The Morning: Innovative storytelling from 2023

Plus, Ukrainian children, Gaza and Atelier Jolie.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story December 27, 2023 By the staff of The Morning Good morning. We're covering innovative storytelling from 2023 — as well as Ukrainian children, Gaza and Atelier Jolie. Jeremy White/The New York Times, Brian Rea, Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times, Pat Thomas More than words The Times is a newspaper, but it's not only a newspaper. As a reader of this newsletter, you get the news in your email inbox every morning, not just on your doorstep. You might also listen to our journalism on a podcast app. You might watch it on TikTok. This year, as the Morning team began to compile standout journalism from 2023, we wanted to make sure we paid attention to different types of storytelling. Below, we have selected some of the year's best podcast episodes, TikTok videos and graphics. We are also including some essays by our colleagues that take you behind the scenes of our journalism. Best graphics We mapped the lasting damage Covid can do to human lungs. Videos from people fleeing the Maui wildfire helped us reconstruct how the blaze was able to destroy an entire town. Satellite data allowed us to visualize the rise of Starlink and Elon Musk's dominance in the night sky. We simulated a choir performing in Notre Dame with 3-D audio to show how experts are working to restore its sound after the fire in 2019. Using first-person stories gathered by Times reporters, we showed what life has been like in Gaza under Israeli bombardment. See more of the best graphics here, along with the stories behind their creation. Best of audio 2023 was the year of Taylor Swift. "The Daily" explores what that sounded like. On an episode of "Modern Love," one woman married her crush from the subway. "This story is a heartbreaking articulation of grief, and a heart-mending reflection on how we never really lose the people we love," Anna Martin, the host, said. Girl dinners and hot girl walks: A writer explained how young women are reclaiming "girl" as empowering, not infantilizing. On "Matter of Opinion," the hosts got heated about the end of wokeness and what belongs in school curriculums. "The Daily" explained how the war in Gaza can be traced to events in 1948. "The Ezra Klein Show" listened to diverging narratives about the war from the Palestinian writer Amjad Iraqi and the Israeli writer Yossi Klein Halevi. "The Run-Up" spoke with two people on opposite sides of the Republican Party: the Pillow Guy and the R.N.C. chair. "Popcast" reflected on the raw art and life of Sinead O'Connor. A.I. models are black boxes. "Hard Fork" explained how researchers are working to make the technology more transparent. Two friends bought $30 worth of fentanyl before making it into rehab. One overdosed, and the other was charged in his death. "The Daily" told their story. Best videos New York Times Book Review editors described why they loved the books that made their year-end top 10 list. In one New York hamlet, residents believe death does not exist. Anna Kodé told the story of the town. Some U.S. troops fighting the Islamic State weren't hurt by their enemy. They were hurt by their own weapons, Dave Philipps explained. Adidas tolerated Kanye West's misconduct for nearly a decade before ending their partnership, Megan Twohey found. Michael Kimmelman, our architecture critic, discussed Lower Manhattan's new beacon: The glamorous, $500 million Perelman Performing Arts Center. Behind the scenes at The Times What happens when an editor who runs a breaking news team takes a weeklong vow of silence at a meditation retreat? In 1999, a news assistant's number crunching revealed that The Times had gotten 500 issues ahead of itself. A freelance reporter covered a mass shooting at Michigan State, while her younger sister sheltered in a classroom there. A Times book critic had one day to read, and review, Prince Harry's memoir. Here's how she did it. For years, confusion over who could perform a marriage in New York put The Times's Weddings desk in the uncomfortable position of telling couples their marriages were not legal. In 1945, Milton Esterow began a career at The Times that changed art and culture reporting. He's still writing at 94 — and still on a typewriter. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS International A Ukrainian boy and his grandmother. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times The Russian authorities have taken thousands of children from Ukraine since the start of the war. Read some of their stories. China's main spy agency is deploying artificial intelligence and advanced technology to compete with the C.I.A. Canada, which already allows terminally ill people to get assistance ending their lives, is set to expand the practice to include people with mental illness. Israel-Hamas War The Israeli military's chief of staff said fighting would continue in Gaza until Hamas was destroyed, "whether it takes a week or months." Some of Israel's allies, and even former Israeli officials, are growing more skeptical that it will be possible to completely eliminate Hamas. Nearly two million people in Gaza are sheltering in the south. Bombing has continued there, including in areas where people were told to move. See satellite imagery showing Israel's advance into central Gaza. Politics Covenant School parents at the Tennessee State Capitol. Jon Cherry for The New York Times After a deadly shooting, the parents of Covenant School — many of them conservative — set out to toughen Tennessee's gun laws. Nikki Haley is the only non-Trump candidate with any momentum in the Republican primary. She's hoping to beat him by mostly ignoring him. Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign has stopped spending money on cable TV ads. Climate "Eerie and disconcerting": It was a rare snowless Christmas in the upper Midwest, with the temperature in the Minneapolis area hitting a record high. Earth is finishing up its warmest year ever recorded. The heat has scientists asking: Is climate change accelerating? The Biden administration must decide whether to permit a natural gas project in Louisiana that pits economic concerns against the government's climate strategy. Other Big Stories Lee Sun-kyun, the South Korean actor who starred in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," was found dead in Seoul at 48. The police are investigating his death as a suicide. The number of serious medical errors in hospitals rose after they were taken over by private equity firms, a study found. Elite chess players keep accusing one another of cheating. Opinions Even if Ukraine fails to drive Russia out of its territory, an armistice would still secure its place in the West, Serge Schmemann writes. In 1909, Frederick A. Cook claimed to be the first man to reach the North Pole. In our age, in which scammers are idolized, he should be an American icon, Allegra Rosenberg writes. Social media is a scapegoat that dismisses the real concerns young people have for the economy and Gaza, Zeynep Tufekci writes. All of The Times. All in one subscription. Enjoy unlimited access to everything we offer — with this introductory offer. You'll benefit from more of the insights that you find in The Morning, every morning. MORNING READS An anvil in Brookfield, Conn. Jordan Semanick for The New York Times "Hitting stuff hard": Amateur blacksmithing is growing in popularity, part of a broader rise in hobby crafting. Culinary crystal ball: Nine predictions for how we'll eat in 2024, including meal-flavored cocktails and premium water. New Year: Considering dry January? Set yourself up for success. Lives Lived: Paula Murphy proved in the 1960s that women had the nerve and the skill to race very fast cars. She died at 95. SPORTS N.F.L.: The Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson could be the most valuable player in the league after a dominant performance on Monday, Josh Kendall writes. Women's water polo: Meet the team vying for another gold medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS The headquarters of Atelier Jolie. Amir Hamja/The New York Times Ghosts of New York: Angelina Jolie opened her first fashion boutique in Lower Manhattan this month. The building, 57 Great Jones Street, has a storied artistic past: Andy Warhol bought it in the 1970s, and Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and painted in the upstairs loft. But its history stretches well before that, The Times's Alex Vadukul found. It has housed a host of New York City characters since the 1800s — including mobsters and bare-knuckle boxers. More on culture In the "Crownie Awards," The Times evaluates the best and worst moments from "The Crown" as the series ends. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Con Poulos for The New York Times Make a spinach-artichoke chicken stew. Take your family skiing without breaking the bank. Use a compression sack to fit more clothes into your luggage. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was pantheon. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. 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 Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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