newyorker--2020-09-07--“Mulan” Star Jason Scott Lee Is Recovering from COVID-19

Last week , just before the release of “ Mulan , ” Disney ’ s live-action remake of its 1998 animated feature about a girl warrior who saves imperial China from invading avengers , Jason Scott Lee , who plays the chief avenger , was relaxing at home , in Hawaii .
His “ Mulan ” character , Böri Khan , has flowing locks , a scarred face , eyeliner , and a furious expression ; he ’ s often seen thundering across a dusty plain , screaming .
Lee himself has a more affable vibe .
That day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ T-shirt and a baseball cap with sunglasses on the brim ; his living room has a colorful Tibetan thangka hanging , a green wall , and an orange couch .
“ It looks like Pee-wee Herman ’ s house , ” Lee said , cheerfully .
Occasionally , a tiny girl in a pink shirt that said “ Shh !
I need my beauty rest ” ran in to cuddle .
In the nineties , “ Mulan , ” full of sweeping vistas and inspiring songs , was a breakthrough of sorts : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power and focussed entirely on Asian characters , even if one , voiced by Eddie Murphy , was a wisecracking dragon named Mushu .
In the new movie , directed by Niki Caro , Mulan ( Liu Yifei ) has a female enemy-warrior-mentor ( Gong Li ) who says things like “ Stronger together ” and can turn into a flock of birds .
Lee ’ s character has evolved , too .
“ In contrast to the animation , where the bad guy was a big , hulking monster , we tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , cutting , with a purpose , ” Lee said .
Caro ( “ Whale Rider ” ) is from New Zealand , where much of “ Mulan ” was filmed , and for inspiration she sent Lee to a master of the Maori warrior dance , the haka .
“ It turned out he was an old friend of mine , ” Lee said .
“ I have a lot of Maori ties .
He got me immersed in the land and what the haka were about.
” Like the Maori , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something about imperialist land grabs : that ’ s what he ’ s trying to avenge .
Lee , fifty-three , and his family live on a twenty-five-acre mountaintop farm ; he bought the property two decades ago , after a cousin alerted him to it .
“ Hawaiians aren ’ t given land very readily , so we have to buy it back , ” he said , smiling .
He grew up on Oahu , in a family of seven ; his parents are of Cantonese and Hawaiian descent .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ going to the movie theatre was always a special luxury , not an everyday or even a monthly occurrence.
” Asian-Americans in prominent roles were rare , with a key exception : the kung-fu master Bruce Lee .
“ He was a God , ” Lee said .
“ He just jumped off the screen.
” Later , in his own career , opportunities were limited : bit parts on “ Matlock ” and “ The A-Team , ” after-school specials .
Then , in 1992 , producers asked him to star @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was shocked , ” Lee said .
“ I didn ’ t even want to attempt it.
” He also didn ’ t do martial arts .
But he learned , and in “ Dragon : The Bruce Lee Story , ” from 1993 , he flickers between easy , enthusiastic grace and oiled-up action-movie intensity .
Other big roles followed : Mowgli , in Disney ’ s 1994 live-action “ Jungle Book ” ( “ Baloo hit me in the chest with his snout ” ) ; Aladdin , in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kindly Hawaiian surfer ( “ So , you ’ re from outer space , huh ?
I heard the surfing ’ s choice !
” ) , in Disney ’ s “ Lilo & Stitch.
” His relationship with martial arts has continued .
“ After a while , it becomes a part of you , ” he said .
Lee went outside : bright-blue sky , lush vegetation .
“ It ’ s up in the rain forest , yeah ?
” he said .
“ There ’ s a very specific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finch-like ’ elepaio— “ and I fell in love with that.
” He headed toward a greenhouse .
“ This is some Kahili ginger , yellow flowers in bloom .
It ’ s kind of a pain in the butt , because it grows so rapidly up here .
Here ’ s some of my old tomato trellises and stuff.
” Lee ’ s garden is overgrown .
In recent years , he and his family have lived in Singapore , and then in San Diego .
In the spring , when “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he went to London for the première and came back with Covid .
( Others did , too ; “ Mulan ” ’ s eventual release was streaming only . )
He recovered , and the family returned to Hawaii indefinitely— “ The kids can run around ” —and , now that his energy is back , he ’ s gardening again .
“ I ’ m trying a new strain of taro , ” he said .
“ Blueberries—they ’ re kind of fickle.
” He continued on : mamaki tree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hapu ’ u tree ferns , rainwater-fed reservoir .
Gardening , too , becomes a part of you .
“ A few years ago , I did this documentary ” — “ Secrets of Shaolin with Jason Scott Lee ” — “ at Shaolin Temple , in China , ” Lee said .
“ The medicine guy said , ‘ I suggest you do less kung fu and more meditative work.
’ The gardening motions with the hand tools I use are similar to the martial arts—the posture , the breathing , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s more of a noncombative feeling of poetry in motion.
” He laughed .
“ And , getting older , I feel like it ’ s easier on the joints.
” ♦

Jason Scott Lee Illustration by João Fazenda
Last week, just before the release of “Mulan,” Disney’s live-action remake of its 1998 animated feature about a girl warrior who saves imperial China from invading avengers, Jason Scott Lee, who plays the chief avenger, was relaxing at home, in Hawaii. His “Mulan” character, Böri Khan, has flowing locks, a scarred face, eyeliner, and a furious expression; he’s often seen thundering across a dusty plain, screaming. Lee himself has a more affable vibe. That day, he was clean-shaven, in a teal-blue T-shirt and a baseball cap with sunglasses on the brim; his living room has a colorful Tibetan thangka hanging, a green wall, and an orange couch. “It looks like Pee-wee Herman’s house,” Lee said, cheerfully. Occasionally, a tiny girl in a pink shirt that said “Shh! I need my beauty rest” ran in to cuddle.
In the nineties, “Mulan,” full of sweeping vistas and inspiring songs, was a breakthrough of sorts: a mainstream American movie fuelled by girl power and focussed entirely on Asian characters, even if one, voiced by Eddie Murphy, was a wisecracking dragon named Mushu. In the new movie, directed by Niki Caro, Mulan (Liu Yifei) has a female enemy-warrior-mentor (Gong Li) who says things like “Stronger together” and can turn into a flock of birds. Lee’s character has evolved, too. “In contrast to the animation, where the bad guy was a big, hulking monster, we tried to make him very sinewy, sharp, cutting, with a purpose,” Lee said. Caro (“Whale Rider”) is from New Zealand, where much of “Mulan” was filmed, and for inspiration she sent Lee to a master of the Maori warrior dance, the haka. “It turned out he was an old friend of mine,” Lee said. “I have a lot of Maori ties. He got me immersed in the land and what the haka were about.” Like the Maori, and the Hawaiians, Böri Khan knows something about imperialist land grabs: that’s what he’s trying to avenge.
Lee, fifty-three, and his family live on a twenty-five-acre mountaintop farm; he bought the property two decades ago, after a cousin alerted him to it. “Hawaiians aren’t given land very readily, so we have to buy it back,” he said, smiling. He grew up on Oahu, in a family of seven; his parents are of Cantonese and Hawaiian descent. As a kid, he went on, “going to the movie theatre was always a special luxury, not an everyday or even a monthly occurrence.” Asian-Americans in prominent roles were rare, with a key exception: the kung-fu master Bruce Lee. “He was a God,” Lee said. “He just jumped off the screen.” Later, in his own career, opportunities were limited: bit parts on “Matlock” and “The A-Team,” after-school specials. Then, in 1992, producers asked him to star in a bio-pic—of Bruce Lee.
“I was shocked,” Lee said. “I didn’t even want to attempt it.” He also didn’t do martial arts. But he learned, and in “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” from 1993, he flickers between easy, enthusiastic grace and oiled-up action-movie intensity. Other big roles followed: Mowgli, in Disney’s 1994 live-action “Jungle Book” (“Baloo hit me in the chest with his snout”); Aladdin, in an “Arabian Nights” miniseries; a kindly Hawaiian surfer (“So, you’re from outer space, huh? I heard the surfing’s choice!”), in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch.” His relationship with martial arts has continued. “After a while, it becomes a part of you,” he said.
Lee went outside: bright-blue sky, lush vegetation. “It’s up in the rain forest, yeah?” he said. “There’s a very specific, lilting birdsong here”—of the finch-like ’elepaio—“and I fell in love with that.” He headed toward a greenhouse. “This is some Kahili ginger, yellow flowers in bloom. It’s kind of a pain in the butt, because it grows so rapidly up here. Here’s some of my old tomato trellises and stuff.” Lee’s garden is overgrown. In recent years, he and his family have lived in Singapore, and then in San Diego. In the spring, when “Mulan” was supposed to come out, he went to London for the première and came back with Covid. (Others did, too; “Mulan” ’s eventual release was streaming only.) He recovered, and the family returned to Hawaii indefinitely—“The kids can run around”—and, now that his energy is back, he’s gardening again. “I’m trying a new strain of taro,” he said. “Blueberries—they’re kind of fickle.” He continued on: mamaki tree, curry-leaf tree, mulberry bush, Hapu’u tree ferns, rainwater-fed reservoir.
Gardening, too, becomes a part of you. “A few years ago, I did this documentary”—“Secrets of Shaolin with Jason Scott Lee”—“at Shaolin Temple, in China,” Lee said. “The medicine guy said, ‘I suggest you do less kung fu and more meditative work.’ The gardening motions with the hand tools I use are similar to the martial arts—the posture, the breathing, the relaxation.” He looked contemplative. “It’s more of a noncombative feeling of poetry in motion.” He laughed. “And, getting older, I feel like it’s easier on the joints.” ♦
More on the Coronavirus


