Members phkrause Posted 18 hours ago Author Members Posted 18 hours ago November 7, 2026 Good morning. Susie Wiles is out as White House chief of staff. Stephen Miller is in. We’ll catch you up on that and all the latest news below. But first: As the days get shorter, resist the urge to hibernate. María Jesús Contreras Hunkering down By Melissa Kirsch Despite this week’s unseasonably warm weather, turning the clocks back is like shifting into winter gear. The sun peaces out at 4:45 p.m. as if saying, You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here. And go home we do, helpless to disobey the darkness. Why are we eating dinner at 6 p.m.? Why this sudden urge to make soup? Where are my slippers? The urge comes on strong to hibernate, to melt into layers of fleece and quilts. Here comes the cozy season — what will we watch and read, what about a hot cider or a hot buttered rum or something, anything, steaming in a mug? Warmblooded animals hibernate. Their body temperatures, heart rates, metabolism, all drop. Posted up in the burrow or the cave or the hollow tree — winter quarters known as the hibernaculum — they stay unconscious for weeks or months. It’s a tempting model, but I’ve come to be skeptical of it for humans. Hibernating feels like comfort for those of us who see cold and dark as things to endure. But hibernation is missing an essential energy. Hunker too long and it can tip over into lethargy, detachment, a seasonal case of the blues. If we want to indulge in the pleasure of indoor coziness without totally going to sleep, we might take inspiration from the wintertime behavior of coldblooded animals. Where woodchucks and bats hibernate, reptiles and amphibians brumate. Brumation also involves bodily functions’ slowing down to conserve energy. But brumating animals don’t go totally unconscious: A lizard might emerge on warm days to bask in the sun. A snake might have a drink of water. “The most important distinction between brumation and hibernation is awareness,” is how a website that sells enclosures for reptiles explains it. “A hibernating animal is in a deep, continuous sleep and generally doesn’t wake until the season changes. A brumating reptile remains somewhat aware and responsive to their surroundings.” What does it look like to remain aware and responsive as fall seeps into winter? It’s questioning the cues: Do I feel like staying in because it’s restorative, or am I shutting down early just because the sun did? It’s continuing to participate in the splendor of the world even if it’s icy outside. If you have a tendency to go dark in the colder months, might I suggest acting a little more reptilian this year? We might slow down when winter comes, we might feel most comfortable in our own tree hollows, but we remain aware — aware of the way our energy and appetites shift as the light does; aware of the world inside and outside our hibernacula; aware that this winter, like all winters, is still a season of our lives that we don’t want to miss. I’ll be on vacation for the next two Saturdays. See you after Thanksgiving. (I can’t believe it either.) TRUMP’S NEW CHIEF OF STAFF Doug Mills/The New York Times; Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times Days after the Republican rout in the midterm elections, President Trump ousted his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and replaced her with Stephen Miller, his policy adviser and architect of his controversial immigration crackdown. Miller had been pitching himself for the job for weeks, saying he would advocate winding down the war in Iran. There had been signs Wiles was on shaky ground with the president. He cut her out of some decisions, like picking a television pundit as his press secretary (which turned out to be a disaster). He also blamed her for Tuesday’s losses. On Friday, Trump told reporters that Wiles had done a “great job” but that “sometimes in life you have to make moves.” Wiles, one of the most powerful figures in Trump’s orbit for years, is the latest in a wave of powerful women to leave his administration. THE LATEST NEWS Midterm Elections Scott Colom meeting with content creators in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday. Rory Doyle for The New York Times Scott Colom, the Democratic Senate nominee in Mississippi, held a slim but growing lead as the ballot counting continued. Young voters, alienated by Trump’s policies and an older generation of politicians, powered many of the Democratic victories this year. Prediction markets tout their accuracy. Did they pick the right midterm winners? After Texas flipped blue, Houston’s mayor told the city’s police officers to limit their cooperation with ICE. Voters in four states chose to bar transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams. The U.S. attorney who helped oversee Trump’s retribution campaign has resigned, adding to a list of abrupt departures from the Justice Department since Election Day. Around the World Saudi-led forces bombed a home in northern Yemen, killing nine family members, five of them children, their relatives said. A Tanzania court sentenced the country’s main opposition leader to four years in prison. Human rights groups say the case is part of a pattern of repression. What was once a popular nightclub in Haiti is now a makeshift shelter for