newyorker--2020-12-17--Our Stuff Weighs More Than All Living Things on the Planet

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A team led by Emily Elhacham , at the Weizmann Institute of Science , in Rehovot , Israel , performed a series of staggeringly difficult calculations and concluded that 2020 was the year in which the weight of “ human-made mass ” —all the stuff we ’ ve built and accumulated—exceeded the weight of biomass on the planet .
That is to say , our built environment now weighs more than all the living things , including humans , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other infrastructure , for instance , weigh about eleven hundred gigatons , while every tree and shrub , set on a scale , would weigh about nine hundred gigatons .
We have nine gigatons of plastic on the planet , compared with four gigatons of animals—every whale and elephant and bee added together .
The weight of living things remains relatively static , year to year , but the weight of man-made objects is doubling every twenty years .
This means that most of us likely have in our minds a very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relative size of nature and civilization .
In 1900 , the weight of human-made mass was three per cent of the weight of the natural world ; we were a small part of the big picture .
No longer .
We live on Planet Stuff .
It would be easy to blame the increase in our footprint on the increase in human population , which grew rapidly in the twentieth century yet is now slowing .
But that would almost certainly be wrong : recent calculations have found that the richest one per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ double the carbon dioxide than the poorest fifty per cent do ; presumably , some similar ratio would apply to the volume of infrastructure and the consumption of plastic .
( To get a visceral sense of the gulf between people , it ’ s always useful to refer back to the photographer Peter Menzel ’ s 1994 project , “ Material World , ” in which he enlisted fifteen other photographers to help him take pictures of statistically average families in dozens of countries standing in front of all their possessions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wide-enough shot to encompass the American family ’ s matériel . )
I actually don ’ t feel the need to draw any conclusions from this remarkable new fact—I just feel the need to let it settle in my mind and inform my outlook from this point on .
We are an overwhelming force .
The Goldman prize may be the world ’ s most prestigious environmental award .
It is given annually to a grassroots activist in each of the six inhabited continents .
This year ’ s European winner is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ call “ la décarboneuse de banques ” for her work in getting French financial institutions to stop financing coal projects .
From her post as the head of the think tank Reclaim Finance , she joined with other campaigners last week to announce a focus on stopping a dozen vast “ carbon-bomb ” megaprojects planned for the next few years .
( Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity . )
Congratulations on the Goldman prize .
What were the keys to getting French banks to back away from coal ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ our final objective : to push French banks to adopt over-all coal-exit policies .
When French banks stopped supporting new coal projects and some coal companies , it was a great step but clearly not enough .
So we kept exposing the gap between the banks ’ climate pledges and the money that was still flowing to the coal sector , including to companies with coal-expansion plans .
We kept them accountable for the impacts of their support on people ’ s health and on climate .
We also spent a significant share @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very specific measures that financial institutions must adopt in order to both prevent the expansion of the coal sector and support its phaseout .
When you face financial giants , you soon understand the issue is not to push them to adopt a policy on coal but a robust policy on coal .
Quality matters .
As details matter .
Are the banks key to these “ carbon bombs ” you ’ ve helped identify around the world ?
French banks have now stopped financing new coal projects but seem to remain oblivious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out oil and gas , starting with the obvious : stop financing expansion !
BNP Paribas , Société Générale , and Crédit Agricole show up in the ranking of the twenty top global financiers of the companies behind the twelve carbon-bomb projects we ’ ve identified .
These expansion projects alone would use up three-quarters of the total remaining carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius .
Our financial data show that French banks are far from walking away from companies developing the worst projects for the climate and indigenous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BNP Paribas , Société Générale , Crédit Agricole , and BPCE have provided close to fifty billion dollars in financing to companies developing shale hydrocarbons in the Permian Basin in the United States and in the Vaca Muerta region in Argentina , the first two even being among their fifteen largest financiers .
We ’ re used to Exxon and Chevron , but tell us about the French super-major oil company , Total .
Is it anywhere near capitulating to climate reality ?
For sure , one can see differences between Total and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the U.S. majors .
It started addressing its anti-climate lobbying practices ; it set some greenhouse-gas reduction targets ; it develops more renewables .
But is Total cancelling its investments in new oil and gas projects ?
Absolutely not .
Total is expanding fracking in Texas , planning new projects in the Arctic , and , with a Chinese oil company , building the East African Crude Oil Pipeline .
There is no other magical way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions than to reduce fossil-fuel production .
When investors , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ & General , BlackRock , and many others voted against the climate resolution at Total ’ s shareholders ’ meeting this year—let ’ s be clear—they all trampled on their supposed support of the Paris Agreement .
On the topic of foreign banks and climate , here ’ s a trenchant and fairly depressing analysis of what Standard Bank , Africa ’ s largest lender , means when it says that it is committed to meeting the climate goals set in the Paris climate accord .
There are fears—some well founded—that some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from places where the abuse of workers and of human rights is endemic .
Last week , the Solar Energy Industries Association asked member companies to pledge that no forced labor is used in making their products .
The new Zero Carbon Action Plan , launched this fall , is an attempt to channel academic research into actual timelines for transitioning electricity generation , transportation , industry , and buildings into zero-carbon enterprises by 2050 , along with a focus on sustainable land-use and sustainable-materials management .
Here ’ s the launch video @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dan Esty and Columbia University ’ s Jeff Sachs .
Meanwhile , Action for Climate Empowerment , or ACE , has released a “ strategic framework ” for the Biden Administration to consider as it takes power , focussed on driving climate dialogue on the local level .
As much as forty per cent of the food produced in the U.S. ends up in waste dumps or incinerators .
A new consortium , which includes such heavyweights in their fields as Unilever and Starbucks , has announced plans for “ repurposing any unavoidable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ digesters .
Ice cover keeps melting—it ’ s been an absurdly warm year in the Arctic—and a new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration makes clear that this trend will not end anytime soon .
“ Nearly everything in the Arctic , from ice and snow to human activity , is changing so quickly that there is no reason to think that in 30 years much of anything will be as it is today , ” one of the report ’ s authors told Henry Fountain , of the Times .

