The weeks of quarantine are marked by small victories, such as finding an eleven-day-old turkey sandwich in my son’s school backpack. We’re staying inside, FaceTiming friends and family, and doing what we can to help. Here are a few selections from our culture pages:
1.“How enraging that one of the first prominent American artists to be taken by the coronavirus pandemicwas the playwright Terrence McNally.” Michael Schulman on the death of the playwright who “who wrote with heart, wit, and gusto about gay life during the aids crisis.”
2. “In truth, the only thing I’ve watched all the way through, since the crisis escalated, is ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.’ ” Ed Park and other writers have been offering culture suggestions for self-quarantine.
3. The Goings On About Town section of the magazine has shifted to covering online and streaming events during the pandemic. Here is Sarah Larson recommending “Over the Road,” a podcast on the history and culture of highway truckers.
4. “I’m not exactly what you would call an athletic person.” Naomi Fry seeks a soothing routine by doing “Yoga with Adriene.”
5. “Art offers a refuge in times of crisis. But what happens when the refuge goes dark?” Andrea K. Scott laments the closing of New York City’s museums and galleries.
6. On the delicate art of Sitzfleisch, i.e., sitting on one’s tush for long periods of time, by the critic Alexandra Schwartz.
7. “There’s a funny kind of authority in that uncannily robust salt-and-pepper mustache.” Amanda Petrusich says farewell to Kenny Rogers.
8. Need help staring out the window? Olivia de Recat offers some relatable fantasies: “A machine is invented that can turn your thoughts into ice creams you’re in the mood for.”
9. “From now on, it would just be the three of us,home alone together.” In London, Rebecca Mead reads “Little House in the Big Woods” to her son.
10. Jessica Winter watches Buster Keaton shortswith her daughter: “She finds much of it ‘weird’ (high praise), but she never glazes over.”
11. “I tried to hoard at Whole Foods the other day, and came away with two steaks and a pouch of dried coconut.” David Sedaris fails at hoarding.