The Public-Shaming Pandemic

On February 18th , Nga Nguyen , an Instagram influencer who likes travel and couture , flew from London—her “ base ” —to Milan , where she attended Gucci ’ s spring show .
The fashion house picked up the bill for the flight and the hotel .
Nga , who is twenty-eight , explained to me , “ I have a very good relationship with all the brands , whether as a long-term client or just as a friend.
” She was joined in Milan by her sister , Nhung , who is a year younger and lives in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hotel that their family owns .
A week after the Gucci event , the sisters took the Eurostar to Paris , for the Saint Laurent show ; they then went to London , where they stayed at Nga ’ s house .
On March 1st , Nhung flew back to Vietnam and Nga made a short business trip to Germany , where she also took a relative to a doctor ’ s appointment .
In the examination room , Nga coughed slightly .
“ The doctor looked up and suggested a coronavirus test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thought he was joking.
” The doctor swabbed a mucus sample from Nga ’ s nose , and told her to go to the relative ’ s house and wait .
She remembers feeling fine , but that evening she developed a fever , and her cough worsened .
Two days later , she had pneumonia , and her coronavirus test was positive .
A runner who can normally cover four miles in half an hour , she could barely walk .
On March 12th , emergency workers took Nga to the hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a week , then returned to her relative ’ s house , where she eventually made a full recovery .
Now back in London , she feels “ very grateful for the care ” that she received in Germany .
When Nhung arrived in Hanoi , she passed through an airport checkpoint , and had no fever .
But she began coughing that night .
Four days later , she became Hanoi ’ s first confirmed Covid-19 patient .
She spent two weeks in isolation at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , too , has recovered and is thankful to the doctors who treated her .
The sisters ’ experience differed in one crucial way .
European Union nations have strong privacy protections , and no one besides Nga ’ s family and a few friends knew that she had Covid-19 .
Nhung ’ s case became public knowledge .
Before she received her diagnosis , Vietnam had a small number of coronavirus cases outside the capital , and the outbreak had dwindled to nothing .
A Vietnamese journalist told me , “ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an epidemic.
” Nhung spoiled the plan .
The authorities , determined to make other Hanoi residents stay home , especially in Nhung ’ s neighborhood , made a show of locking down her street .
That wasn ’ t all : the Vietnamese government , which regularly uses newspaper leaks to persuade or frighten its citizens , invited the press to watch a live stream of a meeting about the young woman ’ s medical condition .
Within an hour of articles about the meeting being published , people on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and found her social-media accounts .
In less than a day , Nhung ’ s Instagram account had ten thousand new followers—and many of them were attacking her .
Things got so out of control that she changed her account setting to private .
Although she was lying in a hospital bed , people kept claiming to see her bustling about the city .
One user came across a photograph of a woman who looked like Nhung at the grand opening of a Uniqlo , and reposted the image on Instagram , announcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while sick .
Another user posted a picture of a different look-alike walking along Ta Hien , Hanoi ’ s night-life strip , and suggested that Nhung was casually infecting passersby .
Next came a rumor that Nhung had gone to visit her boyfriend in Vinhomes Times City , an upscale district .
The Vietnamese government , clearly committed to making an example of Nhung , let it be known that when she flew home from London she did not mention her visit to Italy .
Not only had Nhung apparently infected her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the probable source of infection of ten other people on the flight , all of whom tested positive shortly afterward , as well as the driver who picked her up from the airport , her housekeeper , and one of her aunts .
Some of the infected airplane passengers were British tourists , leading the Daily Mail to proclaim that Nhung was a “ super-spreader.
” The Vietnamese government posted photographs of Nhung in her hospital room—ostensibly to prove that she was recovering—and social-media users marshalled these images to lambaste her yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reached Nga in Europe .
She was pictured in articles about the fashion industry and the spread of Covid-19 .
It made no difference that she appeared not to have infected anyone .
“ The people I interacted with during Fashion Week were all fine , ” she told me .
“ My photographer and my makeup artist were in close proximity , and they were O.K.
” Nevertheless , enraged Vietnamese mined Nga ’ s Instagram account , including recent photographs from her trip to Milan and Paris , to portray her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up an old image of Nga on vacation in Mykonos , dressed in Saint Laurent and standing beside Salt Bae—the Turkish celebrity chef known for the extravagant way he sprinkles salt while cooking .
Someone in Vietnam dotted the Mykonos image with bright crown shapes , to suggest that Nga was dispensing the coronavirus like salt .
Instagram users gave the image almost eleven thousand likes .
One Vietnamese commenter said of Nga , “ She has the collective consciousness of a cunt.
” Another declared , “ Please help me send a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s whole family.
” The source of Nga ’ s prominence—her glossy Instagram account—became a cudgel to beat her and her sister with .
One social-media user tried to pit the Nguyens against each other .
“ I ’ ve followed you for a long time because you ’ re talented , ” a woman from the city of Ha Long wrote to Nga .
“ But I really can not accept your sister.
” She added , “ I hope you and your family will recover quickly.
” The attacks hurt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most vulnerable .
Nhung secluded herself and turned to meditation .
Nga told me , “ Battling the virus while all these articles are slapping at you makes it harder.
” She saw the attacks as examples of class jealousy : “ In Vietnam , we are too privileged—we travel too much.
” She ascribed the extraordinary attention she and her sister received elsewhere to racism , noting , “ If this was Paris Hilton , there would not be so much fuss.
” Public shaming used to take place in the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it had moved to the newspaper , and in the twentieth century the forum was television .
Today , people are scorned online .
The Internet , with its opportunity for anonymity , its absence of gatekeepers , and its magnification of transient hurts , has made it unnervingly easy to generate instant mass outrage .
The blog , a venue of self-reflection , has given way to the social-media post , which tends to favor the impulsive attack and the group pile-on .
Digital shaming delivers swift and overwhelming retribution , often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to be in the right to successfully pillory someone : all you need is to feel that you have been wronged .
In 2015 , an Australian man at a shopping center took a selfie in front of a poster of Darth Vader and sent it to his kids .
A mother standing nearby , mistakenly thinking that the camera was pointed at her children , decided that the man was a predator .
She photographed him and posted the image on Facebook , warning , “ Take a look at this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twenty thousand times .
When the man ’ s partner told him that people online were calling him a pedophile , he drove to the local police station to clear his name .
It was too late : he had already been identified on the Internet .
He received death threats .
After his accuser ’ s error was revealed , so did she .
Earlier this year , when Singapore was in lockdown , a local woman was caught on video refusing to wear a mask while ordering at a food stall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online commenters misidentified her as Tuhina Singh , the chief executive of a tech company .
An online mob doxed Singh—posting her e-mail address and telephone number .
She was subjected to attacks until Singapore authorities revealed that the actual culprit was named Paramjeet Kaur .
Social-media users then pounced on Kaur , calling her a “ Covidiot .
”

