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.
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THE WEEK IN CULTURE
CULTURE CALENDAR
🍿 “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
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.
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REAL ESTATE
The hunt: They had a budget of $400,000 for Upper Manhattan. Which home did they choose? Play our game.
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.
