It’s the time of year when we become reacquainted with what’s been hiding out in the back of the closet. The weather’s turning, necessitating an unearthing, a rediscovery of clothes that have been hanging there silently, awaiting their turn. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, at the back end of May, there are gradually — almost begrudgingly — more warm days than cool ones. One day soon you’ll hang up your coat for the last time and won’t think about it again until fall.
I’ve been taking bags of clothes to the thrift store, stuff that I’ve hung onto for too long, that’s been occupying hangers and drawer space and head space. It feels good to part with things, to get that real estate back in both my apartment and my brain. No longer must I have a conversation with that green jacket every time I open the hall closet, no longer is it part of the consideration set. Get rid of enough old things and you can almost see your life a little more clearly. You think those old polo shirts are just sitting there, not harming anyone, but once they’re gone, there’s just less to contemplate.
My friend Minju told me she was cleaning out her closet recently and happened upon that big box of loose snapshots anyone who came of age before digital cameras has hiding in the recesses of their storage nook. She pulled the box down from the shelf and began going through them, photos of her as a child, in high school and college, old pictures of her family. She’d always planned to “do something” with the pictures, as we all do, but what? Put them in an album? Digitize them so they’ll be captured on our devices with the rest of our cloud-contained archives? Deciding she wanted to keep the photos close at hand so she’d actually look at them, Minju selected a bunch to put in a basket in her living room. Now, when she’s sitting on the couch, instead of scrolling on her phone, she might pick up the stack of photos. When visitors come over, they might flip through them.
Spring cleaning airs things out, replaces stacks of rarely worn sweaters with room to maneuver. It feels good to get rid of things, but it also feels good to purposefully decide what to fill the space with. What else are we storing in closets and crawl spaces, out of sight and mind, that we’d like to have present in our everyday lives? The old pictures, the love letters, the postcards and birthday cards and childhood artwork and binders full of mix CDs, maybe shoeboxes full of mix tapes. All those things we saved to do something with someday. What might we do with them now?
Linda McMahon, the education secretary, says she wants to end the Trump administration’s standoff with Harvard.
The government accidentally sent the university an ultimatum last month: It had to make a raft of changes — enforcing political neutrality in its classrooms and syllabuses, for instance — or forfeit government support. Harvard sued, and the government has canceled billions in research grants. I sat down with McMahon in her office yesterday and asked how she could patch things up and what else she wants to achieve. Read about the interview here. Below is one exchange, condensed and edited for clarity. — Michael C. Bender
Are we witnessing a divorce between Harvard and the federal government?
No, that’s definitely not the goal. The goal is to … make sure [students] have the right skills that they need.
The government has a half-dozen investigations of Harvard. Is there anything it could do to reopen negotiations?
The first step would be: Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Let’s talk.
Has the administration asked for that?
It’s a little bit hard to have open negotiations when we’ve got a lawsuit pending. When you’re sitting and talking, do you have to have all your lawyers present?
Has the push against Harvard been a success? Is the administration winning here?
We did see the head of Middle Eastern Studies changed. … And I think that [Harvard President Alan Garber] is saying, We are moving in the directions that you want us to move in.
He has made some changes around student discipline and managing protests.
Yeah, and all that is good. And I think we have forced their hand to do that, because they weren’t doing it before. And so I think we have forced other universities to see that the president was serious with what he said.
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Art
📺 Eurovision: Tonight, in living rooms and bars all over Europe, people will be settling down to witness one of the weirdest and campiest nights in music: the Eurovision Song Contest final. The contest can be chaotic, so to make things a little clearer, I asked Alex Marshall, The Times’s European culture reporter, for a primer:
Is there a favorite to win?
This year’s Eurovision feels wide open even if the bookmakers say Sweden’s act — a comedy trio singing about saunas, who perform the song while sitting in a fake sauna — is easily going to win. There just isn’t one juggernaut track that’s already topping Europe’s pop charts.
Are there any acts readers should look out for?
My favorite entry is Finland’s Erika Vikman with “Ich Komme,” a lascivious disco-rock song that I’ve listened to about 500 times since it appeared. Vikman’s performance involves her standing atop a huge flying microphone that shoots fireworks out of one end. It’s exactly what Eurovision’s about.
For more: Alex, along with Miriam Quick, analyzed the music and performances of every Eurovision winner since 2000 to figure out the secrets to the perfect Eurovision entry. (One secret: liberal use of pyrotechnics.)
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Chicken Alfredo
Perfect to accompany all the spinach, asparagus and other May vegetables reaching their peak, Naz Deravian’s chicken Alfredo is a hearty take on the creamy classic. Seared boneless, skinless chicken breasts round out the Parmesan-laced pasta and add protein and heft. One thing to note: Be sure to use freshly grated cheese here; the pre-grated stuff often has additives that make it hard to emulsify smoothly into the sauce. Serve this with something green and fresh for an elegant springtime meal.
Click here to read this weekend’s edition of T, The Times Style Magazine.
A TRAVEL SLUMP, BY THE NUMBERS
After months of political and economic confusion around the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda, both international and domestic tourists are reconsidering their U.S. travel plans. This has led airlines, hotels and analysts to revise their forecasts downward for the summer season, as my colleague Christine Chung and I explain in a new story.
Here are a few numbers that stood out in our reporting:
-
15.2 percent: The amount that travel from Canada fell last month, compared to a year earlier. It was the third straight month of declining travel, as many Canadians boycott the U.S. because of Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats.
-
$12.5 billion: How much the tourism industry expects the U.S. will lose in international travel spending this year because of a decline in foreign travelers.
-
5.3 percent: The amount that airline ticket prices fell in March, compared to a year earlier, because of softening demand.
REAL ESTATE
The Hunt: A young couple with a $500,000 budget sought a starter home on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Which did they choose? Play our game.
What you get for $400,000: A condo in Washington, D.C.; a 19th-century house in Saint Charles, Mo.; or a midcentury ranch-style house in Clemson, S.C.
LIVING
Making it work: As cremation rates rise, funeral homes are being forced to innovate. (One home put a man’s ashes in shotgun shells and planned a hunt in his honor.)
Still not a hotel: Your next Airbnb may include room service.
Ask Vanessa: “Can I wear a sheath dress without looking like a MAGA woman?”
ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER
Give a graduation gift they’ll actually like
There are graduation gifts that instantly delight and thrill the recipient. Then there are the ones that might not be as flashy, but prove themselves over time. My graduation gift fell squarely into the latter category: a vintage Montblanc pen that failed to dazzle me as a teenager, but which eight years later I cherish (and actually use). Beyond pens, consider other buy-it-for-life pieces that grads might appreciate in their next phase, like good luggage or a solid set of tools. Wirecutter’s experts have ideas for both high school and college grads. And if all else fails: You can’t go wrong with cash. — Brittney Ho
GAME OF THE WEEK
Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, N.B.A. playoffs: It’s Game 7 of this fierce, back-and-forth series, which features the two leading M.V.P. candidates: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets. The Thunder had a historically good season, beating opponents by an average of 12.9 points per game, the widest margin in league history. But they’re also inexperienced; the core of this Thunder team has never been to the finals, while the Nuggets won the title two years ago. Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC
