The New Yorker

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We don’t know much about the subjects of Zwelethu Mthethwa’s big color photographs at the Studio Museum except that they are South African migrant workers living outside Johannesburg. Posed informally in temporary housing, they recall the inhabitants of domestic settings in pictures by Diane Arbus, Bill . . .

By the time the boy climbs out of bed and goes outside, they are already searching for the Frenchman, a guest of the hotel, whose clothing has been spotted adrift in the kelp-logged surf by one of the local fishermen. The morning is hot and bright, and Jack stands . . .

Plenty of musicians do buckets of drugs while claiming to be on the hunt for transcendence. Jason Pierce, once of the drone-rock group Spacemen 3 and the leader of Spiritualized for the last twenty years, is one of the few musicians who have managed to make good on this . . .

The case of the Atlanta rapper Big Boi, who makes up half of the duo OutKast, doesn’t make sense from the viewpoint of the music fan, or the cold-eyed investor. OutKast, though on hiatus, has sold more than seventeen million albums, more than all but a handful . . .

It’s a truism in the news business that reporters and their employers should avoid becoming the story. It used to be a truism, anyway, but in the new world of technology and transparency that’s not possible. Everyone, it seems, is a media hound and a media . . .

paragraph class="noindent">Little Italy seems to get a little littler with each passing year. This is a shame, because tourists want to visit Little Italy, and they don’t want to be packed off to Arthur Avenue or Bensonhurst or Carroll Gardens. Fortunately, this new red-sauce revival . . .

The U.S. economy is limping along. The job market is in rotten shape, and business investment is hitting historic lows. And, if you’re looking for a culprit for this dismal state of affairs, many businesspeople would be happy to point you to the White House. Companies aren&#8217 . . .

What is sweeter than a sheet of new plywood? Last summer, when a Mexican-born, New York-based artist named Diego Medina made a fourteen-foot-high plywood sculpture for the New York City Department of Transportation and the Bronx River Art Center, the sculpture’s pristine sides gleamed . . .

These are hard times for newspapers, and not just the Times. America’s other iconic daily of the past half-century, the Washington Post, has been doing a long, slow fade, speeded up lately by the Great Recession. The Post’s weekday circulation is barely two-thirds what . . .

PageBreak --> OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS Please call the phone number listed with the theatre for timetables and ticket information. ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S BIG, GAY DANCE PARTY Abraham Lincoln’s legacy and sexuality are questioned in a fourth-grade Christmas pageant in the sixteenth President’s home town . . .

8220;I got pills that make me cranky / I got pills that make me cry” is the casually debauched first line of “Teenage Lightning,” a 2002 song by the rock band Luna that also appears on “Thirteen Most Beautiful . . . Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen . . .

goatTitle-->WORD FOR WORD Gary Shteyngart reads from his new novel, “Super Sad True Love Story.” He’ll also discuss it with the editor David Ebershoff. (Bryant Park, Sixth Ave. at 42nd St. For more information, call 212-768-4242. July 28 at 12:30.) PARK-LIT Opium magazine . . .

NIGHT LIFE NEW FOLKS Aug. 10 The young U.K. folk trio Lau—the singer and guitarist Kris Drever, the fiddler Aidan O’Rourke, and the accordionist Martin Green—has earned praise for its rich updating of Old World sounds; the group plays Joe’s Pub. (joespub.com . . .

PageBreak --> ROCK AND POP Musicians and night-club proprietors live complicated lives; it’s advisable to check in advance to confirm engagements. THE BELL HOUSE 149 7th St., Brooklyn (718-643-6510)—July 28: Adler’s Appetite is a volatile Who’s Who of hair-metal has . . .

PageBreak --> OPENINGS CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE A comedy, directed by Brad Peyton, about animals who form an alliance to fight a renegade cat. With the voices of James Marsden, Nick Nolte, and Bette Midler. Opening July 30. (In wide release.) CHARLIE ST. CLOUD Zac . . .

goatTitle-->PILOBOLUS This quirky, always innovative troupe presents three new works in its Joyce season, which is dedicated to the memory of its co-founder Jonathan Wolken. (175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St. 212-242-0800. July 27-28 and Aug. 2-3 at 7:30, July 29-30 at 8, and July 31 at 2 . . .

PageBreak --> CONCERTS IN TOWN MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL July 27-28 at 8: New York’s summer classical mainstay returns, with Mozart’s music merely part of a diverse selection of events. The opening pair of gala concerts gives due honor to the Salzburg genius, with the “Clemenza . . .

PageBreak --> MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES METROPOLITAN MUSEUM Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (212-535-7710)—“Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Through Aug. 1. | “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.” Through Aug. 15. | “An Italian Journey: Drawings from the Tobey Collection, Correggio to Tiepolo.&#8221 . . .

goatTitle-->“THE CONEY ISLAND ILLUSCINATION” Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is back in Brooklyn with a one-ring summer extravaganza. (Surf Ave. at W. 21st St. 800-745-3000. Through Sept. 6.) ANIMATION BLOCK PARTY This annual festival of shorts, music videos, and experimental fare, featuring nearly a . . .