Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Yesterday — 12 April 2025Main stream

Alice Tan Ridley, Subway Singer on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Dies at 72

By: Sopan Deb
12 April 2025 at 23:44
The mother of the actress Gabourey Sidibe, she spent decades singing full time as an underground busker in New York City.

© George Etheredge/The New York Times

Alice Tan Ridley practicing for her first music video in 2016. She sing in the New York City subway system for years before finding success.

Trade War Forces Tough Question for Retailers: Raise Prices or Eat the Cost?

A trade war with China and tariff threats on other countries are ramping up pressure on stores that sell products from overseas — which, for some categories, is just about all of them.

© Sasha Maslov for The New York Times

Vivian Hoffman owns several stores that sell apparel from China. Her suppliers are already raising prices because of tariffs.

Whitmer Shows How Democrats Are Playing With Fire in Cozying Up to Trump

The Michigan governor’s awkward Oval Office appearance reflected how several Democratic state leaders are cultivating cordial but politically risky relationships with the president.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

Trade War Forces Tough Question for Retailers: Raise Prices or Eat the Cost?

12 April 2025 at 17:03
A trade war with China and tariff threats on other countries are ramping up pressure on stores that sell products from overseas — which, for some categories, is just about all of them.

Saturday Mac riddles 303

By: hoakley
12 April 2025 at 16:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: Harvard or Yale cipher brought emoji and Ugaritic.

2: US standard for 128 Roman characters now over 60.

3: Two plus 128 more came in 1989, gained a euro in 1998, and still supported.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Luigi Mangione Says Bondi’s Death Penalty Bid Is an Instagram Stunt

Lawyers for the man accused of killing a health insurance executive in Manhattan said the attorney general was putting “partisan politics over justice.”

© Pool photo by Steven Hirsch

Luigi Mangione has yet to be indicted in federal court, but prosecutors have already said they will seek capital punishment.

The Menendez Brothers’ Case Under Review: What to Know.

The Los Angeles County district attorney was asking a court to withdraw a resentencing petition. But Lyle and Erik Menendez still have paths to freedom.

© Nick Ut/Associated Press

Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez during a court appearance in 1990. The brothers were convicted of murder in the killings of their parents.

Who Wants to Run Vanity Fair? Everyone? Anyone?

Radhika Jones is stepping down as editor in chief, and the search for her replacement has begun. But as the magazine industry has contracted, many of the more decadent parts of the job are long gone.

© Juan Arredondo for The New York Times

There are few more prominent roles in American journalism than the editor of Vanity Fair.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns of ‘Considerable Turbulence’ Ahead for Economy

11 April 2025 at 22:33
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, known for his frankness, is tiptoeing around tariffs as he and other leaders of big banks reveal their latest earnings.

© Richard Drew/Associated Press

“Obviously,” said Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, “the China stuff is significant. We don’t know the full effect.”
Before yesterdayMain stream

Tesla U.S. Sales Plunge as G.M. and Others Make Gains

11 April 2025 at 21:53
Overall sales of electric vehicles rose almost 11 percent in the first three months of the year as traditional carmakers offered new models.

© Rachel Bujalski for The New York Times

Protests against Tesla have been growing since its chief executive, Elon Musk, took a prominent role in the Trump administration.

Urban Revolutionaries: 10 Rags to riches

By: hoakley
11 April 2025 at 19:30

Although few of those who migrated to the towns and cities from the countryside prospered as a result, there were sufficient examples to lure others to take their chances. For a young woman, success could come through the growing world of fashion.

krohgtired
Christian Krohg (1852–1925), Tired (1885), oil on canvas, 79.5 x 61.5 cm, Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo, Norway. Wikimedia Commons.

The foot of the ladder was the greatest challenge: how to make the break from the worn-out worker shown in Christian Krohg’s Tired from 1885. This young seamstress was one of the many thousands who worked at home at that time, toiling for long hours by lamplight for a pittance. A few of them had the good fortune to be discovered and taken up into a small dressmaker’s.

stifternewdress
Moritz Stifter (1857–1905), The New Dress (1889), oil on panel, 30.5 x 40 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons.

They might then enter the world of Moritz Stifter’s New Dress from 1889. Every face is smiling here, some perhaps a little vacuously, as an affluent young woman tries on a new dress, with its incredibly small waist. Although this room is full of fabric and the trappings of dressmaking, including the mandatory sewing machine, no one actually appears to be making anything.

degasmillineryshop
Edgar Degas (1834–1917), The Millinery Shop (1879/86), oil on canvas, 100 x 110.7 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Wikimedia Commons.

A few specialised in making hats, as shown in Edgar Degas’ The Millinery Shop (1879/86). While husbands and partners were expected to pay for a woman’s hats, their choice was hers, and hers alone.

beraudlamodiste
Jean Béraud (1849–1935), The Milliner on the Champs Elysées (year not known), oil on canvas, 45.1 × 34.9 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.

