The article details the troubling prevalence of ethical and legal boundary violations by therapists: riding an exercise bike during appointments, bringing a dog into sessions despite a patient’s fear of animals, flirting with patients and even having sex with them.

In “Shrinking,” Jason Segel stars as Jimmy Laird, a cognitive behavioral therapist who becomes increasingly entangled in his patients’ lives. His skeptical boss, Paul Rhoades – played by Harrison Ford – critiques Jimmy’s unconventional methods while facing struggles of his own. Everyone seems enmeshed with everyone else’s personal and professional lives: A patient lives with Jimmy; Jimmy is sleeping with his colleague, Gaby; Paul secretly treats Jimmy’s daughter; Jimmy’s neighbor starts a business with Jimmy’s patient. (No one, thankfully, is sleeping with their patient.)

Whether in real life or on screen, something strange is happening with therapy: The line between therapist and friend seems to be blurring.

As a screenwriter who teaches a course on how to portray mental health on screen, I wonder: Are these depictions a reaction to earlier conceptions of therapists? Do they reflect a growing suspicion of authority? And what do they ultimately reveal about what we now want from a therapist?

Related Story: California to Consider Requiring Mental Health Warnings on Social Media Sites

The Distant Therapist

Not too long ago, therapists acted like black boxes and authoritative gods.

Take my father, a well-regarded, Freudian psychoanalyst who never shared anything about himself with his patients. He wanted to be a blank wall onto which the patient could project their fantasies.

He saw patients at our home. When they arrived or left, my family hid to preserve the client’s anonymity. When we were out running errands and saw one of his patients, we quickly left so the patient would have no inkling of my father’s personal life.

Movies from the 1940s reflect the trope of the mysterious therapist. Dr. Jaquith in the 1942 film “Now, Voyager” is a friendly presence yet remains unknowable, even as he effectively cures his patient’s mental health issues.

Naturally, positive depictions of therapists gave rise to negative ones. Released that same year, “King’s Row” features a therapist, Dr. Tower, who seems to be a consummate professional, but ends up poisoning his disturbed daughter and killing himself, a twist that hints at an incestuous relationship between the two.

“Ordinary People,” which won best picture at the 1981 Academy Awards, tells the story of Conrad Jarrett, a teenager who has attempted suicide, and may be contemplating it again.

Dr. Berger, his therapist who’s played by Judd Hirsch, is friendly and empathetic, but still maintains professional boundaries. When Conrad asks how life can be worth living when it’s so painful, Berger’s comforting response – “Because I’m your friend” – is clearly a therapeutic technique, not a declaration of friendship.

Related Story: Fresno, Have You Checked on Your Mental Health Lately?

Therapists Are People, Too

Later on-screen depictions of therapists humanize them as flawed individuals, just like everyone else.

In “Good Will Hunting,” Robin Williams’ Dr. Maguire grieves over his late wife and talks about his own mental health struggles.

Viewers are privy to the personal struggles of “The Sopranos” therapist Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco. While she occasionally missteps – like when she accidentally reveals Tony Soprano’s identity – she takes her job seriously and routinely consults a fellow therapist, which is part of the ongoing learning process for practitioners. She’s human yet professional.

In “Shrinking,” however, the boundaries blur completely. The show’s messy web of care and connection is entertaining and funny. But it distorts the therapist’s role. Everyone involved – patient, family member, practitioner – is portrayed as equally flawed and equally responsible for each other’s growth. While the therapists in “Shrinking” make a lot of mistakes, the message seems to be that connection and shared vulnerability matter more than expertise.

In Season 2, “Shrinking” does interrogate its own boundary crossing when Jimmy realizes he can’t be a therapist, friend and roommate. And Paul starts out from a position of unmovable authority and realizes that he has his own issues – and that maybe Jimmy is a better therapist than he gives him credit for.

Finding a Happy Medium

But the gestalt – if I may use a psychological term – of “Shrinking” is that therapists and patients are on a somewhat equal footing and that boundary crossing is tolerated and even celebrated.

To me, this reflects a broader cultural shift away from trusting experts, which tangentially could be related to younger generations’ greater willingness to confront authority. Social media has blurred the lines between expertise and lay knowledge further, with influencers and celebrities sometimes positioning themselves as quasi-therapists.

At minimum, many patients nowadays seem to be looking for an equal, two-way conversation with their therapist, someone like Jimmy who admits that his psychological issues occasionally affect his therapeutic judgment.

This is in contrast to my father, who, at least publicly, resisted the notion that his own inner life might color his psychoanalytic interpretations. He saw himself as a scientist, uncovering the true objective source of a patient’s symptoms – an endeavor he believed could be tested with the rigor of a scientific hypothesis.

In my father’s defense, psychoanalysts are trained to recognize and neutralize their own psychological influence. He would say he was always learning. Still, his authoritative stance – and the continued insistence by many contemporary psychoanalysts on remaining a “blank screen” – may help explain why psychoanalysis has fallen out of favor as a therapeutic approach.

In the screenwriting classes I teach, I’ve shifted from positioning myself as an all-knowing expert to being a facilitator. I share my experience, including my mistakes and failures. But I mostly focus on helping students find their own answers. Similarly, therapy may need to balance expertise with authentic connection – say, a combination of Dr. Berger’s steady wisdom in “Ordinary People” with Dr. Maguire’s openness in “Good Will Hunting.”

If media depictions like “Shrinking” get you to talk about mental health or seek therapy, that’s no small thing. But I think it’s important to not conflate connection with qualification. Therapists aren’t friends. They’re trained professionals. And that boundary is exactly what makes the relationship work.

___

The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

David E. Tolchinsky, Indiana University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/is-a-friend-apist-what-we-really-want-from-therapy-254437.

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According to TravelPulse, the theme park unveiled a sneak peek of the upcoming “DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Secrets of Waterdeep” experience, set to debut during Universal Fan Fest Nights starting April 25, 2025.

The centerpiece of this immersive adventure is Xanathar, a legendary beholder creature, brought to life through a collaboration with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. This fully articulated, larger-than-life creation showcases the renowned puppetry and animatronics expertise of the Creature Shop.

Visitors will embark on a thrilling quest as members of the Harpers, a heroic spy network, tasked with foiling Xanathar’s sinister plot and saving the city of Waterdeep. This unique experience promises to transport guests into the fantastical world of D&D, offering an unparalleled adventure for fans and newcomers alike.

Additional Fan-Favorite Universes and Meet-and-Greets Revealed for Fan Fest

Universal Fan Fest Nights will feature a variety of themed experiences inspired by popular franchises such as Star Trek, Back to the Future, ONE PIECE, and Jujutsu Kaisen. Guests can also look forward to special character meet-and-greets, including encounters with Wicked’s Elphaba and Glinda.

