In this issue

Divided We Stand - A Democratic House, a Republican Senate and a messy two years ahead.

Battle for China's Soul - A mixed-martial-arts fighter mixes it up with kung fu and more...

The Brief Time With Margrethe Vestager

Europe’s antitrust enforcer Margrethe Vestager mulls her legacy after taking on Silicon Valley.

5 mins

Nation Divided

The midterms delivered a split decision that primes both parties for battle.

10+ mins

The Fight For The Soul Of China

It’s Mixed Martial Arts Against The Kung Fu Establishment.

8 mins

Selling Desire

Cindy Eckert Is Betting That A Pill Can Boost A Woman’s Sex Drive. Scientists Aren’t So Sure.

9 mins

A Heist Movie About More Than The Cash

WIDOWS DECLARES ITS INTENTIONS EARLY. In the film’s opening moments, a career thief named Harry (Liam Neeson) and his wife Veronica (Viola Davis) share a passionate, prolonged kiss.

7 mins

The Secret To A Successful Sequel? It's A Secret

SWEARING THE ENTIRE CAST AND CREW OF A FILM TO secrecy is hard. But when it’s a massive movie like Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, with some 700 people and 1,000 costumes—including 400 coats alone—it’s next to impossible. All precautions are taken: characters are given code names, minute details are protected by nondisclosure agreements, and digital scripts are encrypted and disappear after a certain amount of time. It’s not quite magic, but it’s close.

3 mins

A Loaded Letter From A Long-Lost Mom

PARTWAY THROUGH ANURADHA ROY’S All the Lives We Never Lived, the German artist Walter Spies makes the case for simply enjoying life in India amid the global upheaval of the 1930s. “We are oceans away from all that,” he says. Another character disagrees: “The world is round and oceans meet. No place is safe from evil.”

2 mins

The Van Gogh We Never Knew

THERE ARE THINGS WE KNOW FOR sure about Vincent van Gogh: that he suffered from mental-health issues, that he cut off his left ear in 1888, that in some form or another his paintings—reproduced on coffee mugs, museum-shop scarves and laptop sleeves—bring many people at least moderate joy every day.

1 min

Coming Of Age, Italian Style

THE CENTERPIECE OF MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, the first of pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante’s four beloved Neapolitan novels, is a New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

3 mins

The New White Knight Of American Chess

FABIANO CARUANA DID NOT START PLAYING CHESS WHEN he was 5 years old because his mom thought that he’d be a grandmaster—or that he’d play for the World Chess Championship, just as fellow Brooklynite Bobby Fischer did in the 1970s. No, his mom just thought chess would calm him down.

3 mins

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