Subscribers to The Climate Crisis newsletter received this piece in their in-boxes. Sign up to receive future installments.
We are necessarily occupied here each week with strategies for getting ourselves out of the climate crisis—it is the world’s true Klaxon-sounding emergency. But it is worth occasionally remembering that global warming is just one measure of the human domination of our planet. We got another reminder of that unwise hegemony this week, from a study so remarkable that we should just pause and absorb it.
A team led by Emily Elhacham, at the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, performed a series of staggeringly difficult calculations and concluded that 2020 was the year in which the weight of “human-made mass”—all the stuff we’ve built and accumulated—exceeded the weight of biomass on the planet. That is to say, our built environment now weighs more than all the living things, including humans, on the globe. Buildings, roads, and other infrastructure, for instance, weigh about eleven hundred gigatons, while every tree and shrub, set on a scale, would weigh about nine hundred gigatons. We have nine gigatons of plastic on the planet, compared with four gigatons of animals—every whale and elephant and bee added together. The weight of living things remains relatively static, year to year, but the weight of man-made objects is doubling every twenty years. This means that most of us likely have in our minds a very different and very wrong picture of the relative size of nature and civilization. In 1900, the weight of human-made mass was three per cent of the weight of the natural world; we were a small part of the big picture. No longer. We live on Planet Stuff.
It would be easy to blame the increase in our footprint on the increase in human population, which grew rapidly in the twentieth century yet is now slowing. But that would almost certainly be wrong: recent calculations have found that the richest one per cent of human beings produce more than double the carbon dioxide than the poorest fifty per cent do; presumably, some similar ratio would apply to the volume of infrastructure and the consumption of plastic. (To get a visceral sense of the gulf between people, it’s always useful to refer back to the photographer Peter Menzel’s 1994 project, “Material World,” in which he enlisted fifteen other photographers to help him take pictures of statistically average families in dozens of countries standing in front of all their possessions. He needed a cherry picker to take a wide-enough shot to encompass the American family’s matériel.)
I actually don’t feel the need to draw any conclusions from this remarkable new fact—I just feel the need to let it settle in my mind and inform my outlook from this point on. We are an overwhelming force.
Passing the Mic
The Goldman prize may be the world’s most prestigious environmental award. It is given annually to a grassroots activist in each of the six inhabited continents. This year’s European winner is Lucie Pinson, whom the French media call “la décarboneuse de banques” for her work in getting French financial institutions to stop financing coal projects. From her post as the head of the think tank Reclaim Finance, she joined with other campaigners last week to announce a focus on stopping a dozen vast “carbon-bomb” megaprojects planned for the next few years. (Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)
Congratulations on the Goldman prize. What were the keys to getting French banks to back away from coal?
Determination. We never gave up on our final objective: to push French banks to adopt over-all coal-exit policies. When French banks stopped supporting new coal projects and some coal companies, it was a great step but clearly not enough. So we kept exposing the gap between the banks’ climate pledges and the money that was still flowing to the coal sector, including to companies with coal-expansion plans. We kept them accountable for the impacts of their support on people’s health and on climate. We also spent a significant share of our time building a set of very specific measures that financial institutions must adopt in order to both prevent the expansion of the coal sector and support its phaseout. When you face financial giants, you soon understand the issue is not to push them to adopt a policy on coal but a robust policy on coal. Quality matters. As details matter.
Are the banks key to these “carbon bombs” you’ve helped identify around the world?
French banks have now stopped financing new coal projects but seem to remain oblivious of the climate urgency to also phase out oil and gas, starting with the obvious: stop financing expansion! BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Crédit Agricole show up in the ranking of the twenty top global financiers of the companies behind the twelve carbon-bomb projects we’ve identified. These expansion projects alone would use up three-quarters of the total remaining carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Our financial data show that French banks are far from walking away from companies developing the worst projects for the climate and indigenous peoples’ rights. For example, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, and BPCE have provided close to fifty billion dollars in financing to companies developing shale hydrocarbons in the Permian Basin in the United States and in the Vaca Muerta region in Argentina, the first two even being among their fifteen largest financiers.
We’re used to Exxon and Chevron, but tell us about the French super-major oil company, Total. Is it anywhere near capitulating to climate reality?
For sure, one can see differences between Total and Exxon and Chevron. Total does better than the U.S. majors. It started addressing its anti-climate lobbying practices; it set some greenhouse-gas reduction targets; it develops more renewables. But is Total cancelling its investments in new oil and gas projects? Absolutely not. Total is expanding fracking in Texas, planning new projects in the Arctic, and, with a Chinese oil company, building the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. There is no other magical way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions than to reduce fossil-fuel production. When investors, including Amundi, AXA, Allianz, Legal & General, BlackRock, and many others voted against the climate resolution at Total’s shareholders’ meeting this year—let’s be clear—they all trampled on their supposed support of the Paris Agreement.
Climate School
On the topic of foreign banks and climate, here’s a trenchant and fairly depressing analysis of what Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender, means when it says that it is committed to meeting the climate goals set in the Paris climate accord.


newyorker--2020-12-16--How Getting Vaccinated Will (and Won’t) Change My Behavior

Beyond the dread that I feel for my patients , my work as a physician on the coronavirus wards has instilled in me two related fears .
The first fear , which surges each time I learn about another of the nearly two thousand health-care workers who have died of COVID-19 , is that I will get infected and fall seriously ill. A second , deeper and more persistent , fear is that I will pass the virus to my family .
It ’ s because of this concern that I still isolate from them while caring for coronavirus patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I ’ ll be getting vaccinated sometime in the next week or two .
I ’ ve spent some time thinking about how this will change my behavior and state of mind .
Getting the shot will put the first fear to rest : we know for sure that the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna prevent severe illness in almost all people who are inoculated .
But it won ’ t eliminate the second fear , because we ’ re not yet certain that the vaccines can prevent people from becoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a distinction with a difference .
Consider the H.P.V .
vaccine .
It ’ s extraordinarily effective at reducing genital warts and cervical cancer in women who get inoculated ; it has also , happily , driven down the incidence of H.P.V .
among unvaccinated men , because , in addition to preventing illness , it stops vaccinated people from contracting , then transmitting the virus to others .
Many vaccines , including those for measles and chicken pox , work this way .
But others , such as the new shot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That shot reduces the chances that vaccinated people will get sick , but it doesn ’ t do much to stop the spread of Neisseria meningitidis , the bacteria that causes meningitis , from one person to the next .
At the moment , we don ’ t know how the new coronavirus vaccines will affect transmission .
While conducting their clinical trials , Pfizer and Moderna tracked how many vaccinated people got sick with COVID-19 ; they didn ’ t study whether the virus infected them .
It ’ s possible that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , but that the vaccine prevented them from developing symptoms .
If that happened , it would hardly lessen the astonishing nature of these vaccines , which have been developed in record time and prevent illness with an efficacy that was unthinkable just a few months ago .
But it would mean that vaccinated individuals , without getting sick themselves , could give the virus to unvaccinated people—that is , to the majority of Americans , for months to come .
Both Pfizer and Moderna are studying the question .
They plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for antibodies against a coronavirus protein called nucleocapsid , or N ; because people only develop antibodies to this protein after they ’ ve been infected naturally , scientists should be able to establish for certain whether participants caught the virus after immunization .
Right now , all we have are clues .
According to documents submitted to the F.D.A.
, Moderna tested volunteers for the virus before the second dose , and found fewer asymptomatic cases among those who ’ d received it compared with those who hadn ’ t—an encouraging , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of interrupted viral transmission .
And in November , Oxford issued a hopeful press release indicating that preliminary analyses had found a reduction in asymptomatic infections among its trial participants ; this suggests that the vaccine it ’ s developing with AstraZeneca may reduce or prevent transmission , too .
Again , though , final results have not been released or peer-reviewed .
In the worst-case scenario , in which the vaccines don ’ t halt infection directly , they could still make it less likely : by lessening the virus-spraying symptoms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respiratory droplets fly out of the noses and mouths of infected people .
On the other hand , the risk of spread might grow if , after they are vaccinated , people mistakenly act as though they are no longer capable of hosting contagion .
Since the beginning of the pandemic , planners have talked about using “ immunity passports ” —certifications of vaccination or prior infection—to allow immune individuals to work and travel as they wish .
But , until we know for sure that vaccinated people can not contract and spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : a gathering of inoculated people could very well be a superspreader event , endangering the many unvaccinated people to whom they ’ re connected .
The answers will come .
Early in the pandemic , we knew that wearing a mask made you less likely to spread the virus ; it took time to confirm that masks protect wearers , too .
With vaccines , the order is reversed : we know that an immunized person is protected , and hope to find that vaccination will also protect other , unvaccinated people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting vaccinated should change very little about one ’ s behavior .
While waiting for new data to come in , or for those around me to get vaccinated , I ’ ll continue wearing full protective gear when caring for patients .
And I ’ ll keep avoiding close contact with friends and loved ones who aren ’ t vaccinated .
I ’ ll become less worried for myself , but stay worried for everyone else .
In a way , it ’ s a painful decision .
Like all of us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to normal .
But , this week , the pandemic death toll in the United States passed three hundred thousand ; if the current rate of death continues , it could pass four hundred thousand by the end of January .
The vaccines are miraculous , and I ’ m grateful for them .
But , for now , we need to keep protecting one another by using the social tools—masks , distance , and , sometimes , isolation—that we know for certain can work .
• Surviving a severe coronavirus infection is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some hospitals have postponed cancer surgeries because of the coronavirus crisis .
How do doctors assess urgency during a pandemic ?
• It is not too late to go on the offense against the coronavirus .
This five-part public-health plan may be the key .
• The loneliness and solidarity of treating coronavirus patients in New York .
• To fill the vacuum left by the federal government , doctors are relying on informal networks to get the information and support they need .
• Conflict and confusion reign at New York hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
• In countries where the rate of infection threatens to outstrip the capacity of the health system , doctors are confronting ethical quandaries for which nothing in their training prepared them .