The event will run on select dates from April 25 to May 18, 2025, with tickets now available for purchase. Attendees will have access to various theme park attractions, including “Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge” and “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” among others.

Read more at TravelPulse

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On Sundays, I used to stand in front of my Mormon congregation and declare that it all was true.

I’d climb the stairs to the pulpit and smooth my long skirt. I’d smile and share my “testimony,” as the church calls it. I’d say I knew God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, prayer, spirits and miracles were all real. I’d express gratitude for my family and for my ancestors who had left lives in Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway to pull wagons across America and build a Zion on the plains. When I had finished, I’d bask in the affirmation of the congregation’s “Amen.”

In that small chapel by a freeway in Arkansas, I knew the potency of believing, really believing, that I had a certain place in the cosmos. That I was eternally loved. That life made sense. Or that it would, one day, for sure.

I had that, and I left it all.

I never really wanted to leave my faith. I wasn’t interested in exile — familial, cultural or spiritual. But my curiosity pulled me away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and toward a secular university. There, I tried to be both religious and cool, believing but discerning. I didn’t see any incompatibility between those things. But America’s intense ideological polarity made me feel as if I had to pick.

My story maps onto America’s relationship to religion over the past 30 years. I was born in the mid-1990s, the moment that researchers say the country began a mass exodus from Christianity. About 40 million Americans have left churches over the past few decades, and about 30% of the population now identifies as having no religion. People worked to build rich, fulfilling lives outside of faith.

That’s what I did, too. I spent my 20s worshipping at the altar of work and, in my free time, testing secular ideas for how to live well. I built a community. I volunteered. I cared for my nieces and nephews. I pursued wellness. I paid for workout classes on Sunday mornings, practiced mindfulness, went to therapy, visited saunas and subscribed to meditation apps. I tried book clubs and running clubs. I cobbled together moral instruction from books on philosophy and whatever happened to move me on Instagram. Nothing has felt quite like that chapel in Arkansas.

America’s secularization was an immense social transformation. Has it left us better off? People are unhappier than they’ve ever been, and the country is in an epidemic of loneliness. It’s not just secularism that’s to blame, but those without religious affiliation in particular rank lower on key metrics of well-being. They feel less connected to others, less spiritually at peace, and they experience less awe and gratitude regularly.

Now, the country seems to be revisiting the role of religion. Secularization is on pause in America, a study from Pew found this year. This is a major, generational shift. People are no longer leaving Christianity; other major religions are growing. Almost all Americans — 92% of adults, both inside and outside of religion — say they hold some form of spiritual belief, in a god, human souls or spirits, an afterlife or something “beyond the natural world.”

In Washington, religious conservatives are ascendant. President Donald Trump claims God saved him from a bullet so he could make America great again. The Supreme Court has the most pro-religion justices since at least the 1950s. Nearly half of Americans believe the United States should be a Christian nation. And singer Grimes recently said, “I think killing God was a mistake.”

The Rise of the ‘Nones’

I remember the first time I saw Richard Dawkins’ book “The God Delusion.” I was in middle school, at a Barnes & Noble in a strip mall down the street from my church. I stopped in front of the shelves, confronted with an astonishing possibility: It was an option not to believe.

Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, intended to provoke. He was one of the patriarchs of New Atheism, a movement that began around the turn of the century. Disruptive forces — technological change, globalization and 9/11 — invited people to question both their relationship to faith and the role of religion in society. The New Atheists’ ideas helped make that interrogation permissible.

Religion was no longer sacrosanct, but potentially suspect. By 2021, about 30% of America identified as “nones” — people who have no religious affiliation.

But even as people left religion, mysticism persisted. More people began identifying as “spiritual but not religious.” In 2015, researchers at Harvard University began studying where these Americans were turning to express their spirituality. Reporters did, too. The answers included: yoga, CrossFit, SoulCycle, supper clubs and meditation.

“Secularization in the West was not about the segregation of belief from the world, but the promiscuous opening of belief to the world,” said Ethan H. Shagan, a historian of religion at the University of California, Berkeley.

Related Story: Trump Tells Prayer Breakfast He Wants to Root Out ‘Anti-Christian Bias’ and Urges ‘Bring God Back’

Happier, Healthier, More Fulfilled

Religion provides what sociologists call the “three B’s”: belief, belonging and behaviors. It offers beliefs that supply answers to the tough questions of life. It gives people a place they feel they belong, a community where they are known. And it tells them how to behave, or at least what tenets should guide their action. Religious institutions have spent millennia getting really good at offering these benefits to people.

“There is overwhelming empirical support for the value of being at a house of worship on a regular basis on all kinds of metrics — mental health, physical health, having more friends, being less lonely,” said Ryan Burge, a former pastor and a leading researcher on religious trends.

Pew’s findings corroborate that idea: Actively religious people tend to report they are happier than people who don’t practice religion. Religious Americans are healthier, too. They are significantly less likely to be depressed or to die by suicide, alcoholism, cancer, cardiovascular illness or other causes.

Answering Hard Questions

In a country where most people are pessimistic about the future and don’t trust the government, where hope is hard to come by, people are longing to believe in something. Religion can offer beliefs, belonging and behaviors all in one place; it can enchant life; most important, it tells people that their lives have a purpose.

People also want to belong to richer, more robust communities, ones that wrestle with hard questions about how to live. They’re looking to heady concepts — confession, atonement, forgiveness, grace and redemption — for answers.

Erin Germaine Mahoney, a 37-year-old in New York City, was an evangelical Christian for most of her life. She left her church in part because she disagreed with its views on women but said she has struggled to find something to fill the void. She wants a place to express her spirituality that aligns with her values.

She hesitated before saying, “I haven’t found satisfaction.”

“That scares me,” she added, “because I don’t want that to be true.”

Like Mahoney and many other “nones,” I, too, feel stuck. I miss what I had. In leaving the church, I lost access to a community that cut across age and class. I lost opportunities to support that community in ways that are inconvenient and extraordinary. I lost answers about planets, galaxies, eternity.

But I don’t feel I can go back. My life has changed: I enjoy the small vices (tea, wine, buying flowers on the Sabbath) that were once off-limits to me. Most important, though, my beliefs have changed. I’ve been steeped in secularism for a decade, and I can no longer access the propulsive, uncritical belief I once felt. I also see too clearly the constraints and even dangers of religion. I have written about Latter-day Saints who were excommunicated for criticizing sexual abuse, about the struggles faced by gay people who want to stay in the church.

