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May 28, 2026

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Enough with America’s royal family. “Can someone please tell me when it will finally be time for America to move past its unhealthy attachment to the Kennedy political dynasty?”

— Michelle Cottle, an Opinion writer

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What can stop Israel’s slide into pariah status? “Assuring Israelis at home while offering concrete gestures abroad is the only realistic path to halt the drift into deep isolation, a dangerous state from which Israel will find it extraordinarily difficult to recover.”

— Shira Efron, the Israel policy chair and a senior fellow at RAND

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Saints and sinners, from the Vatican to the Alamo. “I’m starting to regard Leo as our country’s retort — on the global stage — to Trump. We’re watching the first American pope redeem the worst American president.”

— Frank Bruni, a contributing Opinion writer, in conversation with Bret Stephens, an Opinion columnist

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Spotlight

The New York Times

Trump Wants to ‘Take Cuba.’ Cubans Have Thoughts About That.

A filmmaker asks residents of the embattled island what they would say to the U.S. president.

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ICYMI

Why patients are using A.I. “As both a physician and a patient, I found the experience startling. Not because ChatGPT dazzled me with its scientific knowledge, but because it behaved the way I wish modern medicine, and its practitioners, still would.”

— Helen Ouyang, an emergency physician and an associate professor at Columbia

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Listen (or Watch)

The New York Times Interesting Times with Ross Douthat Our Military Is Built for the Wrong Century Ukraine and Iran have shown us that war as we’ve known it is over. 59 MIN LISTEN

More in Opinion

Three Ways Trump Is Losing the War The president is giving a master class in what not to do in Iran. By David French

Ross Douthat Pope Leo Isn’t Standing Athwart the Singularity He is both a critic and a normalizer of artificial intelligence. By Ross Douthat

David Wallace-Wells What Will Happen When the A.I. Barons Give Back? Silicon Valley is about to get a lot more liquid. What will it spend its money on? By David Wallace-Wells

Guest Essay When I Left Big Law, I Learned This Despite all our good intentions, the legal system — that thing we were charged to protect — kept getting worse. By Matthew Wollin

Jessica Grose The Doping Olympics Were Underwhelming The company in charge of the competition seems to want a world where nobody tells it no. By Jessica Grose

In Your Words

Re: “Befriending Time Changed My Life”

Beautiful. And a powerful statement about what prison is and what it could be. Prison reform allows for growth in a population that will most likely leave prison someday. Education is powerful. Mental health access is vital. Opportunity is hope. — A comment posted by Jeanne from Minnesota

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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