The Magazine
February 4, 2019
Reporting
Annals of Health Care
The Personal Toll of Whistle-Blowing
Why one physician took the risk of becoming an F.B.I. informant to expose alleged Medicare fraud.
American Chronicles
The Supreme Court Case That Enshrined White Supremacy in Law
How Plessy v. Ferguson shaped the history of racial discrimination in America.
Letter from Nashville
The Family Business That Put Nashville Hot Chicken on the Map
An African-American-owned restaurant began making the spicy dish eighty years ago. Now it’s a viral sensation. Who’s getting the big money?
A Reporter at Large
A Grand Plan to Clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Can a controversial young entrepreneur rid the ocean of plastic trash?
The Critics
The Art World
The Once Radical Slashes of Lucio Fontana
The artist’s meticulously violated canvases and punctured ceramics seemed like a big deal, before the mystiques of innovation shifted from individual genius to corporate branding.
On Television
The Clever Thrill Ride of “Russian Doll”
Natasha Lyonne stars in the Netflix series, which explores raw, affecting themes of mortality and grieving.
Books
Briefly Noted
“Mouthful of Birds,” “Love in the New Millennium,” “My Butch Career,” and “The British in India.”
The Theatre
The Chaos of American Manhood in “True West”
Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano star in Sam Shepard’s legendary play about fathers, competition, and male angst.
Books
Writing About Writing About the Border Crisis
Valeria Luiselli’s intricate novel, “Lost Children Archive,” confronts the complexities of bearing witness.
The Current Cinema
The Beige Noir of “Serenity”
After an hour of the writer and director Steven Knight’s brisk tropical caper, the surface of the film begins to crack.
The Talk of the Town
Dept. of Rabble-Rousing
Save Our Starbucks
The regulars at an Upper West Side outpost of the coffee chain have launched a petition.
L.A. Postcard
Redefining the, Like, Idea of the Valley Girl
A new exhibition features female artists of the San Fernando Valley.
Shutdown Notes
Food Banks and Side Gigs at J.F.K.
T.S.A. workers, who went without pay during the shutdown, set up a food pantry in a parking lot.
Comment
Will the Supreme Court Use a New York City Regulation to Strike Down Gun Laws?
The Justices agree to hear another Second Amendment case, this time with Brett Kavanaugh on board.
Shouts & Murmurs
Shouts & Murmurs
No Wonder He Kept Going Bankrupt
Cartoons
1/13
Some people like coming home to a dog. Carly preferred an eight-piece funk brass band.
Fiction
Poems
Goings On About Town
Goings On About Town
NAO’s Simmering Slow Jams Come to Terminal 5
The English R. & B. artist’s cosmic voice glides across songs that traverse a spectrum of danceable electro-grooves.
Tables for Two
Japanese Freshwater Eel Slithers Onto the New York Dining Scene
Two new establishments, Unagi Aburi Ittetsu and Unagi-Ya Hachibei, prepare the delicacy in a traditional manner, making for a sweet but balanced meal.
The Mail
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