long reads

Being one-of-one, the number one, the only one has emerged as Beyoncé’s most prominent creative ethos. This year, she became the most decorated artist in Grammys history and completed the most ambitious tour of her career, bringing her celebration of Black and queer culture on her Renaissance album to stadiums across the world. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift reached an idiosyncratic tier of cultural prominence in her own right, breaking chart records and delivering an extravaganza of her own on the career-spanning stadium…

As the Israeli military pounded Gaza City in early November, Dr. Hammam Alloh made his way through the city’s Al Shifa Hospital. Days later, Israel’s assault on the hospital would trap staff and patients inside while reserve fuel ran out. But that day, on his rounds, he watched as his patients suffered — even as he lacked the basic resources to help them. Related Israel’s total siege on Gaza stopped access to food, fuel, medicine, and potable water, and left hospitals without access to…

I n sleepy, suburban Saugus, Massachusetts, sisters Robyn D’Apolito and Nicole MacTaggart pack up the car, getting ready to meet about 30 members of their friends and family at Castle Rock Park in Marblehead. It’s July 2022, high season for the New England shore, but this isn’t a typical trip to the beach. The sisters are on their way to scatter the ashes of their mother, Adele Mazzone, at her favorite place: where she used to sit with her toes in the sand, eating ice cream, while her kids scrambled over stony…