Beyond the dread that I feel for my patients, my work as a physician on the coronavirus wards has instilled in me two related fears. The first fear, which surges each time I learn about another of the nearly two thousand health-care workers who have died of COVID-19, is that I will get infected and fall seriously ill. A second, deeper and more persistent, fear is that I will pass the virus to my family. It’s because of this concern that I still isolate from them while caring for coronavirus patients.
Like other doctors in my hospital, I’ll be getting vaccinated sometime in the next week or two. I’ve spent some time thinking about how this will change my behavior and state of mind. Getting the shot will put the first fear to rest: we know for sure that the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna prevent severe illness in almost all people who are inoculated. But it won’t eliminate the second fear, because we’re not yet certain that the vaccines can prevent people from becoming infected or infecting others. It’s a distinction with a difference.
Consider the H.P.V. vaccine. It’s extraordinarily effective at reducing genital warts and cervical cancer in women who get inoculated; it has also, happily, driven down the incidence of H.P.V. among unvaccinated men, because, in addition to preventing illness, it stops vaccinated people from contracting, then transmitting the virus to others. Many vaccines, including those for measles and chicken pox, work this way. But others, such as the new shot against meningitis, don’t. That shot reduces the chances that vaccinated people will get sick, but it doesn’t do much to stop the spread of Neisseria meningitidis, the bacteria that causes meningitis, from one person to the next.
At the moment, we don’t know how the new coronavirus vaccines will affect transmission. While conducting their clinical trials, Pfizer and Moderna tracked how many vaccinated people got sick with COVID-19; they didn’t study whether the virus infected them. It’s possible that inoculated people in the trial caught the coronavirus, but that the vaccine prevented them from developing symptoms. If that happened, it would hardly lessen the astonishing nature of these vaccines, which have been developed in record time and prevent illness with an efficacy that was unthinkable just a few months ago. But it would mean that vaccinated individuals, without getting sick themselves, could give the virus to unvaccinated people—that is, to the majority of Americans, for months to come.
Both Pfizer and Moderna are studying the question. They plan to test the blood of trial participants for antibodies against a coronavirus protein called nucleocapsid, or N; because people only develop antibodies to this protein after they’ve been infected naturally, scientists should be able to establish for certain whether participants caught the virus after immunization. Right now, all we have are clues. According to documents submitted to the F.D.A., Moderna tested volunteers for the virus before the second dose, and found fewer asymptomatic cases among those who’d received it compared with those who hadn’t—an encouraging, but by no means conclusive, sign of interrupted viral transmission. And in November, Oxford issued a hopeful press release indicating that preliminary analyses had found a reduction in asymptomatic infections among its trial participants; this suggests that the vaccine it’s developing with AstraZeneca may reduce or prevent transmission, too. Again, though, final results have not been released or peer-reviewed.
In the worst-case scenario, in which the vaccines don’t halt infection directly, they could still make it less likely: by lessening the virus-spraying symptoms of infection—coughing and sneezing—they will insure that fewer respiratory droplets fly out of the noses and mouths of infected people. On the other hand, the risk of spread might grow if, after they are vaccinated, people mistakenly act as though they are no longer capable of hosting contagion. Since the beginning of the pandemic, planners have talked about using “immunity passports”—certifications of vaccination or prior infection—to allow immune individuals to work and travel as they wish. But, until we know for sure that vaccinated people cannot contract and spread the virus, such schemes are premature: a gathering of inoculated people could very well be a superspreader event, endangering the many unvaccinated people to whom they’re connected.
The answers will come. Early in the pandemic, we knew that wearing a mask made you less likely to spread the virus; it took time to confirm that masks protect wearers, too. With vaccines, the order is reversed: we know that an immunized person is protected, and hope to find that vaccination will also protect other, unvaccinated people. Until that’s confirmed, getting vaccinated should change very little about one’s behavior. While waiting for new data to come in, or for those around me to get vaccinated, I’ll continue wearing full protective gear when caring for patients. And I’ll keep avoiding close contact with friends and loved ones who aren’t vaccinated. I’ll become less worried for myself, but stay worried for everyone else.
In a way, it’s a painful decision. Like all of us, I desperately want life to return to normal. But, this week, the pandemic death toll in the United States passed three hundred thousand; if the current rate of death continues, it could pass four hundred thousand by the end of January. The vaccines are miraculous, and I’m grateful for them. But, for now, we need to keep protecting one another by using the social tools—masks, distance, and, sometimes, isolation—that we know for certain can work.
More Medical Dispatches


newyorker--2020-12-16--Some 2020 “Feel Good” Holiday Movies

Some 2020 “Feel Good” Holiday Movies

Sally is an ardent civil-rights activist with blue hair .
Bill is a ruthless corporate lawyer renowned for his ability to close the deal .
They fall in love from opposite sides of the police barricade .
Sally helps Bill rediscover his love of festive butter cookies , and Bill teaches Sally that a more restrained approach to her activism is vital to keeping him in the unbothered state of mind essential for closing the deal .
In the emotional climax , Bill leaves his wife and Sally vows to step away from her activism to raise Bill ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and produced by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss , in a bold departure from their existing body of work .
Critics are calling it a heartwarming statement about how people on “ both sides of the issue ” can find common ground and , sometimes , even true love .
Four intersecting romantic story lines play out in their entirety ( from meet-cute to flirtation , betrayal , and reunion ) on a single ninety-five-minute Zoom call .
Everyone is surrounded by soft twinkle-lights , and no one appears to be hiding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frame .
Through intensive focus groups , the producers of “ A.I.W.F.C.I.Z.
” concluded that the average person , after disconnecting from an agonizing family Zoom call , wants nothing more than to immediately turn on the TV and watch a fake Zoom call that goes slightly better .
( “ A.I.W.F.C.I.Z.
” will ultimately gross three-thousand times its production budget . )
Liberal-arts-educated Martha tries to teach her staunchly pro-Trump dad that the true meaning of Christmas is probably not to destroy democracy in the service of a single man ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around .
Martha is comforted by the fact that at least the mini MAGA caps adorning his tree look like Santa hats , if you squint hard enough .
In a twist ending , Santa Claus is revealed to have been Trump all along .
Dad is vindicated , America is saved , and the North Pole is moved to Florida to eliminate the snowflakes .
The movie will première immediately before the newly reinstated Trump Foundation ’ s “ 72-Hour Christmas Telethon to Extinguish Massive Campaign Debt and Then Buy Presents for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That Order , ” co-hosted by Tucker Carlson and certified Yuletide bard Kid Rock .
A log burns merrily and self-extinguishes after forty-five minutes because this home ’ s single inhabitant drank five rum-and-eggnogs and fell asleep binge-watching “ Dawson ’ s Creek , ” again .

