Aurelia Butler

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    A Dyslexic Comedian Walks Into a Recording Booth …

    Phil Hanley stood in a womb-like studio, psyching himself up to record the final section of his memoir. Peppermint tea, check. Hands in meditation position, check. Sheaf of highlighted, color coded pages printed in extra large type, check.But when Hanley leaned into the microphone to read from “Spellbound,” his candid account of growing up dyslexic, he sounded more like an anxious student than the seasoned comedian he is.He eked out 13 words, then stumbled, exhaling sharply in triplicate, Lamaze style. He tried again, the same sentence with slightly different intonation. Puff, puff, puff. And again, making it through three more words. Puff, puff, puff. On his fourth attempt, Hanley choked up.It was his 60th hour in the booth at his publisher’s office, not counting practice sessions at home. Most authors are at the studio for a fraction of this time; the average recording length for a 7.5 hour audiobook is 15 hours. But because Hanley has severe dyslexia, the process was protracted. And complicated. And emotional.“The most traumatic moments of my life have been having to read out loud,” Hanley said. “I can’t even express how tiring it is to do the audiobook. It feels like chiseling a marble statue with a screwdriver and a broken hammer.”Nevertheless, he was hellbent on reading his own story. What would it say to the dyslexic community if he handed off the mic?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Read the Order Transferring Mahmoud Khalil’s Case to New Jersey

    Case 1:25-cv-01935-JME Document 78 Filed 03/19/25
    Page 28 of 33
    Cnty., No. 24-CV-3850 (LTS), 2024 WL 3318225, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 17, 2024); Bynum v.
    N.J., No. 24-CV-618 (LTS), 2024 WL 1023210, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 26, 2024); Moussaoui v.
    Biden, No. 25-CV-691 (JGK), 2025 WL 457804, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 28, 2025); Darboe v.
    Ahrendt, 442 F. Supp. 3d 592, 596 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); see also, e.g., United States v. Posey, No.
    16-CR-87 (RJA), 2023 WL 7124522, at *2 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 30, 2023) (noting a court’s “broad
    discretion” under Section 1406(a) “to transfer a habeas case to the proper judicial district”).
    Section 1406(a) provides for transfer “to any district . . . in which [the case] could have
    been brought.” Id. (emphasis added). By its plain terms, therefore, the statute calls for transfer
    of Khalil’s Petition to the District of New Jersey, the only district in which due to the
    immediate-custodian and district-of-confinement rules his “core” claims “could have been
    brought” at 4:40 a.m. on March 9, 2025. See, e.g., Alvarado v. Gillis, No. 22-CV-10082 (JLR)
    (KHP), 2023 WL 5417157 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2023), report and recommendation adopted, 2023
    WL 5396499 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2023) (ordering transfer of an immigration habeas petition to
    the district where the petitioner was detained at the time of filing); Ali v. DHS/ICE/Dep’t of
    Justice, No. 19-CV-8645 (LGS), 2020 WL 3057383, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. June 9, 2020) (same);
    Persaud v. ICE, No. 04-CV-282 (FB), 2004 WL 1936213, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 31, 2004)
    (“Although petitioner is currently confined in Alabama, at the time that he filed this petition he
    was confined in the Western District of Louisiana. Accordingly, the Court orders the petition to
    be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.”); cf.
    Fuentes v. Choate, No. 24-CV-1377 (NYW), 2024 WL 2978285, at *10-11 (D. Colo. June 13,
    2024) (observing that when transfer is necessary due to improper venue under Padilla, “many
    courts choose to transfer habeas cases” to the district where the action “could have been brought
    at the time it was filed or noticed”). Indeed, the Court cannot do otherwise because where, as
    here, “a federal statute covers the point in dispute,” “that is the end of the matter; federal courts
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    She May Be the Most Powerful Producer Working in Theater

    Sonia Friedman may just be the most prolific and powerful theater producer working today.Over the past 30 years, she has become a peerless figure in the West End, where last year she had a record-setting seven shows running simultaneously, and on Broadway, where she has produced five of the past six Tony Award winners for best play. She has been entrusted both with prestige work by celebrated writers like Tom Stoppard and Stephen Sondheim and with stage adaptations of hugely valuable intellectual property like “Harry Potter,” “Stranger Things” and “Paddington.”But she’s endlessly restless. Taking for granted neither the sustainability of the business nor the security of her own place in it, she has become ever more worried about the industry’s future.A lifelong Londoner, Friedman spends about one-third of each year in New York, but she hasn’t bought an apartment, and only in January started renting, after decades of hotel stays.“I live, literally, with a suitcase in the hall,” she said during one of several interviews. “It could all end tomorrow here. It could all end tomorrow there. And it might. It really might. That’s always how I work. The drive is: It could all end tomorrow. It’s not necessarily a nice way to live, is it?”For years she has expressed concern about the high costs of producing on Broadway, particularly when compared to the West End, but her concern has intensified since the pandemic, as rising costs for labor, materials and services have driven show budgets — and ticket prices for hot shows — ever higher. She said, for example, that “The Hills of California,” a family drama by Jez Butterworth that she produced last year in both cities, faced production costs that were 350 percent higher in New York than in London.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    My Friend Is Refusing to Talk Politics With Me. Can She Do That?