On February 18th, Nga Nguyen, an Instagram influencer who likes travel and couture, flew from London—her “base”—to Milan, where she attended Gucci’s spring show. The fashion house picked up the bill for the flight and the hotel. Nga, who is twenty-eight, explained to me, “I have a very good relationship with all the brands, whether as a long-term client or just as a friend.” She was joined in Milan by her sister, Nhung, who is a year younger and lives in Hanoi, where she manages a luxury hotel that their family owns. A week after the Gucci event, the sisters took the Eurostar to Paris, for the Saint Laurent show; they then went to London, where they stayed at Nga’s house. On March 1st, Nhung flew back to Vietnam and Nga made a short business trip to Germany, where she also took a relative to a doctor’s appointment. In the examination room, Nga coughed slightly. “The doctor looked up and suggested a coronavirus test,” she recalled. “I thought he was joking.”
The doctor swabbed a mucus sample from Nga’s nose, and told her to go to the relative’s house and wait. She remembers feeling fine, but that evening she developed a fever, and her cough worsened. Two days later, she had pneumonia, and her coronavirus test was positive. A runner who can normally cover four miles in half an hour, she could barely walk. On March 12th, emergency workers took Nga to the hospital. She remained there for more than a week, then returned to her relative’s house, where she eventually made a full recovery. Now back in London, she feels “very grateful for the care” that she received in Germany.
When Nhung arrived in Hanoi, she passed through an airport checkpoint, and had no fever. But she began coughing that night. Four days later, she became Hanoi’s first confirmed Covid-19 patient. She spent two weeks in isolation at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, then went home to quarantine. She, too, has recovered and is thankful to the doctors who treated her.
The sisters’ experience differed in one crucial way. European Union nations have strong privacy protections, and no one besides Nga’s family and a few friends knew that she had Covid-19. Nhung’s case became public knowledge. Before she received her diagnosis, Vietnam had a small number of coronavirus cases outside the capital, and the outbreak had dwindled to nothing. A Vietnamese journalist told me, “The government was thinking of declaring Vietnam free of an epidemic.” Nhung spoiled the plan. The authorities, determined to make other Hanoi residents stay home, especially in Nhung’s neighborhood, made a show of locking down her street. That wasn’t all: the Vietnamese government, which regularly uses newspaper leaks to persuade or frighten its citizens, invited the press to watch a live stream of a meeting about the young woman’s medical condition. Within an hour of articles about the meeting being published, people on the Internet had figured out who Nhung was and found her social-media accounts.
In less than a day, Nhung’s Instagram account had ten thousand new followers—and many of them were attacking her. Things got so out of control that she changed her account setting to private. Although she was lying in a hospital bed, people kept claiming to see her bustling about the city. One user came across a photograph of a woman who looked like Nhung at the grand opening of a Uniqlo, and reposted the image on Instagram, announcing to her followers that Nhung was partying while sick. Another user posted a picture of a different look-alike walking along Ta Hien, Hanoi’s night-life strip, and suggested that Nhung was casually infecting passersby. Next came a rumor that Nhung had gone to visit her boyfriend in Vinhomes Times City, an upscale district.
The Vietnamese government, clearly committed to making an example of Nhung, let it be known that when she flew home from London she did not mention her visit to Italy. Not only had Nhung apparently infected her sister; according to officials, she was the probable source of infection of ten other people on the flight, all of whom tested positive shortly afterward, as well as the driver who picked her up from the airport, her housekeeper, and one of her aunts. Some of the infected airplane passengers were British tourists, leading the Daily Mail to proclaim that Nhung was a “super-spreader.” The Vietnamese government posted photographs of Nhung in her hospital room—ostensibly to prove that she was recovering—and social-media users marshalled these images to lambaste her yet again.
The wave of anger also reached Nga in Europe. She was pictured in articles about the fashion industry and the spread of Covid-19. It made no difference that she appeared not to have infected anyone. “The people I interacted with during Fashion Week were all fine,” she told me. “My photographer and my makeup artist were in close proximity, and they were O.K.” Nevertheless, enraged Vietnamese mined Nga’s Instagram account, including recent photographs from her trip to Milan and Paris, to portray her as heedless and decadent. Trolls dug up an old image of Nga on vacation in Mykonos, dressed in Saint Laurent and standing beside Salt Bae—the Turkish celebrity chef known for the extravagant way he sprinkles salt while cooking. Someone in Vietnam dotted the Mykonos image with bright crown shapes, to suggest that Nga was dispensing the coronavirus like salt. Instagram users gave the image almost eleven thousand likes. One Vietnamese commenter said of Nga, “She has the collective consciousness of a cunt.” Another declared, “Please help me send a fuck you to . . . Nhung’s whole family.”
The source of Nga’s prominence—her glossy Instagram account—became a cudgel to beat her and her sister with. One social-media user tried to pit the Nguyens against each other. “I’ve followed you for a long time because you’re talented,” a woman from the city of Ha Long wrote to Nga. “But I really cannot accept your sister.” She added, “I hope you and your family will recover quickly.”
The attacks hurt the sisters when they were at their most vulnerable. Nhung secluded herself and turned to meditation. Nga told me, “Battling the virus while all these articles are slapping at you makes it harder.” She saw the attacks as examples of class jealousy: “In Vietnam, we are too privileged—we travel too much.” She ascribed the extraordinary attention she and her sister received elsewhere to racism, noting, “If this was Paris Hilton, there would not be so much fuss.”
Public shaming used to take place in the public square. By the nineteenth century, it had moved to the newspaper, and in the twentieth century the forum was television. Today, people are scorned online. The Internet, with its opportunity for anonymity, its absence of gatekeepers, and its magnification of transient hurts, has made it unnervingly easy to generate instant mass outrage. The blog, a venue of self-reflection, has given way to the social-media post, which tends to favor the impulsive attack and the group pile-on.
Digital shaming delivers swift and overwhelming retribution, often unfairly. You don’t even have to be in the right to successfully pillory someone: all you need is to feel that you have been wronged. In 2015, an Australian man at a shopping center took a selfie in front of a poster of Darth Vader and sent it to his kids. A mother standing nearby, mistakenly thinking that the camera was pointed at her children, decided that the man was a predator. She photographed him and posted the image on Facebook, warning, “Take a look at this creep!” The post was shared twenty thousand times. When the man’s partner told him that people online were calling him a pedophile, he drove to the local police station to clear his name. It was too late: he had already been identified on the Internet. He received death threats. After his accuser’s error was revealed, so did she.
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Earlier this year, when Singapore was in lockdown, a local woman was caught on video refusing to wear a mask while ordering at a food stall. The clip went viral, and online commenters misidentified her as Tuhina Singh, the chief executive of a tech company. An online mob doxed Singh—posting her e-mail address and telephone number. She was subjected to attacks until Singapore authorities revealed that the actual culprit was named Paramjeet Kaur. Social-media users then pounced on Kaur, calling her a “Covidiot.”
Digital shaming has its defenders. When wrongdoers are socially powerful, registering frustration with them on such forums as Twitter can seem more like collective resistance than like bullying. The #MeToo movement, for example, has exposed many celebrities, politicians, and executives who have engaged in inappropriate behavior. A similar logic has guided the filming of police violence that gave rise to Black Lives Matter. Jennifer Jacquet, a professor at New York University, has argued that digital shaming can succeed when other forms of political action fail: a viral video of environmental destruction can become a worldwide scandal that forces a corporation to adopt greener policies. In a 2015 book, “Is Shame Necessary? New Uses for an Old Tool,” Jacquet notes that the mere possibility of public censure is often sufficient to keep people in line: “At its most efficient, a sense of shame can regulate personal behavior and reduce the risk of more extreme types of punishment.” She recently told MSNBC that the Covid-19 pandemic is opening up “a lot of opportunity with shaming”—though she cautioned that people should condemn “a broad sweeping behavior,” such as gathering in large groups indoors, rather than harass “a particular individual.”


newyorker--2020-09-21--The Legal Fight Awaiting Us After the Election

The immediate aftermath of the Presidential election of 2000 has taken on the air of legend .
On Election Night , news organizations first called Florida for Vice-President Al Gore—then , about two hours later , withdrew the call and , about four hours after that , declared that George W. Bush , the governor of Texas , had won the state , giving him enough electoral votes to become President .
Gore called Bush to concede , and left his hotel in a motorcade to announce the end of his campaign to his supporters .
His aides , learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in fact , too close to call , tried frantically to contact the Vice-President in his limousine .
They reached him just in time , and he telephoned Bush to retract the concession .
Bush indignantly told Gore that his “ little brother ” —the governor of Florida , Jeb Bush—had said that he had won .
“ Let me explain something , ” Gore replied .
“ Your little brother is not the ultimate authority on this.
” Like all historical events , the following thirty-five days can look , in retrospect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were a product of choice , improvisation , and happenstance .
Gore demanded recounts in four Democratic-leaning counties , which began the painstaking process of studying their punch-card ballots and determining whether the tiny boxes known as chads had been fully detached .
Bush responded by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Miami to stop the recounts .
In one of the lesser-known events surrounding that case , James A. Baker III , Bush ’ s lead strategist at the time , called John C. Danforth , the former Republican senator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who was famous for his rectitude .
Baker wanted Danforth to be Bush ’ s spokesman in the suit .
Danforth was horrified .
“ Candidates don ’ t sue , ” he told Baker .
“ You could ruin Governor Bush ’ s career .
He ’ s only fifty-four years old , and the decision to file a court case like this would be a black mark that followed him forever .
And it would destroy the reputation of everyone involved on the Bush side.
” Danforth came from an era @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deference to announced electoral outcomes .
( Richard Nixon , reflecting these values , chose not to challenge the results of his narrow defeat in 1960 . )
Baker thanked Danforth for his time and proceeded to file that lawsuit and several others , mobilizing the Republican Party behind the efforts for the George Bush–Dick Cheney ticket .
There were street protests outside the Vice-President ’ s mansion ( “ Get out of Cheney ’ s house !
” ) , and a deployment of the finest political and legal talent in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working on the recount cases , far from suffering damage to their careers , were guaranteed political futures—they included John G. Roberts , Jr. , whom Bush appointed to the Supreme Court , and Noel Francisco , who became President Trump ’ s Solicitor General .
To the frustration of countless Democrats , Gore took a high-minded , traditional approach , asserting that the recount was a legal , not a political , process , and directing his supporters to stay off the streets .
( Gore told the Reverend Jesse Jackson to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Florida . )
In this spirit , Gore named the diplomat Warren Christopher , rather than a pol , to lead his recount efforts , and relied on a talented but small group of lawyers in Florida , who struggled to keep up with Republican reinforcements from around the country .
The contrasts were cultural in addition to being substantive .
David Boies , Gore ’ s lead lawyer toward the end of the process , promenaded along the broad plazas of Tallahassee , bantering cheerfully with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the general counsel to the Bush campaign and the dean of Republican election lawyers , paced the streets in a state of rage .
“ They are trying to steal this , ” Ginsberg said repeatedly , of the Democrats , color rising to the top of his bald head .
In the end , Bush ’ s resort to the courts proved to be his salvation .
In the case known as Bush v. Gore , the Supreme Court , by a vote of five to four , held that the recounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sealing his victory in Florida .
Ultimately , George Bush was declared the winner in Florida by five hundred and thirty-seven votes , out of some six million cast .
The result might have been the same if Gore had chosen a more assertive strategy , but the parties ’ contrasting approaches—Republican aggression versus Democratic restraint—remain a crucial legacy of the contest .
That year , the recount struggle came as a surprise to both candidates .
This year , each side has mustered for a legal fight that began months ago and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
President Trump has ratcheted up the Bush strategy of total political warfare : he has already refused to commit to accepting the outcome of the election .
“ The only way we ’ re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged—remember that , ” he said recently .
“ So we have to be very careful .
.
.
.
The only way they ’ re going to win is that way .
And we can ’ t let that happen.
” Democrats say that a strategy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One Democratic veteran assured me that the Democratic Party of today is “ totally different ” from the Party of 2000 : “ Much less institutionally focussed , more ideologically grounded , and uncompromising .
There is zero chance that anybody is going to say at some point that it ’ s better for the country that we settle the matter now , give in , and then try to win in four years .
No one thinks that another four years of Trump is survivable .
The campaign believes this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the coronavirus pandemic , which will force dramatic changes in how voters cast their ballots .
The number of mail-in ballots will increase substantially : recent national polls suggest that about a third of all voters plan to vote by mail this year .
Trump has assailed the practice of voting by mail , asserting without evidence that it is susceptible to fraud .
In fact , Washington , Oregon , Colorado , and Utah have used universal mail-in voting—in which the state mails a ballot to each registered voter—for some time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with few significant problems .
There is no meaningful difference between absentee voting and mail-in voting , but Trump supports absentee voting , even using it himself .
In early August , when he was signing his Florida absentee-ballot application , he said , “ Absentee ballots are good .
Universal mail-ins , when you get inundated with these things , are bad and will lead to terrible things , including voter fraud.
” More recently , Trump has spoken at length about the purported evils of universal mail-in voting .
“ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people that didn ’ t ask for them , ” he said during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News , on the final night of the Democratic National Convention .
“ This will be the most fraudulent election in history .
.
.
.
It ’ s just a horrible thing .
It ’ s going to be impossible to police.
” ( It ’ s unclear where Trump got that figure ; at other times , he has used the figure of eighty million . )
Last month , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide an additional twenty-five billion dollars to the U.S .
Postal Service , largely to insure that it could process the additional mailed ballots .
Trump has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches him .
“ They need that money in order to make the post office work , so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots , ” he said .
“ If we don ’ t make a deal , that means they don ’ t get the money .
That means they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They just can ’ t have it.
” In recent weeks , he has also attacked the use of drop boxes , which allow voters to deposit their ballots before Election Day .
He has claimed , without evidence , that they can be used to perpetrate electoral fraud .