I recognize, though, that my spiritual longing persists — and it hasn’t been sated by secularism. I want a god. I live an ocean away from that small Arkansas chapel, but I still remember the bliss of finding the sublime in the mundane. I still want it all to be true: miracles, souls, some sort of cosmic alchemy that makes sense of the chaos.

For years, I haven’t been able to say that publicly. But it feels like something is changing. That maybe the culture is shifting. That maybe we’re starting to recognize that it’s possible to be both believing and discerning after all.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Lauren Jackson/Haiyun Jiang
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

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For generations, people of the Upper Rio Grande Valley and beyond have walked to reach El Santuario de Chimayó to commemorate Good Friday.

Pilgrims, some walking for days, were on track to arrive Friday amid a forecast of cool temperatures and sprinkles of rain.

Some travelers are lured by an indoor well of dirt believed to have curative powers. Throughout the year, they leave behind crutches, braces and canes in acts of prayer for infirm children and others, and as evidence that miracles happen.

Easter week visitors file through an adobe archway and narrow indoor passages to find a crucified Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas at the main altar. According to local lore, the crucifix was found on the site in the early 1800s, a continent away from its analog at a basilica in the Guatemalan town of Esquipulas.

A Spiritual Place

Chimayó, known for its artisan weavings and chile crops, rests high above the Rio Grande Valley and opposite the national defense laboratory at Los Alamos that sprang up in the race to develop the first atomic weapon.

The iconic adobe church at Chimayó was cast from local mud at the sunset of Spanish rule in the Americas in the early 1800s, on a site already held sacred by Native Americans.

Set amid narrow streets, curio shops and brooks that flow quickly in spring, El Santuario de Chimayó has been designated as a National Historic Landmark that includes examples of 19th century Hispanic folk art, religious frescoes and saints carved from wood known as bultos.

One votive room is filled with notes of thanks from those who say they had ailments cured.

A separate chapel is dedicated to the Santo Niño de Atocha, a patron saint of children, travelers and those seeking liberation and a fitting figure of devotion for Chimayó pilgrims on the go.

Hundreds of children’s shoes have been left in a prayer room there by the faithful in tribute to the holy child who wears out footwear on miraculous errands. There are even tiny boots tacked to the ceiling.

Pueblo people who inhabited the Chimayó area long before Spanish settlers believed healing spirits could be found in the form of hot springs. Those springs ultimately dried up, leaving behind earth attributed with healing powers.

A Way of Life

Photographer Miguel Gandert grew up in the Española valley below Chimayó and made the pilgrimage as a boy with his parents.

“Everybody went to Chimayó. You didn’t have to be Catholic,” said Gandert, who was among those who photographed the 1996 pilgrimage through a federal grant. “People just went there because it was a powerful, spiritual place.”

Scenes from that pilgrimage — on display at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe — include children eating snow cones to keep cool, men shouldering large wooden crosses, infants swaddled in blankets, bikers in leather and weary pedestrians resting on highway guardrails to smoke.

A generation later, Good Friday pilgrims still haul crosses on the road to Chimayó, as families leave behind cars, push strollers and allow time for older hikers. Throngs of visitors often wait hours for a turn to file into the Santuario de Chimayó to commemorate the crucifixion.

It’s just one of hundreds of adobe churches anchoring a uniquely New Mexican way of life for their communities. Many are at risk of crumbling into the ground in disrepair as congregations and traditions fade.

A Journey on Foot

Pilgrims from nearby towns set out for Chimayó in the predawn hours. Some have walked 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Santa Fe, while others traveled for days from Albuquerque and elsewhere.

Vendors sell religious trinkets, coffee and treats. State transportation workers, law enforcement agencies and other volunteers are stationed along the roadway to ensure safety from oncoming traffic, the outdoor elements and exhaustion.

Pilgrims traverse an arid landscape speckled with juniper and piñon trees and cholla cactus that finally give way to lush cottonwood trees and green pastures on the final descent into Chimayó.

The magnitude of the religious pilgrimage has few if any rivals in the U.S. Many participants say their thoughts dwell not only on Jesus Christ but on the suffering of family, friends and neighbors with prayers for relief.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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Easter is an opportunity to bake for loved ones, and these two recipes, charming Easter nest “cakes” and a resplendent princess cake, are opportunities for beginning and advanced bakers alike. The first is as simple as it gets — barely requiring a recipe — and perfect for baking with the whole family. The second may surprise you. Although it looks like a grand affair, a princess cake is much easier to pull off than you might expect, thanks to a streamlined method and technical shortcuts that don’t compromise on flavor or presentation.

Simple Nests for Family Fun

Let’s start with the humble nest cakes. Britain’s favorite Easter dessert, they’re a no-bake medley of chocolate, butter and crunchy cereal, filled with candy, preferably chocolate eggs (they are nests, after all). A mainstay of school bake sales and family get-togethers, they’re one of the first things young British cooks learn to make and couldn’t be easier: just melt, stir, portion, and then chill until firm. It’s a wonder we even call them cakes at all.

The origins of the Easter nest can be traced back to World War II. A recipe for “Chocolate Crisplets” appeared in the 1941 “Mixed Grill of War Time Recipes” booklet, calling for “some unrationed chocolate spread” to be melted and mixed with “enough cereal” until “stiff,” then left to set. The vague instructions — no measurements or specific cereal named — remain typical today.

The exact makeup of an Easter nest varies from family to family, and debates continue over the “right” cereal to use — shredded wheat (for the most realistic-looking nest), Rice Krispies (undoubtedly delightful) or cornflakes (my pick) — as well as the addition of golden syrup and butter. But when it comes to decoration, there’s one universally respected rule: Keep it kitsch. The more miniature Easter paraphernalia, from chocolate eggs to tiny plastic chicks, you can pile on, the better.

A Royal Treat: The Princess Cake

On the other end of the spectrum is Prinsesstårta, or Swedish princess cake. While it’s not traditionally Easter fare, it certainly looks the part, with its pastel green contours evoking a flourishing hillside. The light, airy inner layers, far from the heavily spiced cakes of winter, make it an ideal spring centerpiece.

Prinsesstårta was created by Jenny Åkerström, an author and home economics teacher, and first published in her 1948 edition of “Prinsessornas kokbok,” “The Princesses’ Cookbook.” Originally called gröntårta, green cake, the dessert was so beloved by Princesses Margaretha, Märta and Astrid, students of Åkerström, that it eventually became known as “Princess Cake.” The royal association remains strong. When Princess Estelle was born in Sweden in 2012, princess cakes sold out across the country.

