newyorker.com / Page 7

Our parasocial dismay has become confused with social critique.

The year's strongest films offered thrilling affirmation of cinema as a global medium.

Why does hepatitis B, which can lead to liver cancer, often go undetected, even though tests exist?

Readers spent the most time this year on articles involving fraudulent identities, Kanye West, the turbulent U.S. election and its aftermath, and other memorable topics.

Truly, bureaucracy is the thief of joy.

In one border town, some Syrians were fleeing to Lebanon, as others celebrated Bashar al-Assad's ouster, or returned from exile in search of the missing.

Movies are scored by Hans Zimmer. Films are scored by someone who has said, at least once, "I don't feel challenged by Hans Zimmer's work."

Our overstuffed suitcases burden us more than we realize.

From the daily newsletter: a feast of gags and games. Plus: Anthony Lane on the secret history of risotto; the year in brain rot; and the costs of our health-care system.

"People prefer your traditional surveillance to the drones."