The Best Baked Beans

Good morning. With the assistance of his young student Titian, Giovanni Bellini made a painting in 1514, “The Feast of the Gods.” It’s terrific and someday maybe you’ll see it for real at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. They’re all there: Mercury, Jupiter, Cybele, Pan, Neptune, the whole gang. Everyone’s drinking wine, eating, hanging…

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Coronavirus Live Updates: Outbreak in the White House Causes a Scramble to Stop the Spread

Here’s what you need to know: ImagePresident Trump, senior military leaders and members of his national security team gathered, maskless, at the White House on Saturday. Credit…Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times “We have to get our country open again,” President Trump said last week, even as he acknowledged that meant more people could die. “People want…

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When Will the Pandemic End? And How?

Here’s what you need to know: When will this end? And how will we know? ImageA Sicilian fresco of “The Triumph of Death” from 1445. In the previous century, the Black Death killed at least a third of Europe’s population.Credit…Werner Forman/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images When will the Covid-19 pandemic end? And how? According…

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Doing the Bump With the Belugas

Beneath the waves, two smoldering coals for eyes watched me with an intense, unyielding stare. Pristine white bodies floated up elegantly from the depths, one after another, surrounding my kayak in the open water. Their ghostly pale faces with wide, Joker-esque smiles pushed closer. A long, powerful sound burst up through the air, like a…

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