Sally is an ardent civil-rights activist with blue hair. Bill is a ruthless corporate lawyer renowned for his ability to close the deal. They fall in love from opposite sides of the police barricade. Sally helps Bill rediscover his love of festive butter cookies, and Bill teaches Sally that a more restrained approach to her activism is vital to keeping him in the unbothered state of mind essential for closing the deal. In the emotional climax, Bill leaves his wife and Sally vows to step away from her activism to raise Bill’s school-aged quintuplets.
This film was written and produced by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, in a bold departure from their existing body of work. Critics are calling it a heartwarming statement about how people on “both sides of the issue” can find common ground and, sometimes, even true love.
Four intersecting romantic story lines play out in their entirety (from meet-cute to flirtation, betrayal, and reunion) on a single ninety-five-minute Zoom call. Everyone is surrounded by soft twinkle-lights, and no one appears to be hiding a forty of malt liquor out of frame.
Through intensive focus groups, the producers of “A.I.W.F.C.I.Z.” concluded that the average person, after disconnecting from an agonizing family Zoom call, wants nothing more than to immediately turn on the TV and watch a fake Zoom call that goes slightly better. (“A.I.W.F.C.I.Z.” will ultimately gross three-thousand times its production budget.)
Liberal-arts-educated Martha tries to teach her staunchly pro-Trump dad that the true meaning of Christmas is probably not to destroy democracy in the service of a single man’s humongous ego. Dad does not come around. Martha is comforted by the fact that at least the mini MAGA caps adorning his tree look like Santa hats, if you squint hard enough.
In a twist ending, Santa Claus is revealed to have been Trump all along. Dad is vindicated, America is saved, and the North Pole is moved to Florida to eliminate the snowflakes. The movie will première immediately before the newly reinstated Trump Foundation’s “72-Hour Christmas Telethon to Extinguish Massive Campaign Debt and Then Buy Presents for Kids All Over the Place, in That Order,” co-hosted by Tucker Carlson and certified Yuletide bard Kid Rock.
A log burns merrily and self-extinguishes after forty-five minutes because this home’s single inhabitant drank five rum-and-eggnogs and fell asleep binge-watching “Dawson’s Creek,” again.


newyorker--2020-12-16--The Photographer Who Set Out to Watch Herself Age

Floyd began the undertaking in 1982 , at the age of twenty-five , as a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin .
Each morning , she ’ d capture herself in a full-length shot , with her camera set up on a tripod in the corner of her room .
Her aim , at the start , was to keep up the daily ritual for twenty years , in order to observe herself aging .
At first , on days when she skipped taking a photo , she advanced the film in her camera , leaving a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But , as the project continued , she ended up skipping weeks , entire months , a good chunk of the nineties .
Over the years , she moved the tripod around , from room to room , from house to house , outdoors , and around the world ; she included family members and pets in her pictures .
The metamorphosis or decline of her own body turned out to be , it seems , less interesting than—or inextricable from—the major events , changing backdrops , and interdependent relationships that made up @ @ @

Floyd began the undertaking in 1982, at the age of twenty-five, as a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Each morning, she’d capture herself in a full-length shot, with her camera set up on a tripod in the corner of her room. Her aim, at the start, was to keep up the daily ritual for twenty years, in order to observe herself aging. At first, on days when she skipped taking a photo, she advanced the film in her camera, leaving a blank when she processed the roll. But, as the project continued, she ended up skipping weeks, entire months, a good chunk of the nineties. Over the years, she moved the tripod around, from room to room, from house to house, outdoors, and around the world; she included family members and pets in her pictures. The metamorphosis or decline of her own body turned out to be, it seems, less interesting than—or inextricable from—the major events, changing backdrops, and interdependent relationships that made up her life.


newyorker--2020-12-17--2020 Gift Guide: Something for Everyone on Your List!

A festive hat for your dad .
( He ’ s so hard to shop for ! )
You know that thing from “ Men in Black ” that you wave in front of people ’ s faces , and it shines a bright light in their eyes and makes them forget what happened ?
That would be a great gift for anyone on your list this year .
I did some research , and it seems like that “ Men in Black ” stick thing is actually called a Neuralyzer .
According to Google , it ’ s an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has the ability to wipe minds .
Science is incredible .
It ( the Neuralyzer ) definitely can make you forget at least one full year , since—spoiler—it helped Tommy Lee Jones forget decades of his life .
So , yeah , a great gift in 2020 !
This is more of a question than a gift suggestion , but is there a store where I can get one of these Neuralyzer thingies ?
I keep going to Best Buy since it seems logical that ’ s where it would be .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Best Buy for a reason . )
But the past few times that I ’ ve gone , Tim in aisle four has become all riled up and shouted , “ You ’ re standing too close to me !
” and , “ Stay six feet away !
” Tim , it sounds like you need to relax ( or be Neuralyzed ) .
I mean , we know it exists , out there in the world , in some form .
I ’ m still talking about the Neuralyzer .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , right ?
So , for sure , there ’ s a prop closet somewhere with that stick .
The question is : Is it still functional ?
I have a fan theory that the Men in Black are actually the aliens and not the humans , and the movie is titled that because they ( the aliens ) are forced to live in the shadows ( the “ black ” ) .
I only ever saw the first movie in the franchise , so it ’ s possible the writers and directors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here ’ s another question : Why did Will Smith stop agreeing to participate in the “ Men in Black ” franchise ?
You ’ d think that he was so involved in it that he ’ d see it through to the end .
Did the franchise stop including him because he got to be too expensive ?
Or did somebody Neuralyze him and make him forget that the movies ever even happened ?
A PlayStation 5 , perhaps the greatest gift of all .

We’re all celebrating a little differently this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still deliver cheer! Here are a few gift ideas for this unusual holiday season:
A festive hat for your dad. (He’s so hard to shop for!)
You know that thing from “Men in Black” that you wave in front of people’s faces, and it shines a bright light in their eyes and makes them forget what happened? That would be a great gift for anyone on your list this year.
A dog leash for your dog.
I did some research, and it seems like that “Men in Black” stick thing is actually called a Neuralyzer. According to Google, it’s an “electro-biomechanical neural-transmitting zero-synapse repositioner” that has the ability to wipe minds. Science is incredible.
It (the Neuralyzer) definitely can make you forget at least one full year, since—spoiler—it helped Tommy Lee Jones forget decades of his life. So, yeah, a great gift in 2020!
This is more of a question than a gift suggestion, but is there a store where I can get one of these Neuralyzer thingies? I keep going to Best Buy since it seems logical that’s where it would be. (I mean, it’s called Best Buy for a reason.) But the past few times that I’ve gone, Tim in aisle four has become all riled up and shouted, “You’re standing too close to me!” and, “Stay six feet away!” Tim, it sounds like you need to relax (or be Neuralyzed).
I mean, we know it exists, out there in the world, in some form. I’m still talking about the Neuralyzer. It was a physical object in the movie, right? So, for sure, there’s a prop closet somewhere with that stick. The question is: Is it still functional?
I have a fan theory that the Men in Black are actually the aliens and not the humans, and the movie is titled that because they (the aliens) are forced to live in the shadows (the “black”). I only ever saw the first movie in the franchise, so it’s possible the writers and directors explored this theory in later films.
Here’s another question: Why did Will Smith stop agreeing to participate in the “Men in Black” franchise? You’d think that he was so involved in it that he’d see it through to the end. Did the franchise stop including him because he got to be too expensive? Or did somebody Neuralyze him and make him forget that the movies ever even happened?
A PlayStation 5, perhaps the greatest gift of all.