newyorker--2020-09-07--Susanna Clarke’s Fantasy World of Interiors

Writing a book is like moving into an imaginary house .
The author , the sole inhabitant , wanders from room to room , choosing the furnishings , correcting imperfections , adding new wings .
Often , this space feels like a sanctuary .
But sometimes it is a ramshackle fixer-upper that consumes time rather than cash , or a claustrophobic haunted mansion whose intractable problems nearly drive its creator mad .
No one else can truly enter this house until the book is launched into the world , and once the work is completed the author becomes a kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there can only be remembered .
Certain books , particularly novels , invite many readers to inhabit their realms over and over again , and Susanna Clarke ’ s début , “ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell , ” published in 2004 , is one of those .
The novel , set in an alternative version of England during the Regency period , describes the partnership between two magicians and how it degenerates into rivalry .
Executed in an exquisite pastiche of the precise , ironical prose of Jane Austen , it reads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slice of an ongoing history ; although the book is more than eight hundred pages long , it feels as if it were a mere fragment of a fully imagined reality .
Clarke , who was born sixty years ago in Nottingham , began tinkering with the idea in 1992 , while living in Bilbao and teaching English , having abandoned a detective novel whose plot and crime she could never quite settle on .
In a recent conversation , Clarke , who lives in a cottage in Derbyshire , England , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I thought , I ’ m not going to do this anymore .
I ’ ve tried to be a writer , I can not do it.
” Then for a few weeks she came down with a mysterious illness that left her too tired to do much of anything .
At the city ’ s English-language bookstore , she bought a copy of “ The Lord of the Rings ” —whose author , J. R. R. Tolkien , whatever his differences from Austen , had a similar ability to envelop his readers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got me through the illness , ” she said .
“ I just read and read and read the whole thing.
” Clarke decided to try her hand at fantasy , specifically a story about English magic , rooted in the English landscape .
To do this successfully , she felt , she needed to return to Britain .
A decade later , “ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ” was published , with a degree of fanfare that startled Clarke and her husband , Colin Greenland , a novelist and a critic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the first doctorates awarded by the University of Oxford for a thesis on science fiction .
The couple had suspected that the novel ’ s appeal would be intense but “ niche , ” Greenland told me : “ We thought , Maybe a hundred and fifty people are going to read this , and love it.
” Instead , the book spent eleven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list .
After Clarke did an eighteen-city publicity tour in the U.S. in September , 2004 , her publisher asked her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a nine-city follow-up tour .
Greenland joined her both times .
The couple ’ s friend the novelist Neil Gaiman—who calls Clarke his favorite living fantasy writer and gave “ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ” a prepublication blurb declaring it “ unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ” —advised them to mail their dirty laundry home and , if necessary , buy new clothes on the road .
“ You will not be in a hotel long enough so that you can give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get it back at night , because by nightfall you will be in a different town , ” he told them .
Book promotion was exciting but , Clarke said , “ physically quite stressful.
” She added , “ And I always feel bad saying so , because I know that many writers would love the experience I had.
” The publicity campaign was largely over by Christmas .
The following March , Clarke and Greenland were dining at a friend ’ s house during a holiday elsewhere in Derbyshire when Clarke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home and go to bed .
“ She stood up and stepped away from her chair , ” Greenland recalled .
“ And , instead of walking around the table , she just crumpled .
She woke up , and got a little bit further around the room , and then collapsed again .
I can remember kneeling down with her on the floor.
” He ’ d never seen her faint before .
Clarke has not been entirely well since .
“ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell , ” meanwhile , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than four million copies worldwide , and in 2015 it was adapted into a miniseries by the BBC .
This month , Clarke is finally publishing a second novel , “ Piranesi.
” For the past fifteen years , she has suffered from an elusive , debilitating illness—seemingly , a vengeful return of the malady that had briefly afflicted her in Bilbao .
She has been given various diagnoses , including Lyme disease , Epstein-Barr virus , and chronic fatigue syndrome .
Her most constant symptom has been overwhelming exhaustion , joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and photosensitivity , as well as by nausea , for which she now takes medication daily .
At times , she said , bright sunshine has felt “ like an oppression , a weight leaning on me ” ; she often retreats to a darkened room .
In the late two-thousands , when her illness was at its worst , she was unable to get out of bed , experiencing depression , social anxiety , and agoraphobia .
During such episodes , she sometimes thought of a favorite book from her childhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Magician ’ s Nephew , ” in which the conniving of a malign sorcerer leaves two children stranded in the Wood Between the Worlds—a grove of trees and small pools , through which they can enter other universes .
The wood is , among other things , a metaphor for a library .
One of the places the children visit is the city of Charn , a landscape full of grand palaces but devoid of people .
“ I always liked Charn better than Lewis liked Charn , ” Clarke told me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she said , “ I found having people in the same street with me quite difficult to deal with .
Imagining that I was in Charn , that I was alone in a place like that , endless buildings but silent—I found that very calming.
” The similarity between Charn and the setting of Clarke ’ s new novel will occur to anyone who has read both books .
“ Piranesi ” is narrated by a man who doesn ’ t remember his own name .
He is the inhabitant of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multilevel succession of large marble halls linked by vestibules and stairways , and lined everywhere with statues .
The House ’ s lower halls are sometimes flooded with seawater , and the upper halls are filled with clouds that shed rain .
The middle level is the haunt of birds with whom the narrator often communes .
He is unaware of any world beyond the House , and believes that only fifteen humans have ever lived , thirteen of whom are dead .
He lovingly tends to the bones of the deceased , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowing , bringing them offerings of food and drink .
He subsists on fish , crustaceans , and seaweed , gathered from the House ’ s submerged level .
The only living human being the narrator knows is a well-dressed man he calls the Other .
The Other studies the House , believing that it contains “ a Great and Secret Knowledge ” that will bestow special powers on its possessors , including immortality , telepathy , and flight .
At one point , the Other nicknames the narrator Piranesi—a joke that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not know that another world exists , let alone that it once contained an eighteenth-century Italian artist famed for a series of etchings of magnificent , imaginary prisons .