    A reader feels spurned by a friend’s “self-righteous” declaration that she would no longer engage with him about politics after he revealed he didn’t plan to vote.My wife and I are longtime friends with another couple whose political views differ from mine. I have disagreed with the wife occasionally on some issues, and she with me — but always respectfully. Before the presidential election, I told her that I didn’t plan to vote because I could not support either candidate. She had a negative reaction to this and told me that, going forward, we should avoid political discussions if we want to remain friends. I found her statement self-righteous — as if she can be friends only with people who agree with her, and I should be careful not to express a different political opinion. Is that an acceptable ground rule for friendship?FRIENDEvery day now — and often, every hour — I am confronted by some reminder of what a divisive time this is in American life. (It’s depressing — and exhausting.) And worse, I have begun to lose faith that we will talk our way out of this mess. Most people I know seem to be done with being persuaded. Surely you must have noticed something along these lines.So, I am largely sympathetic with your friend. Rather than engaging in prolonged and pointless arguments, or jeopardizing a longtime friendship, she has suggested a boundary to reduce her aggravation during her leisure time. It doesn’t sound as if she is foisting her opinions on you. In fact, it seems pretty evenhanded to me — not self-righteous at all.Now, if her proposal bothers you, you can make a pitch for continued political debate. But frankly, if you weren’t motivated to vote by the starkly different views espoused by the candidates last year, knowing one of them was bound to win, it seems disingenuous to claim that you can’t make it through a dinner party without sounding off on politics. Find another topic! Your friend is trying to preserve her tranquillity and your friendship. I respect her for that.Miguel PorlanFeeling Left Out of the PictureMy husband and I have been married for 15 years. We have a teenage daughter. Sadly, both of his parents died long before we met. His sister hangs a large family photograph from 30 years ago above her mantel: It includes my husband’s ex-wife and another sibling’s ex, and it doesn’t include me or our daughter. When I mentioned the enormous photo to my husband, he said that their parents are in it, which is why his sister hangs it there. But why can’t she find a different photo? Is it fair that I’m upset?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Pam Bondi Calls Tesla Vandalism ‘Domestic Terrorism,’ Promising Consequences

    Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday labeled a recent spate of attacks on Tesla dealerships across the country as acts of “domestic terrorism” directed at Elon Musk, as Trump allies have pressured the Justice Department to take aggressive action.In recent weeks, vandals in apparent protest of Mr. Musk’s polarizing efforts to drastically shrink the federal government and fire government workers have defaced or destroyed Tesla vehicles and damaged buildings in several cities. No serious injuries have been reported.Five more vehicles at a Tesla facility in Las Vegas were damaged on Tuesday in what the local authorities said was a targeted attack.“The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism,” Ms. Bondi wrote in a statement. “We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”There is no federal domestic terrorism law, so those charged in the attacks would be charged under other federal statutes; Ms. Bondi did not specify what charges could be brought, but she said that if convicted, some of those accused could face sentences of at least five years in prison.Ms. Bondi’s remarks echoed President Trump’s labeling of the vandalism as terrorism. On Tuesday, he baselessly suggested in a Fox interview that the vandalism was paid for “by people very highly political on the left.”Congressional Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have pressured Ms. Bondi to call such attacks domestic terrorism — after successfully resisting efforts by Democrats in 2022 to pass legislation to counter the rise in activity by white supremacists and other far-right groups.Ms. Bondi supported Mr. Trump’s mass clemency for hundreds of his supporters who violently ransacked the U.S. Capitol, including some who assaulted police officers. The F.B.I. described those involved in the planning and perpetration of that attack as “domestic violent extremists,” whom they had previously identified in threat assessments.Several Tesla facilities have been targeted in the past several days.On Monday, police arrested a 26-year-old woman with spraypainting anti-Musk messages on the front windows of a Tesla facility in Buffalo Grove, Ill., on Friday. That same day vandals broke windows and defaced a dealership in the San Diego area with swastikas and slogans.The F.B.I. and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, working with the local police, are investigating vandalism of Cybertrucks at a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Mo., the F.B.I.’s Kansas City field office said in a statement posted to Facebook. An unknown attacker fired more than a dozen shots at a Tesla dealership in Tigard, Ore., last week, damaging some of the vehicles and store windows. More