newyorker--2020-12-17--How to Make a Classic Bistro-Style Steak Tartare at Home

Tartare is served “ dressed ” with any number of possible sauces , which are enlivening and essential , but the dish is obviously all about the meat : you want the best , most vibrantly delicious beef you can find .
The cut ?
A lean one , but the cut is less important than the quality .
Riad Nasr , of the restaurant Frenchette , who , during his time as a chef at Balthazar and Minetta Tavern , might well have sold more steak tartare than any other individual in the history of New York City meat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at hand .
“ Filet is good , ” he told me , “ but really anything goes if the meat is beautiful and fresh.
” Top round , eye of round , heart , strip .
The color is important ( bright , intensely red ) , as is the firmness of the tissue .
And the smell should be appetizing , the healthy aromatics of a beneficently raised animal : grass-fed , if possible—a creature that has lived and roamed in the open air .
You want to be happy sticking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did a stint in the Tuscan butcher shop of the celebrated and flamboyant carnivore Dario Cecchini , where the senior butcher— “ il Maestro ” —assessed his beef by slicing off a piece raw and chewing it slowly and reflectively .
Raw , the meat revealed to him the animal ’ s diet , its exercise , and its health .
When it was good , the Maestro smiled .
This , his smile conveyed , was the flavor of sunshine and green grass and nature .
Our palates tell us everything , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the animal ’ s birth to the moment of this raw slice , including if it had an honest death.
” By way of example , I got lucky in my tartare experiments , which were conducted this last summer when I was in Maine with my family , owing to a savvy local butcher , Anders Tallberg , at Maine Street Meats , in Rockport .
Tallberg prides himself on his local farm animals ( like the seven- to eight-year-old dairy cows from Springdale Farm ) , and sells meat that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his customers have to order it a week in advance .
Tallberg and I discussed , and experimented with , different cuts for a tartare .
My favorite , I admit , was the tenderloin ( which is almost banal in its obviousness ) , largely because it hadn ’ t been aged for more than ten days .
You age meat for reasons of flavor development and tenderness .
And , in New York at least , there seems to be an unofficial can-you-top-me competition among butchers to see who is prepared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if to prove one ’ s commitment to taste over cash flow .
But in a dish made of raw meat ?
You want fresh .
Raw meat , like raw fish , is a quiet food .
It presents few contrasts on the palate—no burnt and rare , nothing caramelized , no rendered fat , no crunch .
Its appeal , instead , is in how the meat ’ s flavors linger in the mouth , akin to how a good wine is sometimes said to have “ length.
” The Italians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prepare their raw beef like a plate of crudo—with olive oil , a squeeze of lemon , a lot of salt , maybe an herb leaf .
What the French do is much more interestingly aggressive .
When waiters prepare a tartare for you tableside , they can seem as though they ’ re just making it up with whatever bottle they have nearby : a big spoon of mustard , a splash of Tabasco , an egg yolk , a little olive oil ( because why not ? )
, capers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unable to pronounce , always refer to as a “ sauce anglaise ” ) , even ketchup .
Maybe there ’ s an analogy in Japanese preparations of raw fish , another quiet food .
Yes , you can honor it by dressing it delicately , or you can summon all the condiments on offer and attack it with intensifiers : Soy !
Wasabi !
Spicy ginger !
The French approach is in the peculiar word “ Tartar , ” historically a Western noun to describe a Central Asian population and the empires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in cooking , we use the word to describe cutting up a raw ingredient with a knife , whether meat , fish ( tartare de saumon , tartare de thon ) , or even vegetables .
But it originally referred to a sauce , an early intensifier .
According to Joseph Favre ( 1849-1903 ) , the Swiss-born chef and a culinary theoretician who produced one of the great reference books of the French kitchen ( the four-volume Grand dictionnaire Universel de cuisine pratique ) , sauce à la tartare was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fried—an exotic-seeming preparation popular in France in the early nineteenth century , having come from the East , from some central Asian culture “ over there somewhere ” : i.e.
, those “ Tartar ” people .
By 1894 , Favre recognizes that the Tartars had nothing to do with either the sauce or the preparation , which , by then , was described as coming from Poland—à la polonaise .
But , by then , the name sauce à la tartare had stuck .
The sauce , made with a base @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t so different from the fish-and-chips dressing that descended from it , that mass-produced dipping cream that comes in plastic tubs with snap-on lids that I enjoyed last summer with my haddock , which , as it happens , was also breaded and fried .
But a handmade tartare , which I learned to do when living in Lyon with my family , is a revelation : it has bite and texture and a wonderfully acidic punch .
The mayonnaise is whisked by hand and not a blender , then enhanced , at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shallots , capers , and cornichons .
In the French kitchen , a sauce of this kind is described as relevée , from the verb lever , to elevate ; the prefix re- adds emphasis .
A sauce relevée heightens the dish it is added to ; it is extra elevated .
I first learned the word from my son George , who took up ballet in Lyon and continued to dance in studios in New York , where the word relever refers not merely to rising up on his toes , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ term , plier , to bend , is also a cooking word : it describes how you fold dough when making puff pastry . )
Many of the raw-beef preparations that you get in New York City are made with variations of a sauce tartare , plus a couple of the “ modern condiments.
” The raw beef that I ate twenty-five years ago at Les Halles , on Park Avenue , was made ( though I didn ’ t know it at the time ) by a man who would become a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his with a classic sauce tartare , plus a little hot sauce .
The one my wife and I ate recently , under quarantine conditions , at Pastis downtown , was also classic—plus a little ketchup .
For my purposes , I wanted a throwback taste , a flavor of turn-of-the-century bistros , with gas lights and mirrors and a hand-written menu—no American ketchup , or English sauces , or Mexican chilis .
I made a classic sauce à la tartare .
I folded it into the meat , adding nothing else except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s twin brother , eyed the final preparation uncomfortably .
He loves steak tartare but doesn ’ t like it with a sauce .
It ’ s the raw meat he likes , iron-red , uncompromisingly itself .
Also , until this moment , his tartares had been prepared out of view , in a restaurant kitchen somewhere .
This one had been made in the open by his father .
Frederick was suspicious .
“ It ’ s not red , ” he said , warily , which was true : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been dulled by the sauce to a not entirely appealing pink .
He slipped his spoon into the mound of meat and carved out the smallest of small bits .
He looked at me .
“ Will it make me sick ?
” He tasted it .
“ Wow !
” and he instantly dipped his spoon back into the meat , deeply .
The rest of us joined him , one by one ( George , ever cautious , was last ) , and we remained there , at the counter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raw meat , the subtle fat , the prickly acidities of the sauce , the pure flavor .
It was raw but also , surprisingly , better than raw .
It wasn ’ t the best-looking tartare I ’ ve eaten , but it was certainly among the best-tasting .
Was it the meat or the sauce ?
Or simply that I was eating it with my family ?
It was transporting in every sense .
It took us all to another place , another time .
A hearty time .
• ½ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetable oil ( e.g.
, sunflower or peanut ; not olive oil ) 1 .
Place beef in the freezer for 30 minutes .
This will stiffen the meat slightly , to facilitate cutting .
Place a medium-sized mixing bowl and a sharpened knife in the freezer , too .