Writing a book is like moving into an imaginary house. The author, the sole inhabitant, wanders from room to room, choosing the furnishings, correcting imperfections, adding new wings. Often, this space feels like a sanctuary. But sometimes it is a ramshackle fixer-upper that consumes time rather than cash, or a claustrophobic haunted mansion whose intractable problems nearly drive its creator mad. No one else can truly enter this house until the book is launched into the world, and once the work is completed the author becomes a kind of exile: the experience of living there can only be remembered.
Certain books, particularly novels, invite many readers to inhabit their realms over and over again, and Susanna Clarke’s début, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” published in 2004, is one of those. The novel, set in an alternative version of England during the Regency period, describes the partnership between two magicians and how it degenerates into rivalry. Executed in an exquisite pastiche of the precise, ironical prose of Jane Austen, it reads less like a novel than like a slice of an ongoing history; although the book is more than eight hundred pages long, it feels as if it were a mere fragment of a fully imagined reality. Clarke, who was born sixty years ago in Nottingham, began tinkering with the idea in 1992, while living in Bilbao and teaching English, having abandoned a detective novel whose plot and crime she could never quite settle on. In a recent conversation, Clarke, who lives in a cottage in Derbyshire, England, told me, of that period, “I thought, I’m not going to do this anymore. I’ve tried to be a writer, I cannot do it.” Then for a few weeks she came down with a mysterious illness that left her too tired to do much of anything. At the city’s English-language bookstore, she bought a copy of “The Lord of the Rings”—whose author, J. R. R. Tolkien, whatever his differences from Austen, had a similar ability to envelop his readers in a fictional world. “That got me through the illness,” she said. “I just read and read and read the whole thing.” Clarke decided to try her hand at fantasy, specifically a story about English magic, rooted in the English landscape. To do this successfully, she felt, she needed to return to Britain.
A decade later, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” was published, with a degree of fanfare that startled Clarke and her husband, Colin Greenland, a novelist and a critic who, in 1981, received one of the first doctorates awarded by the University of Oxford for a thesis on science fiction. The couple had suspected that the novel’s appeal would be intense but “niche,” Greenland told me: “We thought, Maybe a hundred and fifty people are going to read this, and love it.” Instead, the book spent eleven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. After Clarke did an eighteen-city publicity tour in the U.S. in September, 2004, her publisher asked her to return, three months later, for a nine-city follow-up tour. Greenland joined her both times.
The couple’s friend the novelist Neil Gaiman—who calls Clarke his favorite living fantasy writer and gave “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” a prepublication blurb declaring it “unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years”—advised them to mail their dirty laundry home and, if necessary, buy new clothes on the road. “You will not be in a hotel long enough so that you can give them your laundry in the morning and get it back at night, because by nightfall you will be in a different town,” he told them. Book promotion was exciting but, Clarke said, “physically quite stressful.” She added, “And I always feel bad saying so, because I know that many writers would love the experience I had.”
The publicity campaign was largely over by Christmas. The following March, Clarke and Greenland were dining at a friend’s house during a holiday elsewhere in Derbyshire when Clarke suddenly announced that she needed to go home and go to bed. “She stood up and stepped away from her chair,” Greenland recalled. “And, instead of walking around the table, she just crumpled. She woke up, and got a little bit further around the room, and then collapsed again. I can remember kneeling down with her on the floor.” He’d never seen her faint before. Clarke has not been entirely well since. “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” meanwhile, has continued to thrive: it has sold more than four million copies worldwide, and in 2015 it was adapted into a miniseries by the BBC.
This month, Clarke is finally publishing a second novel, “Piranesi.” For the past fifteen years, she has suffered from an elusive, debilitating illness—seemingly, a vengeful return of the malady that had briefly afflicted her in Bilbao. She has been given various diagnoses, including Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her most constant symptom has been overwhelming exhaustion, joined at times by migraines, brain fog, and photosensitivity, as well as by nausea, for which she now takes medication daily. At times, she said, bright sunshine has felt “like an oppression, a weight leaning on me”; she often retreats to a darkened room. In the late two-thousands, when her illness was at its worst, she was unable to get out of bed, experiencing depression, social anxiety, and agoraphobia. During such episodes, she sometimes thought of a favorite book from her childhood, C. S. Lewis’s “The Magician’s Nephew,” in which the conniving of a malign sorcerer leaves two children stranded in the Wood Between the Worlds—a grove of trees and small pools, through which they can enter other universes. The wood is, among other things, a metaphor for a library. One of the places the children visit is the city of Charn, a landscape full of grand palaces but devoid of people. “I always liked Charn better than Lewis liked Charn,” Clarke told me. In the depths of her illness, she said, “I found having people in the same street with me quite difficult to deal with. Imagining that I was in Charn, that I was alone in a place like that, endless buildings but silent—I found that very calming.”
As a writer, Clarke said, she feels more at home in the nineteenth century than she does in the present. Photograph by Robbie Lawrence for The New Yorker
The similarity between Charn and the setting of Clarke’s new novel will occur to anyone who has read both books. “Piranesi” is narrated by a man who doesn’t remember his own name. He is the inhabitant of what he calls the House: an infinite multilevel succession of large marble halls linked by vestibules and stairways, and lined everywhere with statues. The House’s lower halls are sometimes flooded with seawater, and the upper halls are filled with clouds that shed rain. The middle level is the haunt of birds with whom the narrator often communes. He is unaware of any world beyond the House, and believes that only fifteen humans have ever lived, thirteen of whom are dead. He lovingly tends to the bones of the deceased, whom he can’t recall ever knowing, bringing them offerings of food and drink. He subsists on fish, crustaceans, and seaweed, gathered from the House’s submerged level. The only living human being the narrator knows is a well-dressed man he calls the Other. The Other studies the House, believing that it contains “a Great and Secret Knowledge” that will bestow special powers on its possessors, including immortality, telepathy, and flight. At one point, the Other nicknames the narrator Piranesi—a joke that the narrator does not get, because he does not know that another world exists, let alone that it once contained an eighteenth-century Italian artist famed for a series of etchings of magnificent, imaginary prisons.
Confinement, a sensation lately and keenly familiar to a large portion of this world’s inhabitants, has long been a fact of life for Clarke. She and I communicated through Zoom, and as we peered at each other through playing-card-size windows on our laptops—she in a bronze-colored cardigan, and I with a mass of uncut hair jammed into a makeshift bun—she explained that the overstuffed leather sofa she was sitting on, with a de Chirico print on the wall behind it, is where she spends much of her day. The sofa was all I was able to see of the cottage, a snug two-bedroom place that Clarke and Greenland bought, in 2006, as a getaway from their main home, in Cambridge. Although they have occasionally visited Cambridge during the past five years, they have spent most of that time at the cottage. Greenland told me that they’ve found the calm of the Derbyshire countryside to be much easier on Clarke. He doesn’t drive, though, so they subscribe to a recipe-box service for meals, and neighbors help out with the shopping.
Often while I spoke to Clarke I could hear Greenland in the background, clinking dishes in the kitchen sink. Later, he told me that Clarke gets up much earlier than he does, and tries to write for the few hours when her energy is at its peak. By the afternoon, she needs to rest, and even in the morning her ability to participate in, say, a demanding conversation is limited to about an hour. She is very private about whatever she’s working on; in fact, she can be a little cagey about whether she’s working on anything at all. “She’s on her sofa with her laptop,” Greenland said. “And I don’t know if she’s playing a game, if she’s watching TV, if she’s writing e-mails, or if she’s working. It’s not apparent to me. She’s in her bubble. But what I do know is that, for a long while, she was too ill to write. And then, after that, she was writing fragments.”


newyorker--2020-09-07--Coffee with Sasquatch and a Couple of Robots

In 2011 , Don Moyer , a retired graphic designer , inherited a Blue Willow plate from his grandmother .
Moyer lives in Pittsburgh , on Mt .
Washington , and draws every day .
“ I got this plate and I was studying it , and I really kind of liked it , ” he said .
“ The design was very busy , like doodling—no place was at rest.
” He sketched the familiar scene in his notebook : willow tree , bridge , pagoda .
At the end , for no particular reason , he added a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with flying monkeys descending from the sky .
He drew one with zombie poodles and one with giant frogs .
Then he had the drawings made into blue-and-white porcelain plates , like his grandmother ’ s .
When people started buying them , he formed a company : Calamityware .
During the pandemic , sales at Calamityware have soared .
In May , the company sold as much as it would in a typical holiday month , with customers especially drawn to a mug titled “ Things Could Be Worse.
” “ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lynnette Kelley , the firm ’ s business manager , said .
Kelley and her husband , Jack , who is in charge of marketing and the Web site , are Calamityware ’ s only employees besides Moyer ; they live twenty minutes down the road .
When face masks became mandatory in some states , they sold out of the bandannas that Moyer had been making .
( Dragons eating pizza ; robot uprisings . )
“ That was just dumb luck , ” Jack said .
The “ Things Could Be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disasters on the traditional Blue Willow background .
There ’ s a Sasquatch on a decorative bridge , a U.F.O.
, and a blob monster menacing a pagoda .
Each mug comes with a card .
“ Everyone has bad days .
You lose your keys .
You lose your job .
You lose your superpowers , ” it reads .
“ This mug helps you cope with hard times by reminding you that things could be much worse .
You could also be pursued by giant robots , plagued by pterodactyls , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Cheer up.
” Sue Shock , an editorial assistant in New London , New Hampshire , found the mug online while researching a Blue Willow pattern that she remembered from a children ’ s book .
“ When the calamity actually hit , I thought , Oh , my God , this is perfect !
” she said .
She bought a mug for each of her three grown children , who live in different places .
“ I sent them a note that said , ‘ Now we can all be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same mug , thinking , It could be worse.
” On family Quaran-Tea nights on Zoom , she sometimes fills hers with a rum daiquiri .
Valissa Johnson , a librarian in Greensboro , North Carolina , found Calamityware on Facebook while checking on relatives .
Johnson collects china .
“ I thought , Oh , this is so cute and witty .
The whole idea of : How bad could it get ?
” she said .
During the next few weeks , her library shut down , and the restaurant where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Things Could Be Worse ” mug arrived , she was at her parents ’ house helping them prepare for the lockdown .
“ It was a moment of : Wow , it ’ s scary , and it ’ s weird , but look how bad it could be , ” she said .
Amanda Wheeler and Reilly Jennings , who live in Washington Heights , in Manhattan , received a “ Things Could Be Worse ” mug as a wedding gift .
They had planned to marry in front of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they moved the date up when New York began shutting down .
An ordained friend officiated from his fourth-floor window while they stood on the sidewalk .
A few days later , the mug showed up .
“ We were stoked , ” Wheeler said .
“ It ’ s just , like , no matter how bad things are , you could be getting chased by a giant frog right now.
” Recently , on a video call at home in Pittsburgh , Moyer held up a side plate featuring a giant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ He ’ s a true pessimist , ” Lynnette had said earlier . )
He showed off some recent designs : apes and aliens waiting at airport security , a print of angry paisley swirls ( “ Peeved Paisleys ” ) , studies for a stink eye .
“ The intent is always to try to make myself laugh , ” he said , before signing off .
He was working on a sea-monster puzzle and had to go .
♦

