On Wednesday, the United States Postal Service announced that it would be ending Saturday letter deliveries as of August, 2013. The decision is partly financial—it will save a couple billion dollars—but then, the post office wouldn’t be going broke if not for a series of legislative mandates so absurd that they make the decision to sponsor Lance Armstrong look almost prudent. On the theory, though, that the deliverers of the mail would rather that we laugh with them than at them, we’ve put together a slide show of New Yorker Postal cartoons. (We’ve also collected some classic covers about the mail.)
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Magazine
A Revolution in How Robots Learn
A future generation of robots will not be programmed to complete specific tasks. Instead, they will use A.I. to teach themselves.
By James Somers
Books
Lucy Grealy Understood What It Meant To Be Seen
Three decades later, “Autobiography of a Face,” a sensation when it was published, has lost none of its force.
By Molly Fischer
Magazine
The Berlin Philharmonic Doesn’t Need a Star Conductor
The musicians possess a powerful collective personality, creating an organic mass of sound.
By Alex Ross
Magazine
The Texas Ob-Gyn Exodus
Amid increasingly stringent abortion laws, doctors who provide maternal care have been fleeing the state.
By Stephania Taladrid
Magazine
Great Books Don’t Make Great Films, but “Nickel Boys” Is a Glorious Exception
RaMell Ross’s first dramatic feature, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, gives the bearing of witness an arresting cinematic form.
By Richard Brody
Crossword
The Mini Crossword: Friday, December 13, 2024
Catherine who starred opposite Eugene Levy in “Best in Show” and “Schitt’s Creek”: five letters.
By Kate Chin Park
Magazine
Can You Write It Better Than Taylor Swift?
An appreciator of “Speak Now” and “Folklore” joins a roomful of young writers at the Thurber House, a literary center in Ohio, for a class inspired by the pop star.
By Henry Alford
Magazine
The Long Way Home After a Cancelled Flight
Had I proposed earlier that we invite someone stranded to come with us to New York, Hugh would have said no. But now there was really no way for him to back out.
By David Sedaris
Magazine
Gift Ideas from the Rudy Giuliani Collection!
In need of stocking stuffers? How about a Rolex Datejust, owned by the former mayor and put up for auction after he was found liable for defaming two poll workers?
By Dan Greene
News
The Technology the Trump Administration Could Use to Hack Your Phone
Other Western democracies have been roiled by the use of spyware to target political opponents, activists, journalists, and other vulnerable groups. Could it happen here?
By Ronan Farrow
Culture
Mike Leigh’s Love Affair with Real Life
In his new film, “Hard Truths,” the director returns to his favorite mode: building intimate portraits of regular people, from the ground up.
By Sarah Larson