Melissa Kirsch

New York

Deputy Editor, Culture and Lifestyle at The New York Times

Culture & lifestyle editor at The New York Times. I write The Morning on Saturdays☀️.

Articles

Working Out

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

I generally work three days in the office, two days from home. Recently, I was working on things that necessitated my being there in person, so I worked Monday through Friday, all five days in the office. The week felt long, unending. I kept thinking, "Tomorrow's Friday," but there was always another day. I had expected to feel spent at the end of the week, ready to return to the hybrid schedule, but instead I felt sort of delighted. Yes, the week was long, and wasn't that great?
Spring Fling

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

It's the time of year when we become reacquainted with what's been hiding out in the back of the closet. The weather's turning, necessitating an unearthing, a rediscovery of clothes that have been hanging there silently, awaiting their turn. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, at the back end of May, there are gradually - almost begrudgingly - more warm days than cool ones. One day soon you'll hang up your coat for the last time and won't think about it again until fall.
Plot Twists

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

I'd just finished and loved Miranda July's novel "All Fours" last year when my colleague Marie Solis wrote a profile of July with the headline, " She Wrote the First Great Perimenopause Novel." This was the first time I'd heard the book mentioned in these superlative terms.
Memory Palace

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

The first poem I memorized was "Pinkle Purr" by A.A. Milne. I was around seven years old when I encountered it and was immediately enchanted. It's a children's poem, four stanzas, all with the same hypnotic AA/BB/AA rhyme scheme. It's a poem about a kitten, Pinkle Purr, and his mother, Tattoo, and their changing relationship as Pinkle Purr grows up, a sort of "Cat's in the Cradle" for kids, but less sad.
Brain Trust

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

Last Friday afternoon, in the lobby of a Marriott in downtown Stamford, Conn., attendees of the 47th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the annual confab of word nerds hosted by The Times's puzzle editor, Will Shortz, joyously convened. Veteran puzzlers greeted old friends with the excitement of a homecoming. First-timers smiled nervously, eyeing others' name tags in hopes of catching a glimpse of a favorite crossword constructor.
Breaking Through

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

In a meeting at work last week, my colleague told the story of how she recently took her son, age 17, to his first concert, Kim Deal at the Brooklyn Paramount. She was so excited to blow his mind, to introduce him to the magic of live music that she'd discovered at 15 when she first went to a rock show herself.
Spring Awakening

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Melissa Kirsch

12 hours agoHave you ever wondered how some people get to be so successful? It may appear that their road was easy or they got a lucky break. However, if you take the time to understand all of the pitfalls and trials that many go through before reaching their goals, you will learn that it takes lots of work …
Spring Awakening

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

One afternoon last week, I convinced a friend to accompany me to a restaurant in Brooklyn to learn how to play Hong Kong-style mahjong. I'd always been intrigued by mahjong's colorful bakelite tiles, the satisfying clacking sound they make as they're shuffled. My mother plays the American version twice a week with the same groups of friends, a clubby ritual that makes me a little jealous: Why don't I have a regular game of something going? We were a group of 15 or so students, all new to the game.
Social Distance – The New York Times - Business And America

2 months ago | businessandamerica.com | Melissa Kirsch

Where were you in March of 2020? When did you realize Covid was a thing that was going to disrupt life as you knew it? I was hiking in Joshua Tree, spending my days delirious at the natural beauty of the desert, unsure if I should return to New York. Each time I refreshed The Times’s coverage, it seemed more and more evident that going home would mean staying indoors for the foreseeable future. I came back.
Social Distance

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Melissa Kirsch

Where were you in March of 2020? When did you realize Covid was a thing that was going to disrupt life as you knew it? I was hiking in Joshua Tree, spending my days delirious at the natural beauty of the desert, unsure if I should return to New York. Each time I refreshed The Times's coverage, it seemed more and more evident that going home would mean staying indoors for the foreseeable future. I came back.