In 2011, Don Moyer, a retired graphic designer, inherited a Blue Willow plate from his grandmother. Moyer lives in Pittsburgh, on Mt. Washington, and draws every day. “I got this plate and I was studying it, and I really kind of liked it,” he said. “The design was very busy, like doodling—no place was at rest.” He sketched the familiar scene in his notebook: willow tree, bridge, pagoda. At the end, for no particular reason, he added a small pterodactyl. He drew another version with flying monkeys descending from the sky. He drew one with zombie poodles and one with giant frogs. Then he had the drawings made into blue-and-white porcelain plates, like his grandmother’s. When people started buying them, he formed a company: Calamityware.
During the pandemic, sales at Calamityware have soared. In May, the company sold as much as it would in a typical holiday month, with customers especially drawn to a mug titled “Things Could Be Worse.” “The mug is our biggest seller,” Lynnette Kelley, the firm’s business manager, said. Kelley and her husband, Jack, who is in charge of marketing and the Web site, are Calamityware’s only employees besides Moyer; they live twenty minutes down the road. When face masks became mandatory in some states, they sold out of the bandannas that Moyer had been making. (Dragons eating pizza; robot uprisings.) “That was just dumb luck,” Jack said.
The “Things Could Be Worse” mug features an array of disasters on the traditional Blue Willow background. There’s a Sasquatch on a decorative bridge, a U.F.O., and a blob monster menacing a pagoda. Each mug comes with a card. “Everyone has bad days. You lose your keys. You lose your job. You lose your superpowers,” it reads. “This mug helps you cope with hard times by reminding you that things could be much worse. You could also be pursued by giant robots, plagued by pterodactyls, pestered by zombie poodles, and worse. Cheer up.”
Sue Shock, an editorial assistant in New London, New Hampshire, found the mug online while researching a Blue Willow pattern that she remembered from a children’s book. “When the calamity actually hit, I thought, Oh, my God, this is perfect!” she said. She bought a mug for each of her three grown children, who live in different places. “I sent them a note that said, ‘Now we can all be drinking our tea or coffee with the same mug, thinking, It could be worse.” On family Quaran-Tea nights on Zoom, she sometimes fills hers with a rum daiquiri.
Valissa Johnson, a librarian in Greensboro, North Carolina, found Calamityware on Facebook while checking on relatives. Johnson collects china. “I thought, Oh, this is so cute and witty. The whole idea of: How bad could it get?” she said. During the next few weeks, her library shut down, and the restaurant where her husband works closed. When her “Things Could Be Worse” mug arrived, she was at her parents’ house helping them prepare for the lockdown. “It was a moment of: Wow, it’s scary, and it’s weird, but look how bad it could be,” she said.
Amanda Wheeler and Reilly Jennings, who live in Washington Heights, in Manhattan, received a “Things Could Be Worse” mug as a wedding gift. They had planned to marry in front of their friends and family in October, but they moved the date up when New York began shutting down. An ordained friend officiated from his fourth-floor window while they stood on the sidewalk. A few days later, the mug showed up. “We were stoked,” Wheeler said. “It’s just, like, no matter how bad things are, you could be getting chased by a giant frog right now.”
Recently, on a video call at home in Pittsburgh, Moyer held up a side plate featuring a giant snail crushing an ornate garden. (“He’s a true pessimist,” Lynnette had said earlier.) He showed off some recent designs: apes and aliens waiting at airport security, a print of angry paisley swirls (“Peeved Paisleys”), studies for a stink eye. “The intent is always to try to make myself laugh,” he said, before signing off. He was working on a sea-monster puzzle and had to go. ♦
More on the Coronavirus


The Mail

I was impressed by William Finnegan ’ s cogent article about the New York City police unions ( “ The Blue Wall , ” August 3rd & 10th ) .
I have been following N.Y.P.D .
issues for nearly thirty years , first as an executive at the New York City corporation counsel ’ s office , and then as a civil-rights lawyer suing N.Y.P.D .
officers .
Unfortunately , police unions are not the only problem—just the loudest .
Many governmental agencies have worked for decades to protect police officers from public scrutiny and accountability .
Among the worst @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Department , led by a cadre of hard-liners whose super-aggressive tactics have prompted several federal judges to rebuke or sanction city lawyers ; city comptrollers , who routinely approve millions of dollars in settlements against the police but never condition that approval on discipline of the officers ; the City Council , which has failed to enact the stiffer disciplinary penalties demanded fifty years ago by the Knapp Commission ; the state legislature , which has not repealed an outdated law , in place since 1940 , that gives hearing officers controlled by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proceedings ; the city ’ s district attorneys , who regularly dismiss cases on the basis of false police reports but never indict the officers who lied in those reports ; and the civilian complaint-review board and the office of the inspector general , agencies that are weak and ineffectual .
As for the unions , at least their power has waned , owing to the changing demographics of the city .
Today , the police unions have very little electoral strength ; their political influence is limited to a smattering of voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And , with the Democratic takeover of the State Senate , they can no longer cling to power by throwing money at Republican state senators .
One must hope that the diminishment of their electoral strength will result in the elections of mayors , comptrollers , City Council members , state legislators , and district attorneys who will call for genuine N.Y.P.D .
accountability and transparency .
Amia Srinivasan , in her chilling piece about the slaughter and despoliation of whale populations and the pollution of their ocean habitats , writes that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” in our culture “ from whales as an extractive resource to whales as symbols of a global inheritance ” ( A Critic at Large , August 24th ) .
As Melville showed in “ Moby-Dick , ” the whale is a metaphor , a microcosm , and a mystery all in one .
The creature reflects our greed and our mercantile obsessions ( Ahab ’ s bloodlust ) ; contains , literally and horribly , the products of our industrial-capitalist system , such as the plastics it ingests ; and reminds us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we still can not contain , replicate , or commodify .
Srinivasan imagines surfing amid whales and feeling a terror turn into a thrill .
The one time I was near a whale—on a whale-watching trip off the coast of Nova Scotia—I was struck with a different feeling : unease and dissatisfaction .
As I stared out at the leviathan , I wondered what I was doing there , bobbing on the surface of its world .
I felt intrusive , like a voyeur .
We have no right to the whales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be sent with the writer ’ s name , address , and daytime phone number via e-mail to themail @ newyorker.com .
Letters may be edited for length and clarity , and may be published in any medium .
We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we can not reply to every letter .

What Hinders Police Reform?
I was impressed by William Finnegan’s cogent article about the New York City police unions (“The Blue Wall,” August 3rd & 10th). I have been following N.Y.P.D. issues for nearly thirty years, first as an executive at the New York City corporation counsel’s office, and then as a civil-rights lawyer suing N.Y.P.D. officers.
Unfortunately, police unions are not the only problem—just the loudest. Many governmental agencies have worked for decades to protect police officers from public scrutiny and accountability. Among the worst enablers are the New York City Law Department, led by a cadre of hard-liners whose super-aggressive tactics have prompted several federal judges to rebuke or sanction city lawyers; city comptrollers, who routinely approve millions of dollars in settlements against the police but never condition that approval on discipline of the officers; the City Council, which has failed to enact the stiffer disciplinary penalties demanded fifty years ago by the Knapp Commission; the state legislature, which has not repealed an outdated law, in place since 1940, that gives hearing officers controlled by the police commissioner sole jurisdiction over disciplinary proceedings; the city’s district attorneys, who regularly dismiss cases on the basis of false police reports but never indict the officers who lied in those reports; and the civilian complaint-review board and the office of the inspector general, agencies that are weak and ineffectual.
As for the unions, at least their power has waned, owing to the changing demographics of the city. Today, the police unions have very little electoral strength; their political influence is limited to a smattering of voters in certain areas of Staten Island. And, with the Democratic takeover of the State Senate, they can no longer cling to power by throwing money at Republican state senators. One must hope that the diminishment of their electoral strength will result in the elections of mayors, comptrollers, City Council members, state legislators, and district attorneys who will call for genuine N.Y.P.D. accountability and transparency.
Joel Berger
New York City
The Ruination of Whales
Amia Srinivasan, in her chilling piece about the slaughter and despoliation of whale populations and the pollution of their ocean habitats, writes that there has been a “mass gestalt shift” in our culture “from whales as an extractive resource to whales as symbols of a global inheritance” (A Critic at Large, August 24th). As Melville showed in “Moby-Dick,” the whale is a metaphor, a microcosm, and a mystery all in one. The creature reflects our greed and our mercantile obsessions (Ahab’s bloodlust); contains, literally and horribly, the products of our industrial-capitalist system, such as the plastics it ingests; and reminds us that there is so much in nature that we still cannot contain, replicate, or commodify.
Srinivasan imagines surfing amid whales and feeling a terror turn into a thrill. The one time I was near a whale—on a whale-watching trip off the coast of Nova Scotia—I was struck with a different feeling: unease and dissatisfaction. As I stared out at the leviathan, I wondered what I was doing there, bobbing on the surface of its world. I felt intrusive, like a voyeur. We have no right to the whales or to their space.
Brian Gibson
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
•
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to themail@newyorker.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.


Cartoon Caption Contest

Each week , we provide a cartoon in need of a caption .
You , the reader , submit your @ @ @ @ @ three finalists , and you vote for your favorite .
Anyone age thirteen or older @ @ @ @ @ To read the complete rules , click here .

Each week, we provide a cartoon in need of a caption. You, the reader, submit your caption here, we choose three finalists, and you vote for your favorite. Anyone age thirteen or older can enter or vote. To read the complete rules, click here.
Mick Stevens Copy link to cartoon Copy link to cartoon Shop Shop


newyorker--2020-09-06--Andre Iguodala on Activism and the N.B.A.