Most of us who enjoy steak tartare, preferably with a high pile of hot fries on the side, know it from eating it in a restaurant or a bistro and not from preparing it at home. But the dish is not difficult to make—after all, it involves zero cooking. In fact, making a batch doesn’t require much more than a butcher you trust, a very sharp knife, clean hands, and freezingly cold bowls and plates.
Tartare is served “dressed” with any number of possible sauces, which are enlivening and essential, but the dish is obviously all about the meat: you want the best, most vibrantly delicious beef you can find. The cut? A lean one, but the cut is less important than the quality. Riad Nasr, of the restaurant Frenchette, who, during his time as a chef at Balthazar and Minetta Tavern, might well have sold more steak tartare than any other individual in the history of New York City meat eating, makes his from whatever is at hand. “Filet is good,” he told me, “but really anything goes if the meat is beautiful and fresh.” Top round, eye of round, heart, strip. The color is important (bright, intensely red), as is the firmness of the tissue. And the smell should be appetizing, the healthy aromatics of a beneficently raised animal: grass-fed, if possible—a creature that has lived and roamed in the open air. You want to be happy sticking your nose into it. I once did a stint in the Tuscan butcher shop of the celebrated and flamboyant carnivore Dario Cecchini, where the senior butcher—“il Maestro”—assessed his beef by slicing off a piece raw and chewing it slowly and reflectively. Raw, the meat revealed to him the animal’s diet, its exercise, and its health. When it was good, the Maestro smiled. This, his smile conveyed, was the flavor of sunshine and green grass and nature.
Our palates tell us everything, Cecchini told me recently, “from the animal’s birth to the moment of this raw slice, including if it had an honest death.” By way of example, I got lucky in my tartare experiments, which were conducted this last summer when I was in Maine with my family, owing to a savvy local butcher, Anders Tallberg, at Maine Street Meats, in Rockport. Tallberg prides himself on his local farm animals (like the seven- to eight-year-old dairy cows from Springdale Farm), and sells meat that is so flavorful and healthy and popular that his customers have to order it a week in advance. Tallberg and I discussed, and experimented with, different cuts for a tartare. My favorite, I admit, was the tenderloin (which is almost banal in its obviousness), largely because it hadn’t been aged for more than ten days. You age meat for reasons of flavor development and tenderness. And, in New York at least, there seems to be an unofficial can-you-top-me competition among butchers to see who is prepared to age theirs the longest, as if to prove one’s commitment to taste over cash flow. But in a dish made of raw meat? You want fresh.
Raw meat, like raw fish, is a quiet food. It presents few contrasts on the palate—no burnt and rare, nothing caramelized, no rendered fat, no crunch. Its appeal, instead, is in how the meat’s flavors linger in the mouth, akin to how a good wine is sometimes said to have “length.” The Italians, respecting the subtlety of those flavors, prepare their raw beef like a plate of crudo—with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a lot of salt, maybe an herb leaf. What the French do is much more interestingly aggressive. When waiters prepare a tartare for you tableside, they can seem as though they’re just making it up with whatever bottle they have nearby: a big spoon of mustard, a splash of Tabasco, an egg yolk, a little olive oil (because why not?), capers, Worcestershire (which the French, unable to pronounce, always refer to as a “sauce anglaise”), even ketchup. Maybe there’s an analogy in Japanese preparations of raw fish, another quiet food. Yes, you can honor it by dressing it delicately, or you can summon all the condiments on offer and attack it with intensifiers: Soy! Wasabi! Spicy ginger!
The French approach is in the peculiar word “Tartar,” historically a Western noun to describe a Central Asian population and the empires of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. Today, in cooking, we use the word to describe cutting up a raw ingredient with a knife, whether meat, fish (tartare de saumon, tartare de thon), or even vegetables. But it originally referred to a sauce, an early intensifier. According to Joseph Favre (1849-1903), the Swiss-born chef and a culinary theoretician who produced one of the great reference books of the French kitchen (the four-volume Grand dictionnaire Universel de cuisine pratique), sauce à la tartare was a common accompaniment to foods that were breaded and fried—an exotic-seeming preparation popular in France in the early nineteenth century, having come from the East, from some central Asian culture “over there somewhere”: i.e., those “Tartar” people. By 1894, Favre recognizes that the Tartars had nothing to do with either the sauce or the preparation, which, by then, was described as coming from Poland—à la polonaise. But, by then, the name sauce à la tartare had stuck.
The sauce, made with a base of a Dijon-mustard mayonnaise, isn’t so different from the fish-and-chips dressing that descended from it, that mass-produced dipping cream that comes in plastic tubs with snap-on lids that I enjoyed last summer with my haddock, which, as it happens, was also breaded and fried. But a handmade tartare, which I learned to do when living in Lyon with my family, is a revelation: it has bite and texture and a wonderfully acidic punch. The mayonnaise is whisked by hand and not a blender, then enhanced, at the end, with equal parts chopped shallots, capers, and cornichons. In the French kitchen, a sauce of this kind is described as relevée, from the verb lever, to elevate; the prefix re- adds emphasis. A sauce relevée heightens the dish it is added to; it is extra elevated. I first learned the word from my son George, who took up ballet in Lyon and continued to dance in studios in New York, where the word relever refers not merely to rising up on his toes, but really rising up. (The opposite term, plier, to bend, is also a cooking word: it describes how you fold dough when making puff pastry.)
Many of the raw-beef preparations that you get in New York City are made with variations of a sauce tartare, plus a couple of the “modern condiments.” The raw beef that I ate twenty-five years ago at Les Halles, on Park Avenue, was made (though I didn’t know it at the time) by a man who would become a friend, Tony Bourdain, who prepared his with a classic sauce tartare, plus a little hot sauce. The one my wife and I ate recently, under quarantine conditions, at Pastis downtown, was also classic—plus a little ketchup.


newyorker--2020-12-17--My Favorite Fiction of 2020

My Favorite Fiction of 2020

Speak the words “ top-ten list ” and another word , “ gimmick , ” floats to mind .
Gratitude , the kind that one feels for a book that resides temporarily in one ’ s body , is an awfully personal feeling to try to pass off as a public judgment .
Add a pandemic and the act gets even trickier .
I ’ ve wondered how art might best meet this moment : with gentleness or rudeness , distraction or challenge .
I ’ ve thought , too , about what I ’ ve asked of literature recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dumb , it ’ s mental stimulation that I ’ m hungry for , or , when the world is ugly , beauty , or , when it ’ s exhausting , refreshment .
As consumers of fiction , we have needs both diverse and inconstant ; meanwhile , the “ best of ” lists gallop on , kicking up clouds of strained comparisons .
This year ’ s pronouncements arrive shadowed by melancholy and , even more than usual , a vague illegitimacy .
For instance , I am writing this list @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who says that , in 2020 , she could abide only cozy mysteries or escapist fantasies .
But I ’ ve found that , for me , literature ’ s draws finally exist independently of plagues or coups .
What ’ s changed for many of us is perhaps our relationship to other types of fictions , which don ’ t necessarily come from novels .
Narratives of American innocence , competence , and fellowship have eroded in the time of Trump ’ s Presidency , COVID-19 , and the George Floyd protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause one to crave tidy whodunnits , or it might simply make one stubborn , intolerant of pretense .
Having found myself in the second category ( stubborn ) , I regret to announce that I will not be declaring the ten best fiction books of the year .
Such lists are malarkey .
I ’ d be delighted to boss you around—I assume that ’ s why you ’ re here , to receive direction or fight—but please just think of the titles below as ten worthwhile books , milestones of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Year .
And then read them .
You should read this book because it is an intensely satisfying novel of ideas , which suggests that our identities are as fragile as our circumstances .
Vincent is a bartender whose relationship with a white-collar criminal wafts her into a charmed existence ; when her boyfriend ’ s Ponzi scheme collapses , she signs up to be a cook on a cargo ship .
Her ne ’ er-do-well half brother , Paul , also craves a fresh start .
Mandel expertly threads these and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ease with which a person can slip out of one life and into another ; the novel is translucent with ghosts .
“ We move through this world so lightly , ” one woman observes , like a voice from Beyond—she sounds amazed , dismayed , and a little relieved .
You should read this book because it makes your skin tingle , like stepping into a deep , dark pool of present-day anxieties .
Amanda , an advertising executive , and her professor husband , Clay , take their teen-age son and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recess of Long Island .
Their vacation is interrupted when an older couple , Ruth and G. H. Washington , arrive at the door , claiming to be the house ’ s owners and warning of a power outage in Manhattan .
From there , the text veers between two novels : a sharply drawn social satire , replete with love-to-hate bourgeois accents—including the most critically acclaimed grocery list of 2020—and a disaster tale , with the texture of a nightmare .
There are spiders and blood ; the imagery of repressed horror @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Still , Alam maintains an arch tone through his omniscient narrator , who describes omens of ecological ruin with the same chilly detachment that he brings to Amanda ’ s polite racism .
( The Washingtons are Black . )
Such dryness differentiates Alam from Mandel , whose visions of disaster have a more sorrowful resonance , and yet the two authors are charting similar territory : the place where realism and surrealism meet , and life “ as we know it ” dissipates into life as we ’ ve never imagined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this book because it pairs the delicate eeriness of traditional Japanese folklore with a kooky , contemporary sensibility .
Each of Matsuda ’ s stories updates an old tale about the ghosts and fox spirits known , in Japan , as yokai .
Here , though , the yokai work alongside the living at a mysterious incense company .
Matsuda ’ s agenda is mischievously feminist .
She likens women ’ s potential to an otherworldly force—shape-shifting project managers complain about Japan ’ s glass ceiling—and her male characters tend to come off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have any exceptional talents , ” one helpfully says . )
There is , too , an undertow of late-capitalist weariness : the workday , which makes spectres of the living , does not pause for the dead .
The cheerful oddity of these tales reminded me of the writer Sianne Ngai ’ s theory of the “ zany.
” Zany art , Ngai suggests , blurs the line between play and labor , arousing feelings of suspicion , attraction , and exhaustion .
But Matsuda ’ s book also possesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things like “ Okay , that ’ s cool , ” and , sometimes , they lose their tempers .
Ghosts : they ’ re just like us !