Jean Béraud’s fashionably-dressed Milliner on the Champs Elysées is enjoying her success, and carrying her work in two large hatboxes. She has also attracted the attention of the well-dressed man in a top hat behind and to the left of her.

signacmilliners127
Paul Signac (1863-1935), Les Modistes (Two Milliners in the Rue du Caire, Paris) (Op 127) (1885-86), oil on canvas, 111.8 x 89 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.

Les Modistes (Two Milliners in the Rue du Caire, Paris) from 1885-86 is one of Paul Signac’s transitional paintings to Seurat’s Divisionism. These two young milliners are busy making fashionable hats and making their way into bourgeois life.

jeanniotatmilliner
Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934), At the Milliner (1901), oil on canvas, 54.5 x 81.5 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.

Pierre-Georges Jeanniot’s At the Milliner (1901) shows the milliner in a mirror at the right.

gervexfivehoursatpaquins
Henri Gervex (1852–1929), Five Hours at Paquin’s (1906), oil on canvas, 260 x 172.7 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons.

Millinery was one of the staples of fashion houses like that of Paquin, whose success was characteristic of the late nineteenth century, and shown in Henri Gervex’s Five Hours at Paquin’s from 1906.

jeanniotritzparis
Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934), The Ritz Hôtel, Paris (1908), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons.

The purpose of these expensive hand-made hats was for show, when the lady was seen in appropriate surroundings. Jeanniot’s painting of the patrons of one of the most fashionable hotels in Paris shows all the hats out on parade in the inner garden of the Paris Ritz in fine weather.

beraudmaisonpaquin
Jean Béraud (1849–1935), Workers leaving the Maison Paquin (1907), further details not known. The Athenaeum.

Béraud’s Workers leaving the Maison Paquin (1907) shows the ladies who worked in Jeanne Paquin’s highly successful fashion house in the Rue de la Paix, as they left work at the end of the day.

A select few were fortunate enough to marry into the middle class and forge a more secure future for themselves.

beraudcathedraleamericaine
Jean Béraud (1849–1935), After the Service at the Church of Sainte-Trinité (the ‘American Cathedral’, Avenue George-V, Paris) (c 1900), oil on canvas, others details not known. Wikimedia Commons.

Béraud’s After the Service at the Church of Sainte-Trinité (the ‘American Cathedral’) (c 1900) shows affluent Franco-American society at the turn of the century, and the prominence of hats and clothes.

Review: In a Musical Comedy Makeover, ‘Smash’ Lives Up to Its Name

11 April 2025 at 10:30
En route to Broadway, the TV series about backstage shenanigans and Marilyn Monroe has been rejiggered, with the same great songs but a whole new plot.

© Richard Termine for The New York Times

In “Smash,” Robyn Hurder, center, stars as the actress Ivy Lynn, who plays Marilyn Monroe in a musical-within-the-musical at the Imperial Theater in Manhattan.

How Do the iPhone 16E and Google Pixel 9A Compare to More Expensive Models?

10 April 2025 at 22:55
With tariffs threatening to drive up the costs of most things, the new entry-level phones from Apple and Google present a timely opportunity to save some bucks.

© Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times

From left, the iPhone 16e, iPhone 16, Google Pixel 9A and Google Pixel 9.

Search Ends for Victims in Dominican Republic Roof Collapse That Killed 221

11 April 2025 at 00:13
The collapse of the roof at Jet Set, one of Santo Domingo’s most popular nightclubs, killed many prominent Dominicans, including baseball players and politicians.

© Francesco Spotorno/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rescue workers at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday, the day after its roof collapsed, killing over 200 people.

Trump’s Drastic Tariff Turnaround, and Green Card Holders on Edge

Plus, the soundtrack of America.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

President Trump on Wednesday abruptly reversed course on steep global tariffs that have roiled markets. The pause did not extend to China.

Sidelined and Still Processing Her Defeat, Harris Looks for a Way Back In

A successful campaign for governor of California in 2026, Kamala Harris has told allies, would give her a prominent perch from which to push back against President Trump and defend Democratic priorities.

© Etienne Laurent/Reuters

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has not decided her next move, but some of her closest allies say she is leaning toward a run for governor of California that would all but foreclose the possibility of running for president in the next election.

Grandmother Is Stranded When Her Parrot ‘Plucky’ Can’t Board Flight

10 April 2025 at 11:07
Plucky, an African gray parrot, accompanied its owner on a Frontier Airlines flight to Puerto Rico in January. But a gate agent would not let it on board the return flight.

© Maria Fraterrigo

Maria Fraterrigo with Plucky, her 24-year-old parrot. A decision by Frontier Airlines not to allow the bird on a plane left Ms. Fraterrigo stuck in San Juan for four days.
❌
❌