In Praise of the Benediction

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story My husband’s parents had invited a revered pastor—or moksanim, in Korean—to participate in our wedding. “He’s known for his benedictions,” my husband said. I didn’t know someone could specialize in benedictions,…

Piecing for Cover

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Mark Darrell’s life began to unravel on a Tuesday morning in September, 2004, in Anbar Province. A marine staff sergeant, a steady, seventeen-year veteran with only a week to go in…

The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story The prize of Alena Kate Pettitt’s childhood Barbie collection, the item that she still searches for fruitlessly on eBay, was a dining table. Press a button, and—magic!—a turkey dinner swung around…

Harrowing Melodrama in “A Different Man”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Alex Barasch Culture editor You’re reading the Goings On newsletter, a guide to what we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week. Sign up to receive it in your in-box. If…

The Kate Middleton Conspiracy-Theory Swirl

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story We don’t traffic in rumors, but, if we did, there’d be plenty to choose from. If you were cruising the Internet last week, you may have come across an urgent appeal…

Lana Del Rey’s New Album Searches for Transcendence

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Lana Del Rey doesn’t toy with signs—of American glamour and its decay, of female melancholia and racial desire—so much as consecrate them.Photograph by Rich Fury / Getty One thing about Lana…