Opinion Today: Is an independent wave forming?
The first big test for a new movement.
Opinion Today
September 23, 2026
An illustration of a cat, divided in half through its waist. The cat’s upper half is blue with four stars and its lower half is red.
Javier Jaén

Notable

Not blue. Not red. Is an independent wave forming? “Politicians on both sides of the aisle have reached the same conclusion: The two-party structure is broken.”

David Kirp, a professor emeritus of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley

Read now →

Democrats need to rethink their approach to Palestinians. “Democrats should not excuse Hamas’s crimes. But they should, finally, treat Israelis and Palestinians the same way.”

— Peter Beinart, a contributing Opinion writer

Read now →

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine legacy will outlast this administration. “Perhaps realizing that it’s difficult to fully block Americans from attaining the basic set of childhood vaccines, and that those vaccines remain popular, the administration has settled on partisan attacks, general chaos and conflicting messaging to continue undermining the public’s trust in one of the most effective disease-preventing tools we have.”

— Jessica Grose, an Opinion writer

Read now →

Spotlight

Photographers wearing badges and positioned on three balconies, one above the other, point their cameras at something out of the frame.
Jamie Lee Taete for The New York Times

MrBeast and Rajiv Shah: We’ve Seen What Video Can Do. Let’s Use It for Good.

Video can help charity keep up with a changing world.

Read now →

An Opinion Conversation

The Opinion writers Michelle Cottle, Tressie McMillan Cottom and Jessica Grose will be live on Reddit to discuss the past, present and future of conservative women on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. E.D.T.

Submit your questions and topics beforehand here, and join the conversation.

ICYMI

He was The Times’s Moscow bureau chief. My grandmother was his censor. “She censored like her life depended on it, because it did.”

— M. Gessen, an Opinion columnist

Read now →

Listen (or Watch)

Article Image

The New York Times

The Ezra Klein Show

Jensen Huang vs. the A.I. Doomers

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, does not want you to be afraid of A.I.

play button

1 HR 47 MIN LISTEN

More in Opinion

A black-and-white photograph of a locomotive releasing both black and white steam.

Jamelle Bouie

New Matrix, Meet the Old Matrix

The railroads were once the octopus that A.I. is now.

By Jamelle Bouie

President Xi Jinping of China is pictured standing on a red carpet.

Guest Essay

For Trump and Xi, There Is Only One Way Forward

Neither the United States nor China can bend the other to its will, and it’s time for them to settle for a durable détente.

By Jessica Chen Weiss

Thomas L. Friedman

It’s Time to Cry Wolf Over A.I.

It’s not too late to avoid the potential disasters of A.I. that Covid-19 and 9/11 taught us how to prepare.

By Thomas L. Friedman

Guest Essay

Hollywood Surrenders

There’s no sense of triumph or even defeat, merely numb exhaustion.

By Sharon Waxman

W.J. Hennigan

Iran Exposed How Vulnerable Our Bases Are

The Pentagon must revamp how it positions its troops and equipment amid the proliferation of low-cost drones and precision missiles.

By W.J. Hennigan

In Your Words

Re: The Literary World’s D.E.I. Checklist

Read more Opinion comments here, and check out our Letters to the Editor.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

PLAY TODAY’S GAMES

Wordle

Wordle →

Connections

Connections →

Strands

Strands →

Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee →

Crossword

Crossword →