Speak the words “top-ten list” and another word, “gimmick,” floats to mind. Gratitude, the kind that one feels for a book that resides temporarily in one’s body, is an awfully personal feeling to try to pass off as a public judgment. Add a pandemic and the act gets even trickier. I’ve wondered how art might best meet this moment: with gentleness or rudeness, distraction or challenge. I’ve thought, too, about what I’ve asked of literature recently. Sometimes, when the world is dumb, it’s mental stimulation that I’m hungry for, or, when the world is ugly, beauty, or, when it’s exhausting, refreshment. As consumers of fiction, we have needs both diverse and inconstant; meanwhile, the “best of” lists gallop on, kicking up clouds of strained comparisons. This year’s pronouncements arrive shadowed by melancholy and, even more than usual, a vague illegitimacy.
For instance, I am writing this list from the kitchen table of a woman who says that, in 2020, she could abide only cozy mysteries or escapist fantasies. But I’ve found that, for me, literature’s draws finally exist independently of plagues or coups. What’s changed for many of us is perhaps our relationship to other types of fictions, which don’t necessarily come from novels. Narratives of American innocence, competence, and fellowship have eroded in the time of Trump’s Presidency, COVID-19, and the George Floyd protests. Letting go of these stories might cause one to crave tidy whodunnits, or it might simply make one stubborn, intolerant of pretense. Having found myself in the second category (stubborn), I regret to announce that I will not be declaring the ten best fiction books of the year. Such lists are malarkey. I’d be delighted to boss you around—I assume that’s why you’re here, to receive direction or fight—but please just think of the titles below as ten worthwhile books, milestones of a sort, published in this Very Weird Year. And then read them.
“The Glass Hotel,” by Emily St. John Mandel
You should read this book because it is an intensely satisfying novel of ideas, which suggests that our identities are as fragile as our circumstances. Vincent is a bartender whose relationship with a white-collar criminal wafts her into a charmed existence; when her boyfriend’s Ponzi scheme collapses, she signs up to be a cook on a cargo ship. Her ne’er-do-well half brother, Paul, also craves a fresh start. Mandel expertly threads these and other story lines together, focussing on the ease with which a person can slip out of one life and into another; the novel is translucent with ghosts. “We move through this world so lightly,” one woman observes, like a voice from Beyond—she sounds amazed, dismayed, and a little relieved.
“Leave the World Behind,” by Rumaan Alam
You should read this book because it makes your skin tingle, like stepping into a deep, dark pool of present-day anxieties. Amanda, an advertising executive, and her professor husband, Clay, take their teen-age son and daughter to an Airbnb in a picturesque recess of Long Island. Their vacation is interrupted when an older couple, Ruth and G. H. Washington, arrive at the door, claiming to be the house’s owners and warning of a power outage in Manhattan. From there, the text veers between two novels: a sharply drawn social satire, replete with love-to-hate bourgeois accents—including the most critically acclaimed grocery list of 2020—and a disaster tale, with the texture of a nightmare. There are spiders and blood; the imagery of repressed horror, when it erupts, is shocking. Still, Alam maintains an arch tone through his omniscient narrator, who describes omens of ecological ruin with the same chilly detachment that he brings to Amanda’s polite racism. (The Washingtons are Black.) Such dryness differentiates Alam from Mandel, whose visions of disaster have a more sorrowful resonance, and yet the two authors are charting similar territory: the place where realism and surrealism meet, and life “as we know it” dissipates into life as we’ve never imagined it could be.
“Where the Wild Ladies Are,” by Aoko Matsuda
You should read this book because it pairs the delicate eeriness of traditional Japanese folklore with a kooky, contemporary sensibility. Each of Matsuda’s stories updates an old tale about the ghosts and fox spirits known, in Japan, as yokai. Here, though, the yokai work alongside the living at a mysterious incense company. Matsuda’s agenda is mischievously feminist. She likens women’s potential to an otherworldly force—shape-shifting project managers complain about Japan’s glass ceiling—and her male characters tend to come off looking ridiculous. (“I don’t have any exceptional talents,” one helpfully says.) There is, too, an undertow of late-capitalist weariness: the workday, which makes spectres of the living, does not pause for the dead. The cheerful oddity of these tales reminded me of the writer Sianne Ngai’s theory of the “zany.” Zany art, Ngai suggests, blurs the line between play and labor, arousing feelings of suspicion, attraction, and exhaustion. But Matsuda’s book also possesses a simpler appeal: her yokai say things like “Okay, that’s cool,” and, sometimes, they lose their tempers. Ghosts: they’re just like us!
“The Office of Historical Corrections,” by Danielle Evans