The original recipe for gröntårta called for three layers of soft spongecake and custard, coated with stiffly whipped cream and covered with a thin layer of green-dyed mandelmassa (almond paste), finished with a single pink rose. While the essence and color scheme have endured, almond paste has been replaced with sweeter, smoother marzipan, and the pleasing domed shape — thought to allude to a crown — is a modern addition. Purists may argue that jam, which did not appear in the original recipe but is a fixture of contemporary versions, does not belong, though the tart tang is most welcome among the sweet muddle of soft, creamy layers.

It is estimated that half a million princess cakes — that’s about 4 million slices in a nation of just 10 million people — are sold every year in Sweden, making it by far the country’s bestselling pastry. There’s even a week each September honoring the beloved cake.

Simplified Steps for a Stunning Cake

Making one, though, can be challenging, involving multiple components and careful layering, and the marzipan finish can feel intimidating. But don’t worry: Streamlining is absolutely possible. In this recipe, the sponge is reduced to just two layers, and high-quality store-bought jam and marzipan step in to significantly reduce the workload. The custard, which usually requires a back-and-forth tempering method, has been simplified by whisking all the ingredients in a single saucepan and heating until thick. The whipped cream — often stabilized with gelatin — is instead fortified with the simpler addition of mascarpone.

The best bit? This princess cake is built entirely in a bowl. No stacking the layers and draping the marzipan over the top (in my opinion, the scary part). This gives you as much time as you need to line the bowl with marzipan (you can even start again, if necessary) and layer the elements without any concerns about stability. Once turned out, it reveals a beautifully smooth dome, fit for any princess.

____

Recipe: Chocolate Easter Egg Nests

Loved by adults and children alike, Easter nest “cakes” are the perfect no-fuss baking activity for the whole family. These couldn’t be simpler: Just stir, portion, chill and fill with as many candy eggs as you can. If you can find golden syrup (a wondrous sweetener from Britain and a product you’ll never regret having in your pantry), you’ll get a more complex sweetness and chew, though corn syrup will work, too.

By Nicola Lamb

Yield: 12 chocolate nests

Total time: 20 minutes, plus 1 hour chilling

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons/70 grams unsalted butter

1/4 cup/55 grams golden syrup, such as Lyle’s, or light corn syrup

7 3/4 ounces/220 grams milk chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips (about 1 1/4 cups)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups/130 grams cornflakes

Candy-coated mini chocolate eggs, for decorating (see Tip)

Preparation:

1. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. Melt butter and syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, swirling the pan to help the mixture melt evenly, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. It should be slightly bubbling. Remove from the heat, then add the chocolate and salt. Stir until fully melted.

3. Pour the cornflakes into the melted chocolate and stir until completely and evenly coated. Some of the cornflakes will break down; this is good and will help the texture of the final nests. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, divide the mixture evenly among the lined muffin cups, pressing down the center of each. Go over each nest again, making a slight indent in the middle.

4. Fill each nest with chocolate eggs. If your eggs are foil-covered, add them later so they don’t stick. Refrigerate to chill completely until each nest can be lifted out in one piece, about 1 hour. Don’t leave them in too long, or they’ll set too hard.

5. Serve in their paper liners, or remove the liners and put the nests directly on a plate. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Tip:

Candy eggs, sometimes labeled robin’s eggs, are available during the Easter season at supermarkets and pharmacies. Cadbury, Whoppers and M&M’s are colorful options.

Recipe: Princess Cake

Princess Cake, or Prinsesstårta, makes a spectacular centerpiece for any celebration, but despite its regal appearance, this simplified version is far easier to make than it looks. The original recipe from Sweden called for three layers of soft spongecake and custard, coated with stiffly whipped cream and covered with a thin layer of green-dyed mandelmassa (almond paste), finished with a single pink rose. While the essence and color scheme have endured, almond paste has been replaced with sweeter, smoother marzipan, and the pleasing domed shape — thought to allude to a crown — is a modern addition. Purists may argue that jam, which did not appear in the original recipe but is a fixture of contemporary versions, does not belong, though the tart tang is most welcome among the sweet muddle of soft, creamy layers. Here, the usual three cake layers are reduced to two, and using good-quality shop-bought jam saves time. The entire cake is built in a bowl, allowing you to take your time with each layer. Once turned out, it reveals a beautifully smooth dome, fit for any princess.

By Nicola Lamb

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Total time: About 3 hours

Equipment:

One 8-inch round cake or springform pan

One 8- or 9-inch bowl (2- to 2 1/2-quart capacity)

Electric mixer

Rolling pin

Pastry brush

Bench scraper

Ingredients:

For the spongecake:

Nonstick cooking spray or oil, for the pan

3 large eggs

1/2 cup/100 grams granulated sugar

3 tablespoons/45 milliliters whole milk

2 1/2 tablespoons/30 milliliters vegetable oil or other flavorless oil, plus more for the pan if needed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 1/8 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup/120 grams all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the custard:

2 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons/30 grams granulated sugar

2 tablespoons/15 grams cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup/180 milliliters whole milk

1 tablespoon/14 grams unsalted butter

For the marzipan:

17 1/2 ounces/500 grams marzipan

Powdered sugar, for dusting

A few drops of green food coloring

A few drops of pink food coloring

For the mascarpone whipped cream:

2 cups/480 milliliters heavy cream

1 cup/226 grams mascarpone

1/2 cup/75 grams powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To assemble:

1/2 cup/150 grams raspberry jam

Preparation:

1. Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat an 8-inch round cake or springform pan with cooking spray, then line the bottom with a round of parchment paper and the sides with a strip of parchment. (The spray helps the paper stay in place.)

2. Separate the eggs into two large bowls (if using a stand mixer, use the mixer bowl for the egg whites). Whisk 3 tablespoons/30 grams of the granulated sugar into the yolks, followed by the milk, oil, vanilla and salt. It may appear split at first, but whisk for 30 seconds until combined and smooth.

3. With an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, 10 to 20 seconds, then slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon/70 grams granulated sugar while beating. Raise the speed to high and whisk until you get a thick, dense meringue with medium-stiff peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. It should look like shaving foam. If you lift the beaters, the meringue will hold its shape, but the tip will droop slightly.

4. Whisk one-quarter of the meringue vigorously into the yolk mixture to lighten it. Sift over the flour and baking powder in one go, then use a flexible spatula to thoroughly combine. You are not trying to retain any air at this stage, so don’t hold back. It will be somewhat thick.

5. Once combined, gently fold in the remaining meringue in three additions, scraping around the outside of the bowl and through the middle in a capital “D” shape while rotating the bowl counterclockwise to maintain the airiness of the batter. Pour the batter into the lined pan and tap the pan firmly against the counter a few times to help spread it evenly.

