The Latest

Mastering the art of serving the rich, a Taliban intelligence chief’s death and resurrection, and fighting for the right to insult the French president

A Times obituary misrepresents the career of a distinguished publisher

“Our nation has lost a colossus”

Notes on South Africa’s failed revolution

Saying goodbye to Nelson Mandela, beloved fighter, visionary, and king

Daniel Alarcón on the actor as character, foreshadowing as bravado, and the visceral nature of curiosity

Walmart celebrates Black Friday with protests and police reports, Amazon experiments with drone delivery, and Republicans salute the end of racism 

Smoke Painting #36, colored smoke and firework residue on paper, by Rosemarie Fiore, whose work was on view in October at Von Lintel Gallery, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Von Lintel Gallery, New York City Smoke Painting #36, colored smoke and firework residue on paper, by Rosemarie Fiore, whose work was on view in October at Von Lintel Gallery, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Von Lintel Gallery, New York City

“Untitled,” a photograph by Osamu Yokonami, whose monograph Assembly was self-published last year. Courtesy the artist

On the first full translation of a masterwork by Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837)

Singer Songwriter, a painting by Dana Schutz, whose work is currently on view at the Hepworth Wakefield, in Wakefield, England. Courtesy the artist and Petzel, New York City

The countries and companies responsible for climate change, nuclear options in Congress and Iran, and the extinction of Darwin's frog

Interpreting my South American interpreter

Casualty counts and corruption in the Philippines, protest and repression in Russia, and the usual news from Toronto

Why John Kerry was bested by France and Israel in negotiations with Iran, and how the Obama Administration could get around the U.S. sanctions regime

Introducing the Harper’s app

Colson Whitehead on Las Vegas, Ben Lerner on vandalism as art, and Edwidge Danticat on photographs from Africa

Why more attention should have been paid to terminal tapping at Bloomberg News

One of the most powerful storms on record strikes the Philippines, the mayor of Toronto has a problem, and cheeseburgers as post-coital couture

Wil S. Hylton on grief, narrative, and the difficulty of recovering a sunken past

Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell on life inside The Room, the greatest bad movie ever made

Syria finishes destroying its chemical-weapons facilities, the United States kills the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and Axe body spray fells eight New York City students

An expert panel concludes that the Pentagon and the CIA ordered physicians to violate the Hippocratic Oath

The city of Fremont reopens debate on its anti-immigration ordinance 

In the aftermath of Georgia’s presidential elections, questions emerge about Mikhail Saakashvili’s support for jihadist operations in southern Russia, and about what the United States knew

A note from the bullfights

The NSA’s phone tap on Angela Merkel is exposed, European authorities investigate false reports of Roma kidnappings, and Kim Jong-un receives an honorary degree from HELP U

Colin McAdam on ape life, loneliness, and the purpose of language

The original text of Ernest Hemingway's submission to Vanity Fair, with his cover letter and an introduction by the editor of a new collection of his letters

From a selection of drawings made during business meetings, by Andrea Dezsö, whose work was on view last month at Nancy Margolis Gallery, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York City.