The high disqualification rate for absentee ballots poses a special peril for Democrats. According to a study co-written by Daniel Smith, a professor at the University of Florida Law School, the mail-in ballots of racial and ethnic minorities, and also of young voters, were rejected at a substantially higher rate than those of older white voters across counties, even though the counties varied in the over-all rate at which they rejected ballots. High disqualification rates for mail-in votes were evident in 2020 races around the country. According to studies by the Washington Post and NPR, during the primaries, mailed ballots were disqualified at a far higher rate than in 2016—five hundred thousand in total were deemed invalid. (By comparison, about three hundred and eighteen thousand ballots were disqualified in the 2016 general election.) Franita Tolson, a professor at the U.S.C. Gould School of Law, told me, “You will still see many claims that absentee ballots have been wrongly rejected, and those will lead to court cases. The fact that we are generating lots of voting by mail will generate a lot of litigation.”
Daniel Smith said, “Ultimately, in Florida, it may all come down to the three-member Canvassing Boards, who will decide whether each vote counts. This time, they won’t be staring at chads but comparing signatures and deciding if they match.”
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In the days following Election Night, there is likely to be an increasing disparity between the initial poll tallies and the numbers that include mail-in votes. This is not exactly new. According to Edward B. Foley, a professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, for most of the twentieth century, the preliminary count on Election Night was about ninety-nine per cent of the total count, but, even before COVID, “a new normal developed, because of greater reliance on vote by mail.” For example, on Election Night in 2018, the Republican Martha McSally led the Democrat Kyrsten Sinema by one per cent in the Arizona Senate race. But there were still about six hundred thousand votes to be counted, a quarter of the total number, and, once they were, it was clear that Sinema had won comfortably, by about fifty-five thousand votes. This year, with more mail-in votes, a blue shift is likely to take place in nearly every state.
Voters in nine states will get their ballots mailed to them directly by default, and thirty-six states will offer no-excuse absentee voting—that is, voters will be allowed to choose to vote by mail without having to give a reason. These include two major swing states, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In the past four Presidential elections, Foley explained, Pennsylvania experienced a blue shift of about twenty thousand votes: “That was before COVID and before the state moved to no-excuse absentee voting, so that means there will be a great deal more mail-in votes this year than in the past.” (In the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, in June, which had a low turnout because the Presidential nomination had already been decided, it took more than two weeks to count the votes.)
There is nothing sinister about the fact that Democrats use mail-in voting more than Republicans do. Foley’s concern is that Trump will claim that the blue shift, if it occurs, is evidence of partisan foul play, particularly if it eliminates an apparent Election Night lead in an important state. (Some Democrats have deemed a possible Trump lead on Election Night the “red mirage.”) “If the votes keep shifting, Trump may demand that the Election Night numbers be certified, because he doesn’t trust the mail-ins,” Foley said. In 2018, after a blue shift narrowed the Election Night leads of Republican statewide candidates in Florida, Trump tweeted, “The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible—ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night.”
The prospect of a blue shift, and Trump’s reaction to it, is one reason that Michael Bloomberg decided to spend a hundred million dollars to help Biden in Florida. “In swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, they count their Election Day votes first and then the mail-in votes, so it’s entirely possible that Trump will be ahead there,” Howard Wolfson, a senior political adviser to Bloomberg, told me. “Trump has no respect for decorum or tradition, so we assume that he will just claim victory at that point and argue that any ballots that come in after that point are fraudulent.” Florida, on the other hand, counts mail-in votes as they arrive, so the Election Night total may well come close to the state’s final result. Wolfson explained, “Florida is obviously very close, and it’s a state that Trump really has to win to get to two hundred and seventy electoral votes. If we can show that he lost Florida on Election Night, it makes it pretty much impossible for him to claim victory in the election. That was a huge factor in why we decided to invest in Florida.”
It took a Supreme Court ruling to conclude the Presidential race in 2000—and there is an additional set of procedures that may come into play in 2020. They have roots in an even more controversial Presidential election, which took place in 1876. That year, on the night of November 7th, it appeared that Samuel J. Tilden, the Democrat, had defeated Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican. But the results in several Republican-dominated states had not yet been reported. The vote was especially close in Florida. Shortly before the Electoral College was to meet, in December, the Florida Canvassing Board certified electors pledged to Hayes, but the state’s attorney general certified Tilden as the winner. Louisiana and South Carolina also sent contradictory certifications to Washington. Because neither candidate commanded a clear Electoral College majority, Congress improvised a solution, establishing an electoral commission of five senators, five House members, and five Justices of the Supreme Court. A few days before Inauguration Day, 1877, the commission voted eight to seven to award the Presidency to Hayes. Republicans like Hayes had established Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War, but, as part of the deal that made him President, Hayes agreed to end Reconstruction, with disastrous implications for African-Americans.
Foley told me, “Congress knew that what happened in 1876 was a disaster, an embarrassment, and then there were two more close elections, in 1880 and 1884, so they realized they really had to do something about it.” As a result, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which purported to establish a procedure for resolving disputed Presidential elections. The statute was, Foley said, “a placeholder, better than nothing, which they figured would be improved over time. But Congress has never returned to the issue, and the law has never really been tested. No one really knows what it means.”
There does seem to be general agreement on one provision of the 1887 act: the “safe harbor” clause. It provides that, if a state submits its final tally in the Presidential contest by six days before the meeting of the Electoral College, that decision is “conclusive” and thus free from legal challenge. This year, the safe-harbor deadline is December 8th; the Electoral College meets in each state capitol on December 14th.
It is unclear, however, what will happen if a slow vote count puts a state in jeopardy of missing the deadline. The Court’s opinion in Bush v. Gore provides one possibility, based on Article II of the Constitution, which says that the states must appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” In its Bush v. Gore opinion, the Court observed that, in the early days of the Republic, the state legislatures, not the voters, selected the Presidential electors in some states. Thus, the opinion went on, “the State, of course, after granting the franchise in the special context of Article II, can take back the power to appoint electors.” The bland legal language obscures the magnitude of this conclusion. It means that a state legislature can simply ignore the votes cast by the state’s citizens and award its Presidential electors to the candidate of its choice. “This is the most frightening prospect of all,” Issacharoff said. “It’s a deep confrontation with the idea that we as citizens have the right to vote for President.”
In 2000, Republicans in the Florida legislature had been planning to invoke this constitutional provision if the length of the recount jeopardized the state’s ability to submit electors in time to be counted. But, to date, no state in the modern era has attempted to preëmpt its voters in this way. Still, the Constitution can arguably be read to give legislatures the power to do so. It’s even conceivable that, if President Trump claimed that a Biden victory in a state was based on fraud, a Republican legislature could overturn the result. If a legislature wanted to try this maneuver—to award its state’s Electoral College votes on its own—could the governor veto it?
“And then the princess gave up her throne, because she didn’t believe in social stratification.” Cartoon by Liz Montague Copy link to cartoon Copy link to cartoon Shop Shop
In four crucial swing states—Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—there is a Republican legislature and a Democratic governor. The Constitution speaks only of the legislature, and the answer appears to be that the governor would have no role—but no one knows for sure. The 1887 act also says that, after a state makes a “final ascertainment” of its results, the governor must send a certification to the Archivist of the United States. If the governor refused to do so—or sent a certification of a result that conflicted with the legislature’s, or the courts’, determination—would that action invalidate the certification by the legislature? No one knows. In any case, it appears clear that, if a state fails to submit a winner by December 14th, the decision about its electoral votes goes to Congress.
The 1887 act appears to offer some guidance on the question of what Congress might then do—but not much. “I defy you to read the law and understand it,” Foley said. “I’ve been working on it for a decade, and I still don’t understand it completely. It’s just a morass.” The law mandates that both Houses of Congress meet in a joint session—scheduled, this cycle, for January 6, 2021—to certify the Electoral College tally. At that meeting, there can be a challenge to the counting of votes if at least one representative and one senator offer it. At the joint session in 2001, several House members sought to challenge Bush’s victory over Gore, but no senator joined them. Thus, Vice-President Gore, as the presiding officer, was obliged to rule the challenges to his defeat out of order. Michael Moore, in his documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11,” included excerpts from the joint session, using the failure of even a single Democratic senator to challenge Bush’s victory as a symbol of the Party’s spinelessness.
So what happens if, unlike with the 2000 election, at least one senator joins a House member to challenge the electoral-vote results in a state? The law offers minimal guidance. One thing is clear: the House and the Senate would have separate proceedings, and vote separately, on which electors to seat in the contested states. With the result of the election on the line, the level of contention would be extraordinary. Would there be hearings? Would witnesses testify? How long would the House and the Senate debate the issue? No one knows.
The complexities accumulate. It’s possible that some states, if their results are tied up in the courts, might not submit any electors to Congress. What happens if there are fewer than five hundred and thirty-eight electoral votes cast? As Charles Stewart III, a professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, “Do you need a majority of those cast, or do you need two hundred and seventy? That is not clear.” And what if the House approves one slate of electors and the Senate approves a different one? Since Democrats now control the House and Republicans the Senate, such a scenario seems possible, even likely. According to Stewart, in the event of a conflict between the House and the Senate over which slate to approve, the Electoral Count Act says that the one signed by the governor of the state prevails. (If the Democrats retake the Senate in November, the chances of conflict between the House and Senate will be lessened, because this vote will occur after the third of the year, when the new senators will be seated.)


