Opinion Today: It’s OK to mourn the end of summer

The passing of a season is a good time for reflection.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 2, 2024 By Parker Richards Staff Editor, Opinion Summer is ending again. Climate change has made it a hot one for many of us, but still: Vacations have been taken, inchoate romances found and lost, hydration sought, green leaves pondered. I'm one of those people who, even during our best summers, wish a little for autumn. The wool and cashmere will come out, the linen and light cotton be put away. The rumble of the air-conditioner will no longer block the church bells from haunting my apartment. But no matter how much we love autumn, a seasonal change can be a time for reflection. We mull on what we've experienced, what we've lost, what we've gained. We think about our own choices, how we've dealt with another few months of life. The year is more than half-done, after all. Cody Delistraty has thought a lot about grief — he's written a book on it, in fact. And Cody thinks that the end of summer is a space for grief, not the intense, soul-racking kind that comes with the loss of a loved one, but the kind that comes with reflection. We're thinking now, he argues, about the summers we've had, but also about how we may have failed to achieve what we wanted with the season. Maybe that just means a small sorrow that we didn't get to the beach quite as much as we'd have liked. In a guest essay for Times Opinion, Cody argues that it's all right to grieve summer's end — and that doing so can be healthy. We should, he says, look back on our lives: journal, think, ponder. And if that means a little grief, that's OK. Read the guest essay: Tam Stockton Guest Essay How Should We Mourn the End of Summer? Sadness is a natural response to the passing of summer. We need to cope with small griefs using mechanisms similar to those we'd use for large griefs. By Cody Delistraty Here's what we're focusing on today: Editors' Picks Guest Essay I Paid My Child $100 to Read a Book Every lifelong reader knows why reading books is important. But how do you convey all that to a reluctant 12-year-old? By Mireille Silcoff More From Opinion Guest Essay Will Our Hostage Son Be Next? Our window to rescue the remaining hostages in Gaza is closing, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fastening the latch. By Adi and Yael Alexander aGuest Essay Trump Said Democrats Will Take Away Your Hamburgers. He's the One Who Might. His immigration policies would push meatpackers and processors to the breaking point — and perhaps crash the whole food system. By Ted Genoways Guest Essay I'm a College President and I Hope My Campus Is Even More Political This Year Higher education should be tolerant but never neutral. By Michael S. Roth Guest Essay In a Brutal Summer, Miracles Still Bloom In just the past 40 years, we've already lost nearly half the world's insects. Every day I am thankful to find my pollinator garden buzzing. By Margaret Renkl Guest Essay This Is How To Fix the Housing Crisis Kamala Harris's proposals won't fix the housing affordability crisis. The solution can be found in the way the U.S. raised the legal drinking age. By Edward L. Glaeser Guest Essay Young Americans Can't Keep Funding Boomers and Beyond The U.S. government spending is too heavily lavished on its older people at the expense of its young. By C. Eugene Steuerle and Glenn Kramon Guest Essay We Know Mental Health Affects Physical Health. Why Don't We Act Like It? Physical health and mental health are inextricably tied to each other. We need to devote the same care to both parts of ourselves. By Helen Ouyang The Conversation This Is Not What Trump Had in Mind The former president still seems surprised that he is up against Kamala Harris. By Gail Collins and Bret Stephens Michelle Cottle Trump Tried to Humanize Himself. Better Luck Next Time. At a Moms for Liberty event on Friday night, the former president passed up a pretty good opportunity. By Michelle Cottle Ricardo Tomás letters The Cass Report: Biased or Balanced? Readers respond to a column criticizing a report that questioned gender-affirming care for children. Also: Child tax credit; G.O.P. plans for the economy. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Games Here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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For You: Nicole Kidman Bares Everything in the Sexy Drama ‘Babygirl’

Plus, In Race Against Polio, Gaza Begins Vaccination Drive

September 1, 2024, 4:37 p.m. Eastern time News you may have missed In Race Against Polio, Gaza Begins Vaccination Drive With Russia on Its Doorstep, a Ukrainian Town Packs Its Bags Russians Bomb Kharkiv, Ukraine Says, After Russia Reports Wave of Attacks 3 Israeli Police Officers Killed as West Bank Violence Spirals What to Watch for in East German State Elections on Sunday Go to homepage From Our Sunday Magazine The For-Profit City That Might Come Crashing Down The dream of Próspera, founded by a U.S. corporation off the coast of Honduras, was to escape government control. The Honduran government wants it gone. Why Is the Loneliness Epidemic So Hard to Cure? Maybe because we aren't thinking about it in the right way. The Finest, Funnest, Most Freeing Footwear Go ahead and wear your rubber sandals — even in New York City. When I'm Dining Out, Should I Have to Deal With Your Dogs? The magazine's Ethicist columnist on public pet etiquette. Should I Report My Friends' Cocaine Dealer? The magazine's Ethicist columnist on the duty one has to mitigate drug-related harm. Tomorrow: From Opinion Every day we'll feature stories from a different section. Check back daily. More to discover How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients Acadia Healthcare is holding people against their will to maximize insurance payouts, a Times investigation found. Others Have Politicized Arlington, but Trump's Approach Has No Precedent Donald J. Trump isn't the first candidate to run afoul of the ban on partisan activity in Arlington National Cemetery. But no one else has responded as hostilely as his campaign has. What to Know About the Six Hostages Killed in Gaza One of the hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American citizen. Nicole Kidman Bares Everything in the Sexy Drama 'Babygirl' The star is taking chances again in this look at a woman reconciling her sexual fantasies. The movie was the talk of the Venice Film Festival. Tuition: $9,400. Dorm Room Interior Designer: $10,000? Some students arrive on campus expecting certain comforts. And they, or their parents, are willing to pay thousands to settle in. Helicopter Crash Near Volcano in Russia's Far East Kills at Least 17 The helicopter was flying tourists in Russia's Kamchatka region. No survivors were expected among the 22 people on board, state news agencies said. Eiffel Tower Will Keep Olympic Rings Permanently, Mayor Says "I want the two to remain married," Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris said in a newspaper interview. Even Summer Nights Can't Escape Egypt's Economic Crisis It's so hot in Cairo that people like to go out all night. It might look like a party, but in reality, one shopkeeper said, "everybody is dead on the inside." Take a break, play a game The Mini Crossword Solve this bite-sized puzzle in just a few minutes. Spelling Bee How many words can you make with 7 letters? Wordle Guess the 5-letter word with 6 chances. See all our games Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for For You from The New York Times. To stop receiving For You, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018

Experimental city funded by U.S. tech elite may come crashing down

The dream of Próspera, located off the coast of Honduras, was to escape government control.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 1, 2024 The dream of Próspera, a city founded by a U.S. corporation off the coast of Honduras, was to escape government control. Brian Finke for The New York Times The Honduran government wants it gone. → Sign up for The New York Times Magazine newsletter. Get the best of each issue with cover stories, long reads and columns like Talk, Diagnosis and Eat. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this message because you signed up for updates from The New York Times. To stop receiving From The Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018