Society

TikTok creator @lizabookrecs had a question: When did BookTok become political? It was in the hours after Donald Trump had won the election for US president and the subset of TikTok that likes to talk about literature was already starting to fracture. People had started unfollowing fellow BookTokkers whose views didn’t align with their own—mostly…

After more than 1,200 days of silence, Li Ziqi, arguably the most successful internet influencer from China on YouTube, is suddenly posting videos again. Earlier this week, the 34-year-old content creator, who is best-known for sharing soothing, meticulously edited clips of herself cooking traditional Chinese dishes, farming, and working on elaborate art projects, posted three…

Tom Homan, the man president-elect Donald Trump has selected to serve as “border czar,” defended his family separation policy at an extremist festival last month surrounded by QAnon promoters, election conspiracists, and church leaders wearing crowns of bullets. “Trump comes back, I come back, And I will run the biggest deportation operation this country has…

On November 6, just hours after news outlets declared that Donald Trump had been elected the next president of the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted a notice asking companies to submit plans for how they would expand ICE’s system of ankle monitors, GPS trackers, biometric check-in technology, and human agents monitoring “non-citizens” awaiting…

President-elect Donald Trump announced tonight that he would be appointing billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) upon taking office in 2025. The acronym DOGE appears to be a reference to the digital currency dogecoin, of which Musk is a fan. “These two…

Less than a week after the election results were called for former president Donald Trump, his centibillionaire backer Elon Musk is already doing what he promised: taking an active role in shaping the government under a second Trump administration. During the campaign, Musk emerged as one of Trump’s biggest backers and his most zealous advocate…

Slowly but surely, Apple TV+ has found its feet. The streaming service, which at launch we called “odd, angsty, and horny as hell,” has evolved into a diverse library of dramas, documentaries, and comedies. Now, its library is so packed, we’ve declared it “the new HBO.” Curious but don’t know where to get started? Below…

We are a condiment-obsessed nation. That’s not a bad thing, though! Sure, we can get gluttonous and douse our fries in too much ketchup or overdo it with the mayo. But if we seek out sauces whipped up by people who devote themselves to the craft, we have the opportunity to add a lot more…

Other Smartwatches to Consider Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Photograph: Julian Chokkattu The number of smartwatches on the market is staggering. I’ve tested models from Tag Heuer, Citizen, Montblanc, and many other fashion brands, but most of them are simply too expensive for what you get. Here are a few options I like. Samsung Galaxy Watch6 and…

Won’t somebody please think of the children? Well, if you spend any time in the metaverse, you won’t really have much of a choice. Pop into a VR realm like Meta’s Horizon Worlds for even a moment, and an army of kids in their digital avatars will swarm all around you almost everywhere you go—waving,…