New York Times Opinion
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We amplify voices on the issues that matter to you. Read on: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion
Perhaps what excites people most about the show “Heated Rivalry,” Jim Downs writes, “is not the thrill of naked bodies but the shock of being emotionally known. That is what some of us have been missing.”
Opinion | A Sweet, Sexy, Happy Love Story Between Two Men. Revolutionary.
We need stories that capture how we live — in the touch, the embrace, the everyday if boring intimacies that were never meant to be translated.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Perhaps what excites people most about the show “Heated Rivalry,” Jim Downs writes, “is not the thrill of naked bodies but the shock of being emotionally known. That is what some of us have been missing.”
“The Trump health cuts constitute a double blow because they not only reduce access to clinical care, but also undermine public health initiatives related to vaccinations or addiction,” our columnist Nicholas Kristof writes.
Opinion | Can We Really Afford to Let Health Care Get Any Worse?
With Trump’s health care cuts, I traveled to Ohio, Mississippi and Alabama — and encountered devastated families bracing for even more difficult challenges.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 3:15 PM
“The Trump health cuts constitute a double blow because they not only reduce access to clinical care, but also undermine public health initiatives related to vaccinations or addiction,” our columnist Nicholas Kristof writes.
President Trump “is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons,” the editorial board writes after the U.S. attack on Venezuela was announced on Saturday. “If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress.”
Opinion | Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise
We know that Mr. Trump’s warmongering violates the law.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 1:42 PM
President Trump “is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons,” the editorial board writes after the U.S. attack on Venezuela was announced on Saturday. “If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress.”
Dementia made Anthea Rowan’s mother forget certain words, but the unusual terms she substituted were strangely poetic, she writes. “I worried afterward: Did I put as much effort into understanding her as she did in trying to make herself understood?”
Opinion | Dementia Made My Mom a Poet
I often wonder if I tried hard enough to understand my mother as she lost her memory.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Dementia made Anthea Rowan’s mother forget certain words, but the unusual terms she substituted were strangely poetic, she writes. “I worried afterward: Did I put as much effort into understanding her as she did in trying to make herself understood?”
“Mr. Mamdani’s embrace of a radical approach to governing New York City is exactly what we need to achieve his transformative goal of a city that is truly affordable for all,” writes William J. Arnone in a letter to The Times.
Opinion | What to Expect From Mayor Mamdani
Readers share their hopes and anxieties as New York’s new mayor takes office. Also: Unsubscribing from the Kennedy Center; protesting Trump.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 8:09 PM
“Mr. Mamdani’s embrace of a radical approach to governing New York City is exactly what we need to achieve his transformative goal of a city that is truly affordable for all,” writes William J. Arnone in a letter to The Times.
Times Opinion invites readers who have been affected by expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies to tell us what changes, if any, they’re seeing in their premium bills.
Opinion | A.C.A. Subsidies Have Expired. How Are You Affording Health Care?
Tell us how you’re managing increases to your health care insurance costs.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Times Opinion invites readers who have been affected by expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies to tell us what changes, if any, they’re seeing in their premium bills.
Have you ever wondered how self-driving cars can see? These are the overlooked workers who make it possible.
Opinion | The Unseen Human Workers Behind Self-Driving Cars
The unseen workers who help train self-driving cars to see.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Have you ever wondered how self-driving cars can see? These are the overlooked workers who make it possible.
"Tragically, America is still living in a political era that began on Jan. 6, 2021," the editorial board writes. "Recognizing as much is necessary to bring this era to an end before it has many more anniversaries."
Opinion | Trump Is the Jan. 6 President
Tragically, America is still living in a political era that began on Jan. 6, 2021.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 4:22 PM
"Tragically, America is still living in a political era that began on Jan. 6, 2021," the editorial board writes. "Recognizing as much is necessary to bring this era to an end before it has many more anniversaries."
“If anyone should be prepared to know how to handle my father’s ashes, it’s me,” Danielle Tumminio Hansen, a reverend, writes. “But ordination and a Ph.D. provide no protection from grief. They just make you vulnerable to it in a different way.”