families fleeing gang violence. Click to watch. The New York Times Other Big Stories Employers in the United States added 165,000 jobs in October, and the overall unemployment rate fell. (Is A.I. boosting the job market?) The Cornell faculty senate passed a resolution of no confidence in the school’s administration, urging change in how the university handles sexual assault. The U.S. experienced the largest drop in homelessness last year since an annual count began nearly two decades ago. Tesla will stop making Cybertrucks. GAME OF THE WEEK Brendan Mullin/Imagn Images, via Imagn Images via Reuters Connect College football rivalry: Can Michigan State football find its way out of its deepest hole ever? The Spartans are rocking an embarrassing 2-6 record. In their home conference, where the team has played its worst stretch of football in almost 75 years, it’s 0-5. Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Michigan State faces off against its rival, the University of Michigan Wolverines, who are 5-3 (2-3 in their conference). There will be a parallel competition on the sidelines that scientific researchers are calling “The Piss Off.” For a project across both campuses, researchers will collect urine from tailgaters, pasteurize it and isolate nutrients for use in fertilizer pellets. So fans should feel free to have another beer! — Evan Gorelick THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV A24 Close-up shots of Elizabeth Holmes, Nathan Fielder and Billy Evans give “You Can See Everything” its signature look. Our film critic asks: What do their faces say? Jordan Firstman, known as an Instagram troublemaker, becomes a sentimental filmmaker with his debut feature, “Club Kid.” The Canadian sketch show “SCTV,” whose archives are now available on Netflix, featured a murderer’s row of comedians like John Candy and Catherine O’Hara. Our critic explains what made it so funny. Music Sometimes, Dominic Fike sounds like Weezer, or like John Mayer and Jack Johnson. Other times, he raps. Is the mess part of his appeal? Listen to his interview on “Popcast.” The composer John Luther Adams, long attracted to extreme environments, left the U.S. for inspiration in the arid heart of Australia. More Culture “The Nutcracker” has entered virtual reality: Audience members in Detroit watched the ballet on a borderless, 87-foot-diameter LED dome. The Booker Prize will be announced on Monday. See the nominated novels, and vote for your favorite. Lucien Smith, the young artist who skyrocketed to fame before his death this year, died from an accidental drug overdose, the New York City medical examiner’s office said. Morning readers, don’t miss The Midterms Sale on election coverage and more. What effect will the results have on the country? And on you? Stay informed with our best offer on The Times in full. Subscribe now. RECIPE OF THE WEEK Armando Rafael for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Crispy Tofu Tacos Alexa Weibel’s deeply spiced crispy tofu tacos are a masterpiece — fragrant and savory, with heft and crunch. The tofu crumbles are versatile, too. You can skip the tacos and spoon them over rice or sprinkle them onto salads. The key is to really let the grated tofu bits roast until the sizzle is audible. That’s when you know the crunch will be, too. REAL ESTATE Lauren Lancaster for The New York Times The Hunt: She loved her Brooklyn apartment, but there wasn’t much nature nearby. What did she find for $500,000 in the Catskills? What you get for $1.5 million around Cuernavaca, Mexico: A four-bedroom in Palmira, a contemporary home in Chapultepec or a Mexican colonial in Acapantzingo. Calculator: How old will I be before I own a home? Source: U.S. Census Bureau. The New York Times LIVING A skier last winter at Mount Bachelor in Bend, Ore. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Snowfall effect: A super El Niño is here. What does that mean for skiing? First-lady-worthy: Whom did Rama Duwaji, Zohran Mamdani’s wife, DM for a haircut? Never left: Long after the pandemic, people are still using weekend and seasonal homes year-round. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Order your Thanksgiving turkey in the mail Yes, you can outsource your holiday bird. My advice, in fact, is that you do. A good smoked turkey — we found several in our taste-testing — can be a delightfully tender and wonderfully juicy centerpiece. All of the Rockwellian vibes, close to zero work. You’re not babysitting a bird all day, which frees up more time to go all out on sides and desserts. Because it arrives fully cooked, this turkey won’t hog oven space, nor require you to maneuver around a raw bird brining in the fridge. Maybe best of all, it gives you scrumptious, smoky leftovers for gumbo, my family’s favorite tradition. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time for shipping, plus an additional day or two to let it thaw. Another shortcut? One of these actually good store-bought pie crusts. — Abigail Bailey NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were linocut and locution. