The Magazine
September 14, 2020
Reporting
Personal History
How My Mother and I Became Chinese Propaganda
Immigrant struggles in America forged a bond that became even tighter after my mother’s A.L.S. diagnosis. Then, as COVID-19 threatened, Chinese nationalists began calling us traitors to our country.
Profiles
The Colorful Worlds of Pipilotti Rist
The Swiss video artist wants her groundbreaking work to be like women’s handbags, with “room in them for everything.”
Onward and Upward with the Arts
Susanna Clarke’s Fantasy World of Interiors
Fifteen years after an illness rendered her largely housebound, the best-selling writer is releasing a novel that feels like a surreal meditation on life in quarantine.
Annals of Politics
Is Russian Meddling as Dangerous as We Think?
The spectre of foreign manipulation looms over the coming election. But in focussing on the tactics of the aggressors we overlook our weaknesses as victims.
The Critics
Books
How Can We Pay for Creativity in the Digital Age?
There’s still money to be made, but it’s mostly not the creators who are getting rich.
Books
The Injustices of Aging
The women in Sigrid Nunez’s latest novel confront the indignities of their declining years.
Books
Yaa Gyasi Explores the Science of the Soul
In her second novel, Gyasi examines the forces of repression through a mother and daughter’s shared loss.
The Art World
The Joys of Nineteenth-Century French Drawings
While masterpieces traffic in the inexplicable, drawings speak directly from the artist in pre- or mid-creation, hatching little big bangs of ideas.
Books
Briefly Noted
“Life of a Klansman,” “Lying in State,” “little scratch,” and “The Queen of Tuesday.”
The Current Cinema
“Tenet” is Dazzling, Deft, and Devoid of Feeling
Christopher Nolan’s latest film bears the hopes of an industry desperate to get people back in theatres, but grandeur is no guarantee of impact.
The Talk of the Town
Jelani Cobb on political violence and the election; the lockdown porta-potty boom; Jason Scott Lee; Calamityware; Roger Angell at a hundred.
Dept. of Hoopla
Roger Angell at a Hundred
Raising a glass to the New Yorker legend—born five years before the founding of this magazine, and a contributor for the past seventy-six—as he celebrates a milestone birthday.
Home Front Dept.
“Mulan” Star Jason Scott Lee Is Recovering from COVID-19
The star of Disney’s live-action film contracted the coronavirus after travelling to the cancelled London première. Now he’s home in Hawaii, tending to his family and his overgrown garden.
Dept. of Coping
Coffee with Sasquatch and a Couple of Robots
Calamityware’s disaster-themed dishes remind us that things could always be worse, even in a pandemic.
Silver Lining Dept.
COVID Silver Lining: The Porta-Potty Boom
Even with local COVID cases down, the clamor for sanitary hands and clean toilets is on the rise.
Comment
Our Long, Forgotten History of Election-Related Violence
President Trump has sparked dangerous lawlessness, but killing and destruction linked to political antagonisms are nothing new for this country.
Shouts & Murmurs
Shouts & Murmurs
Opt Out
Cartoons
1/15
“So they married, and the prince and the princess lived happily ever after . . . and now, a pop math quiz.”
Cartoon by Danny Shanahan
Fiction
Fiction
The Englishman
Goings On About Town
Classical Music
Tragedy and Compassion at the Opera
Joyce DiDonato’s performance in the Metropolitan Opera’s streaming series “Met Stars Live in Concert,” on Sept. 12, is well suited to our year of high drama.
Tables for Two
Pulkies’s “Jewish-Style BBQ”
The brisket is confited in its own fat and served in a sauce that includes Manischewitz. The sides include honey-butter corn bread and barbecue beans.
The Mail
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