A CHICKEN. A cornfield. A tractor with a faded American flag flapping in the foreground. As this montage plays, Connie Conway croons a ’50s tune called “Kansas State Line” about how he has never left home but is a “rover at heart.” After this opening to Somebody Somewhere—the new HBO series created by and starring comedian and cabaret singer Bridget Everett—there’s a hard cut to someone whose dream of leaving has failed: Sam Miller (Everett), who sits in a fluorescent-lit room, marking a standardized-test booklet and filing it among a sad stack of folders. Sam does not fit in her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas. She may have tried to get out for a while. Now she’s in her 40s, with a job she dislikes, disconnected from everyone and unsure of what she wants or who she is.
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What Would You Like to Know?
An afternoon of pleasant negotiation with actor, stealth musician, and Taylor Swift muse Joe Alwyn.
Black Star Meets Again
Can lightning strike twice? How about 24 years later?
At Patti Ann's, the Kids' Menu Is the Only Menu
Pigs in a blanket and chicken-fried pork chops just like Mom never used to make.
The Group Portrait: Less Tall, Less Male, Still Young
The Paris Review has a new editor, a new staff, and a new vibe.
The Money Game: Scott Galloway
Buy Now. Pay (and Pay, and Pay, and Pay) Later. The bill for the finance hack of the pandemic is coming due-for all of us.
The Best Bagels in the World?
They might be on Long Island.
Realism Is Not His Deal
Joseph Giovannini turned this Los Angeles loft into an op-art womb. His tenant loves it.
Park Avenue's Greatest Pipes
Inside the organ at St. Bartholomew's, enveloped in 18th-century surround sound.
Cruise's Last Stand
Thirty-six years after the original, Top Gun: Maverick eulogizes the actor’s entire career.
The SAD YOUNG LITERARY MAN Is Now a MIDDLE-AGED DAD
KEITH GESSEN wrote a memoir about family life. His wife, EMILY GOULD, is mostly okay with that.
Gin 'n' It
Looking for a new drink that mixes the frontier spirit with Jazz Age naughtiness and even a dash of your choice of modern enhancement? Gin'n'It just maybe it.
CHARACTER STUDY: Dominic Zamprogna (Dante, GH)
Actors Otter Insight Into their Alter Egos
Annadata Suraksha Abhiyaan
A tailor-made insurance initiative to financially secure farmers and growers against farming risks.
Tracy Flick for Principal
Tom Perrotta's '90s antihero returns.
EVERYTHING YOUR CRUSH SECRETLY WISHES YOU KNEW
FROM DOUBLE TEXTING TO THE TALKING STAGE, WE'RE UNCOVERING THE TOTAL TRUTH ABOUT EVERYTHING GOING ON IN YOUR CRUSH'S PRETTY LITTLE HEAD-RIGHT FROM THE SOURCE.
OnePlus 10 Pro: Three reasons to get it (and one reason why most people won't)
With the 10 Pro, OnePlus continues down a tricky path.
Bans Off Our Bodies
MoveOn and Abortion Access activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3 after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
ALL PLAY, NO WORK
Dip into the laid-back vibes at this Palm Springs, CA, getaway.
HEAD GAMES!
Army numbskulls face conspiracy rap after pal’s severed noggin washes up on beach
Bottom-Fishing Can Be Scary
In a rough year for stocks, it’s tempting to try to grab bargains now. Just be careful