newyorker--2020-09-21--The Giddily Twisted Action of “The Boys”

In reality , superhuman speed might come with drawbacks .
As Hughie Campbell ( Jack Quaid ) , the reluctant lionheart of Amazon ’ s superhero satire , “ The Boys , ” discovers , a body streaking through space is essentially a scythe .
Quaid ’ s parents are the actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan ; his genes have endowed him with parodically sweet button features , which he scrunches to great effect as Hughie realizes , to his horror , that his girlfriend , Robin , with whom he has just been chatting on a New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the fastest man in the world , a superhero known as A-Train ( Jessie T. Usher ) .
Hughie is still clasping her hands after her other parts have been strewn all over the curb , his precious face Pollocked with her blood .
Robin ’ s killing precipitates Hughie ’ s loss of innocence and ignites the giddily twisted action of “ The Boys.
” The America of the show is , even more than our own , in thrall to superhero culture .
A-Train is a member of the Seven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ League .
These crusaders , all crossed arms and corsets , are , ominously , also police ; when not starring in billion-dollar movie franchises , they are contracted to protect cities across the country .
Until Robin ’ s death , Hughie had been just another schmuck , working at an audio-equipment store and living with his father , his bedroom walls still papered with posters of the Seven—a reminder of our adult thirst for what might be deemed childish art .
Hughie expects restitution for his loss ; instead , A-Train @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vought International try to send him on his way with a check and an N.D.A .
Superheroes—they ’ re just like us .
Eric Kripke has adapted “ The Boys ” from the comic of the same name , first published in 2006 , written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson .
Ennis ’ s comics , among them “ The Punisher ” and “ Preacher , ” are recognizable for their black comedy , shining ultraviolence , and absence of idealized victors ; he has long harbored a disdain for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to impose fantasy politics onto real-life war .
( Seth Rogen was an executive producer of AMC ’ s adaptation of Ennis ’ s “ Preacher ” and of “ The Boys.
” ) “ The Boys ” was a sendup of jingoistic comics ; the television adaptation , now in its second season , takes gleeful aim at the cultural monopoly of the Marvel machine .
If you can get past the sublime irony of Amazon hosting a critique of Disney , you might have a really good time .
Like HBO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Boys ” makes a point of deconstructing its own genre , but in “ The Boys ” there will be no maverick savior .
The show is outlandish , pessimistic , and brutally funny .
After Hughie is recruited into a band of vigilantes by Billy Butcher ( Karl Urban ) , an independent contractor of sorts who has also been tragically wronged by Vought , an unruly revenge plot begins .
( “ You ’ re like the fucking Rain Man of fucking people over !
” one character tells Hughie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unravelling of the vast conspiracy that is Vought International , which turns out to be co-signed by the closeted , tattooed superhero leader of a hipster evangelical church .
The alliance between Hollywood and the military is an old open secret , and “ The Boys ” mines it ruthlessly ; Vought ’ s chief executive , Madelyn Stillwell ( Elisabeth Shue ) , is especially set on securing a military contract with the Pentagon .
The public faces of the Seven hide orgiastic hedonism , drug addiction , and indiscriminate murder .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ an alcoholic Wonder Woman delivering feminist bons mots through perfect , clenched teeth .
A-Train is our Flash , Black Noir a mute Black Panther .
The Deep ( Chace Crawford ) , a bizarro Aquaman , is the sort of pretty man who corners new Vought employees in the boardroom—his mewling characterization , rooted in a trauma , is a retort to the knee-jerk villainization of predatory men .
The trickiest character is Starlight , whose conventional goodness is a necessary counterweight to the depravity of her elders .
Starlight is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ played by Antony Starr as a perverted amalgam of Captain America , Superman , and , if you squint , a certain President in his youth .
His maladjustment turns out to be chemical : the reveal of the first season is that the “ supes ” are souped up—not born but made in a lab , unknowingly dosed , as infants , with a performance-enhancement drug called Compound V. The comedy of “ The Boys ” is at its best when it is unsubtle , full of gags , Rogenesque .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of liberal satires , and a smugness attends lines such as “ Caucasians love him , too ” and “ All we can say is he ’ s fighting MS-13.
” Ennis ’ s Bush-era comic was published too early to puncture franchise fever at its height ; the satire of “ The Boys , ” by contrast , feels a little late .
The Marvel and DC Comics Zeitgeist has so taken hold of the culture that jokes about it rarely feel revelatory or lawless .
“ The Boys ” sometimes acts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There is the cartoonish violence , the preponderance of exploding heads and splayed limbs .
And then there is the social and interpersonal violence , the allusions to police brutality and white supremacy .
One completely tasteless flashback , in which a superhero murders a Black teen-ager in front of his sister , ends with a lurid shot of the child ’ s smashed face .
In the first season ’ s standout episode , which skewers pro-war 9/11 films , a passenger plane is commandeered by terrorists , who , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all brown skin and placeless grievance .
Stillwell sends Maeve and Homelander for what is meant to be a clutch photo op , a rescue to grease the wheels of the Pentagon contract .
The mission goes awry , and Homelander abandons the passengers .
Back on land , he finds a way to spin the human collateral damage , and the dead become grist for a manufactured global war on terror in which only the Seven can protect the West .
Season 2 doubles down on political allegory , returning to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its namesake founder , a buddy of Hitler ’ s .
Historical fascism gives way to contemporary alt-right politics .
I loved an opening sequence—spoilers ahead—that depicted the morning routine of a young man , who wakes up , embraces his mother , and goes to the bodega before settling in at his computer , the reflection of alt-right propaganda against “ supe terrorists ” gleaming on the lenses of his glasses .
His slow radicalization by a white-supremacist superhero culminates in an act of violence so familiar that it feels pulled from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The narrative seemed , to me , a necessary aberration , an admission of artistic limitations .
The kind of satire that in the past could make us feel morally superior may no longer be possible .
The nameless young man was doing the bidding of the newest member of the Seven , Stormfront ( Aya Cash ) .
She starts out as a brassy , side-shaven bad bitch , calling out screenwriters for their chauvinism .
Then she goes on to fulfill the destiny of her name , upstaging even Homelander , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of white supremacist he ’ d like to be .
Suggesting that he follow her lead in hiring a team of professional Internet trolls to boost his popularity , Stormfront purrs , “ Emotion sells .
Anger sells .
You have fans .
I have soldiers.
” Stormfront ’ s passing resemblance to the far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer is not incidental , but , careful not to infringe on anyone ’ s intellectual property , she comes up with a slogan that is all her own : “ Keep America safe again @ @ @