6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake is golden and feels firm when pressed. Remove from the oven, then drop onto the counter from about a foot in the air three times (be careful; it will be hot!). This may seem crazy, but it helps to prevent the cake from shrinking too much.

7. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then, when the pan is cool enough to handle, invert onto the rack, peel off the paper and turn right-side up to cool completely. (If using a springform pan, remove the sides and base.)

8. While the cake bakes, make the custard: Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla in a small saucepan until combined, followed by the milk. Take care to make sure it is well combined, paying extra attention to the edges of the saucepan.

9. Cook the custard over medium heat, whisking continuously, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and whisk for 30 seconds longer. Turn off the heat, then whisk in the butter. Pour into a heatproof container and press plastic wrap or parchment paper directly against the custard to prevent it from forming a skin. Once cool to the touch, refrigerate to chill, at least 1 hour.

10. Once the cake and custard have cooled, prepare the marzipan coating and decoration: Pinch off 1/4 cup/75 grams of marzipan for the flower décor, wrap well and set aside. For the coating, dust your work surface with powdered sugar, then knead the marzipan with one or two drops of green food coloring until it is an even pale mint green. Always start cautiously when adding food coloring: You can always add more, but you can’t take it away. Add more powdered sugar whenever the marzipan is sticky. If it feels dry or starts to crack, moisten your hands slightly (shaking off any excess water) and knead until smooth. The marzipan should be pliable but not sticky throughout the process. When you are happy with the color, form the marzipan into a 5-inch-diameter disk.

11. Remove any marzipan that has stuck to your work surface using a bench scraper. (Marzipan has a memory and will take on any lumps and bumps that it rolls over.) Dust the smooth surface with powdered sugar. Roll out the marzipan disk, turning it a quarter way around between each roll to maintain the circular shape, until 14 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. As you work, dust the marzipan and surface with powdered sugar as needed to prevent sticking. You can also turn the marzipan over to dust and roll both sides.

12. You will build the cake in an 8- to 9-inch diameter bowl. Make sure it is clean and dry. Dust powdered sugar on top of the marzipan circle and rub it in to evenly coat it well and make sure it’s not sticky. (If it’s cracking, moisten your hands slightly, shaking off any excess water, knead the marzipan until smooth and roll again.) Flip it over, then roll it up loosely onto your rolling pin. Unroll it over the bowl, dusted side down. Encourage the marzipan to take the form of the bowl by lifting it and gently pressing it into place. Take your time with this to get it neat and tidy, lining the bowl closely without any overlap. The marzipan needs to overhang the edges of the bowl by about 1 inch or else it will slip down. If you need to start again, you can simply remove the marzipan and reroll it as before, adding more powdered sugar if it’s too sticky or dampening your hands if it’s too dry. Once finished, cover the bowl with a damp cloth to prevent the marzipan from being exposed to the air and drying out or cracking.

13. Make the mascarpone cream: Whisk all the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until very stiff peaks form. This is the cement of your cake, so it needs to be stiff enough to provide structure.

14. To finish the custard, beat the cooled custard using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth. Fold in 1 cup/150 grams of the mascarpone cream until thick and airy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

15. Assemble the cake: Pile 2 1/3 cups/350 grams of the remaining mascarpone cream into the marzipan-lined bowl, smoothing it with a spoon or offset spatula. Spread an additional scant cup/125 grams of cream evenly up and around the walls of the marzipan, going all the way to the top.

16. Using a serrated knife, cut your spongecake evenly in half to form two rounds. Place the top half, cut side up, over the cream into the bowl. It might warp or bend slightly depending on the dimensions of your bowl. That’s OK! Spread the raspberry jam on top of the cake, followed by all of the custard, smoothing it all the way to the edges.

17. Place the remaining cake half, cut side down, onto the custard. Using the remaining 2/3 cup/100 grams mascarpone cream, fill in any gaps around the sides of the cake. If there aren’t any, spread it all over the top of the cake.

18. Trim the marzipan lining with scissors or a sharp knife so that there is an approximate 1/2-inch border once it’s folded up and over onto the cake. (Use any excess marzipan to make more décor.) Lift and fold the marzipan onto the cake, using the palms of your hands to smooth the curved edge around the base to form a very pleasing shape.

19. Place a serving platter upside down onto the cake and, gripping the bowl and plate at the same time, confidently flip it over. Carefully lift the bowl off to reveal your beautiful princess cake. Use the palms of your hands to gently pat the cake into shape, especially if you’ve used a bowl with an angular base.

20. Use a dry pastry brush to dust off any excess powdered sugar, then wet the brush for a final touch up, brushing to erase any last bits of dusty sugar. Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour before serving.

21. To fashion a rose to decorate the top, color the reserved marzipan with pink food coloring, kneading it in as before. Pinch off 1/2-inch blobs, then roll each into longer strips. Roll the first one up to form the center of your spiral, then place each subsequent strip around to form petals, pinching at the base to hold the flower together. Stick the flower onto the center of your cake using a little water to act as glue. Use any excess green marzipan to create leaves or other decorative flourishes.

22. The finished princess cake can be refrigerated for up to four days. If you’d like, cover it with a cake dome or overturned bowl.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Nicola Lamb / Linda Xiao
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post Easter Desserts Anyone Can Make appeared first on GV Wire.

Now, President Donald Trump has ordered the loophole closed as part of new tariffs, starting with packages from China and Hong Kong. It could have the effect, probably unintended, of putting a dent in global airfreight emissions linked to the fashion industry.

Last year, 1.36 billion packages entered the United States through that loophole, which is known as the de minimis exemption and allows goods worth less than $800 to enter the country without tariffs. The largest source of shipments under the exemption was China, and most of those packages crossed the ocean by plane, according to data from Customs and Border Protection.

And that means a lot of planet-warming emissions: Flying a package across the sea is 68 times more carbon-intensive than shipping it by ocean freight, according to the Climate Action Accelerator, a nonprofit group based in Switzerland.

A $23 Billion Business

Many countries allow shipments below a certain value to cross their borders untaxed. In Europe, the threshold is 150 euros ($170). In Argentina, it’s $400. Since 2016, when Congress last increased the de minimis exemption in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. has drawn the line at $800.

These policies help simplify the customs process for small packages and prevent bottlenecks at the border. But the U.S. exemption has also opened the door wide for foreign e-commerce platforms to compete on price with domestic retailers like Amazon and Walmart.