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    NYT Crossword Answers for March 19, 2025

    Evan Park and Jeffrey Martinovic connect with us on the astral plane.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — I go back and forth on my feelings about outer space. On the one hand, there is the terrifying unknown of what lies beyond our solar system, the infinite vastness of which makes me feel about as significant as a dust mote. On the other hand, planets are neat.Today’s New York Times Crossword, constructed by Evan Park and Jeffrey Martinovic, tipped the scales a little further in favor of the cosmos. The grid features a witty visual representation of a certain celestial event. It was tricky to identify, but all the more satisfying once I’d done so.Today’s ThemeStarting a crossword puzzle in the top-left corner is generally a decent solving strategy. But in this puzzle, that quadrant contains the most frustrating parts of the theme.We begin with a tricky rebus square at the intersection of 16A and 3D: A [Place to take a break] should be a REST AREA, and [Skills of the past] would normally be LOST ARTS. But we don’t have enough spaces for either of these entries unless we extract and condense the word STAR to the confines of that rebus square. (Here’s a quick how-to on entering more than one letter in a square.)So the cluster of four circled squares at 23-/27A and 5-/21D should contain similar rebuses, right? Wrong. They’re just plain circles, spelling S-T-A-R. But this inconsistency isn’t an oversight — it’s the beginning of a [Chewy fruit-flavored candy … or a description of what’s depicted visually in this puzzle]: STARBURST (10D).We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Mexico City Bans Traditional Bullfights for Violence-Free Option

    Showdowns between people and bulls can still go on, but the animals can no longer be hurt or killed. Some bullfighting proponents said the law imperils an ancient tradition.In the biggest bullfighting city in the largest bullfighting country in the world, Mexico City lawmakers overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to ban traditional bullfighting — a move that was supported by Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, but was fiercely opposed by backers of the centuries-old custom.The legislation, approved by a 61-1 vote, prohibits the injuring or killing of bulls for sport, in or outside of the arenas. It will allow for what proponents call “bullfighting without violence,” in which rules determine how long a bull can be in the ring and limit bullfighters to using only capes.“My heart always beats for animal welfare,” said Xochitl Bravo Espinosa, a Mexico City legislator who helped spearhead the effort.But Ms. Bravo Espinosa said that legislators tried to find a balance in which the bullfights could go on, albeit modified, so that people who made a living off the industry could continue working. She pointed to people who sell gear and food around La Plaza México, the largest bullfighting arena in the world, which opened in 1946 in the heart of the city and seats 42,000 people.Bullfighting proponents denounced the legislation, protesting outside the Mexico City legislature’s building on Tuesday morning. “This is just the beginning of a fight for our bullfighting,” four bullfighting groups said in a joint statement later in the day.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Inside the 24-Hour Scramble Among Top National Security Officials Over the J.F.K. Documents

    President Trump’s national security team was stunned and forced to scramble after he announced on Monday that he would release 80,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with only 24 hours’ notice.Administration officials had been working on releasing the records since January, when Mr. Trump signed an executive order mandating it. But that process was still underway on Monday afternoon when Mr. Trump, during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said the files would be made available the next day.By the time the files were made public on Tuesday evening, some of the country’s top national security officials had spent hours trying to assess any possible security hazards under extreme deadline pressure.John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had been emphasizing to senior administration officials that some documents had nothing to do with Mr. Kennedy and were developed decades after the assassination, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. He wanted to make sure that other officials were fully aware of what the files contained and would not be caught off guard, but he was clear that he would not seek to impede any files from being released, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.Soon after Mr. Trump spoke on Monday afternoon, officials at the National Security Council quickly convened a call to map out a plan to take stock of which documents still needed to be unredacted. The release had to be coordinated with the National Archives and Records Administration. Some officials raised concerns about unintended consequences of rushing the release of the files, including the disclosure of sensitive personal information like the Social Security numbers of people who were still alive, the people said.Officials involved in the process of declassification said the number of files had expanded greatly over many decades because, with each investigation into Kennedy-related material, information that had nothing to do with the assassinated president has come under that umbrella. In some cases, that includes documents created decades after his death, according to one person with knowledge of the process.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More