newyorker--2020-12-17--A Sampling of the Best Shouts of 2020

A Sampling of the Best Shouts of 2020

I think I first came to understand that there was a global pandemic on by reading Shouts and cartoon submissions .
What was this sudden preoccupation with toilet paper ?
I wondered , in early March , before booking it to a store to buy four rolls—surely enough to last the duration .
Should I have been paying closer attention to the actual news ?
Probably .
Did I get to the point , many months in , where the only way I could bear to update myself on the state of the world was by reading jokes about it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to another point where I felt like I was losing my mind , cooped up , reading punchline after punchline about the apocalypse taking place right outside my window ?
You bet .
In other words , there ’ s been a lot of laugh-crying ’ round these parts .
But , thanks to the ever-adaptive , instantly responsive minds of the super-funny , it was not just permanent cry-crying ( which is very bad for one ’ s under-eye bags ) .
So , as you prepare for the countdown to 2021—when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump will revert to being a pumpkin—why not take a moment to cast a glance back over all that was satirizable about the bizarro year that was 2020 ?
“ Tips for Middle-Aged Women on How to Look Stunning in Photos , ” by Wendi Aarons The best filters to make your face look more youthful have names like “ Soft Focus , ” “ Vaseline , ” and “ Just Had Cataract Surgery.
” Stay away from any filter with a name like “ Natural , ” “ Aging Gracefully , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beautiful So I Don ’ t Give a Shit if You Do.
” “ The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ’ s Group Text , ” by Katie Barsotti and Alden Derck Death : I have , like , two birthday things on the other side of town that night , so I ’ ll keep you all posted .
Famine : Death , can I just get a ride with you ?
I think I ’ m going to the same b-day drinks .
Pestilence : O.K.
, but you each have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s , like , the whole deal .
Hello , 911 ?
I ’ ve been lying awake for an hour each night for the past eight months , reliving a two-second awkward experience I had in front of a casual acquaintance three years ago .
“ The Rules of My Apartment Building ’ s Laundry Room , ” by Kerry Elson If you find a black sock on a machine , leave it there .
Even if you realize that it is your sock , you can ’ t pick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Keep better track of your stuff .
This is a shared facility and now it ’ s everyone ’ s sock .
“ Dating Material : A Pop Quiz to Determine if You ’ re in a Relationship , ” by Olivia de Recat and Julia Edelman “ Winners Wake Up Early : Every Article I ’ ve Written About My Morning Routine , ” by Alex Baia “ What Time Do You Wake Up ?
Write It in the Comments and I Will Tell You Why You Are Bad and Lazy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Waker-er Upper Who Owns Not One but Two Vitamix Blenders ” “ Things Your Roomie Could , in Theory , Be Doing in There , ” by Taylor Garron , with illustrations by Jeremy Nguyen Preparing for her second induction into the Guinness Book of Records , for Most Repulsive-Sounding Wet Coughs During an Eight-Hour Overnight Period .
“ Quarantine Tips from My Cat , ” by Nikki Palumbo Communicate with friends and family : Start screaming at 6 A.M. , for no reason , at anyone within hearing distance .
Yowl at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lie down on ) a computer keyboard .
Cry in front of the closed door to a room you ’ re not supposed to be in anyway .
Bite a phone .
Yell into your full bowl of food .
“ Sheltering in Place at My Parents ’ House , in Haikus , ” by Caroline Lazar “ The Existential Musings of My Rustic-Sourdough Starter , ” by Sophie Lucido Johnson “ Quarantine Chic : Why Not Try a Victorian Hair Style ?
, ” by Millie von Platen Slice the onions and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these aren ’ t onions , they ’ re apples .
Have they been apples this whole time ?
Is there that big of a difference between an apple and an onion , anyway ?
“ Now Is the Time to Cherish the Little Things , by Jeff Bezos , ” by Jeremy Beiler I know it can be tempting to check the news constantly , to worry yourself to sleep about vital workers not getting basic protections as their bosses thrive financially and , frankly , physically .
But , instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear your mind , and , any time you feel anxiety bubbling up , just remind yourself that you could buy an Audi every minute for the rest of your life—that ’ s more than a thousand Audis a day—and still have more money than anyone else in the solar system .
“ Some of Your Third-Grade Friend Alex Quiply ’ s Best Lies , ” by Kyle Mooney • “ The police sometimes ask my dad for his help to solve crimes.
” • “ There is a tunnel under my house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can steal candy , if you guys need it.
” • “ Some of your favorite video games are based on drawings that I did .
”

I think I first came to understand that there was a global pandemic on by reading Shouts and cartoon submissions. What was this sudden preoccupation with toilet paper? I wondered, in early March, before booking it to a store to buy four rolls—surely enough to last the duration. Should I have been paying closer attention to the actual news? Probably. Did I get to the point, many months in, where the only way I could bear to update myself on the state of the world was by reading jokes about it? Yes. Did I then get to another point where I felt like I was losing my mind, cooped up, reading punchline after punchline about the apocalypse taking place right outside my window? You bet.
2020 in Review New Yorker writers reflect on the year’s highs and lows.
In other words, there’s been a lot of laugh-crying ’round these parts. But, thanks to the ever-adaptive, instantly responsive minds of the super-funny, it was not just permanent cry-crying (which is very bad for one’s under-eye bags). So, as you prepare for the countdown to 2021—when, at the stroke of midnight, Trump will revert to being a pumpkin—why not take a moment to cast a glance back over all that was satirizable about the bizarro year that was 2020?
“Tips for Middle-Aged Women on How to Look Stunning in Photos,” by Wendi Aarons
The best filters to make your face look more youthful have names like “Soft Focus,” “Vaseline,” and “Just Had Cataract Surgery.” Stay away from any filter with a name like “Natural,” “Aging Gracefully,” or “God Thinks I’m Beautiful So I Don’t Give a Shit if You Do.”
“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’s Group Text,” by Katie Barsotti and Alden Derck
Death: I have, like, two birthday things on the other side of town that night, so I’ll keep you all posted.
Famine: Death, can I just get a ride with you? I think I’m going to the same b-day drinks.
Pestilence: O.K., but you each have to be on a different horse. That’s, like, the whole deal.
“Hello, 911?,” by Samantha Irby
Hello, 911? I’ve been lying awake for an hour each night for the past eight months, reliving a two-second awkward experience I had in front of a casual acquaintance three years ago.
“The Rules of My Apartment Building’s Laundry Room,” by Kerry Elson
If you find a black sock on a machine, leave it there. Even if you realize that it is your sock, you can’t pick it up. That’s it. Keep better track of your stuff. This is a shared facility and now it’s everyone’s sock.
“Dating Material: A Pop Quiz to Determine if You’re in a Relationship,” by Olivia de Recat and Julia Edelman
“Winners Wake Up Early: Every Article I’ve Written About My Morning Routine,” by Alex Baia
“What Time Do You Wake Up? Write It in the Comments and I Will Tell You Why You Are Bad and Lazy Compared with Me, a 3:15 A.M. Waker-er Upper Who Owns Not One but Two Vitamix Blenders”
“Things Your Roomie Could, in Theory, Be Doing in There,” by Taylor Garron, with illustrations by Jeremy Nguyen
Preparing for her second induction into the Guinness Book of Records, for Most Repulsive-Sounding Wet Coughs During an Eight-Hour Overnight Period.
“Quarantine Tips from My Cat,” by Nikki Palumbo
Communicate with friends and family: Start screaming at 6 A.M., for no reason, at anyone within hearing distance. Yowl at the birds. Walk across (or lie down on) a computer keyboard. Cry in front of the closed door to a room you’re not supposed to be in anyway. Bite a phone. Yell into your full bowl of food.
“Sheltering in Place at My Parents’ House, in Haikus,” by Caroline Lazar
I see you’re busy
Texting. Could I please dip your
phone in bleach to clean?
“The Existential Musings of My Rustic-Sourdough Starter,” by Sophie Lucido Johnson
“Quarantine Chic: Why Not Try a Victorian Hair Style?,” by Millie von Platen
“America!: Dr. Fauci Reads a Bedtime Story to Anxious Adults,” by Ali Fitzgerald
“Quarantine Stew,” by Ethan Kuperberg


newyorker--2020-12-17--The Rise and Collapse of the Grand Old Party

The Republican and Democratic Parties can seem like permanent institutions , but their agendas today bear little resemblance to what @ @ @ @ @ Political parties have repeatedly died out in American politics , often after periods of instability @ @ @ @ @ joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss how drastically the two major parties have changed over time @ @ @ @ @ wrecked the G.O.P .

Photograph by Zack Wittman / Bloomberg / Getty
The Republican and Democratic Parties can seem like permanent institutions, but their agendas today bear little resemblance to what they once stood for. Political parties have repeatedly died out in American politics, often after periods of instability and infighting. Jelani Cobb joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss how drastically the two major parties have changed over time, and whether Trumpism has wrecked the G.O.P.
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