That’s helped Shein to carve out a U.S. niche in low-cost apparel. The company gets another boost from “haul” videos on social media, in which buyers show off their purchases. And Temu, an e-commerce platform that encouraged customers to “shop like a billionaire” in a Super Bowl commercial last year, was the most-downloaded app in Apple’s U.S. app store in 2023 and 2024.

Annual de minimis shipments to the U.S. have increased nearly tenfold in the past decade or so, rising to 1.36 billion in 2024 from 140 million in 2013. According to estimates from China’s national customs office, small packages sent to the United States were worth about $23 billion last year.

President Joe Biden announced a crackdown on these shipments last fall, citing concerns about health and safety compliance, potential contraband like fentanyl, and intellectual property rights.

Trump also briefly ordered an end to de minimis exemptions in February, but reinstated the rule a few days later amid concerns about implementation. He announced the end of the exemption again in April as part of his broader tariff package.

The new rules will be phased in over the coming weeks, with the steepest levies to take effect June 1. The Trump administration has proposed fees of up to $200 per package or 120% of the package value, with the carrier choosing which option to apply, on shipments from Hong Kong and mainland China.

A Billion Packages, Plus Greenhouse Gases

Before the pandemic, airfreight was largely used for perishable goods, said Josh Archer, a senior global corporate campaigner at Stand.Earth, an environmental nonprofit group. That was in part because shipping by air, while more expensive, is faster than shipping by sea. But Amazon’s introduction of one-day shipping changed consumers’ expectations about how fast their packages should arrive, and other retailers ramped up their use of air cargo to compete.

Airfreight emissions grew by 25% between 2019 and 2023, according to Archer’s research.

In 2024, more than 1 billion packages entered the U.S. via airfreight under the de minimis exemption, or roughly eight per household. Last year, Cargo Facts Consulting estimated that Temu, Shein, Alibaba.com and TikTok were flying the equivalent of about 108 Boeing 777 cargo planes full of packages every day.

“It’s just been an absolute explosion in the sector that we don’t really have a solution for decarbonizing,” Archer said.

Neither Shein nor Temu responded to requests for comment.

What’s Next?

Trump’s abortive attempt to close the loophole back in February offered a glimpse of what might happen.

After he announced the end of the exemption, sales on Shein started dropping. Three days later, they were down 41% compared with the same day a week before, according to a Bloomberg Second Measure analysis of credit and debit card data. Temu saw similar, though smaller, declines in sales.

The change may shake up e-commerce even if sales don’t take a hit: Companies could shift to sending much bigger shipments to U.S. warehouses by ocean freight rather than mailing individual packages on demand. That could mean lower tariffs, with a potential side benefit of lower emissions, too.

Temu is already doing this, and has said about half the products ordered in the U.S. are delivered from domestic warehouses.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Claire Brown/Gilles Sabrié
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post How Trump Might Unwittingly Cut Emissions From Online Shopping appeared first on GV Wire.

These hyper-realistic dolls are nowhere to be found in toy stores, at least for the time being. They are being created using artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT.

The AI Doll Trend Takes Off

In recent weeks, social media users have been turning to AI to generate Barbie-fied versions of themselves, their dogs or their favorite famous figures. Anna Wintour has not been spared the AI-doll treatment. Neither has Ludwig van Beethoven.

The trend has frustrated illustrators who oppose the use of unlicensed artwork to train these artificial intelligence tools, and who remain concerned about the effects of AI on their livelihoods. Several have responded by posting similar images of figurines that they illustrated themselves.

Related Story: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Very Own “Starter Pack” Figurine Meme Image

“HUMAN MADE,” reads a text bubble in the corner of one such illustration by Linh Truong, who depicted herself with her sketchbook and her cat, Kayla.

Truong, 23, an artist who lives in New York City, sees the AI action figures, the latest of several AI portraiture trends, as a way that tech companies are trying to connect with users on a personal level.

“They’re like, ‘We want you to see yourself in our product,’” she said.

Users Embrace AI Self-Portraits

To plenty of people, that’s a tempting possibility.

Suzie Geria, 37, a fitness trainer in Toronto, thought the action figure created for her by ChatGPT was surprisingly realistic. It came with a kettlebell and a cartoon peach to represent the glute-focused class she teaches at a nearby gym.

“It’s kind of cool to see yourself reflected in a cartoon form,” she said. “I think we’re looking at other ways to see ourselves in the world we live in, which is very much online.”

Geria said she had empathy for those who worked in industries that might suffer job loss because of AI. “It’s a tough one, but it’s bringing people joy as well,” she said.

Pat Bassermann, 42, who works in marketing and lives in Andover, Massachusetts, typed a paragraph-long prompt into ChatGPT to create an action figure of himself on Thursday.

“Use this photo of me to create an action figure of myself in a blister pack, in the style like a premium collectible toy,” he wrote, adding requests for grilling tongs and a “relaxed, friendly smile.” He uploaded a headshot, and was presented with an image seconds later.

“Wife & Kids Not Included. Messy House Sold Separately,” reads a line of text at the bottom of the image.

Soon, his three daughters wanted their own versions. In a few more minutes, they were presented with figurines with ponytails, accessorized with ballet slippers, a video game controller and a cup of Boba tea.

Related Story: What to Know About DeepSeek and How It Is Upending Artificial Intelligence

Artists Voice Concerns Over AI

As AI platforms have surged in popularity, their image-generating abilities have come under scrutiny. Artists and musicians have argued that the technology threatens their livelihoods. Deepfake images, many of them explicit, have confounded schools, political campaigns and celebrities.

(The New York Times filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, accusing them of using published work without permission to train artificial intelligence. They have denied those claims.)

In March, social media was flooded with videos that used ChatGPT to replicate the style of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. In response, some users circulated a clip of Miyazaki calling AI “an insult to life itself” in a 2016 documentary.

Martha Ratcliff, 29, an illustrator in Leeds, England, said she spent years developing a distinctive style of portraiture. She said she felt frustrated every time she saw a new AI portrait trend that ostensibly drew from the work of real artists without compensation.

She gets that it’s fun to hop on a trend, she said. “But I think if you look at the bigger picture, there are a lot of creatives that are worried,” she added. “You just don’t want it to wipe out the whole creative industry.”

She spent about 20 minutes on Saturday making her own hand-drawn rendition of the trend. She depicted herself holding her newborn, surrounded by flowers, colored pencils and a steaming mug that said “mama.”

“A human doing it is so much better than a robot,” she said.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Callie Holtermann/The New York Times via ChatGPT
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post AI Action Figures Flood Social Media (Accessories Included) appeared first on GV Wire.