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted 2 hours ago Author Members Posted 2 hours ago November 8, 2026 Good morning. Today, we’re going to the dark side of K-pop. The New York Times Star pop by Sarah Hurtes and Jin Yu Young We talked to dozens of former K-pop idols, producers and lawyers about what really happens behind the glitter. Child stardom has always had a dark side. The studio pressured a teenage Judy Garland to follow a strict diet to keep her thin, and her mom plied her with pills to keep her working. The Nickelodeon star Drake Bell was abused by a dialogue coach who was later convicted. We tend to think of stories like those as tragic anachronisms. But in some parts of the world, they are not. Last week we published an investigation into NewJeans, the blockbuster K-pop girl group that left its label after years of mistreatment. We obtained their contracts, which controlled almost every aspect of their lives, including their sleep, their romances, their public statements and even their “attitude.” Nevertheless, a court said in March 2025 that they couldn’t strike out on their own and ordered them back to Hybe, the entertainment company behind the supergroup BTS. Around the world, young people (and their parents) still chase fame and fortune as they always have. Social media has made it feel within reach: A girl in Australia can audition for a Korean show, perform for fans in real time and reshape herself with filters, surgery or artificial intelligence — until fantasy and reality blur. The dream now starts younger, and it can come at a physical, mental and financial cost. For NewJeans, it was all three. Signed away at 14 The New York Times Here’s a look at how Hybe’s contracts treated the young stars. Child welfare protections. The contract stripped out standard South Korean government clauses guaranteeing rest, mental health and education for minors. The teenage members rehearsed until 2 a.m. under constant camera surveillance. Four of the five dropped out of school. Take-it-or-leave-it signings. Instead of going to school, the teens had spent years living in dorms and training for a shot at fame with the label. When one parent worried about the onerous contract terms, the label said it would accept no meaningful alterations. She signed. Morality clauses. The agreements barred subjective offenses like an “insincere attitude,” “neglect of self-management” or “inappropriate romantic relationships.” That gave the label license to claim breach — and potentially sue — whenever a member did something the bosses didn’t like. Silence. The deals banned public statements containing “true or false facts” that could tarnish the company’s reputation. This made it more difficult for the girls to blow the whistle on mistreatment. A leaden parachute. The contract let the label charge exit fees even when it terminated the deal itself. It booted one member over what it described as unauthorized solo projects and photo shoots — and sued her for roughly $22 million. Her lawyer called it a warning shot to the rest of the roster. Perpetual ownership. The label keeps indefinite post-deal rights to the members’ names, likenesses and A.I.-reproduced voices while slashing future earnings. Even after they leave the company, it can build chatbots based on their personalities and avatars based on their faces. The trade-off NewJeans last year in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times In the United States, performers are exempt from federal child labor laws, so states have stepped in. California, for instance, requires that 15 percent of a minor’s gross earnings go into a trust until adulthood. Many states cap work hours and require on-set tutors. Illinois and a few other states now require family influencers to set aside earnings for children who appear in their videos. But abuses still happen. The former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy says that when her show ended, the network offered her $300,000 to keep quiet about her memories of forced underage drinking and unsolicited touching from a boss. (When her memoir came out, Nickelodeon declined to comment to The Times.) And even when employers follow the rules, addiction and other psychological troubles can haunt teen stars for years. Actresses like Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan have spoken publicly about their difficult transition to adulthood. In Korea, people greeted our report about the NewJeans contracts with shock. Some fans called it a “slave contract,” reviving the label critics pinned on K-pop deals in the late 2000s. But the idol pipeline is known to be grueling. Hybe says that its contracts are lawful and that it negotiated in good faith. And while some of the provisions — particularly the ones about intellectual property and A.I. — may come in for scrutiny, a Korean court has upheld NewJeans’ deal. For aspiring K-pop stars, as you can read in our investigation, this is the price of entry. THE LATEST NEWS Politics In the days since his party’s defeat, President Trump has sounded like a man in denial. The rest of his presidency is uncertain, Peter Baker writes. Chuck Schumer is on track to become Senate majority leader. The average age of the Senate is falling. Trump’s new chief of staff, Stephen Miller, has already demonstrated his intention to forge ahead with an agenda that many voters rejected. In Texas, Senator-elect James Talarico’s progressive interpretation of Christianity is ascendant. Israel Gadi Eisenkot last month. Shir Torem/Reuters Israel’s president selected Gadi Eisenkot, the