New York Times Opinion

Seldom have political food fights been this ridiculous.

Medicine has developed many tools for suppressing suffering, but fewer for cultivating meaning or peace.

$20 million from the Social Security Administration. $8 billion from the Department of Agriculture. Have you received a check from the Trump administration? According to the Opinion contributor Cristian Farias, an “alphabet soup of agencies” have been deputized by President Trump to bribe his way through the midterms and, he argues, to “interfere with the democratic process.”

Will Americans decide this week that character does, after all, matter?

What does an opinion look like?

China and the U.S. need mutually assured collaboration to quash the threat of A.I.-empowered bad actors, even while their economic differences sharpen.

The pontiff draws on his missionary background for a show of fortitude.

The Department of Justice is in a state of moral collapse.

A decade after the Pizzagate theory began, the Epstein files give the conspiracy theory a new life.

Readers discuss the city’s policies and offer their own suggestions. Also: An A.I. monster?

It’s not an idle philosophical question.

Gerrymandering, Gilded Age-style.

Horror isn’t just scary — it can draw people together, especially when they’ve struggled to connect.

The future of American politics runs through the South.

Doctors like Annie Andrews, Amy Acton and Abdul El-Sayed remind us that Americans don’t trust Republicans with their nation’s health.

Democratic sweep or not, politics are about to change.

It’s become screamingly obvious who represents billionaires and unchecked plutocratic power.

With the midterms just days away, Times Opinion writers are taking stock of key races and the themes emerging from them. The columnist Jamelle Bouie sees a “politics of morality” taking shape in the messaging of popular Democratic candidates, like Jon Ossoff and James Talarico. He’s hopeful that it signals a larger shift away from the grievance-filled politics of Donald Trump.

The Democrats have been searching for a way to counteract the toxic masculinity of the right.

One news report that morning conveyed an eternal truth: Commuters will be delayed.