June 18, 2022

Good morning. Summer is almost here, finally, with all its sun-dappled splendor and glorious clichés.

Allie Sullberg

Summer days

Summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere at 5:14 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. It's the longest day of 2022, as good a reason as any to linger outdoors, to welcome the season that the poet Amy Lowell called "The very crown of nature's changing year / When all her surging life is at its full."

Don't wait until Tuesday, though. Start your weekend with a bottle of rosé or choose one of our summer drinks for non-drinkers. Nicole A. Taylor has a selection of recipes for Juneteenth on Sunday, including grilled chicken with peach jam and molasses and a strawberry sumac cake.

It's also Father's Day on Sunday. If you're looking for gifts, my colleagues at Wirecutter and T Magazine have ideas.

I'm welcoming the clichés of summer — sunny days at the shore and mosquito bites, pool parties and camping trips — with open arms and heart. We're still making our way out of what has felt like an endless winter. It feels good to throw open the windows, to let in the sunlight and warm breeze.

I hope to make it to the beach, stopping first at the bookstore to pick up a selection or two from Leïla Slimani's Paris reading list. (First up, Virginie Despentes's "Vernon Subutex 1.") If you have a trip planned to Paris this summer, be sure to consult our guide to what's new there and read up on the travel challenges at European airports.

If you're an indoor cat, check out Jeff Bridges as a former spy in the FX thriller series "The Old Man." And try to get some rest this weekend. While summer is good for sunset cookouts and lemonade stands, it may be less swell for sleep.

Big summer plans? Little summer plans? Tell me about them.

For more

Check out a Q. and A. with the stars of "The Old Man," Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.
Are you "stupefied by the bounty of bathing suit options"? We can help.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

Beyoncé was photographed by Rafael Pavarotti.Bang Showbiz, via Reuters

Beyoncé is on the cover of British Vogue. She also announced a new album, coming next month.
A 52-year-old British American journalist has an unlikely TikTok hit. "I am not trying to make it as a rapper," he says.
After BTS announced it would go on hiatus, the group's management label lost $1.7 billion in market value.
Numerous big-ticket works sold at Art Basel, including a $40 million sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois.
The New York Philharmonic announced a new chief executive.
The owner of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress denied that Kim Kardashian damaged it.

The author James Patterson apologized after saying older white male writers face "another form of racism."
Amber Heard says she stands by accusations that her ex-husband Johnny Depp abused her.
The country star Toby Keith, 60, has stomach cancer. "I need time to breathe, recover and relax," he wrote.
A Brooklyn venue canceled a sold-out concert by John Hinckley Jr., who shot Ronald Reagan in 1981.

THE LATEST NEWS

The House Jan. 6 hearings.Kenny Holston for The New York Times

Analysis: Though the Jan. 6 hearings have demolished the lies that the 2020 election was stolen, the fictional conspiracy has a hold on Republicans during this primary season.
A half-century after the Watergate scandal, members of its investigating committee warned that the Jan. 6 panel has a more difficult task.
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, called the U.S. a fading power and said the West was falsely blaming its economic woes on the war in Ukraine.
Uterine cancer is on the rise, particularly among Black women.
Bitcoin plummeted below $20,000 for the first time since November 2020, driven partly by the recent collapse of two big cryptocurrency projects.
One way to help counter a fertilizer shortage? Peecycling.

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CULTURE CALENDAR

By Gilbert Cruz

Culture Editor

🍿 "The Black Phone" (Friday): Scary movie season is year-round for me, but there's always been something particularly wonderful about sitting in a frigid theater in the summertime to watch one. Chills on chills. This ghost story stars the great Ethan Hawke as a child kidnapper. "The Black Phone" is squarely in my wheelhouse. Watch the trailer, and decide if it's in yours.

📚 "Fire Island" (Out now): There's a long strip of land off the southern coast of Long Island that comes alive in the summer — pristine dune beaches and no cars (believe it!). It's called Fire Island and the history there runs deep, as Jack Parlett details in his new book, which our reviewer described as a "century-spanning chronicle of queer life" on the island. Pair this with the romantic comedy of the same name, now streaming on Hulu, which offers a gay summer spin on "Pride and Prejudice."

🎧 "Honestly, Nevermind," Drake (Out now): Just after Beyoncé zagged and basically said, "You know what, no more surprise albums for me — my next one's out in six weeks, see you then," Drake chose to drop his latest out of the blue. On a quick first pass, The Times described it as "a balmy mood piece — somewhere between a D.J. mix and one very long song."

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

By Melissa Clark

Pork Chops With Jammy-Mustard Glaze

It's Father's Day on Sunday, and if you're planning to celebrate dear old dad by making him dinner, these sweet-and-savory pork chops with jammy-mustard glaze could be just the thing. The recipe, by Ali Slagle, is utterly simple and perfect: Just sear your chops in a little oil, then, while they rest, make a speedy pan sauce with some good fruit preserves and a big dollop of mustard. Use a not-too-sweet jam (like my favorite, orange marmalade) and nubby, whole-grain mustard, which will crack pleasantly as you chew. Serve it with dad's favorite starch (mashed potatoes, noodles, rice, whatever he loves) and a big green salad. Many grateful hugs will surely ensue.

A selection of New York Times recipes is available to all readers. Please consider a Cooking subscription for full access.

REAL ESTATE

Clockwise from left: Via Maria Dwyer; Corey Gibbons; Rise Visual Media

What you get for $1.1 million: a riverfront estate in Ewing, N.J.; a Spanish-style house in Los Angeles; or an 1852 home in Essex, Conn.

The hunt: They had a budget of $400,000 for Upper Manhattan. Which home did they choose? Play our game.

You don't have to mow: Lawn alternatives are environmentally friendly and have their own kinds of beauty.

Downton shabby: An American is renovating his ancestors' English castle.

LIVING

Getty Images

Soothing effects: Time with dogs can be therapeutic for children.

Cruise deals: Travel for less than $100 a day.

Something old: The supply of secondhand wedding dresses is abundant.

Finding joy in your body: Try these four strategies to feel better naked.

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open yesterday.Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The U.S. Open, at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.: The third major of the golf season has extra drama. For the first time, PGA players are sharing a course with those who defected to the new, Saudi-backed LIV Golf. And while the crowds may be too civil to jeer, some players aren't: Rory McIlroy, the four-time major champion, said the older golfers who joined LIV were admitting "their best days are behind them." And the younger ones? "Taking the easy way out." Noon today and Sunday on NBC.

For more:

This weekend's course was the site of a pivotal moment in golf history: In 1913, Francis Ouimet (who lived across the street) shocked the world by winning the U.S. Open there.
Here are five players to watch this weekend.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

The pangrams from yesterday's Spelling Bee were autocracy and carryout. Here is today's puzzle.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

Here's today's Wordle. After, use our bot to get better.

Before You Go …

If you have 45 minutes, read "The Surreal Case of a C.I.A. Hacker's Revenge," by Patrick Radden Keefe, in The New Yorker.
Last June, some Times readers curated a summer playlist. Have a listen.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti and Ashley Wu contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.