Summer Begins – The New York Times

Memorial Day is a starting gun. While other holidays can be like a finish line — the culmination of so much energy — Memorial Day marks the beginning. The whole summer stretches out in front of us, a track shimmering in the sun.

If you’re not yet sure how to spend the long weekend, or the next few months, don’t worry. The Morning has compiled the best ideas and recommendations from The Times to get you ready for the summer. Starting now.

For your time outdoors

• Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is picking fights with the progressives he once courted on issues including Israel and immigration.

• Rates of violent crime in most U.S. cities are down from pandemic-era highs. But rising property crime has made lawlessness an election issue.

• In Montana, the voting intentions of an influx of wealthy out-of-state newcomers hang over this year’s Senate race.

• President Biden told West Point’s graduating class that they owed an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not to their commander in chief. See a video.

Other Big Stories

• Severe storms are likely across portions of the U.S., while summer heat settles in across the South.

• At least five people have died and three others have gone missing on Mount Everest since the beginning of the climbing season.

THE SUNDAY DEBATE

Should Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack?

Yes. The flags in support of rioters on Jan. 6, waved on Alito’s properties, add to the Supreme Court’s crisis of confidence. This incident “is a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a clear separation between personal beliefs and judicial responsibilities,” Aron Solomon writes for The Hill.

No. Justices have expressed political opinions publicly before, such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about Donald Trump. “In all matters of public interest, justices have opinions — and they are appointed to some extent due to their opinions,” Michael Broyde writes for CNN.

FROM OPINION

The Fresh Air Fund in New York City teaches children about nature — and invites them to dream big, the editorial board writes.

We have a civic obligation to protect America’s 236,000 miles of trails, Justin Farrell and Steven Ring write.

Here’s a column by Nicholas Kristof on the I.C.J. ruling against Israel.

This week’s subject for The Interview is Ted Sarandos, the co-C.E.O. of Netflix. We talked about Netflix’s desire to be everything for everyone, and what that means for culture.

There’s been a lot of discussion about what’s been dubbed “folding-your-laundry shows” — something that isn’t difficult to watch. It’s light, it’s fun, it’s not expensive to make. Netflix has a lot of examples: “Selling Sunset,” “Ginny & Georgia,” “Alone,” the survivalist show. Do you feel as if you’ve cornered the market on that? And is that a title that you want to own?

Look, if there’s one quote that I could take back, it would have been in 2012, I said we’re going to become HBO before HBO could become us. At that time, HBO was the gold standard of original programming. What I should have said back then is, We want to be HBO and CBS and BBC and all those different networks around the world that entertain people, and not narrow it to just HBO. Prestige elite programming plays a very important role in culture. But it’s very small. It’s a boutique business. And we’re currently programming for about 650 million people around the world. We have to have a very broad variety of things that people watch and love. So we take a consumer view of quality. The people who love “Ginny & Georgia” will tell you, “Ginny & Georgia” is great.

You have a new head of film, and that suggests to me that you’re tweaking strategy. A criticism of Netflix from some corners is that you make too much stuff that isn’t as good as it could be, specifically in movies. Are you trying to make better movies now?

I don’t agree with the premise that quantity and quality are somehow in conflict with each other. We’ve had eight best-picture nominees in the last five years on Netflix [turns out, they’ve had nine]. Our movie programming has been great, but it’s just not all for you. And it’s not meant to be all for you.

Read more of the interview here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Click the cover image above to read this week’s magazine.

BOOKS

Ancient: Novels are taking on the marginalized or vilified women of Greek mythology.

Our editors’ picks: “New Cold Wars,” by the Times correspondent David Sanger and his collaborator Mary Brooks, and five other books.

Times best sellers: “The Situation Room,” by George Stephanopoulos with Lisa Dickey, is at the top of this week’s hardcover nonfiction list.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Sleep on stylish and durable linen sheets.

Take advantage of Memorial Day deals.

THE WEEK AHEAD

What to Watch For

• The French Open tennis tournament begins today.

• Closing arguments for Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan are Tuesday.

• Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun aligns with the street grid, is on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• South Africa’s national elections are on Wednesday. The African National Congress faces the threat of losing its majority for the first time since apartheid ended.

• The verdict for a long-running national security trial against 47 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists is expected to be delivered on Thursday.

• India’s parliamentary elections, which began last month, end on Saturday.

Meal Plan

Emily Weinstein and the Cooking team have adapted their Five Weeknight Meals recipes into a cookbook, coming in October: “Easy Weeknight Dinners.” In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily features some recipes from the book, including mayo-marinated chicken with chimichurri and coconut-miso salmon curry. You can preorder the book here.

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