On August 26th , after the shooting of Jacob Blake , in Wisconsin , the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play their scheduled game against the Orlando Magic .
The Bucks were one of the thirteen N.B.A .
teams remaining in the playoff “ bubble ” in Orlando ; after the Buck ’ s decision , all the teams held an impromptu meeting and agreed to stop play until the league and its owners agreed to specific commitments on racial justice and voting access .
By Saturday , the N.B.A .
had struck a deal with the players : several N.B.A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arenas as voting sites , and the league committed to setting up a social-justice coalition , which will focus on voting rights , civic engagement , and criminal-justice reform .
The N.B.A .
has long had an image as the most progressive professional sports league , which has allowed it to avoid some of the pitfalls that have damaged the N.F.L.
’ s reputation ( if not its ratings ) , but the activism of the N.B.A.
’ s players now means that it is one of the most influential organizations in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights .
During the player meetings last week , one of the most prominent voices was Andre Iguodala , the first vice-president of the N.B.A .
players ’ union .
Iguodala is currently a forward with the Miami Heat , and he was previously a member of three Golden State Warriors championship teams .
Last year , Iguodala published a memoir , “ The Sixth Man , ” which recounts his life from his childhood in Springfield , Illinois , to his years with the Warriors ; it also addresses the racial dynamics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changing role of athletes in our so-called player-empowerment era .
Iguodala and I spoke by phone on Tuesday , as he was preparing for the Heat ’ s second game against the Bucks .
During our conversation , which has been edited for length and clarity , we discussed how the players came to their decision to strike , the complicated relationship between N.B.A .
players and fans , and whether Iguodala has any regrets about the N.B.A.-China controversy of last year .
Can you describe the scene last Wednesday ?
How did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ try to take it all in at once and breathe it through .
Obviously , it was a tough decision for the Bucks , and I think we all tried to think it through .
There was a lot going on and a lot of emotions , and so you saw the other teams follow suit right afterward .
We were showing our support—not just to the Bucks but to the whole league .
There had been some discussions about different ways we could try to help our communities , and we always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , being African-American men .
And there is that weight being thrown on us , and a lot of guys have to shoulder that—a lot of successful African-American men .
So you just try to figure out ways to process it , and I think we did a good job of coming together and meeting that quickly .
Obviously , we are all here , but guys got in a room for a last-second meeting .
People tend to talk about this as players versus owners , or players versus league , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the players ?
Did people want to go home and take a lot of persuading ?
I don ’ t think it was a sense of people wanting to go home .
I think it was a sense of : what is your place in the world ?
Ta-Nehisi Coates asks that in his books .
African-Americans are trying to search for ourselves and ask where we stand in the world and where we stand in America .
And we don ’ t know .
We shoulder a lot of the burdens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of that responsibility should fall on the majority , and those who are the lawmakers and who are supposed to insure that every man and woman is treated as an equal .
But we still haven ’ t seen that .
So we are still searching for our place .
Your book has some passages about the racial issues involved when you have a group of largely black men being screamed at by thousands of white fans .
What were you trying to get across ?
It ’ s entertainment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people , and a lot of people escape the issues through us .
So it is tough for them to really digest some of the responsibilities we have .
When we say basketball isn ’ t the most important thing to us right now because of our communities , people have a tough time connecting to that , because I think athletes are often an escape for them .
There is a community within sports , and I think that gets lost in translation when we are standing up for something .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at sports , because we are standing up for our communities .
I thought you were also trying to get across that when you are playing and being yelled at , sometimes by hostile fans , that this has made you think about American racial history .
Yeah .
It is a very , very sensitive time we are in right now , and it is hard to express that , because a lot of our quotes are being misconstrued or taken out of context .
So , when you say something like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Look at this guy making fifteen or thirty millions dollars per year , and he is calling fans racist.
” So you keep it P.C .
The words “ politically correct ” are thrown around in sports all the time , but you can ’ t take politics out of sports .
That ’ s the mental side you have to navigate through , and a majority of athletes struggle with that .
Maybe they can ’ t break it down like I just did or connect the dots the way I just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking care of their families or counting their blessings , and they are fortunate , but all those things get thrown at you to keep you from figuring these things out on your own , in terms of the history of America .
Your book talked a lot about players getting involved in business and using their own brands , and then I recently saw a quote from you talking about a connection between racism and capitalism .
Has your own point of view changed in the past year ?
I think it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reading a lot , and taking a lot of information and knowledge in , and the word “ hypocrite ” gets thrown around a lot , but , as you get older , you should be changing .
What leader throughout the decades has the same viewpoints over and over again ?
It is about continued growth , and I think I have shown growth .
Like I said , I am trying to find my place in the world , and I think gathering knowledge is the best course of action to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been a lot of talk about owners and social change .
Do you think that players will want to make decisions going forward about whom they play for based on owners ’ commitments , or things like supporting Trump ?
That ’ s an interesting question .
Time will tell .
Historically , money determines a lot of our actions .
Do we stand up for something or take the money ?
We will always get caught in those crosshairs .
But I think players are smartening up , and I think that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of guys .
So time will tell .

On August 26th, after the shooting of Jacob Blake, in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play their scheduled game against the Orlando Magic. The Bucks were one of the thirteen N.B.A. teams remaining in the playoff “bubble” in Orlando; after the Buck’s decision, all the teams held an impromptu meeting and agreed to stop play until the league and its owners agreed to specific commitments on racial justice and voting access. By Saturday, the N.B.A. had struck a deal with the players: several N.B.A. teams agreed to open up their arenas as voting sites, and the league committed to setting up a social-justice coalition, which will focus on voting rights, civic engagement, and criminal-justice reform. The N.B.A. has long had an image as the most progressive professional sports league, which has allowed it to avoid some of the pitfalls that have damaged the N.F.L.’s reputation (if not its ratings), but the activism of the N.B.A.’s players now means that it is one of the most influential organizations in the country calling attention to racism and civil rights.
During the player meetings last week, one of the most prominent voices was Andre Iguodala, the first vice-president of the N.B.A. players’ union. Iguodala is currently a forward with the Miami Heat, and he was previously a member of three Golden State Warriors championship teams. Last year, Iguodala published a memoir, “The Sixth Man,” which recounts his life from his childhood in Springfield, Illinois, to his years with the Warriors; it also addresses the racial dynamics of many fan-player interactions, and the changing role of athletes in our so-called player-empowerment era.
Iguodala and I spoke by phone on Tuesday, as he was preparing for the Heat’s second game against the Bucks. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed how the players came to their decision to strike, the complicated relationship between N.B.A. players and fans, and whether Iguodala has any regrets about the N.B.A.-China controversy of last year.
Can you describe the scene last Wednesday? How did it play out?
I think you try to take it all in at once and breathe it through. Obviously, it was a tough decision for the Bucks, and I think we all tried to think it through. There was a lot going on and a lot of emotions, and so you saw the other teams follow suit right afterward. We were showing our support—not just to the Bucks but to the whole league. There had been some discussions about different ways we could try to help our communities, and we always seem to get thrown in these situations, being African-American men. And there is that weight being thrown on us, and a lot of guys have to shoulder that—a lot of successful African-American men. So you just try to figure out ways to process it, and I think we did a good job of coming together and meeting that quickly. Obviously, we are all here, but guys got in a room for a last-second meeting.
People tend to talk about this as players versus owners, or players versus league, but what were the different points of view of the players? Did people want to go home and take a lot of persuading?
I don’t think it was a sense of people wanting to go home. I think it was a sense of: what is your place in the world? Ta-Nehisi Coates asks that in his books. African-Americans are trying to search for ourselves and ask where we stand in the world and where we stand in America. And we don’t know. We shoulder a lot of the burdens of our community, but I think a lot of that responsibility should fall on the majority, and those who are the lawmakers and who are supposed to insure that every man and woman is treated as an equal. But we still haven’t seen that. So we are still searching for our place.
Your book has some passages about the racial issues involved when you have a group of largely black men being screamed at by thousands of white fans. What were you trying to get across?
It’s entertainment. We are the release for a lot of people, and a lot of people escape the issues through us. So it is tough for them to really digest some of the responsibilities we have. When we say basketball isn’t the most important thing to us right now because of our communities, people have a tough time connecting to that, because I think athletes are often an escape for them. There is a community within sports, and I think that gets lost in translation when we are standing up for something. The word “political” gets thrown at sports, because we are standing up for our communities.
I thought you were also trying to get across that when you are playing and being yelled at, sometimes by hostile fans, that this has made you think about American racial history.
Yeah. It is a very, very sensitive time we are in right now, and it is hard to express that, because a lot of our quotes are being misconstrued or taken out of context. So, when you say something like that, all you hear is “Look at this guy making fifteen or thirty millions dollars per year, and he is calling fans racist.” So you keep it P.C. The words “politically correct” are thrown around in sports all the time, but you can’t take politics out of sports. That’s the mental side you have to navigate through, and a majority of athletes struggle with that. Maybe they can’t break it down like I just did or connect the dots the way I just did, because they are focussing on taking care of their families or counting their blessings, and they are fortunate, but all those things get thrown at you to keep you from figuring these things out on your own, in terms of the history of America.
Your book talked a lot about players getting involved in business and using their own brands, and then I recently saw a quote from you talking about a connection between racism and capitalism. Has your own point of view changed in the past year?
I think it is just growth. I have been reading a lot, and taking a lot of information and knowledge in, and the word “hypocrite” gets thrown around a lot, but, as you get older, you should be changing. What leader throughout the decades has the same viewpoints over and over again? It is about continued growth, and I think I have shown growth. Like I said, I am trying to find my place in the world, and I think gathering knowledge is the best course of action to become a better person.
There has been a lot of talk about owners and social change. Do you think that players will want to make decisions going forward about whom they play for based on owners’ commitments, or things like supporting Trump?
That’s an interesting question. Time will tell. Historically, money determines a lot of our actions. Do we stand up for something or take the money? We will always get caught in those crosshairs. But I think players are smartening up, and I think that will come into play with a lot of guys. So time will tell.
You mentioned the word “hypocrisy,” and a lot of N.B.A. players were attacked for hypocrisy after the Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey, tweeted in support of Hong Kong. In hindsight, do you think you or other players should have responded differently?
Yeah, I honestly am not going to say just players, but I think a lot of Americans don’t have the best information to really make a sound opinion or decision or stance on that situation. I have been reading about it on my own. You look at TikTok, at Huawei, and you do the background work on what is happening with these companies and data and who is using the data or our people, and the new cold war is the tech war. It’s a tough situation because there isn’t enough information to make a sound stance on it.
The human-rights situation, too.
Right, exactly. I think we all know how information is put out on both sides, so you never know what is real and what is not, so I think it is best for us to continue to stand for people being treated equally, people being treated the right way, and all to seek the right information and get it.


newyorker--2020-09-07--Bette Midler and the Screenwriter Paul Rudnick on “Coastal Elites”

