Have We Reached Peak Baby Name?

After the birth this spring of her third child, a baby girl named Whimsy Lou, the lifestyle influencer Nara Smith posted a TikTok listing some of the names she and her husband liked but did not ultimately use. Among them were Tank, Clementine, Flick, Halo and Dew. Francesca Farago, a reality television star, posted a…

Read More

Can Tiny Homes Help Combat Homelessness?

For two years, James Valdez lived in his S.U.V., so it was a relief when he moved into Branford Village, a community of tiny homes, in Los Angeles. And then the flood came. And then another. During the first flood in August 2023, the water rose to the steering wheel of his S.U.V. Six months…

Read More

Try Melissa Clark’s Fruit Galette Recipe

The above note about Melissa Clark’s fruit galette from Walter, a reader, stuck with me. Making this adaptable recipe truly is a joy. You have the chilled, floured dough on your hands; a sculptor’s satisfaction of rolling the dough lump into a smooth sheet. Preparing the colorful fruit maybe leaves a soft fuchsia blush on…

Read More

How to Make Deviled Crab Backs, a Lowcountry Staple

Growing up on Hilton Head Island, S.C., Andrew Carmines loved visiting nearby Singleton Beach for its promise of deviled crabs, a cousin to crab cakes that originated here in the South Carolina Lowcountry, served from a seaside shack. But while crab cakes highlight large, delicate lumps of blue crab, deviled crab stretches smaller, fishier bits…

Read More

Why Cover Saudi Arabia as a Travel Destination?

When my Travel story about Saudi Arabia was published online last week, some readers bristled. Why, they wanted to know, had The New York Times’s Travel team devoted so much time and effort to a country whose authoritarian government has committed grievous human rights abuses? Why did the kingdom deserve our attention? How much had…

Read More

What ‘Inside Out 2’ Teaches Us About Anxiety

At the end of “Inside Out,” the 2015 Pixar movie about the emotional life of a girl named Riley, a new button appears on the console used to control Riley’s mood. It’s emblazoned with one word: Puberty. Joy, one of the main characters who embodies Riley’s emotions, shrugs it off. “Things couldn’t be better!” Joy…

Read More

A Smoked Prime Rib for the Ages

Good morning. My colleague Gabriel Sanchez brought us a fantastic recipe for Father’s Day this year: the smoked prime rib (above) that his father makes, a homage to the one he used to prepare when he was cooking at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas, where Gabe’s great-grandfather tended the coals before him. Gabe wrote all…

Read More