Meet New York Night School: subscriber-exclusive newsletter courses taught by our writers and editors. Want to improve your writing or photography skills? What about learning how to look at art like a critic? We have a course for that and more.

Subscribe now for access to all of the courses, which you can explore below — and as a valued newsletter reader, you'll save $20.

New York executive editor Genevieve Smith helps subscribers understand the core tenets of the craft — finding the right idea, determining structure, honing your authorial voice — through lessons derived from roundtable discussions with features editors and writers, including Lane Brown, Emily Gould, Allison P. Davis, Lila Shapiro, and E. Alex Jung. 

Whether you’re an aspiring journalist, a hobbyist Substacker, or just wanting to write better emails, we think you’ll find something of real value in this series.

You’ll take in a rarefied collection of municipal tips, tricks, and hacks that even the most jaded New Yorkers may not have known until now. We reached out to ER doctors, traffic attorneys, and particularly New York–y New Yorkers like Alison Stewart and Gay Talese for advice, but most of the wisdom comes from the shrewd, budget-minded New York Magazine editorial hive mind. 

Consider this a crash course in the knowledge set that New Yorkers who grew up here have amassed over decades. This is your guide to beating the system, even in this impossible city of ours.

Senior art critic Jerry Saltz leads a course on the art of looking at art: the techniques and habits of mind that will enrich your museum experience and allow you to go deeper into the works you are beholding. These are lessons not in art history per se (though naturally, there will be plenty of those) but rather in being a better observer and interpreter and appreciator.

You can expect tutorials on how to approach established masterpieces, new works in small galleries, outsider art, and the institution of the auction house, as well as on ways of writing about art that help you understand it.

Senior art critic Jerry Saltz guides readers through the history of five of the city’s most storied cultural institutions: the Frick, the Met, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and MoMA. Whether you’re a pressed-for-time tourist trying to squeeze in an impactful visit or a connoisseur who wants Jerry’s spin on things, each edition outlines the most essential works in one of the museum’s permanent collections, the hidden treasures to revisit, and how to navigate it if you’ve only got an hour to spare. 

Our award-winning photo department gives a five-week crash course on improving your photography skills — whether you’re an aspiring professional, a devoted hobbyist, or just trying to take better pictures for the family holiday card next year. 

Expect pointers on everything from taking portraits that show your subject’s personality to documenting vivid scenes on the street to getting delicious-looking food shots with your phone’s camera — and at the end, we hope you’ll share some of your work with us.

Over the course of five weeks, critic Angelica Jade Bastién examines stardom across time and place. We’ll focus on one star a week: Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise, Pam Grier, Alain Delon, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. And every week, you’ll work your way through our syllabus of selected films so you can revisit or get to know the greatest cinematic performances from these stars.

Our team of professional shoppers at the Strategist teaches a five-week course on gifting — which we’d argue is both an art and a science. You can expect to learn our personal gifting theories and go-to gifts (and the gifts we specifically advise against), a roundtable on what kids (and their parents) actually want, and dozens and dozens of tips on how to navigate weddings, birthdays, and, of course, the holiday season.

Sara Holdren explores historical and poetic context, leaning into Shakespeare’s language, interpreting choices you might see onstage, and excavating the behind-the-scenes work that contemporary directors and actors put into bringing Shakespeare to life.

Whether you love the old guy from Stratford-upon-Avon, are baffled by him, or have always found yourself somewhere in between, How to Watch, Read, and Love Shakespeare is designed to awaken your curiosity and get you excited to jump in, watch, listen, and have a passionate opinion the next time someone invites you to Hamlet.