abandon the idea of America as a nation of immigrants.

Making sense of a year of change.

The pain of drug addiction continues to course through towns like Clarksburg, W.Va., where many babies are born withdrawing and have to be taken from their parents.

For centuries, nobody has known who built the Florence Baptistery. Could A.I. crack the mystery?

What happens when the me, me, me generation enters its old era?