Opinion | My Father Died. His Remains Are in Limbo.
If anyone should be prepared to know how to handle my dad’s ashes, it’s me.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 3:20 PM
“If anyone should be prepared to know how to handle my father’s ashes, it’s me,” Danielle Tumminio Hansen, a reverend, writes. “But ordination and a Ph.D. provide no protection from grief. They just make you vulnerable to it in a different way.”
“What is this?” asks the writer Stephen Batchelor as he explores an approach to Buddhist mediation built on the cultivation of doubt and wonder on this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”
Opinion | This Question Can Change Your Life
Drawing on a Buddhist meditation, the writer Stephen Batchelor asks: What is this?
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 1:36 PM
“What is this?” asks the writer Stephen Batchelor as he explores an approach to Buddhist mediation built on the cultivation of doubt and wonder on this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”
“At a moment when so many Americans seem to have lost faith in the American future and speak nostalgically of making the country great again, our country’s newcomers — immigrants, including New York City’s new mayor — continue to embrace the American dream,” Sam Tanenhaus writes.
Opinion | The American Dream Is Alive in Zohran Mamdani
The mayor’s résumé looks like the broad coalition he built when he swept to victory in November.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
“At a moment when so many Americans seem to have lost faith in the American future and speak nostalgically of making the country great again, our country’s newcomers — immigrants, including New York City’s new mayor — continue to embrace the American dream,” Sam Tanenhaus writes.
“Ancient wisdom and modern research are not wrong,” David Brooks writes. “If you want to lead a fulfilling life, fill it with loving attachments.”
Opinion | The Importance of Love and Marriage for an Increasingly Loveless America
America is becoming more loveless: less dating, less marriage, less friendship, less patriotism. But love outside of self is what makes life meaningful.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 11:23 AM
“Ancient wisdom and modern research are not wrong,” David Brooks writes. “If you want to lead a fulfilling life, fill it with loving attachments.”
When people think of testosterone, they think of aggressive dominance. But that’s not the right way to understand the hormone, the neuroscientist Robert M. Sapolsky writes.
Opinion | Testosterone’s Link to Aggression Is Complicated
Testosterone neither ensures dominance nor acts as a straightforward trigger for aggression.
nyti.ms
January 2, 2026 at 12:22 AM
When people think of testosterone, they think of aggressive dominance. But that’s not the right way to understand the hormone, the neuroscientist Robert M. Sapolsky writes.
“In 2025, the American and global economy, led by A.I. and capital markets, skated through a series of obstacles. But the next round is just beginning,” Mohamed El-Erian writes.
Opinion | The Economy Made It Through 2025. The New Year Will Be Harder.
The new year will pose numerous problems that won’t be so easily overcome.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 10:55 PM
“In 2025, the American and global economy, led by A.I. and capital markets, skated through a series of obstacles. But the next round is just beginning,” Mohamed El-Erian writes.
How did we get here? Our columnist Carlos Lozada doesn’t really want to know — or, at least, is sick of hearing the question.
Opinion | The Two Questions I Wish We’d Stop Asking in 2026
How did we get here? I don’t want to know.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 9:10 PM
How did we get here? Our columnist Carlos Lozada doesn’t really want to know — or, at least, is sick of hearing the question.
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
Opinion | For 2026, There’s a Better Way to Be Hopeful
Hope is a virtue to be practiced, not an aspiration to be managed.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 7:14 PM
“Our modern conception of hope is flawed,” the research psychologist David DeSteno writes. “It practically invites hopelessness when the stakes are greatest.”
“To genuinely ensure its security, Ukraine would be far better off demanding concrete contributions to its ability to defend itself than security assurances that no one — and certainly not President Vladimir Putin of Russia — would ever believe,” Philip Gordon writes.
Opinion | A Trump Security Guarantee Is Empty, Mr. Zelensky
Ukraine’s president should stop pressing for U.S. security guarantees and pursue more effective means of self-protection.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 5:31 PM
“To genuinely ensure its security, Ukraine would be far better off demanding concrete contributions to its ability to defend itself than security assurances that no one — and certainly not President Vladimir Putin of Russia — would ever believe,” Philip Gordon writes.
