The Magazine
March 9, 2020
Reporting
Onward and Upward with the Arts
The Haunted California Idyll of German Writers in Exile
Wartime émigrés in L.A. felt an excruciating dissonance between their circumstances and the horrors unfolding in Europe.
Letter from Seoul
How South Korea Is Composting Its Way to Sustainability
Automated bins, rooftop farms, and underground mushroom-growing help clean up the mess.
Annals of Education
Prep for Prep and the Fault Lines in New York’s Schools
Do programs that help low-income students of color get into selective private schools obscure the system’s deeper inequalities?
The Political Scene
The Man Behind Trump’s Facebook Juggernaut
Brad Parscale used social media to sway the 2016 election. He’s poised to do it again.
The Critics
The Art World
The Cold, Imperious Beauty of Donald Judd
At MOMA, a retrospective of the artist’s work showcases his rigorous visual intelligence.
Pop Music
Moses Sumney’s World of Possibilities
It takes only a few seconds of Sumney’s singing to make one aware of his skill for cramming as much of himself as possible into every second of his music.
Books
Briefly Noted
“Weather,” “Apeirogon,” “Something That May Shock and Discredit You,” and “In the Dream House.”
Books
Thomas Piketty Goes Global
Now that the celebrity economist’s boldest ideas have been adopted by mainstream politicians, he has an even more provocative vision for transcending capitalism and overcoming our “inequality regime.”
Books
Aharon Appelfeld’s Legends of Home
Because the late Israeli novelist could not remember his own past, he was forced to imagine it.
The Current Cinema
The Alluring Promises of “The Burnt Orange Heresy” and “The Whistlers”
In both films, what appears to be consensual intimacy is an act of deliberate carnal deceit.
The Talk of the Town
Jill Lepore on the problem with polls; coronavirus tips; minority voters; a farewell to plastic bags; Cathy Yan; Russian connections.
L.A. Postcard
BET Worries About the Vote
The rapper T.I. likes Bernie; Kamala Harris called Trump “the Liar-in-Chief.” In advance of Super Tuesday, L.A. media types brainstormed ways to get more people of color to the polls.
The Pictures
Cathy Yan’s Accidental Movie Career
The “Birds of Prey” director talks about her eighties-inspired Gotham and getting Warner Bros.′ attention with a patriarchy-shaming sizzle reel. (Also: how she dodged a career in consulting.)
New Cold War Dept.
A “Swan Lake” Star Drinks Hot Water in Sinatra’s Old Haunt
As Vladimir Putin continues to meddle in our elections, the Russian ballerina Irina Kolesnikova and her former-commando husband reflect on Odette, Odile, and the new Cold War.
Sketchpad
Buh-Bye, Plastic Bags!
End Is Near Dept.
A Local Guide to the Coronavirus
The Columbia University epidemiologist W. Ian Lipkin, fresh from quarantine in his basement, talks masks, the U-trap under our sinks, and wearing “subway condoms”—i.e., gloves—on his morning commute.
Comment
The Problems Inherent in Political Polling
Polls measure something, but it’s often the wrong thing (fame, money). They’re like S.A.T. scores.
Shouts & Murmurs
Shouts & Murmurs
In the Mail
Cartoons
1/10
“Myra, if you really mean it about restructuring, let’s lose the shepherd and keep the sheepdogs.”
Cartoon by Victoria Roberts
Fiction
Fiction
Night Swim
Goings On About Town
The Theatre
Spring Theatre Preview
The LSD fantasy of “Flying Over Sunset,” a Sarah Silverman musical, and more.
Art
Spring Art Preview
Bells on the Brooklyn waterfront, Studio 54 lives on, a milestone at the Met, and more.
Tables for Two
Lekka Burger and the Quest for the Perfect Veggie Patty
In the golden age of vegetable-centric cooking, do we need more dishes made in the image of meat?
Movies
Spring Movies Preview
James Bond and “Legally Blonde” get new workouts, adaptations that include “Charm City Kings” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” and more.
The Theatre
Armie Hammer and Tracy Letts Return to Broadway
Both actors star in Letts’s play “The Minutes,” now in previews at the Cort, which uses a small-town city-council meeting to suss out themes of power and its perversions.
Night Life
Spring Night-Life Preview
The sullen pop of Billie Eilish, the experimental jazz of Shabaka and the Ancestors, the funky bass of Thundercat, and more.
The Mail
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