In the new film “ Coastal Elites , ” Bette Midler plays a New Yorker of a certain type : a retired teacher who lives on the Upper West Side , reads the New York Times with Talmudic attention , and is driven more than half mad by Donald Trump .
So much so that one day she picks a fight in a coffee shop with a guy wearing a red MAGA hat , and her monologue takes place when she ’ s in police custody .
The role isn ’ t too much of a stretch : she tells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trumps ’ apartment that she recalls as a nightmare , and , just days after this interview , Midler tweeted some ill-advised comments about Melania Trump ’ s accent that she had to apologize for .
Paul Rudnick wrote “ Coastal Elites ” as a series of monologues to be performed at the Public Theatre , but seeing no avenue to perform it during the pandemic , he reconceived of it as a film for HBO , starring big names like Kaitlyn Dever , Dan Levy , Sarah Paulson , and Issa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sad about the state of live theatre , Rudnick has no regrets about taking the show to television : “ You actually got closer than you would if it had been staged live in the theatre , ” he says .
“ You have the best possible seat in the house for a Bette Midler performance .
”

Download a transcript.|||
Courtesy HBO
In the new film “Coastal Elites,” Bette Midler plays a New Yorker of a certain type: a retired teacher who lives on the Upper West Side, reads the New York Times with Talmudic attention, and is driven more than half mad by Donald Trump. So much so that one day she picks a fight in a coffee shop with a guy wearing a red MAGA hat, and her monologue takes place when she’s in police custody. The role isn’t too much of a stretch: she tells David Remnick about a long-ago dinner at the Trumps’ apartment that she recalls as a nightmare, and, just days after this interview, Midler tweeted some ill-advised comments about Melania Trump’s accent that she had to apologize for. Paul Rudnick wrote “Coastal Elites” as a series of monologues to be performed at the Public Theatre, but seeing no avenue to perform it during the pandemic, he reconceived of it as a film for HBO, starring big names like Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy, Sarah Paulson, and Issa Rae. And while he’s sad about the state of live theatre, Rudnick has no regrets about taking the show to television: “You actually got closer than you would if it had been staged live in the theatre,” he says. “You have the best possible seat in the house for a Bette Midler performance.”


newyorker--2020-09-08--The New Yorker Festival Returns in Virtual Form, October 5th–11th

The New Yorker Festival is coming back for its twenty-first year—this time in a reimagined , virtual form .
As in the past , the 2020 Festival will feature talks , panel discussions , and performances with some of the most talented and influential figures of our time , from the worlds of politics , activism , literature , food , and entertainment .
For those in the New York City area , the Festival will also include an at-home culinary experience and a drive-in movie première .
Events will stream live online and be available for on-demand replay through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the full lineup and purchase tickets .
Subscribers to The New Yorker receive preferred pricing .
• The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , Anthony S. Fauci , talks with the staff writer Michael Specter .
• Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren talk with the staff writer Andrew Marantz .
• The writer Margaret Atwood talks with the staff writer Jia Tolentino .
• The creator of the FX series “ Fargo , ” Noah Hawley , and the comedian Chris Rock , who stars in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writer Doreen St. Félix .
• The host and creator of “ This American Life , ” Ira Glass , talks with the staff writer Malcolm Gladwell .
• The comedians Steve Martin and Jerry Seinfeld talk with the editor Susan Morrison .
• The pianist Emanuel Ax and the cellist Yo-Yo Ma talk with the music critic Alex Ross and perform .
• The actors Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph talk with the staff writer Michael Schulman .
• The musician Fiona Apple talks with the staff writer Emily Nussbaum and performs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ H. Holder , Jr. , and the president and director-counsel of the N.A.A.C.P .
Legal Defense and Educational Fund , Sherrilyn Ifill , talk with the staff writer Jelani Cobb .
• The writers Jonathan Franzen , Elizabeth Kolbert , and Bill McKibben discuss how to confront climate change with the staff writer Carolyn Kormann .
( This is a free community event . )
• The civil-rights lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative , Bryan Stevenson , talks with the writer and president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free community event . )
This year ’ s Festival will also feature a drive-in movie screening in Queens , showcasing the U.S. première of Regina King ’ s directorial début , “ One Night in Miami .
.
.
, ” about a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights involving Muhammad Ali , Malcolm X , Sam Cooke , and Jim Brown .
Afterward , King and Kemp Powers , who wrote the screenplay and the stage play on which the film is based , talk with The New Yorker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For those in New York City , there will be an event featuring a socially distanced twist on annual Festival excursions that explore the city ’ s culture .
Participants can order in a curated dinner , created specially for the Festival by the Harlem-based chefs Pierre Thiam , of Teranga , and JJ Johnson , of Fieldtrip .
A ticket includes streaming access to a conversation about the collaboration , featuring the chefs and moderated by the food critic Hannah Goldfield .
Digital passes are available for individual events and for access @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stream live on the Festival Web site at designated times , and will be available for on-demand replay .

The New Yorker Festival is coming back for its twenty-first year—this time in a reimagined, virtual form. As in the past, the 2020 Festival will feature talks, panel discussions, and performances with some of the most talented and influential figures of our time, from the worlds of politics, activism, literature, food, and entertainment. For those in the New York City area, the Festival will also include an at-home culinary experience and a drive-in movie première.
Events will stream live online and be available for on-demand replay through October 13th. Visit festival.newyorker.com to see the full lineup and purchase tickets. Subscribers to The New Yorker receive preferred pricing.
This year’s sessions include:
This year’s Festival will also feature a drive-in movie screening in Queens, showcasing the U.S. première of Regina King’s directorial début, “One Night in Miami . . .,” about a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights involving Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. Afterward, King and Kemp Powers, who wrote the screenplay and the stage play on which the film is based, talk with The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick.
For those in New York City, there will be an event featuring a socially distanced twist on annual Festival excursions that explore the city’s culture. Participants can order in a curated dinner, created specially for the Festival by the Harlem-based chefs Pierre Thiam, of Teranga, and JJ Johnson, of Fieldtrip. A ticket includes streaming access to a conversation about the collaboration, featuring the chefs and moderated by the food critic Hannah Goldfield.
Digital passes are available for individual events and for access all week long. Virtual events will stream live on the Festival Web site at designated times, and will be available for on-demand replay.


newyorker--2020-09-08--The North Atlantic Diet

The North Atlantic Diet

Although less popular than the glamorous Mediterranean Diet , the North Atlantic Diet is a great option for staying fit and healthy .
The North Atlantic Diet is more than just a health regimen ; it ’ s a total health system based on the life styles of swarthy eighteenth-century sea captains , near-insane lighthouse keepers , and stowaways who think only of revenge .
The North Atlantic Diet offers plentiful food options with good fats , whole grains , and lots of cod .
Fruits and vegetables are limited to the hardiest types—you can only eat apples that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family tree , or potatoes ( the wisest vegetables , as they know to hide underground and out of sight , where the cruelties of the world and its so-called God can not reach them ) .
This diet is a seafood-lover ’ s bounty : scallops , oysters , and mussels are just some of the many options you ’ ll find on the North Atlantic table .
One daily portion of seafood is suggested , and two daily portions of cod are required .
Lobster may be eaten once a week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you see in the mirror the face of someone whose money has left him soft-handed , floating above the muck and brine of the world and never knowing true misery but also never sipping from the cup of true relief .
For where the cold , foaming sea crashes the hardest , from there does it also retreat the farthest .
Such is the lot of the world , a dice roll of cruelty .
If necessary , lobster may be replaced with more cod .
The North Atlantic Diet lets you cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one pint glass per day of any liquor , so long as it is the same angry hue as the boiling North Atlantic .
Drinking more than this while on the diet may make sea air feel as cold as death itself , and you might begin to doubt that your son will ever return .
Exercise is an important part of any diet .
Swimming , rowing , staring into the far-off distance , and peg-leg cardio-kickboxing are all popular North Atlantic options .
A good rule of thumb is if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or having an experience that you will bury deep down and never speak of again , it ’ s diet-approved .
Replace all oils with cod oil , all fish with cod , and all milk with cod milk—it ’ s an acquired taste , but one you will come to love the longer you stay on the diet .
Every two weeks , fast for one day .
This is your “ Sonday , ” a day when you will sit with the dark fear that your son might well return , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form that you will see so little of your son left in him that he might as well have never returned at all .
On these fast days , you will dine only upon your sorrows .
If you are swallowed whole by a whale , you can eat whatever you like .
This is known as a “ Nantucket Cheat Day.
” Diets aren ’ t just about nutrition—they ’ re a chance to explore a different culture .
The Mediterranean Diet is about communal meals , shared with family and friends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dine alone , preferably in darkness , upon a wind-lashed widow ’ s watch .
After just a few months on the North Atlantic Diet , many find that they ’ re already full of energy , sleeping better , and plagued by a fear as unnameable as it is large , as they anxiously await a son ’ s return from a voyage they begged him not to go on .
People on the North Atlantic Diet typically have more bitter rivalries and slay more vengeful whales than the average person .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cod in a year as a full-grown harbor seal .
If you ’ re looking for a diet to tone your body , keep your heart healthy , and prolong your life , there may be better options .
But if you ’ re looking for a diet to keep your body able and full of cod while you gaze through a pitted-glass window and descend into sea madness , the North Atlantic Diet is for you .

