Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker (1974). New York magazine’s own city editor Christopher Bonanos has the interview and retrospective that you didn’t know you needed.

With political polling in disrepute, we may as well let the the astrologists in on the guessing—hey, at least they can plainly explain their methodology.

Canada also holds a by-election in two federal ridings today. Once the ensuing wave of urgent punditry subsides, critical attention should be paid to the activists who worked to bloat the ballot in at least one of those ridings, by signing up as many candidates as possible, in the hope of persuading voters to embrace electoral reform (not actually on the ballot). I wonder how many candidates they expect to see on the ballot under a more proportional system, but I digress. The point is this: if you want change, get the votes; don’t undermine faith in our political institutions with a cheap stunt. Elections Canada has earned our pride and deserves our respect. We should be so lucky.

Speaking of respect and federal politics, let’s appreciate Navneet Alang’s recent article in the Toronto Star, which bravely reminds us that two things can be true.

I was grateful for friends with great taste also in possession of surplus Toronto International Film Festival tickets last weekend. I had the chance to see Seth Worley’s wonderous film feature debut, Sketch (2024). Do enjoy at least the first two spoiler-free paragraphs of Variety’s review until you can see it for yourself.