Note to readers
Welcome to a special year-end issue of The Week.
Welcome to a special year-end issue of The Week. For the first time, we have expanded on the year-end features that we used to squeeze into our last regular issue, and given them their own home. We hope they’ll provide some reading pleasure for our loyal subscribers in the lull between Christmas and New Year’s.
In this issue, we take you on a (not entirely nostalgic) tour of the year in news and business. We select some of the best achievements in books (both novels and nonfiction), music, art, and food. We’ve also curated three great longer reads that we found in our exhaustive reading of newspapers, magazines, and websites. All of it, of course, is spiced with a bit of fun.
At year’s end, I want to express my gratitude to our 560,000 subscribers, who’ve made this the best year yet for The Week. In recent months, subscribers have given more than 100,000 gift subscriptions to friends and relatives. Thanks to your enthusiasm, our business is strong and growing at a time when many print and digital publications are struggling. It’s both gratifying and humbling.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
We live in interesting times. In 2014, we’ll continue to do our best to give you a succinct, intelligent, and lively summary of what’s happening and what a wide variety of very smart people think about it all. My talented staff and I wish you, the extended family of The Week, a very happy New Year.
William Falk
Editor-in-chief
P.S. To recharge our batteries, we are now taking some time off. Your next issue of The Week will be dated Jan. 17 and should begin arriving Jan. 10.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Critics' choice: Three takes on tavern dining
Feature A second Minetta Tavern, A 1946 dining experience, and a menu with a mission
By The Week US
-
Film reviews: Warfare and A Minecraft Movie
Feature A combat film that puts us in the thick of it and five misfits fall into a cubic-world adventure
By The Week US
-
What to know before lending money to family or friends
the explainer Ensure both your relationship and your finances remain intact
By Becca Stanek, The Week US
-
The final fate of Flight 370
feature Malaysian officials announced that radar data had proven that the missing Flight 370 “ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
By The Week Staff
-
The airplane that vanished
feature The mystery deepened surrounding the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared one hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
By The Week Staff
-
A drug kingpin’s capture
feature The world’s most wanted drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was captured by Mexican marines in the resort town of Mazatlán.
By The Week Staff
-
A mixed verdict in Florida
feature The trial of Michael Dunn, a white Floridian who fatally shot an unarmed black teen, came to a contentious end.
By The Week Staff
-
New Christie allegation
feature Did a top aide to the New Jersey governor tie Hurricane Sandy relief funds to the approval of a development proposal in the city of Hoboken?
By The Week Staff
-
A deal is struck with Iran
feature The U.S. and five world powers finalized a temporary agreement to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
By The Week Staff
-
End-of-year quiz
feature Here are 40 questions to test your knowledge of the year’s events.
By The Week Staff
-
The U.S. and Iran strike a deal
feature The administration defended an international deal with Iran over its nuclear program, as critics at home and in Israel blasted the pact as an act of appeasement.
By The Week Staff