Although less popular than the glamorous Mediterranean Diet, the North Atlantic Diet is a great option for staying fit and healthy. The North Atlantic Diet is more than just a health regimen; it’s a total health system based on the life styles of swarthy eighteenth-century sea captains, near-insane lighthouse keepers, and stowaways who think only of revenge.
The North Atlantic Diet offers plentiful food options with good fats, whole grains, and lots of cod. Fruits and vegetables are limited to the hardiest types—you can only eat apples that are as tough as the bark on your family tree, or potatoes (the wisest vegetables, as they know to hide underground and out of sight, where the cruelties of the world and its so-called God cannot reach them).
This diet is a seafood-lover’s bounty: scallops, oysters, and mussels are just some of the many options you’ll find on the North Atlantic table. One daily portion of seafood is suggested, and two daily portions of cod are required. Lobster may be eaten once a week, though too much lobster will make you see in the mirror the face of someone whose money has left him soft-handed, floating above the muck and brine of the world and never knowing true misery but also never sipping from the cup of true relief. For where the cold, foaming sea crashes the hardest, from there does it also retreat the farthest. Such is the lot of the world, a dice roll of cruelty.
If necessary, lobster may be replaced with more cod.
The North Atlantic Diet lets you cut loose, too! You can have one pint glass per day of any liquor, so long as it is the same angry hue as the boiling North Atlantic. Drinking more than this while on the diet may make sea air feel as cold as death itself, and you might begin to doubt that your son will ever return.
Exercise is an important part of any diet. Swimming, rowing, staring into the far-off distance, and peg-leg cardio-kickboxing are all popular North Atlantic options. A good rule of thumb is if the exercise could lead to losing a limb or having an experience that you will bury deep down and never speak of again, it’s diet-approved.
Replace all oils with cod oil, all fish with cod, and all milk with cod milk—it’s an acquired taste, but one you will come to love the longer you stay on the diet.
Every two weeks, fast for one day. This is your “Sonday,” a day when you will sit with the dark fear that your son might well return, yea, but in such a changed form that you will see so little of your son left in him that he might as well have never returned at all. On these fast days, you will dine only upon your sorrows.
If you are swallowed whole by a whale, you can eat whatever you like. This is known as a “Nantucket Cheat Day.”
Diets aren’t just about nutrition—they’re a chance to explore a different culture. The Mediterranean Diet is about communal meals, shared with family and friends. For the North Atlantic Diet, dine alone, preferably in darkness, upon a wind-lashed widow’s watch.
After just a few months on the North Atlantic Diet, many find that they’re already full of energy, sleeping better, and plagued by a fear as unnameable as it is large, as they anxiously await a son’s return from a voyage they begged him not to go on. People on the North Atlantic Diet typically have more bitter rivalries and slay more vengeful whales than the average person. They also eat roughly the same amount of cod in a year as a full-grown harbor seal.
If you’re looking for a diet to tone your body, keep your heart healthy, and prolong your life, there may be better options. But if you’re looking for a diet to keep your body able and full of cod while you gaze through a pitted-glass window and descend into sea madness, the North Atlantic Diet is for you.