This year, though, American Seder tables may look a little different. With eggs scarce and prices either elevated or unstable, cooks may need to cut back. One of the easiest places to do that is in dessert, which lacks the symbolic weight of the rest of the meal. Its main function is pleasure — and to provide an energizing little sugar rush at the end of a long night.

So for this year, I’ve created a festive rhubarb crumble that’s egg-free, kosher for Passover and spring-pink. (Bonus: It’s also gluten-free and vegan.)

Adapting to Availability

Although rhubarb is one of the first stalks — or technically, vegetables — to emerge after winter, harvesting may still be weeks away, depending on where you live.

Happily, crumbles are adaptable creatures. You can substitute other fruit, so long as you adjust the sugar content. For sweet cherries, berries and stone fruit, use about half as much sugar called for. For sour cherries, keep the sugar where it is.

Frozen fruit (rhubarb, berries or otherwise) works well here, too, and doesn’t have to be thawed first; just add a few minutes to the baking time. Frozen blueberries, preferably zipped up with the juice and zest of a lemon, will turn this dessert from rosy and tangy to inky and mellow.

Crafting the Crumble

You can use tapioca starch as thickener if you’re keeping strictly kosher for the holiday (cornstarch also works). You don’t need much really, just a few tablespoons to help the fruit bubble and condense into a syrupy, jamlike layer beneath the golden-brown topping.

And for that topping, I use almond meal and shredded coconut to replace the usual flour and oats. Then instead of butter I stir in some almond butter to hold it together, which deepens the nuttiness and gives it all a sandy, almost caky texture. Combined with the fruity filling, it makes for a soft, crowd-pleasing dessert with low-key PB&J energy. You might even find yourself wanting to make it long after the holiday has passed.

Recipe: Rhubarb-Almond Crumble

This tangy, fruity dessert is gluten-free, vegan and suitable for Passover (those who choose to avoid cornstarch at Passover can use tapioca starch in the filling). The topping is a bit sandier and more caky than a classic crumble, with a subtle, nutty sweetness from a combination of almond flour, almond butter and shredded coconut. Paired with the jammy fruit, the almond butter gives this crumble distinct PB&J energy. Note that almond butter brands vary widely; some are loose and runny, others thick and pasty. If yours is on the thicker side, you may need to add a bit more to get the crumbs to hold together. Leftovers make a terrific breakfast, topped with yogurt if you like.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Total time: 1 hour, plus 20 minutes’ cooling

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick (about 6 cups)

2/3 to 3/4 cup/132 to 150 grams sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour or starch, or cornstarch

1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or rosewater

1/2 teaspoon grated orange or lemon zest (optional)

For the Topping:

1 cup/225 grams unsweetened almond butter, more if needed

1¼ cups/125 grams almond flour or meal

2/3 cup/60 grams finely shredded unsweetened coconut

2/3 cup/132 grams sugar

3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt (add a pinch more if your almond butter is unsalted)

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss together rhubarb, sugar, tapioca or cornstarch, vanilla and, if using, zest. Pour into a 2-quart baking dish or 9-inch round or square baking pan. Put the dish on top of a baking sheet to catch any drips.

3. Next, make the topping: Add the almond butter to the same bowl you used for the rhubarb (no need to wash it). Stir with a flexible spatula to eliminate any lumps if needed, then mix in almond flour, coconut, sugar and salt. (Or, add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse to incorporate, 12 to 15 times, until no dry spots remain.) If the mixture seems dry, add more almond butter by the teaspoon until it clumps together when pressed between your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the rhubarb.

4. Bake until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling around the edges, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Melissa Clark
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post This Easy Crumble Has Peanut Butter-and-Jelly Vibes appeared first on GV Wire.

A Sweet Solution Amid Scarcity

This year, though, American Seder tables may look a little different. With eggs scarce and prices either elevated or unstable, cooks may need to cut back. One of the easiest places to do that is in dessert, which lacks the symbolic weight of the rest of the meal. Its main function is pleasure — and to provide an energizing little sugar rush at the end of a long night.

So for this year, I’ve created a festive rhubarb crumble that’s egg-free, kosher for Passover and spring-pink. (Bonus: It’s also gluten-free and vegan.)

Adapting the Crumble for Any Season

Although rhubarb is one of the first stalks — or technically, vegetables — to emerge after winter, harvesting may still be weeks away, depending on where you live.

Happily, crumbles are adaptable creatures. You can substitute other fruit, so long as you adjust the sugar content. For sweet cherries, berries and stone fruit, use about half as much sugar called for. For sour cherries, keep the sugar where it is.

Frozen fruit (rhubarb, berries or otherwise) works well here, too, and doesn’t have to be thawed first; just add a few minutes to the baking time. Frozen blueberries, preferably zipped up with the juice and zest of a lemon, will turn this dessert from rosy and tangy to inky and mellow.

Crafting the Perfect Egg-Free Topping

You can use tapioca starch as thickener if you’re keeping strictly kosher for the holiday (cornstarch also works). You don’t need much really, just a few tablespoons to help the fruit bubble and condense into a syrupy, jamlike layer beneath the golden-brown topping.

And for that topping, I use almond meal and shredded coconut to replace the usual flour and oats. Then instead of butter I stir in some almond butter to hold it together, which deepens the nuttiness and gives it all a sandy, almost caky texture. Combined with the fruity filling, it makes for a soft, crowd-pleasing dessert with low-key PB&J energy. You might even find yourself wanting to make it long after the holiday has passed.

Recipe: Rhubarb-Almond Crumble

This tangy, fruity dessert is gluten-free, vegan and suitable for Passover (those who choose to avoid cornstarch at Passover can use tapioca starch in the filling). The topping is a bit sandier and more caky than a classic crumble, with a subtle, nutty sweetness from a combination of almond flour, almond butter and shredded coconut. Paired with the jammy fruit, the almond butter gives this crumble distinct PB&J energy. Note that almond butter brands vary widely; some are loose and runny, others thick and pasty. If yours is on the thicker side, you may need to add a bit more to get the crumbs to hold together. Leftovers make a terrific breakfast, topped with yogurt if you like.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Total time: 1 hour, plus 20 minutes’ cooling

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick (about 6 cups)

2/3 to 3/4 cup/132 to 150 grams sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour or starch, or cornstarch

1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or rosewater

1/2 teaspoon grated orange or lemon zest (optional)

For the Topping:

1 cup/225 grams unsweetened almond butter, more if needed

1¼ cups/125 grams almond flour or meal

2/3 cup/60 grams finely shredded unsweetened coconut

2/3 cup/132 grams sugar

3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt (add a pinch more if your almond butter is unsalted)

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss together rhubarb, sugar, tapioca or cornstarch, vanilla and, if using, zest. Pour into a 2-quart baking dish or 9-inch round or square baking pan. Put the dish on top of a baking sheet to catch any drips.

