When Book Bans Came to Small Town New Jersey

As we approach the end of 2024, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including television and film.The Times’s chief television critic James Poniewozik and chief film critic Manohla Dargis talk with Melissa Kirsch, the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle, about why recent entertainment offerings may feel a little “blah,” and also recommend shows and movies that stand out.

In 2022, seven years after surviving a brain aneurysm that left her unable to sing or even speak, Joni Mitchell appeared onstage at the Newport Folk Festival. Singing alongside her were her supportive — and emotional — musician friends, including Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford and Wynonna Judd. Our critic Wesley Morris had his doubts. What was really happening here? Did Joni Mitchell even want this? Or were her younger adoring musician fans propping her up for their own reasons? When he learned this fall that Joni would be appearing onstage again, at the Hollywood Bowl, he bought a ticket to see for himself. On today’s episode, Wesley talks with his editor Sasha Weiss about the concert, and what it’s like to experience an 80-year-old in full command of her meaning.

Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit. The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expected it — in the monotony of Hallmark’s Christmas movies.

How President Biden could transform women’s rights and rescue his legacy with just a ring. Dozens of congressional Democrats have a simple pitch to President Biden: with a single phone call he can revolutionize women’s rights and salvage his damaged legacy. Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent at The New York Times, discusses whether that plan is possible and, if so, whether Mr. Biden would try.

His wife was spiraling into insomnia, and his children were afraid to go to school, so Jaime Cachua sought out the person he trusted most in a crisis. He sat at his kitchen table in rural Georgia across from his father-in-law, Sky Atkins, the family patriarch. Jaime, 33, hadn’t seen his own father since he was 10 months old, when he left Mexico in a car seat bound for the United States. “We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” Jaime told him. “There’s a chance we could lose everything.” Jaime muted the football game on TV and began to explain his new reality as an undocumented immigrant after the election of Donald Trump, who had won the presidency in part by promising to deport more than 11 million people living in the country illegally. “I’m going to be straight with you,” Sky told Jaime. “I voted for Trump. I believe in a lot of what he says.” “I figured as much,” Jaime said. “You and just about everyone else around here.” “It’s about protecting our rights as a sovereign country,” Sky said. “We need to shut down the infiltration on the border. It’s not about you.” “It is about me,” Jaime said. “That’s the thing I don’t understand.”