In reality, superhuman speed might come with drawbacks. As Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), the reluctant lionheart of Amazon’s superhero satire, “The Boys,” discovers, a body streaking through space is essentially a scythe. Quaid’s parents are the actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan; his genes have endowed him with parodically sweet button features, which he scrunches to great effect as Hughie realizes, to his horror, that his girlfriend, Robin, with whom he has just been chatting on a New York City sidewalk, has been unceremoniously pulverized by the fastest man in the world, a superhero known as A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). Hughie is still clasping her hands after her other parts have been strewn all over the curb, his precious face Pollocked with her blood.
Robin’s killing precipitates Hughie’s loss of innocence and ignites the giddily twisted action of “The Boys.” The America of the show is, even more than our own, in thrall to superhero culture. A-Train is a member of the Seven, a warped mirror of the Justice League. These crusaders, all crossed arms and corsets, are, ominously, also police; when not starring in billion-dollar movie franchises, they are contracted to protect cities across the country. Until Robin’s death, Hughie had been just another schmuck, working at an audio-equipment store and living with his father, his bedroom walls still papered with posters of the Seven—a reminder of our adult thirst for what might be deemed childish art. Hughie expects restitution for his loss; instead, A-Train’s keepers at the entertainment conglomerate Vought International try to send him on his way with a check and an N.D.A. Superheroes—they’re just like us.
Eric Kripke has adapted “The Boys” from the comic of the same name, first published in 2006, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson. Ennis’s comics, among them “The Punisher” and “Preacher,” are recognizable for their black comedy, shining ultraviolence, and absence of idealized victors; he has long harbored a disdain for traditional superhero narratives, with their tendency to impose fantasy politics onto real-life war. (Seth Rogen was an executive producer of AMC’s adaptation of Ennis’s “Preacher” and of “The Boys.”) “The Boys” was a sendup of jingoistic comics; the television adaptation, now in its second season, takes gleeful aim at the cultural monopoly of the Marvel machine. If you can get past the sublime irony of Amazon hosting a critique of Disney, you might have a really good time.
Like HBO’s “Watchmen,” “The Boys” makes a point of deconstructing its own genre, but in “The Boys” there will be no maverick savior. The show is outlandish, pessimistic, and brutally funny. After Hughie is recruited into a band of vigilantes by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), an independent contractor of sorts who has also been tragically wronged by Vought, an unruly revenge plot begins. (“You’re like the fucking Rain Man of fucking people over!” one character tells Hughie.) The first season follows the unravelling of the vast conspiracy that is Vought International, which turns out to be co-signed by the closeted, tattooed superhero leader of a hipster evangelical church. The alliance between Hollywood and the military is an old open secret, and “The Boys” mines it ruthlessly; Vought’s chief executive, Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), is especially set on securing a military contract with the Pentagon.
The public faces of the Seven hide orgiastic hedonism, drug addiction, and indiscriminate murder. Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) is an alcoholic Wonder Woman delivering feminist bons mots through perfect, clenched teeth. A-Train is our Flash, Black Noir a mute Black Panther. The Deep (Chace Crawford), a bizarro Aquaman, is the sort of pretty man who corners new Vought employees in the boardroom—his mewling characterization, rooted in a trauma, is a retort to the knee-jerk villainization of predatory men. The trickiest character is Starlight, whose conventional goodness is a necessary counterweight to the depravity of her elders. Starlight is a foil to the gleaming Homelander, sensationally played by Antony Starr as a perverted amalgam of Captain America, Superman, and, if you squint, a certain President in his youth. His maladjustment turns out to be chemical: the reveal of the first season is that the “supes” are souped up—not born but made in a lab, unknowingly dosed, as infants, with a performance-enhancement drug called Compound V.
The comedy of “The Boys” is at its best when it is unsubtle, full of gags, Rogenesque. But the series also abides by the formula of liberal satires, and a smugness attends lines such as “Caucasians love him, too” and “All we can say is he’s fighting MS-13.” Ennis’s Bush-era comic was published too early to puncture franchise fever at its height; the satire of “The Boys,” by contrast, feels a little late. The Marvel and DC Comics Zeitgeist has so taken hold of the culture that jokes about it rarely feel revelatory or lawless. “The Boys” sometimes acts like the thing it’s lampooning. There is the cartoonish violence, the preponderance of exploding heads and splayed limbs. And then there is the social and interpersonal violence, the allusions to police brutality and white supremacy. One completely tasteless flashback, in which a superhero murders a Black teen-ager in front of his sister, ends with a lurid shot of the child’s smashed face.
In the first season’s standout episode, which skewers pro-war 9/11 films, a passenger plane is commandeered by terrorists, who, in the way of the trope, are all brown skin and placeless grievance. Stillwell sends Maeve and Homelander for what is meant to be a clutch photo op, a rescue to grease the wheels of the Pentagon contract. The mission goes awry, and Homelander abandons the passengers. Back on land, he finds a way to spin the human collateral damage, and the dead become grist for a manufactured global war on terror in which only the Seven can protect the West.
Season 2 doubles down on political allegory, returning to the genesis of Vought and the story of its namesake founder, a buddy of Hitler’s. Historical fascism gives way to contemporary alt-right politics. I loved an opening sequence—spoilers ahead—that depicted the morning routine of a young man, who wakes up, embraces his mother, and goes to the bodega before settling in at his computer, the reflection of alt-right propaganda against “supe terrorists” gleaming on the lenses of his glasses. His slow radicalization by a white-supremacist superhero culminates in an act of violence so familiar that it feels pulled from the fabric of our own reality. The narrative seemed, to me, a necessary aberration, an admission of artistic limitations. The kind of satire that in the past could make us feel morally superior may no longer be possible.
The nameless young man was doing the bidding of the newest member of the Seven, Stormfront (Aya Cash). She starts out as a brassy, side-shaven bad bitch, calling out screenwriters for their chauvinism. Then she goes on to fulfill the destiny of her name, upstaging even Homelander, who is still figuring out the kind of white supremacist he’d like to be. Suggesting that he follow her lead in hiring a team of professional Internet trolls to boost his popularity, Stormfront purrs, “Emotion sells. Anger sells. You have fans. I have soldiers.” Stormfront’s passing resemblance to the far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer is not incidental, but, careful not to infringe on anyone’s intellectual property, she comes up with a slogan that is all her own: “Keep America safe again!” ♦


newyorker--2020-09-21--On the Road with the Three “R”s

On the Road with the Three “R”s

Brynlee and Cougan Smith concede that roadschooling can be tough .
A virtual classroom on the open road is not for crybabies .
“ You should always have a good attitude , even when it ’ s , like , really hard and you keep , like , losing your connection when you turn in your math test , and then you have to redo the entire test , ” Brynlee , who was relaxing at a campground near San Antonio , and who is nine years old , said the other day .
Cougan , her brother , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , a roadschooler needs to be mature : “ You should just think like you ’ re at home and not get distracted by the things out the window and not , like , show all your classmates a picture you took of a red fox.
” Roadschooling is a lot like remote schooling , except that students log on to classes not from their kitchens but from , say , the Great Smoky Mountains or the Petrified Forest .
The strange school year has made this an attractive option .
Mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in-person classes for another week , predicted that working-class families wouldn ’ t mind the chaos .
( “ They are people who understand the realities of life , ” he said . )
Nevertheless , families are seeking alternatives , and some of them are hitting the road .
R.V .
dealers have months-long waiting lists .
Campsites are offering after-school programming .
Campspot , a campground-reservation company , has designed itineraries , with stops meant to supplement history or science lessons .
( “ Parents may think , I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ education !
” Caleb Hartung , Campspot ’ s C.E.O.
, who was homeschooled , says .
“ But kids are pretty resilient.
” ) This summer , Brynlee and Cougan ’ s parents sold their house , in Prescott , Arizona .
Now the kids live in a thirty-six-foot-long R.V.
, along with a two-year-old sister , Della ; two dogs , Cookie and Clyde ; their dad , Ryan ( an adventure guide ) ; and their mom , Mattie ( ditto , with a master ’ s in education ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instagram .
If Brynlee and Cougan had Instagram accounts , their posts would show them studying outside the camper while , in the background , geysers erupt .
But reality is less cool ; the kids usually do class from the back seat of their family ’ s pickup truck as it tows the R.V .
down the highway .
One morning , when no driving was required , classes were held outside .
Cougan sat at a fishing pond wearing a muscle tee , his hair in a Mohawk .
He had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the water .
“ It ’ s harder to do math in the truck , because you have to get out way more papers , ” he said .
“ And when you have to do , like , science experiments—you can ’ t do those .
Because you ’ re in a truck .
You can ’ t drop stuff and record which lands first , because there ’ s probably gon na be something moving in the truck , like Della or the dogs.
” “ Or me !
” Brynlee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ table , waiting for her language-arts class to begin .
A recent assignment was to write a diary from the perspective of a kid on the Lewis and Clark expedition .
( First entry : “ I didn ’ t really want to go but I needed to listen to my father.
” ) But the Internet wasn ’ t working .
This is normal .
Videoconferences fuzz out .
The audio goes squirrelly .
“ It sounds like a robot chipmunk , ” Brynlee said .
“ Still waiting on Brynlee to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” her teacher , at a public school back in Prescott , said brightly , when the service coöperated .
“ Um , last night we went and saw the Alamo , ” Brynlee said .
They couldn ’ t go inside because of Covid .
“ But we did , like , a river walk down by there.
” Brynlee likes roadschooling—she ’ s visited Mt .
Rushmore and Yellowstone and gone kayaking and rock climbing—but if she were President , she said , classes would still be in person ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be paid fairly .
( Cougan ’ s plan involved targeted reopenings : “ Only a certain amount of fun things , like laser tag or paintball or pools and playgrounds.
” ) The Smiths stuck with their local schools so that they could return if they chose to .
It was time to switch classes .
“ When do you need to get back on , hon ?
” Mattie asked Cougan .
“ Six minutes ago , ” he said .
She herded him into the camper for a lesson on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frozen .
“ It ’ s just saying you ’ re loading forever !
” he said .
“ You ’ re sitting on a computer all day .
You ’ re gon na melt your brain before you learn anything.
” That evening , they settled down to do some art .
Cougan was painting a rock and venting .
“ Like , it just kicked me off !
” he said .
“ It said , ‘ Can ’ t join this video meeting , ’ ‘ Page is unresponsive.
’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrong.
” Brynlee was decorating a stick .
“ Yeah , but at least you caught a fish this morning , ” she said .

Brynlee and Cougan Smith concede that roadschooling can be tough. A virtual classroom on the open road is not for crybabies. “You should always have a good attitude, even when it’s, like, really hard and you keep, like, losing your connection when you turn in your math test, and then you have to redo the entire test,” Brynlee, who was relaxing at a campground near San Antonio, and who is nine years old, said the other day. Cougan, her brother, who is eleven, said that, above all, a roadschooler needs to be mature: “You should just think like you’re at home and not get distracted by the things out the window and not, like, show all your classmates a picture you took of a red fox.”
Roadschooling is a lot like remote schooling, except that students log on to classes not from their kitchens but from, say, the Great Smoky Mountains or the Petrified Forest. The strange school year has made this an attractive option. Mayor Bill de Blasio, after delaying most in-person classes for another week, predicted that working-class families wouldn’t mind the chaos. (“They are people who understand the realities of life,” he said.) Nevertheless, families are seeking alternatives, and some of them are hitting the road. R.V. dealers have months-long waiting lists. Campsites are offering after-school programming. Campspot, a campground-reservation company, has designed itineraries, with stops meant to supplement history or science lessons. (“Parents may think, I’m going to screw up my kids’ education!” Caleb Hartung, Campspot’s C.E.O., who was homeschooled, says. “But kids are pretty resilient.”)
This summer, Brynlee and Cougan’s parents sold their house, in Prescott, Arizona. Now the kids live in a thirty-six-foot-long R.V., along with a two-year-old sister, Della; two dogs, Cookie and Clyde; their dad, Ryan (an adventure guide); and their mom, Mattie (ditto, with a master’s in education). Mattie runs the family’s Instagram. If Brynlee and Cougan had Instagram accounts, their posts would show them studying outside the camper while, in the background, geysers erupt. But reality is less cool; the kids usually do class from the back seat of their family’s pickup truck as it tows the R.V. down the highway.
One morning, when no driving was required, classes were held outside. Cougan sat at a fishing pond wearing a muscle tee, his hair in a Mohawk. He had his laptop open and a line in the water. “It’s harder to do math in the truck, because you have to get out way more papers,” he said. “And when you have to do, like, science experiments—you can’t do those. Because you’re in a truck. You can’t drop stuff and record which lands first, because there’s probably gonna be something moving in the truck, like Della or the dogs.”
“Or me!” Brynlee said. She sat at a picnic table, waiting for her language-arts class to begin. A recent assignment was to write a diary from the perspective of a kid on the Lewis and Clark expedition. (First entry: “I didn’t really want to go but I needed to listen to my father.”) But the Internet wasn’t working. This is normal. Videoconferences fuzz out. The audio goes squirrelly. “It sounds like a robot chipmunk,” Brynlee said.
“Still waiting on Brynlee to tell me where she’s camping,” her teacher, at a public school back in Prescott, said brightly, when the service coöperated.
“Um, last night we went and saw the Alamo,” Brynlee said. They couldn’t go inside because of Covid. “But we did, like, a river walk down by there.”
“And this is Dyson.” Cartoon by Danny Shanahan Copy link to cartoon Copy link to cartoon Shop Shop
“Super exciting!” the teacher said.
Brynlee likes roadschooling—she’s visited Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone and gone kayaking and rock climbing—but if she were President, she said, classes would still be in person; everyone would wear masks and workers would be paid fairly. (Cougan’s plan involved targeted reopenings: “Only a certain amount of fun things, like laser tag or paintball or pools and playgrounds.”) The Smiths stuck with their local schools so that they could return if they chose to.
It was time to switch classes. “When do you need to get back on, hon?” Mattie asked Cougan.
“Six minutes ago,” he said. She herded him into the camper for a lesson on multiplying fractions. But Google Meet was frozen. “It’s just saying you’re loading forever!” he said. “You’re sitting on a computer all day. You’re gonna melt your brain before you learn anything.”
That evening, they settled down to do some art. Cougan was painting a rock and venting. “Like, it just kicked me off!” he said. “It said, ‘Can’t join this video meeting,’ ‘Page is unresponsive.’ Like, everything that could possibly go wrong.”
Brynlee was decorating a stick. “Yeah, but at least you caught a fish this morning,” she said.
“Oh, yeah,” Cougan said. “I did!” ♦