3. Next, make the topping: Add the almond butter to the same bowl you used for the rhubarb (no need to wash it). Stir with a flexible spatula to eliminate any lumps if needed, then mix in almond flour, coconut, sugar and salt. (Or, add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse to incorporate, 12 to 15 times, until no dry spots remain.) If the mixture seems dry, add more almond butter by the teaspoon until it clumps together when pressed between your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the rhubarb.

4. Bake until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling around the edges, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Melissa Clark
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post This Easy Crumble Has Peanut Butter-and-Jelly Vibes appeared first on GV Wire.

“There has been an unexpected groundswell of support,” said Sarah Harrelson, the founder of Cultured, who has worked on publications her entire career, including InStyle and Women’s Wear Daily.

The first issue of Cultured, which combines the fashion and art worlds, appeared in 2012, when Harrelson was living in Miami, where she had worked for Ocean Drive magazine and started a magazine supplement for The Miami Herald.

“I think back now, and I was 38 and creatively bored,” she said. “I wanted to do something for myself and not have to heed the rules. Publishing had gotten formulaic.”

Independently produced print magazines with an emphasis on fashion are experiencing a boomlet of sorts, making waves for their striking design and high-quality production. There is Cultured but also L’Etiquette, Konfekt and Polyester, to name a few that line the racks of Casa Magazines, the West Village periodical store, and magCulture in London.

No longer seen as disposable or a relic of a dying industry, these magazines are regarded as high-end products. “It’s a luxury experience of sitting back and getting a single viewpoint coming to you that you didn’t know you wanted,” said Penny Martin, the editor-in-chief of The Gentlewoman, which could be said to have pioneered an indie print resurgence when it began in 2010.

Búzio Saraiva is the associate publisher of nine independent magazines, including Holiday and Luncheon, and the founder of Nutshell & Co., a company in Paris that works with other similar magazines.

“People behind independent magazines create material meant to last,” he said. “Someone will collect them, and then someone else will buy one at a flea market and make a moodboard out of it.”

Saraiva thinks of these magazines as vehicles for stylists, photographers, celebrities and writers to show off creativity in a way they might not be able to do in mainstream magazines. “It’s a lab,” he said. “It’s R&D for the creative industry. I see people taking pictures now that we shot 10 years ago. Not everyone is triple-checking to see if they’ve offended or please everyone.”

At first glance, independent magazines use a lot of the same celebrities that magazines owned by Hearst or Condé Nast work with. “A lot of time it’s the same cover and talents, but the interviewer or the photographer can be completely different,” said Joshua Glass, who started the food and fashion magazine Family Style in 2023. The spring 2025 issue has Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover interviewed by curator Klaus Biesenbach and photographed by Brianna Capozzi.

A major difference, Glass said, was creative independence. Like many other indies, Family Style is majority self-financed. “I’m beholden to my own moral integrity, my peers and the people I employ,” he said.

“We are in the black,” Glass added. “We’re not flying private jets or taking town cars. We are extremely lean, and we do things in ways that are modest.”

Magazines like Cultured and Family Style generally rely on ways to stay afloat that are quite similar to those of mainstream print publications. They have advertisers who are happy to pay a cheaper rate for a smaller magazine with a younger audience.

Here, a field guide to 10 of the new crop of fashion-leaning print magazines.

Notes on Beauty

For the first issue, spring 2025, Inez and Vinoodh photographed Julianne Moore for the cover with red rose petals stuffed in her mouth. There are stories on ancient wellness rituals and an essay about a writer deciding to forgo cosmetic treatments.

AFM

The A is for “A,” the “M” is for “Magazine,” and the “F” stands for something unprintable. Issue 001, with the theme “pursuits of happiness,” came out last fall, produced by the dating app Feeld, which proudly declared that more than half of its contributors were on the app. Feeld is one of a number of companies, including Mubi, the movie platform, and Metrograph, the movie theater, producing print spinoffs for their companies.

Heroine

What if a fashion magazine was almost entirely photos of fashion? The fall 2024 issue of Heroine has short interviews with actors Finn Bennett and Noah Jupe, but the highlight is model Alice McGrath, photographed by Fabien Kruszelnicki and wearing a great deal of Celine.

Cultured

The most recent issue has several covers, including one with Cristin Milioti holding a lit cigarette, photographed by Chris Colls. The theme is art and film, and it has interviews with director Luca Guadagnino, Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres and painter Torkwase Dyson.

Konfekt

Konfekt bills itself as “the magazine for sharp dressing, drinking, dining, travel and design.” It’s based in Zurich and often has a middle-European bent. Issue 17 includes profiles of a chef in Georgia (the country) and a calligrapher in Paris, and an interview with Serbian-born fashion designer Dusan Paunovic.

L’Etiquette

Based in Paris, L’Etiquette puts an emphasis on personal style and the art of getting dressed. There are separate editions for men and women, and they’re perennially sold out on newsstands. Online, panels of fashion world denizens choose their favorite It bags, which turn out to be delightfully quirky and under the radar: an L.L. Bean suede tote, say, or a tiny Balenciaga shaped like a croissant.

Polyester

Polyester has a playful energy and a pop visual aesthetic reminiscent of 1990s magazines. Heroes to a certain kind of fashionable feminist are covered, like the winter 2024/2025 cover star Sofia Coppola or Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni, the hosts of the “Every Outfit” podcast.

Patta

The namesake magazine of an Amsterdam shop, Patta has gained a cult following for its coverage of music and streetwear. The magazine takes a global view of culture with an emphasis on African-European connections. Its spring-summer issue has an interview with Congolese-born director Baloji and an article on the rising EDM scene in Lagos.

Holiday

Every edition of the midcentury magazine Holiday was dedicated to a different city. Writers included Truman Capote and Joan Didion. Fast-forward to spring 2014, when Holiday was brought back by the design studio Atelier Franck Durand. It still picks a city for each issue, the fall-winter one being New York. There is a vintage flavor in a reprint of the Joan Didion essay “Goodbye to All That,” but it also has Tommy Dorfman and Marc Jacobs in conversation.

Unconditional

“Made by Women, for Women,” Unconditional says, and the female gaze is apparent. Articles include a piece on lymphatic drainage practitioners in Paris and a profile of designer Rachel Scott of the fashion line Diotima.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Marisa Meltzer/Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

The post The Revenge of the Niche Fashion Magazine appeared first on GV Wire.