Table of contents for May 16, 2025 in Newsweek

DUKE ELLINGTON’S ENDURING legacy as a musical pioneer was celebrated at a gala and concert with the soul of America as its undercurrent. Sopranos star Michael Imperioli and producer wife Victoria, 30 Rock actor Alec Baldwin and yoga instructor wife Hilaria, and TV host and author Joy Reid were among guests who watched comedian Dave Chappelle host a night in honor of what would have marked the legendary jazz composer and bandleader’s 126th year. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis took the audience through a musical tour that included familiar greats like “Mood Indigo” and star turns by guests. Marsalis, the organization’s managing and artistic director, told Newsweek: “His music contains American essences that we need to remember about who we are—800 records, 2,000 songs, 50 years on…

A hardware store owner serves a customer by flashlight in the Spanish city of Granada on april 28 after a power outage left much of the country and parts of Portugal and France without electricity. The blackout was one of the worst ever in Europe, causing chaos for tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula as airports and train stations were forced to close, aTMs stopped working and internet access was cut off. It was claimed electric grids suffered two “disconnection events” and the second triggered the outage. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a government investigation into the cause.…

PUBLIC EDUCATION IS THE great equalizer. Like millions of American students across the country today, growing up, I had only what my neighborhood school provided. And, in my case, it was a good start. It allowed an economically disadvantaged English learner to go on to earn a doctorate and advise the president of the United States. Still, I believe in school choice. In fact, I am a product of school choice. I chose to attend a public technical high school instead of the traditional neighborhood option. Thirty years later, I believe that choice helped me get to the position of secretary of education. My career as an educator—and, more importantly, as a father—confirms my belief that every parent should have options on how to educate their children. Whether they have…

IF YOU’VE SPENT ANY TIME IN NEW YORK CITY, odds are you’ve heard Sei Less mentioned. Whether it was in a rap lyric, like Travis Scott’s, “I’m out in New York, I’m in Sei Less!” or by following the unmistakable social media trail left by A-listers including Cardi B, Kevin Hart and J. Cole, it’s clear that Sei Less isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a cultural movement. And the man behind it, Dara Mirjahangiry, has a story as layered and flavorful as the dishes he serves. Mirjahangiry, the son of Iranian immigrants, came to America as a toddler. Raised in Springfield, New Jersey, his industriousness developed at an early age. “I probably started working when I was 9 or 10,” he recalls, recounting his first entrepreneurial venture shoveling snow and later…

THE BROTHER OF AN AMERICAN WOMAN SAID TO be wrongfully held in a Chinese prison for over a decade has a message for the federal government: “Don’t just talk about it, be about it.” Dawn Michelle Hunt has been in Guangdong Women’s Prison since her 2014 arrest for drug smuggling—a charge that she, her brother and father have consistently denied. In a similar case, Nelson Wells Jr. has spent over a decade in a Chinese cell for drug charges that he and his representatives say are dubious. “The time for politicking about this stuff, it’s over,” Dawn Hunt’s brother, Tim Hunt, formerly a 28-year Chicago Police veteran, told Newsweek. “Everybody talks about reaching across the aisle; everybody talks about what’s best for America because everybody wants to talk about making…

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL—EXCEPT FOR many college graduates prepping to enter an unsteady job market rife with contradictions. Hailey Washington, a senior majoring in marketing at Drexel University in Philadelphia, isn’t bullish about her job prospects despite stellar undergraduate performance and indispensable industry experience from an internship at a luxury fashion brand. “I would like to be optimistic but, based on the current job market, I feel pessimistic,” Washington, 21, told Newsweek. “Most of my friends and myself do not have jobs lined up after graduation and are not getting interviews. We’re all currently seeking part-time positions to build our resumes and to make some money as we search for full-time positions.” Washington, whose job hunt began in Philadelphia and has expanded into New York City and beyond, realizes she must…

imagine if adding greenery to a hospital could help patients heal. Or if increasing natural light in an office by upgrading the size of the windows enabled employees to focus better. Architect Alyssa Anselmo thinks all this is possible, and is sparking conversation about the link between emotion and design. The 30-year-old, from Edmonton, Canada, posted a video to Instagram exploring the psychological impact of everyday buildings. She never expected her clip, comparing office and church interiors, to receive over 220,000 likes and spark such interest in how we can alter our environments to enhance our mental performance and mood. The award-winning architect behind Studio Anva spoke about how the viral video has invited people to reconsider the architecture influencing their daily lives. “I wanted to show spaces like traditional…