newyorker--2020-09-21--A Young Kennedy, in Kushnerland, Turned Whistle-Blower

Months before Bob Woodward ’ s book “ Rage ” documented President Trump ’ s efforts to deceive Americans about the peril posed by Covid-19 , Robert F. Kennedy ’ s twenty-six-year-old grandson tried to blow the whistle on the President ’ s malfeasance from an improbable perch—inside Trump ’ s coronavirus task force .
In April , Max Kennedy , Jr. , despite having signed a nondisclosure agreement , sent an anonymous complaint to Congress detailing dangerous incompetence in the Administration ’ s response to the pandemic .
On the phone recently from Hyannis Port , Massachusetts , Kennedy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I just couldn ’ t sleep , ” he said .
“ I was so distressed and disturbed by what I ’ d seen.
” How did a Kennedy end up in a sensitive role in the Trump Administration ?
After graduating from Harvard , in 2016 , Kennedy did some time at consulting and investment firms ; he planned to take the LSAT in March , but the pandemic cancelled it .
At loose ends , he responded to a friend ’ s suggestion that he join a volunteer task @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get vital personal protective equipment , such as masks , to virus hot spots .
Kushner , he was told , was looking for young generalists who could work long hours for no pay .
“ I was torn , to some extent , ” Kennedy , a lifelong Democrat , said .
“ But it was such an unprecedented time .
It didn ’ t seem political—it seemed larger than the Administration.
” And he knew people who ’ d been sick .
So in March he volunteered for the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drove to Washington .
On his first day , he showed up at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and joined around a dozen other volunteers , all in their twenties , mostly from the finance sector and with no expertise in procurement or medical issues .
He was surprised to learn that they weren ’ t to be auxiliaries supporting the government ’ s procurement team .
“ We were the team , ” he said .
“ We were the entire frontline team for the federal government.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical supplies using only their personal laptops and private e-mail accounts .
As the days passed , and the death count climbed , Kennedy was alarmed at the way the President was downplaying the crisis .
“ I knew from that room that he was saying things that just weren ’ t true , ” he said .
Trump told the public that the government was doing all it could , but the P.P.E .
emergency was being managed by a handful of amateurs .
“ It was the number of people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not to run the greatest crisis in a hundred years , ” Kennedy said .
“ It was such a mismatch of personnel .
It was one of the largest mobilization problems ever .
It was so unbelievably colossal and gargantuan .
The fact that they didn ’ t want to get any more people was so upsetting.
” Kennedy believes that the Administration relied on volunteers in order to sidestep government experts and thereby “ control the narrative.
” He said that Brad Smith , one of the political appointees who directed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create a model fudging the projected number of fatalities ; Smith wanted the model to predict a high of a hundred thousand U.S. deaths , claiming that the experts ’ models were “ too severe.
” Kennedy said that he told Smith , “ I don ’ t know the first thing about disease modelling , ” and declined the assignment .
( A spokesman said that Smith did not recall the conversation . )
To date , nearly two hundred thousand Americans have died .
The volunteers were also instructed to prioritize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and supporters .
According to Kennedy , the group paid special attention to Jeanine Pirro , the Fox News personality .
Pirro , Kennedy said , was “ particularly aggressive , ” and demanded that masks be shipped to a hospital she favored .
The volunteers were also told to direct millions of dollars ’ worth of supplies to only five preselected distributors .
Kennedy was asked to draft a justification for this decision , but refused .
“ Hundreds of people were sending e-mails every day offering P.P.E.
, ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effectively .
“ We were super frustrated we couldn ’ t get the government to do more.
” In the end , the task force failed to procure enough equipment , leaving medical workers , including Kennedy ’ s cousin , to improvise by wearing garbage bags and makeshift or pre-worn masks .
States were left to fend for themselves , bidding against one another for scarce supplies .
Kennedy was disgusted to see that the political appointees who supervised him were hailing Trump as “ a marketing genius , ” because , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ he personally came up with the strategy of blaming the states.
” The response was in line with what Kennedy calls the White House mantra : that government doesn ’ t work , and “ that the worst thing we could do was step on the toes of the private sector.
” Kushner came by the FEMA office a few times , once to ask the flailing volunteers what three things they most needed , and promising fixes by the end of the day .
He had “ an air of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But I never saw a single thing that Kushner promised change.
” After two or three weeks of growing distress , Kennedy wrote his complaint , addressing it to the House Oversight Committee , hoping that Congress would step in .
Meanwhile , the task force stopped meeting in person , because a member tested positive for Covid-19 .
In April , Kennedy quit , and he has since gone to work on the Democrats ’ 2020 election efforts .
He decided to defy the N.D.A.
, which he does not think can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and he is featured in a new documentary , “ Totally Under Control , ” from the director Alex Gibney .
Kennedy said , “ If you see something that might be illegal , and cause thousands of civilian lives to be lost , a person has to speak out.
” The Administration ’ s coronavirus response , he said , “ was like a family office meets organized crime , melded with ‘ Lord of the Flies.
’ It was a government of chaos.
” ♦ Read More About the 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Presidency based on a promise of generational change ?
• The fall and rise of Kamala Harris .
• When a sitting President threatens to delay a sacrosanct American ritual like an election , you should listen .
• To understand the path Donald Trump has taken to the 2020 election , look at what he has provided the executive class .
• What happens if Trump fights the election results ?
• The refusal by Mitch McConnell to rein in Trump is looking riskier than ever .
• Sign up for our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our reporters and columnists .

Max Kennedy, Jr. Illustration by João Fazenda
Months before Bob Woodward’s book “Rage” documented President Trump’s efforts to deceive Americans about the peril posed by Covid-19, Robert F. Kennedy’s twenty-six-year-old grandson tried to blow the whistle on the President’s malfeasance from an improbable perch—inside Trump’s coronavirus task force.
In April, Max Kennedy, Jr., despite having signed a nondisclosure agreement, sent an anonymous complaint to Congress detailing dangerous incompetence in the Administration’s response to the pandemic. On the phone recently from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Kennedy explained why he’d alerted Congress. “I just couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I was so distressed and disturbed by what I’d seen.”
How did a Kennedy end up in a sensitive role in the Trump Administration? After graduating from Harvard, in 2016, Kennedy did some time at consulting and investment firms; he planned to take the LSAT in March, but the pandemic cancelled it. At loose ends, he responded to a friend’s suggestion that he join a volunteer task force that Jared Kushner was forming, to get vital personal protective equipment, such as masks, to virus hot spots. Kushner, he was told, was looking for young generalists who could work long hours for no pay. “I was torn, to some extent,” Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat, said. “But it was such an unprecedented time. It didn’t seem political—it seemed larger than the Administration.” And he knew people who’d been sick. So in March he volunteered for the White House Covid-19 Supply-Chain Task Force, and drove to Washington.
On his first day, he showed up at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and joined around a dozen other volunteers, all in their twenties, mostly from the finance sector and with no expertise in procurement or medical issues. He was surprised to learn that they weren’t to be auxiliaries supporting the government’s procurement team. “We were the team,” he said. “We were the entire frontline team for the federal government.” The volunteers were tasked with finding desperately needed medical supplies using only their personal laptops and private e-mail accounts.
As the days passed, and the death count climbed, Kennedy was alarmed at the way the President was downplaying the crisis. “I knew from that room that he was saying things that just weren’t true,” he said. Trump told the public that the government was doing all it could, but the P.P.E. emergency was being managed by a handful of amateurs. “It was the number of people who show up to an after-school event, not to run the greatest crisis in a hundred years,” Kennedy said. “It was such a mismatch of personnel. It was one of the largest mobilization problems ever. It was so unbelievably colossal and gargantuan. The fact that they didn’t want to get any more people was so upsetting.”
Kennedy believes that the Administration relied on volunteers in order to sidestep government experts and thereby “control the narrative.” He said that Brad Smith, one of the political appointees who directed the task force, pressured him to create a model fudging the projected number of fatalities; Smith wanted the model to predict a high of a hundred thousand U.S. deaths, claiming that the experts’ models were “too severe.” Kennedy said that he told Smith, “I don’t know the first thing about disease modelling,” and declined the assignment. (A spokesman said that Smith did not recall the conversation.) To date, nearly two hundred thousand Americans have died.
The volunteers were also instructed to prioritize requests from the President’s friends and supporters. According to Kennedy, the group paid special attention to Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News personality. Pirro, Kennedy said, was “particularly aggressive,” and demanded that masks be shipped to a hospital she favored. The volunteers were also told to direct millions of dollars’ worth of supplies to only five preselected distributors. Kennedy was asked to draft a justification for this decision, but refused. “Hundreds of people were sending e-mails every day offering P.P.E.,” he said, but no one in charge responded effectively. “We were super frustrated we couldn’t get the government to do more.”
In the end, the task force failed to procure enough equipment, leaving medical workers, including Kennedy’s cousin, to improvise by wearing garbage bags and makeshift or pre-worn masks. States were left to fend for themselves, bidding against one another for scarce supplies. Kennedy was disgusted to see that the political appointees who supervised him were hailing Trump as “a marketing genius,” because, Kennedy said they’d told him, “he personally came up with the strategy of blaming the states.” The response was in line with what Kennedy calls the White House mantra: that government doesn’t work, and “that the worst thing we could do was step on the toes of the private sector.”
Kushner came by the FEMA office a few times, once to ask the flailing volunteers what three things they most needed, and promising fixes by the end of the day. He had “an air of self-importance,” Kennedy recalled. “But I never saw a single thing that Kushner promised change.” After two or three weeks of growing distress, Kennedy wrote his complaint, addressing it to the House Oversight Committee, hoping that Congress would step in. Meanwhile, the task force stopped meeting in person, because a member tested positive for Covid-19. In April, Kennedy quit, and he has since gone to work on the Democrats’ 2020 election efforts. He decided to defy the N.D.A., which he does not think can legally stifle him from expressing his opinion, and he is featured in a new documentary, “Totally Under Control,” from the director Alex Gibney. Kennedy said, “If you see something that might be illegal, and cause thousands of civilian lives to be lost, a person has to speak out.” The Administration’s coronavirus response, he said, “was like a family office meets organized crime, melded with ‘Lord of the Flies.’ It was a government of chaos.” ♦
Read More About the 2020 Election


