The Morning: The best Times Opinion coverage of 2023

December 28, 2023

By the staff of The Morning

Good morning. We're covering the year's best Times Opinion coverage — as well as Donald Trump, migration and superhero fatigue.

A composite of four images, clockwise from top left: an illustration of a book with a desk in the middle of the book; a black-and-white photo of George Santos wearing sunglasses; an abstract illustration of landscapes and the silhouette of a person; and Pamela Anderson at a photo shoot.

Illustration by Sam Whitney/The New York Times, Mark Peterson for The New York Times, Sara Cwynar for The New York Times, Illustration by Shoshana Schultz/The New York Times

Challenge and delight

We're using today's newsletter to highlight a selection of the best Times Opinion coverage of the year, as chosen by the department's editors.

As Katie Kingsbury, who runs Times Opinion, wrote to us:

What I've always admired about The Times's readers is that they don't expect our opinion journalism to tell them what to think. They're not looking to have their views affirmed or their understanding reflected back to them. What readers want of us in Opinion is — as best we can — to surprise them, delight them, engage them and, ultimately, to help them to think for themselves.

We try to do that every day by inviting intelligent discussion by informed people. In 2023, it meant offering 100-plus years of experience covering the Middle East from columnists such as Tom Friedman and Bret Stephens. Closer to home, colleagues like Maureen Dowd, Carlos Lozada, Jamelle Bouie and David French challenged conventional wisdom on American politics and policy, while Lydia Polgreen, Charles Blow and David Brooks asked essential questions about what society values and how to live a full life. Penetrating essays, poignant films and startling visuals by outside contributors only bolstered the Opinion report this past year.

We hope you enjoy the selection.

Standout columns

Charles Blow on coming out late in life.

Jamelle Bouie on Chief Justice John Roberts's polite disdain for Congress.

David Brooks on his friend's suicide.

Gail Collins on using humor as a tool in the women's movement.

Ross Douthat on identity shifts in left-wing and right-wing politics.

Maureen Dowd on President Biden's seventh grandchild.

Thomas Friedman on Israel's need to be smart as it fights Hamas.

David French on the wisdom of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech.

Michelle Goldberg on George Santos's expulsion from Congress.

Ezra Klein on artificial intelligence's effects on relationships.

Nicholas Kristof on Mississippi's success at teaching children to read.

Paul Krugman on the importance of reducing the budget deficit.

Carlos Lozada on the emerging literature about a potential U.S.-China war.

Tressie McMillan Cottom on the expulsion of two Tennessee lawmakers.

Pamela Paul on the declining interest in studying English.

Lydia Polgreen on the importance of letting queer people decide who they are.

Bret Stephens on why so many Americans are down on Biden.

Zeynep Tufekci on the potential for an even deadlier pandemic.

And one piece from the Times editorial board: America has long been a young nation, but we will soon be old. We should take care to age gracefully.

Standout guest essays

The TV journalist Connie Chung inspired a generation of Asian American women named after her. Connie Wang tells their stories.
Jimmy Carter's time in hospice is a lesson for a country that has long been uncomfortable with mortality, Dr. Daniela Lamas writes.
Trump's indictments are stoking Americans' sense that his enemies in government are treating him unfairly, Rich Lowry writes.
Palestinians record their suffering because they hope that doing so will humanize them, Hala Alyan writes.
"My whole world": Rachel Goldberg pleads for the safety of her son, Hersh, whom Hamas abducted from a music festival.
Is this it?: Millennials are entering middle age, and their economic conditions aren't what they expected, Jessica Grose writes.
Prisoners with dementia challenge the argument that incarceration deters future crime, Katie Engelhart writes.
These photos, by Josephine Sittenfeld, capture the fleeting magic of summer camp.
How Twitter changed protest, news consumption and comedy, in 25 tweets.
If anyone is going to tell the story of Pamela Anderson's life, it's going to be her, Jessica Bennett writes.
This film does not exist: Frank Pavich explains how A.I. created images from a version of "Tron" that was never made.
Trump's success depends on his ability to portray himself as an unpredictable moderate, Matthew Schmitz argues.

Standout videos

Nearly 20 years after being deployed to Iraq, U.S. veterans grapple with their younger selves and try to make sense of their war.
Raphaël and Rémi were inseparable as twin brothers. But as they enter their teenage years, a distance slowly forms between them.
Every day, Ukrainian children lose their fathers in Vladimir Putin's war. A grief camp is fighting to protect their youth.
How former President George W. Bush saved 25 million lives around the world.

Continue reading the main story

THE LATEST NEWS

Donald Trump

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Trump could stay on the state's primary ballot.
The decision differs from that of Colorado's Supreme Court, which barred him from the ballot. An appeal to that ruling is one of at least three Trump cases the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in on.
Several news outlets, including NPR and Vox, are producing podcasts of the true-crime genre dedicated to Trump's criminal cases.

Migration

A Border Patrol agent in a green uniform points his flashlight at a group of people standing outside in blankets and warm clothes.

Migrants in Arizona near the Mexico border. Fred Ramos for The New York Times

"We are not equipped to deal with this": U.S. Border Patrol agents say they are unable to keep up with the surge of migrants.

Antony Blinken met with Mexico's president to discuss how to slow illegal border crossings.
As the Labor Department shrinks, many workplace inspections fall to private agencies. These audits have missed instances of migrant child labor, a Times review found.
Mayor Eric Adams will restrict bus arrivals into New York City, pushing back on the Texas strategy of sending migrants to the city.

International

A senior Israeli official said Israel could take stronger action on its northern border with Lebanon to stop attacks from the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, unless a diplomatic solution is reached.
Some foreign residents of Ukraine decided to remain in the country, even as millions fled the war.

MORNING READS

A "Squid Game" competition. Jamie Lee Taete for The New York Times

Immersive: Streamers and TV networks are transforming shows into live experiences.

Covert mission: A private company wants to mine an asteroid — and keep the details secret.

Lives Lived: Wolfgang Schäuble played a key role in the reunification of East and West Germany and was once viewed widely as the heir apparent to Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Schäuble has died at 81.

SPORTS

N.F.L.: The Denver Broncos benched quarterback Russell Wilson. League sources say he is expecting to be cut from the team in March amid a contract dispute.

N.B.A.: Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon will miss time after suffering injuries from a dog bite on Christmas.

Continue reading the main story

ARTS AND IDEAS

Three women — Iman Vellani, Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris — in Marvel character superhero suits look up toward the sky.

Iman Vellani, Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris in "The Marvels." Laura Radford/Disney/Marvel Studios, via Associated Press

Super fatigue: The amount of prior knowledge required to watch a show or movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe nowadays is tantamount to a college course — and audiences appear to be tiring of the homework assignments, the Times critic Maya Phillips writes. The films are increasingly "unimaginative, unremarkable and purely targeted to audiences already in the know," Phillips writes, and after years of box office smashes, ticket sales are starting to dwindle.

More on culture

Tom Smothers, whose groundbreaking show "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" upset the staid world of 1960s network TV with its sharp political comedy, has died at 86.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

A potato and sour cream galette topped with fish eggs and cut into rectangular pieces.

Kerri Brewer for The New York Times

Serve this elegant tart version of a classic party combo.

Immerse yourself in a video game with these headsets.

Achieve peace of mind with a home security system.

GAMES

Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was matchup.

And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.

Continue reading the main story

Editor: David Leonhardt

News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti

News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Lauren Jackson, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu

News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar

Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch

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