New Yorker (The)

(Plus he talks about his recent SXSW presentation)

Okay, this isn't exactly the "punch line" of a "joke," but it's sort-of. And we're going to work our way backwards, starting with the sort-of punch line and working back to what the hell the whole thing is about. Just trust me here, please.

Roz says she was never able to get her parentsto talk about their wishes for, you know, the end.Her parents, who were born 11 days apart in 1912 and had known each other practically all their lives, "had tough lives," says Roz, "way, way tougher than mine."by KenIt's not exactly a secret that I am in awe of Roz Chast.

New Yorker caption: Roger Angell and Andy; Central Park, January, 2014. Photograph by Brigitte Lacombe."I'm ninety-three, and I'm feeling great. Well, pretty great, unless I've forgotten to take a couple of Tylenols in the past four or five hours, in which case I've begun to feel some jagged little pains shooting down my left forearm and into the base of the thumb. . .

Magrittte's "Son of Man"by KenIn his e-newsletter/blogpost this week, "Ce n'est pas un newsletter," New Yorker cartoon editor pays tribute to the surrealists on the occasion of an exhibition of the work of René Magritte at the Museum of Modern Art.

"Either cheer up or take off the hat."by KenAs I hinted in my post earlier today, "Ready for New Year's Eve?

"Just one more holiday to hit us upside our heads," says New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff in his latest e-newsletter/blogpost, "New Year, Old Laughs" -- more of this post in a moment.

Is Young Johnny McCranky explaining to NY Senators Gillibrand and Schumer about his superior background and experience?"The strongest argument for Senator Gillibrand's approach [to curbing sexual abuse in the military] is that the military's been saying the right things for about thirty years on this, and the problem hasn't been fixed."-- Sen.

by KenUnable to sleep, New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff tells us in his most recent blogpost ("To Sleep, Perchance (Very Good Chance) to Wake"), he turned to Ian Parker's article "The Big Sleep" in the magazine, about efforts by our friends the drug-makers t

Is this Ton Smits cartoon the precursor of the selfie?by KenThis week New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff devotes his blogpost, "Selfie Explantorie" to the alarmingly ubiquitous word selfie, explaining: "The fact that 'selfie' was named word of the year by the Oxford Dictionaries caused shock and dismay among the many advocates for 'twerk,' who protested by flooding so