newyorker--2020-09-21--Lorrie Moore on Bearing Witness to Suffering

Your story in this week ’ s issue , “ Face Time , ” involves a woman whose father is hospitalized with COVID-19 and can communicate only through FaceTime calls that are placed for him by nurses .
It ’ s a situation that has become too familiar to all of us in the past six months .
What made you want to distill it into fiction ?
I guess I ’ ve written a lot about illness in loved ones—the shock and tremor of it .
In my own life , I ’ ve had an average-to-above-average number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the habit of trying to bear witness to unexpected human suffering is in my short-story writer ’ s bones .
( Oddly , human suffering is usually expected only in the abstract , and when the actuality is upon us—oy !
—there are always unanticipated aspects . )
The strangeness of the socially distanced death and the bedside conversations on screens is really new and cruel and searing .
This year , I would not have been able to write a story about anything else .
That is , this is somewhat autobiographical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a work of art , and I thought of myself as writing a weird version of “ King Lear , ” where there are three daughters , the youngest named Cordelia , yet there is no actual kingdom except the Thermo King .
Many of us have imagined what we would want to say to a loved one in this situation .
But , if we were actually in this situation , would those plans go out the window ?
Would we end up talking about lemonade or Brahms or singing silly songs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its cruel isolation , one that has been imagined by many ?
It certainly was not imagined by me until this past spring rolled around and there it was .
As has been said by others , real life has fiction beat by a mile .
The story is set quite early in the pandemic , at a time when it was possible for patients not to know much about the coronavirus and when doctors were still pointlessly prescribing hydroxychloroquine .
Do you think the story would be very different if it were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if this is a medical or public-health question , I guess the answer is : maybe yes , maybe no .
The hospitals are less crowded than they were in April and May , so there is less triage .
And doctors are doing successful things with steroids and proning , and now monoclonal antibodies look promising .
Ventilators are not seen as magical .
Is this where I get to put in my plug for niacin ?
I do have a side hustle practicing medicine without a license .
I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic is written , society ’ s huge and hugely unnecessary sacrifice of senior citizens will be a sickening part of it .
Sweden is already having a reckoning with that .
Even in ancient times , when occasionally old people were set adrift on ice floes , one assumes that there was some kind of ceremony and that everyone understood what was going on , which was not the case this past spring , when horror and confusion reigned and mass graves were dug .
We know some things about the father @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the greatest generation , that he served in the Pacific theatre in the Second World War , and so on—but not where he is , where his daughters are , what they do beyond this moment .
Did you deliberately keep those details vague ?
The scattered American family !
Everyone is dislocated in this situation .
Technology connects but disconnects as well .
There is an erasure of geography .
The squares on the screens are the figure as well as the ground .
And then , in this tale , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that landscape .
For a while .
The resumption of life after tragedy is a bit of practical heartlessness that conjoins with the still-beating broken heart .
The pandemic has so many writers and artists on lockdown with nothing to do but write or create art that it may turn out to be an extraordinarily productive time in the arts—or , at least , some of them .
This is the first story you ’ ve written in quite some time .
Has this period been productive for you ?
Alas , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do has seldom presented itself to me , and hasn ’ t even now , plus the present time is too full of dread and unhappiness and intimations of the apocalypse .
These are not great conditions for narrative art .
One ’ s life goes out of balance .
I have been working on a novel , so that is one reason that I ’ ve not written many stories in recent years .
But thank you for noticing !
I will get back to them before too long , and if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will always interrupt a novel to do it .
As I have here .

Photograph by Basso Cannarsa / Opale / Alamy
Your story in this week’s issue, “Face Time,” involves a woman whose father is hospitalized with COVID-19 and can communicate only through FaceTime calls that are placed for him by nurses. It’s a situation that has become too familiar to all of us in the past six months. What made you want to distill it into fiction?
I guess I’ve written a lot about illness in loved ones—the shock and tremor of it. In my own life, I’ve had an average-to-above-average number of dealings with these events. And so the habit of trying to bear witness to unexpected human suffering is in my short-story writer’s bones. (Oddly, human suffering is usually expected only in the abstract, and when the actuality is upon us—oy!—there are always unanticipated aspects.) The strangeness of the socially distanced death and the bedside conversations on screens is really new and cruel and searing. This year, I would not have been able to write a story about anything else. That is, this is somewhat autobiographical. Still, it is intended as a work of art, and I thought of myself as writing a weird version of “King Lear,” where there are three daughters, the youngest named Cordelia, yet there is no actual kingdom except the Thermo King.
Many of us have imagined what we would want to say to a loved one in this situation. But, if we were actually in this situation, would those plans go out the window? Would we end up talking about lemonade or Brahms or singing silly songs?
Is the pandemic death, with its cruel isolation, one that has been imagined by many? It certainly was not imagined by me until this past spring rolled around and there it was. As has been said by others, real life has fiction beat by a mile.
The story is set quite early in the pandemic, at a time when it was possible for patients not to know much about the coronavirus and when doctors were still pointlessly prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Do you think the story would be very different if it were set a few months later?
Well, if this is a medical or public-health question, I guess the answer is: maybe yes, maybe no. The hospitals are less crowded than they were in April and May, so there is less triage. And doctors are doing successful things with steroids and proning, and now monoclonal antibodies look promising. Ventilators are not seen as magical. Is this where I get to put in my plug for niacin? I do have a side hustle practicing medicine without a license. I think that, when the history of this pandemic is written, society’s huge and hugely unnecessary sacrifice of senior citizens will be a sickening part of it. Sweden is already having a reckoning with that. Even in ancient times, when occasionally old people were set adrift on ice floes, one assumes that there was some kind of ceremony and that everyone understood what was going on, which was not the case this past spring, when horror and confusion reigned and mass graves were dug.
We know some things about the father in the story—that he was part of the greatest generation, that he served in the Pacific theatre in the Second World War, and so on—but not where he is, where his daughters are, what they do beyond this moment. Did you deliberately keep those details vague?
The scattered American family! Everyone is dislocated in this situation. Technology connects but disconnects as well. There is an erasure of geography. The squares on the screens are the figure as well as the ground. And then, in this tale, the winds come in and wipe out even that landscape. For a while. The resumption of life after tragedy is a bit of practical heartlessness that conjoins with the still-beating broken heart.
The pandemic has so many writers and artists on lockdown with nothing to do but write or create art that it may turn out to be an extraordinarily productive time in the arts—or, at least, some of them. This is the first story you’ve written in quite some time. Has this period been productive for you?
Alas, not really. The condition of nothing to do has seldom presented itself to me, and hasn’t even now, plus the present time is too full of dread and unhappiness and intimations of the apocalypse. These are not great conditions for narrative art. One’s life goes out of balance. I have been working on a novel, so that is one reason that I’ve not written many stories in recent years. But thank you for noticing! I will get back to them before too long, and if a story insists on being written I will always interrupt a novel to do it. As I have here.


newyorker--2020-09-21--“Before the Raised Eyebrows,” by Simon Armitage

before the raised eyebrows and the big tut-tut , did any of you lot ever actually truly try burning a @ @ @ @ @ to attend , poker and stoke , make flames go leafing page to page , @ @ @ @ @ till a sheaf peels open exposing its sheets to the blaze , get the parchments— @ @ @ @ @ in turn until the effacements begin , before the retractions of ink | even then @ @ @ @ @ floats off through the trees , some ashen verse or black-edged stanza gets raked from @ @ @ @ @ rain | how many books did I burn ?
| scores | whose books ?
@ @ @ @ @ burn ?
| reader , I burnt yours