Zohran Mamdani “is part of a long tradition in New York City that has framed itself as seeking to reclaim the democratic community of the city from wealth, power and greed,” Kim Phillips-Fein writes.
Opinion | Why New York City Needs Someone Like Mamdani
The new mayor is an entirely familiar type of New York politician.
nyti.ms
January 1, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Zohran Mamdani “is part of a long tradition in New York City that has framed itself as seeking to reclaim the democratic community of the city from wealth, power and greed,” Kim Phillips-Fein writes.
“This holiday season, The New York Times Communities Fund has partnered with seven evidence-based charities that invest in education at critical junctures across people’s life spans,” the editorial board writes.
Opinion | America Has Sidelined Education. You Can Help.
The New York Times Communities Fund has partnered with charities that invest in education at critical junctures across people’s life spans.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
“This holiday season, The New York Times Communities Fund has partnered with seven evidence-based charities that invest in education at critical junctures across people’s life spans,” the editorial board writes.
London's pub culture is shifting, Jimmy McIntosh argues. "I worry that we’re losing the variety that’s fundamental to the fabric of the city," he writes.
Opinion | Last Orders, London?
A tale of two cities, told through its pubs.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 6:32 PM
London's pub culture is shifting, Jimmy McIntosh argues. "I worry that we’re losing the variety that’s fundamental to the fabric of the city," he writes.
Hottest newcomer: Zohran Mamdani. Biggest loser: Elise Stefanik. Most inappropriate gift. The Boeing 747 from Qatar. Michelle Cottle wraps up 2025 with her annual politics yearbook.
Opinion | The 2025 Politics Yearbook: Most Likely to Be Extreme and Chaotic
How much more chaotic could a second Trump term be? 2025 did not disappoint.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Hottest newcomer: Zohran Mamdani. Biggest loser: Elise Stefanik. Most inappropriate gift. The Boeing 747 from Qatar. Michelle Cottle wraps up 2025 with her annual politics yearbook.
With Netflix looking to acquire HBO, TV is in danger of returning “to its default settings — low on risk, low on cost and concerned only with producing programming that brings in the biggest possible audience,” Alan Sepinwall writes.
Opinion | Netflix Beat HBO. Now It Should Become HBO.
If Netflix acquires HBO, it will have won the streaming wars. But that’s not what will determine if TV shows get better, or worse.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 4:36 PM
With Netflix looking to acquire HBO, TV is in danger of returning “to its default settings — low on risk, low on cost and concerned only with producing programming that brings in the biggest possible audience,” Alan Sepinwall writes.
“The challenging thing about living in a society that values disruption is that what looks transgressive is often more of the same, just louder,” Jon Grinspan writes.
Opinion | There Is a Way Out of This Mess
A second Gilded Age, a single solution.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 3:32 PM
“The challenging thing about living in a society that values disruption is that what looks transgressive is often more of the same, just louder,” Jon Grinspan writes.
“Let’s give students what people have always craved in books — a passage to unknown worlds,” writes Christel Stevens in a letter to The Times.
Opinion | Encouraging Kids to Read Whole Books
Readers find a classroom trend of assigning shorter texts “troubling.” Also: Reaction to President Trump’s naming of a special envoy to Greenland.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM
“Let’s give students what people have always craved in books — a passage to unknown worlds,” writes Christel Stevens in a letter to The Times.
Even President Trump’s most egregious efforts to stifle dissent “seem to quickly fade from public consciousness, and in that way, they’re clearly meant to overwhelm us and make us think twice about exercising our rights,” Nora Benavidez writes.
Opinion | Trump Spent the Past Year Trying to Crush Dissent
The next three years will require a vigilant defense of free speech and open debate.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Even President Trump’s most egregious efforts to stifle dissent “seem to quickly fade from public consciousness, and in that way, they’re clearly meant to overwhelm us and make us think twice about exercising our rights,” Nora Benavidez writes.