newyorker--2020-09-08--The State of the Fight Against COVID-19

The State of the Fight Against COVID-19

The first outbreak of polio in the United States struck Rutland County , Vermont , in the summer of 1894 .
The disease began with fever , sore throat , and fatigue ; it sometimes went on to damage the brain and spinal cord , paralyzing or even killing its hosts .
Charles Caverly , a local physician , chronicled the devastation using detailed maps and notes .
“ Boy , 10 years ; died within twenty-four hours with convulsions , ” he wrote .
“ Boy , 10 months ; died on sixth day , all extremities paralyzed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; died on third day , no paralysis noted .
.
.
.
Male , 22 years ; died on third day , both legs paralyzed.
” Within weeks , a hundred and thirty-two people , mostly children , had been paralyzed , and eighteen had died .
In the coming decades , polio became a familiar menace .
Summer , when the virus exacted its heaviest toll , was dubbed “ polio season.
” The virus crippled children and adults , often paralyzing their respiratory muscles and confining thousands to iron lungs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recorded nine thousand cases of polio and six thousand deaths .
In August of 1921 , Franklin Roosevelt , then a thirty-nine-year-old lawyer , fell off a sailboat and into the icy waters of the Bay of Fundy ; the next day , he noticed lower-back pain , and within a week he could no longer stand .
The pace and size of outbreaks accelerated .
Even though the polio death rate declined in the decades that followed , owing to advances in medical care , the virus still disabled more than thirty-five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 1952—the year the virus peaked in America—nearly sixty thousand people were infected , and more than three thousand died .
Parents refused to let their kids play outside .
Cities introduced social-distancing measures .
Summer camps were cancelled ; schools were shut down ; bars and theatres closed .
As bad as polio was , it wasn ’ t the only infectious disease stalking mid-century America .
In the early nineteen-hundreds , tuberculosis began to compete with influenza for the title of the world ’ s deadliest disease .
TB , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burrows into the lungs and other organs , spreads through coughing , sneezing , and talking ; the Industrial Revolution , which brought huge crowds together in urban neighborhoods and workplaces , made it more likely to spread .
In some people , TB lies dormant , sometimes for decades .
In others , it becomes active , causing a quick and violent death : bedsheets drenched in sweat , sputum mixed with blood , a wasting away so severe that the disease was known as consumption .
TB ’ s toll was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoners , the poor .
The death rate for minorities was three times higher than for whites .
In 1953 , the United States saw more than eighty-four thousand new infections , and nearly twenty thousand deaths .
In 1962 , forty-one years after her husband was diagnosed with polio , Eleanor Roosevelt died , at age seventy-eight , from complications of tuberculosis .
The total elimination of polio in the United States and the near-complete eradication of tuberculosis are two of this country ’ s greatest public-health success stories .
And yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Polio was defeated by a silver bullet : Jonas Salk introduced a polio vaccine , administered by injection , in 1955 ; a few years later , Albert Sabin developed an oral version .
As a result , in the nineteen-sixties , the number of polio cases plummeted to fewer than a hundred , and in the seventies it fell to fewer than ten ; no one has contracted the virus in the United States since 1979 .
By contrast , there is no comparable vaccine for tuberculosis .
The B.C.G .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective against TB only about half the time , and is not given to the vast majority of Americans .
Instead , TB has been beaten back incrementally , using a host of imperfect medical and public-health advances .
In the nineteen-forties , Selman Waksman , a microbiologist at Rutgers University , isolated streptomycin , the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis .
Streptomycin had serious side effects , including nerve damage , and quickly led to bacterial resistance ; as a result , several other drugs were developed .
Used alone , none @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given over a period of months can cure the infection .
Meanwhile , testing for TB became readily available across the United States .
( For some people , such as hospital workers , it became required . )
Public-health protocols were developed : new cases of TB were reported immediately to departments of health , which moved to isolate patients and trace their contacts .
( Those systems remain in place today : as a physician , the first time I wore an N95 mask was while treating a patient with TB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American housing and sanitation , these developments made the virus both less infectious and less deadly .
Today , around the world , ten million people contract TB each year , and a million and a half die of it ; multidrug-resistant tuberculosis , which is harder to treat , is spreading in some developing countries .
But the United States is recording fewer tuberculosis infections now than at any point in the nation ’ s history : about nine thousand cases each year , and around five hundred deaths .
In fighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a silver-bullet cure : the polio model .
In April , the federal government launched Operation Warp Speed , a ten-billion-dollar effort to expedite , through government-industry partnerships , the development , manufacturing , and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine .
The goal is ambitious : three hundred million doses by January , 2021 .
Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , believes it is plausible .
“ My hope , my expectation , is that we ’ ll have not one but multiple vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the popular imagination , a coronavirus vaccine will bring the pandemic to a decisive end .
And yet not all vaccines are as powerful as the one Salk developed .
Many vaccines are only partly effective , or work better for some age groups than others ; the immunity a vaccine confers can wane with time , and a shot that ’ s hard to manufacture or distribute could remain unavailable to many of us .
Last week , the Centers for Disease Control sent a letter to state governments telling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a coronavirus vaccine this fall ; it described the progress of “ Vaccine A ” and “ Vaccine B ” —almost certainly the vaccines being developed by Pfizer and Moderna , respectively .
Though these vaccines are promising , there is no guarantee that they will be cure-alls .
“ Unless you have a perfect vaccine , which very few are , you ’ ll always have people who end up getting sick , ” Fauci said .
“ With or without a vaccine , we ’ re going to need other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But we need to be prepared for the possibility that , in the absence of a single-shot cure , it will be the tuberculosis model—incremental , simultaneous progress on multiple fronts—that gets us through the coronavirus pandemic .
It ’ s a good thing , then , that vaccine research programs aren ’ t the only ones progressing at unprecedented speed .
Three kinds of therapies currently in development—antiviral drugs , antibodies , and immunomodulators—may be ready soon .
Alone or in combination with a vaccine , they could help us turn the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fight back against SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 , the disease it causes .
We can limit the virus ’ s spread in the population at large ; we can also build barriers against infection for at-risk people , such as caregivers or essential workers , in particular .
We can devise therapies that prevent the newly infected from getting worse , and we can create interventions that target the sickest and give them a fighting chance .
By surrounding the virus in this way , we can make it less contagious and lethal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Validating a vaccine isn’t the end of the process. “Getting it rolled out from there will be massively challenging,” Juelg said. “Even if a vaccine is safe and effective, that doesn’t mean people can just walk into their primary-care doctor’s office the next day and get it.” In its letter, the C.D.C. indicated that, even if trial results come quickly and are favorable, only a few million doses of the new vaccines would be available at first—nowhere near enough to create herd immunity or fundamentally alter the economic and social disruptions of the pandemic. Both of the vaccines it described, moreover, must be stored at subzero temperatures—Moderna’s at four degrees below zero, Pfizer’s at ninety-four below—and require two doses, spaced weeks apart, to work. Distributing and administering them will not be easy.
Finally, of course, Americans must be convinced to take the vaccine in numbers high enough to conquer the coronavirus. Fauci told me that he worries about how vaccine science is being communicated to the public. “I never liked the ‘warp speed’ terminology,” he said. “It suggests, incorrectly, that you’re rushing things. Whenever people hear things are being rushed, they worry about safety. They think you’re prematurely putting something out there that isn’t entirely safe.” The speed in Operation Warp Speed, he said, really has to do with the reduction of financial risk: the government has committed to buying millions of doses of vaccines before they are proven. “If a vaccine doesn’t work, you’ve lost a few hundred million dollars,” Fauci said. “If it does work, if it’s safe and effective, you’ve saved four, five, six months of waiting to get people the vaccine. That’s huge.”
Even before the pandemic, American politicians and celebrities fomented vaccine skepticism with debunked safety concerns. In recent years, vaccine hesitancy has grown, and many Americans are now dubious about vaccines with proven track records. (In 2019, because of vaccine hesitancy, the country experienced its largest measles outbreak in decades.) A new COVID-19 vaccine won’t have years of safety data behind it. “For a vaccine to be trusted, you need time and you need evidence that people who get it don’t end up having major issues later on,” Peter Bach, a drug-policy expert at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, told me. “Even if we get a vaccine, it wouldn’t surprise me to see many parents making the very rational decision not to vaccinate their children without long-term safety data.” Recent polling suggests that between a third and half of Americans would choose not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, even if a vaccine were cheap and easily available. The case will be further complicated if a vaccine is only partly effective, or requires multiple doses, or if it’s unclear how long immunity lasts. If only part of the population gets vaccinated, any notion of immediate herd immunity is a pipe dream.
All this suggests that a silver-bullet vaccine may not be in the cards, at least not right away. “Hoping that a vaccine will quickly change the course of this pandemic is, I think, hoping for the least likely outcome,” Bach said. “I wouldn’t bet the future of our society on a COVID vaccine.” And yet even a partially effective, partially adopted vaccine, combined with contact tracing and social distancing, could still make an incremental difference. Each person vaccinated would be a person who is less likely to get sick, and so less likely to pass the virus on to others. Depending on the vaccine’s effectiveness, those who’d received it might be able to rest easier. The virus’s momentum would slow, at least a little.
Antiviral drugs fight the virus in a different way from vaccines. A vaccine gets your immune system ready before an infection; it’s like an intelligence report telling your body to get ready for an incoming surprise attack. Antiviral drugs are useful after the invading force has arrived; they fight back by sabotaging it. As Matthew Hutson explained earlier this year, in his survey of antiviral-drug development, an antiviral might work by inserting faulty material into viral genomes, by restraining the enzymes that a virus uses to weave itself into our DNA, or by blocking the proteins that a virus needs to mature. Doctors now see COVID-19 as a disease with two phases: in early and mild cases, replication of the virus seems to drive symptoms, but in later and more severe illness it’s our own overexuberant immune response that damages the body. Antivirals generally work best in the first phase, before critical illness has set in. Remdesivir, the only antiviral shown to work against the coronavirus so far, is largely ineffective for patients who are intubated or need high levels of oxygen—they are in the second, immune-focussed stage of the disease—but it can hasten COVID-19 recovery by about four days in people with less severe illness, in whom viral replication is still driving symptoms. Researchers are working on other, more powerful antivirals, which could replace remdesivir or work in concert with it.
To understand the difference antiviral therapies could make in the fight against COVID-19, you should first understand that, right now, doctors have very few therapies at their disposal. When I first began caring for COVID-19 patients, in March, just as the pandemic exploded across New York City, we made great strides in understanding the course of the disease and reorganizing our hospital to accommodate the surge. But the few proposed remedies we tried, such as the drugs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, failed. We quickly discovered that the best we could do was support our patients while they battled the virus themselves. We laid people on their bellies to allow their lungs to expand; we tried multiple oxygen-delivery devices; we connected the most desperate to ventilators, hoping that their immune systems could mount the fight we couldn’t. Antiviral drugs would give us a weapon against the virus.
We’ve long used antivirals to treat viruses such as herpes and influenza. But they’re perhaps best known as a treatment for H.I.V. The first H.I.V. antiviral, AZT, was introduced in 1987, six years after AIDS was identified. In 1995, effective “combination antivirals” arrived; they used separate mechanisms to attack the virus simultaneously, “cornering” it so that it couldn’t mutate its way around a single drug, in a phenomenon known as viral escape. We’re likely to move faster with the coronavirus, both because there are so many more infections, giving researchers more opportunities for study, and because of how rapidly the disease unfolds. It takes nine years, on average, for an H.I.V. infection to progress to AIDS. The coronavirus leads quickly to acute illness, and so a researcher knows within weeks if a treatment worked.
So far, coronavirus research has focussed mostly on hospitalized patients. But it’s giving antivirals to those who never require hospitalization that could change the course of the pandemic. Treated people will walk around shedding less virus, reducing the chance that they’ll pass it to others. Treatment, if it’s given early enough, becomes a form of prevention.
The concept of treatment as prevention for viral diseases gained momentum in 2011, after a landmark study found that H.I.V. patients who started antiviral medications early were much less likely to pass the virus on to their partners. (The reduction in H.I.V. transmission was so large that the study’s results were released nearly four years ahead of schedule: it became unethical to continue withholding treatment from the control group.) As antiviral drugs became safer, with fewer side effects, the strategy was extended to people who didn’t yet have H.I.V. but were at risk of contracting it. So-called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, in which high-risk, H.I.V.-negative individuals take antiviral drugs, is now a major tactic for preventing viral spread. When used correctly, and in concert with condoms, PrEP almost completely eliminates the risk of acquiring H.I.V. Doctors now use the same approach for influenza, prescribing the antiviral drug Tamiflu to nursing-home residents, postpartum women, and people with chronic conditions who are at risk for serious complications from the flu.
Could antivirals be used prophylactically for vulnerable people who haven’t yet been infected with the coronavirus? Remdesivir can be given only intravenously, which limits its applications. But an oral antiviral drug, known as MK-4482—previously known as EIDD-2801—is being developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. In June, the drug entered Phase II trials; its creators hope that, in infected patients, it will be able to reduce the virus to undetectable levels within days. It’s easy to imagine how such a drug could be given to people who test positive for the coronavirus but who don’t require hospitalization—and even to those with whom they’ve had close contact. There are some preliminary signs that MK-4482, which was originally developed as an influenza treatment, may also work against other coronaviruses, including the ones that cause MERS and SARS. “At least in vitro, it seems to have pan-coronavirus activity,” Nicholas Kartsonis, who’s leading the medication’s development at Merck, told me. Ideally, it could be used against not just this coronavirus but others. “If the virus mutates again, and there’s a pandemic in the future, we might not have to ride this roller coaster all over again,” Kartsonis said.
In early April, I admitted John, a middle-aged man, to the hospital. In the days before I met him, John had visited two other emergency departments. He’d been feeling unwell—tired, feverish, coughing—but the oxygen in his blood had held steady, and he’d been told to isolate at home and return if the symptoms worsened. Eventually, his breathing grew labored; three days after his arrival, he was on a ventilator in the I.C.U. For weeks before John took a turn for the worse, both he and his doctors knew he had the coronavirus—but, during all that time, they had no medications to give him or the people he might have infected. I can’t say for sure that antivirals would have helped John, who remained debilitated and delirious weeks after coming off the ventilator. But it’s easy to see how antivirals prescribed after his first emergency-department visit—as azithromycin Z-Paks are prescribed to patients with pneumonia—could have halted his morbid progression and made a difference for others.
Like antivirals, antibodies interfere with an invader’s spread inside the body. Unlike antivirals, they are made by our own cells—and so the trick is to transfer them from one body to another. Therapies based on the transfer of antibodies have a long and storied history. In the early eighteen-nineties, two physician-scientists working in Berlin, Emil Adolf von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburō, took blood from animals that had recovered from diphtheria and found that, transfused, it could prevent or cure the infection in other animals. They worked with guinea pigs, goats, and horses. Soon, though, the therapy was being used to treat people around the world. In 1896, it was hailed by The Lancet as “the most important advance of the Century in the medical treatment of acute infective disease.”
In 1901, von Behring won the first Nobel Prize in Medicine. In the following decades, blood from recovered patients—called “convalescent plasma” or “convalescent serum,” depending on which blood products were isolated—was used to treat pneumonia, meningitis, anthrax, measles, chicken pox, and other diseases. It was also deployed during the 1918 flu pandemic, when researchers found that it led to reductions in mortality. Studies from a century ago have limitations; still, most infectious-disease specialists agree that the treatment probably helped.
The use of serum therapies declined precipitously in the nineteen-forties, as antibiotics became widely available. That was partly because animal serum created substantial complications when it was used to treat people. It often caused fevers, chills, and other allergic reactions; its efficacy might vary from batch to batch; its antibodies had to be matched to specific strains of human pathogens. (There might be several varieties of a given virus or bacterium in circulation at any one time.) Antibiotics were equal-opportunity destroyers—safe, reliable, and easy to produce. In the nineteen-nineties, interest in convalescent plasma rebounded, because many previously tamed pathogens had developed resistance to antibiotics; by then, human blood was also being used, and the process was much safer. In patients sickened by SARS, H1N1 influenza, and Ebola, convalescent plasma showed potential for lowering virus levels and, in some cases, death rates. But evidence from gold-standard randomized trials is still lacking. By the time well-controlled studies of the therapy had got under way, the viruses had moved on to other locations, which meant that new patients had to be enrolled.