Audio: Read by the author.
before the raised eyebrows
and the big
tut-tut,
did any of you lot
ever actually truly
try burning a book? |
you have to attend,
poker and stoke,
make flames go leafing
page to page,
drive oxygen into the gills
till a sheaf
peels open
exposing its sheets
to the blaze,
get the parchments—
wadded, involved—
to surrender in turn
until the effacements
begin, before
the retractions of ink |
even then
some charred erratum
or index
floats off through the trees,
some ashen verse
or black-edged stanza
gets raked
from the layers of sludge
after rain |
how many books
did I burn? |
scores |
whose books? | whose books
did you burn? |
reader, I burnt yours


newyorker--2020-09-21--Home on the Ranch with Travis Fimmel

Home on the Ranch with Travis Fimmel

The Australian actor Travis Fimmel , formerly known as Ragnar Lothbrok , eighth-century Viking slaughterer-hero , on the History Channel series “ Vikings , ” can , as of this month , be found navigating the virgin planet Kepler-22B , on HBO Max .
In the new Ridley Scott-produced series , “ Raised by Wolves , ” Fimmel plays Marcus , a burly , bearded guy with a mullet , a knightly white surcoat , and a dark past , living among androids and animosity .
Despite this , he retains a mellow vibe ; so does Fimmel .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at his cattle ranch , north of Los Angeles .
He wore a plaid shirt and a baseball cap ; his beard was shaggy .
“ I ’ ve been busy doing a lot of fencing ” —i.e.
, putting up fences— “ while I ’ ve got this time off because of Covid , and planting a lot of trees , ” he said .
“ Fruitless mulberry , because they ’ re great shade trees .
Peppercorn , because they ’ re so drought-tolerant .
Eucalyptus , because I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I can.
” He hasn ’ t minded the time off .
“ I ’ d much rather be doing this sort of stuff than putting on makeup and playing make-believe , ” he said .
Fimmel , forty-one , grew up in southeastern Australia , on his family ’ s farm .
“ We had dairy cattle , beef , and crops , ” he said .
He ’ d planned to farm “ always , ” but “ then there was a year in my life , when I was eighteen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t want to be on the farm.
” ( Ragnar Lothbrok had a similar impulse . )
He ventured to London and L.A. , bartending ( “ Working in bars , living above bars—it was kind of the funnest time ” ) ; modelling Calvin Klein underwear , on a traffic-stopping billboard in London ( “ His presence was jaw-dropping , ” Klein has said ) ; and acting .
“ I had no ambition to do it , ” Fimmel said .
“ I still don ’ t. ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I can not audition to save my life , ” he said .
“ I hate it .
I could never be in a play , onstage .
I ’ d break down and cry.
” Onscreen , he makes do .
He ’ s played Tarzan , in the series “ Tarzan ” ; Sir Anduin Lothar , knight champion of Azeroth , in the video-game-inspired “ Warcraft ” ; and Ragnar , who is both assertive and sensitive—his best friend is a monk he captured .
Fimmel ’ s performance in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Daniel Day-Lewis , whose wife , the director Rebecca Miller , cast Fimmel in her 2015 film , “ Maggie ’ s Plan.
” In it , he plays an earnest Brooklyn pickle-maker in a knit hat , opposite Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke .
He brings to all his roles a startling lack of neurosis .
On “ Raised by Wolves , ” the aesthetic is a little “ Blade Runner , ” a little “ Westworld , ” a little White House Christmas decorations , and people act accordingly—but , whenever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ realm of recognizable human behavior , even amid dialogue like “ The necromancer took him.
” “ It ’ s the same as any sort of period , ” Fimmel said , of life in the year 2159 on Kepler-22B .
“ It ’ s just all about relationships .
People trying to get loved or find their place in the world.
” In Marcus ’ s first scene , he defuses tension between his clan , the Mithraic , who have come to the new planet after killing Earth ’ s atheists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , whose human children came to the planet as embryos .
“ Wait .
Please .
Apologies , ” Marcus begins , warmly .
He ’ s picked up a stalk .
“ I see that you have been farming .
A lot.
” Soon , he ’ s at her table , slurping soup .
Later , among solemn Mithraic children in a spaceship , he initiates a galumphing round of duck-duck-goose .
On his ranch , Fimmel said , “ I ’ ve got a few longhorn cattle , horses , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staying here—he ’ s up there , walking around.
” He waved .
“ I ’ ve got a couple of emus , just because they ’ re Australian .
They ’ re not the sharpest bird in the aviary .
But they ’ re always intrigued by whatever ’ s going on .
They ’ re quirky , and they can run like thirty-five miles an hour.
” He headed toward a fence ; two emus stood atop a hill .
“ Come on , hey !
” he yelled , whistling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raced over , bobbing at speed .
They cocked their fuzzy heads at him , then ate from his hand .
“ Look at their feet—they ’ re like dinosaurs , ” he said .
Two brown horses approached , and he fed them , too .
Fimmel rides horses onscreen and off .
In “ Vikings , ” Ragnar executed a daring escape on a white one ; while shooting “ Warcraft , ” Fimmel was thrown from a spooked horse ; he also has up-in-the-air plans to play Wyatt Earp and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beyond that , professionally , “ I ’ m meant to go back to do a second season of , um , spaceships , ” he said .
Meanwhile : the ranch .
“ I wanted to get kangaroos , ” he said .
They ’ re illegal to keep as pets in California , but about this , too , he is serene .
“ If someone were to let one free around me , I ’ d rescue it , ” he said .
♦

The Australian actor Travis Fimmel, formerly known as Ragnar Lothbrok, eighth-century Viking slaughterer-hero, on the History Channel series “Vikings,” can, as of this month, be found navigating the virgin planet Kepler-22B, on HBO Max. In the new Ridley Scott-produced series, “Raised by Wolves,” Fimmel plays Marcus, a burly, bearded guy with a mullet, a knightly white surcoat, and a dark past, living among androids and animosity. Despite this, he retains a mellow vibe; so does Fimmel. On a recent Saturday, he was relaxing at his cattle ranch, north of Los Angeles. He wore a plaid shirt and a baseball cap; his beard was shaggy. “I’ve been busy doing a lot of fencing”—i.e., putting up fences—“while I’ve got this time off because of Covid, and planting a lot of trees,” he said. “Fruitless mulberry, because they’re great shade trees. Peppercorn, because they’re so drought-tolerant. Eucalyptus, because I’m trying to make everything as Australian as I can.” He hasn’t minded the time off. “I’d much rather be doing this sort of stuff than putting on makeup and playing make-believe,” he said.
Fimmel, forty-one, grew up in southeastern Australia, on his family’s farm. “We had dairy cattle, beef, and crops,” he said. He’d planned to farm “always,” but “then there was a year in my life, when I was eighteen, where I was, like, I don’t want to be on the farm.” (Ragnar Lothbrok had a similar impulse.) He ventured to London and L.A., bartending (“Working in bars, living above bars—it was kind of the funnest time”); modelling Calvin Klein underwear, on a traffic-stopping billboard in London (“His presence was jaw-dropping,” Klein has said); and acting. “I had no ambition to do it,” Fimmel said. “I still don’t.” Performing live makes him uncomfortable. “I cannot audition to save my life,” he said. “I hate it. I could never be in a play, onstage. I’d break down and cry.”
Onscreen, he makes do. He’s played Tarzan, in the series “Tarzan”; Sir Anduin Lothar, knight champion of Azeroth, in the video-game-inspired “Warcraft”; and Ragnar, who is both assertive and sensitive—his best friend is a monk he captured. Fimmel’s performance in “Vikings” caught the eye of Daniel Day-Lewis, whose wife, the director Rebecca Miller, cast Fimmel in her 2015 film, “Maggie’s Plan.” In it, he plays an earnest Brooklyn pickle-maker in a knit hat, opposite Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke. He brings to all his roles a startling lack of neurosis. On “Raised by Wolves,” the aesthetic is a little “Blade Runner,” a little “Westworld,” a little White House Christmas decorations, and people act accordingly—but, whenever Fimmel appears, the series enters a realm of recognizable human behavior, even amid dialogue like “The necromancer took him.”
“It’s the same as any sort of period,” Fimmel said, of life in the year 2159 on Kepler-22B. “It’s just all about relationships. People trying to get loved or find their place in the world.” In Marcus’s first scene, he defuses tension between his clan, the Mithraic, who have come to the new planet after killing Earth’s atheists, and Mother, an atheist android, whose human children came to the planet as embryos. “Wait. Please. Apologies,” Marcus begins, warmly. He’s picked up a stalk. “I see that you have been farming. A lot.” Soon, he’s at her table, slurping soup. Later, among solemn Mithraic children in a spaceship, he initiates a galumphing round of duck-duck-goose.
On his ranch, Fimmel said, “I’ve got a few longhorn cattle, horses, chickens, an Englishman who’s staying here—he’s up there, walking around.” He waved. “I’ve got a couple of emus, just because they’re Australian. They’re not the sharpest bird in the aviary. But they’re always intrigued by whatever’s going on. They’re quirky, and they can run like thirty-five miles an hour.” He headed toward a fence; two emus stood atop a hill. “Come on, hey!” he yelled, whistling. The emus snapped to attention and raced over, bobbing at speed. They cocked their fuzzy heads at him, then ate from his hand. “Look at their feet—they’re like dinosaurs,” he said. Two brown horses approached, and he fed them, too.
Fimmel rides horses onscreen and off. In “Vikings,” Ragnar executed a daring escape on a white one; while shooting “Warcraft,” Fimmel was thrown from a spooked horse; he also has up-in-the-air plans to play Wyatt Earp and to star in a spaghetti Western. Beyond that, professionally, “I’m meant to go back to do a second season of, um, spaceships,” he said. Meanwhile: the ranch. “I wanted to get kangaroos,” he said. They’re illegal to keep as pets in California, but about this, too, he is serene. “If someone were to let one free around me, I’d rescue it,” he said. ♦