“Every so often, you hear stories on the news about a toddler who somehow manages to start the family car and drive the vehicle across town, where the law finally apprehends him—and it’s almost always a _him—_before too much damage has taken place,” Barry Blitt, the artist behind this week’s cover, says. “As to why this would come to mind on the week of our new President’s Inauguration . . . I have no idea!”
Françoise Mouly has been the art editor at The New Yorker since 1993.
The Current Cinema
“April” Is an Unflinching Portrait of a Doctor’s Fight for Reproductive Justice
In Dea Kulumbegashvili’s film, Ia Sukhitashvili plays a Georgian obstetrician who views a woman’s right to choose as an unshakable moral imperative.
By Justin Chang
The Lede
What’s Legally Allowed in War
How U.S. military lawyers see Israel’s invasion of Gaza—and the public’s reaction to it—as a dress rehearsal for a potential conflict with a foreign power like China.
By Colin Jones
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A Historical Epic of the Chinese in America
Chinese immigrants in the U.S. have been fighting for centuries against racial prejudice, the author Michael Luo says; their story should be seen as an American epic.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Cory Booker: “America Needs Moral Leadership, and Not Political Leadership”
The senator talks with David Remnick about his record-breaking speech in Congress, and why he resists calls for Democrats to act alone in standing up to Donald Trump.
Photo Booth
A Long, Hard Look at America
As the transatlantic alliance falters, a major exhibition of U.S. photography offers Europeans a dizzying array of perspectives.
By Anthony Lane
Humor
Daily Cartoon: Friday, April 25th
“I have nothing positive to cheers to, so I don’t think I should cheers at all.”
By Polly Adams
Persons of Interest
The Conservative Lawyer Defending a Firm from Donald Trump
Paul Clement complained that Big Law was becoming “increasingly woke.” Now he’s defending one firm’s right to do just that.
By Ruth Marcus
Crossword
The Mini Crossword: Friday, April 25, 2025
Midwestern state where Toni Morrison was born: four letters.
By Kate Chin Park
Goings On
Rema and the Evolution of the Afrobeats Sound
Also: reviews of Broadway’s “Smash” and “John Proctor Is the Villain”; New York’s financial crisis of 1975 in “Drop Dead City”; and more.
By Marina Harss
Letter from Trump’s Washington
Waiting for Trump’s Big, Beautiful Deals
Whether a trade pact with China or a peace accord with Russia, the President doesn’t seem to know what he’s actually asking for, never mind how to actually achieve it.
By Susan B. Glasser