leading rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to try to form a new government. The task of forging a parliamentary coalition after an indecisive national election last month is daunting. Read more here. Around the World The African National Congress in South Africa had its worst election showing since the end of apartheid, signaling a major political shift. A top American astrophysicist relocated to Europe, joining a brain drain of scientists fleeing federal funding cuts. Other Big Stories At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kenny Holston/The New York Times NASA is recruiting its next class of astronauts for moon missions. It has expanded eligibility to include nursing degrees, an astronaut said. “i think i’m done talking to you. i know you lied.” Read the text messages at the center of the Cornell rape inquiry. For a year, The Times followed four people as they tried to get a handle on their debt. See what happened. FROM OPINION The midterm results show that voters are rejecting Trump’s corruption and demanding a government that actually works, writes Jacob Weisberg, the former editor of Slate. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will likely face an impeachment effort. It’s time for Trump to let him go, W.J. Hennigan argues. Zohran Mamdani wasn’t on the ballot in the midterms, but he helped lead Democrats to victory anyway, Lydia Polgreen writes. Morning readers, don’t miss The Midterms Sale on election coverage and more. What effect will the results have on the country? And on you? Stay informed with our best offer on The Times in full. Subscribe now. MORNING READS On the Lower East Side in the late 1930s. Educational Alliance A century-old sewing circle in Manhattan has become a vital social hub for older New Yorkers. See photos of its history. The greatest flex for a celebrity? A photo with the pope. Giant roadside attractions: They once put communities on the map. Now, some face closure as small towns struggle to afford their rising maintenance costs. Your pick: The most clicked story last week — aside from election stories — was about the brain injury that made one man a musical genius. SPORTS College football: The biggest game yesterday featured Miami, the No. 1 team in the country, falling to Notre Dame. Ohio State, the preseason No. 1, was crushed at home, probably ending its hopes of making the College Football Playoff. Oklahoma high school football: A midnight coin flip in the parking lot of a catfish restaurant decided two spots for the playoffs. National Women’s Soccer League: Kansas City advanced to the semifinals after a late penalty that Angel City’s interim head coach called “tremendously cheap.” BOOK OF THE WEEK By Elisabeth Egan “Abandoning a Cat,” by Haruki Murakami This slim best seller packs a wallop of family history and tension into 80 pages. Murakami, the global literary icon known for his dreamlike fiction, delves into his very real relationship with his father in an essay that opens with a trip to the beach to get rid of an older female cat. When the pair returned to their house, Murakami writes, the beast they’d just abandoned was at the front door, “greeting us with a friendly meow, its tail standing tall. It had beaten us home.” He continues, “The two of us stood there for a while, at a total loss for words.” With his trademark restraint, Murakami considers the circumstances that led to this strange experience and a rare moment of solidarity between father and son. For more on Murakami, go here. For the latest and greatest in science fiction, go here. THE INTERVIEW The New York Times “I wake up as a Black woman every day, so I didn’t feel the need to lead with that. It speaks for itself.” — Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose election on Tuesday in Georgia will make her the first Black female governor in the United States. Watch her conversation with Lulu Garcia-Navarro on “The Interview.” THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Read this week’s magazine. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Take our photo quiz. We chose five pictures from the millions in our archives. Can you guess when they were shot? Brighten your room with a beautifully designed floor lamp. Pour a glass of Costco wine. We tried them with a sommelier, and they’re actually great. MEAL PLAN Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks. Yewande Komolafe uses sherry vinegar and honey to elevate an already delicious combination of chicken thighs, sweet bell peppers and tangy tomatoes in this skillet chicken dish. A shower of fresh herbs is optional, but go with basil if you’d like a more assertive aroma. Or try Ali Slagle’s spinach and feta quesadillas with pickled jalapeños, which add gooey Monterey Jack to a Greek flavor combo. Find more recipes here. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was medieval. Can you put eight historical events — including the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the publishing of “Les Misérables” and the origins of “Here Comes the Bride” — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Crossplay, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren Deputy Editorial Director: Lauren Jackson Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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