newyorker--2020-09-04--The American Prisoner in Russia Trapped Between Putin, Trump, and Thoroughly Soured U.S.-Russian Rel

The American Prisoner in Russia Trapped Between Putin, Trump, and Thoroughly Soured U.S.-Russian Relations

Around six in the evening on December 28 , 2018 , Paul Whelan was in his room at the Metropol Hotel , a stately Art Nouveau building across from Moscow ’ s Bolshoi Theatre .
He was in town for the wedding of an American friend who was marrying a Russian woman .
Whelan , who was forty-eight and had a career in corporate security , had visited Russia several times before and picked up a bit of the language .
He was always happy for the chance to visit Moscow and thought that he could help other guests make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kremlin tour in the morning , Whelan was ironing his clothes for the wedding dinner that evening .
As he was getting ready to take a shower , he heard a knock at the door .
It was a Russian acquaintance he had come to know on earlier visits , a man with a military background like Whelan .
Over the years of their friendship , the man had made his way up the career ladder at the F.S.B.
, Russia ’ s domestic security service , an organization that wields unmatched power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t been expecting this friend , but he opened the door .
The friend stepped inside , mentioned something about vacation photos , and shoved a U.S.B .
flash drive into Whelan ’ s hands .
Whelan put it into his pocket and went to the bathroom to shave .
A few minutes later , F.S.B .
agents who had been waiting in the hallway rushed into his room and put Whelan under arrest .
On his earlier trips to Russia , Whelan would send lively e-mail updates to his family in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their eighties , live in a farmhouse not far from Ann Arbor , Michigan .
He stayed in regular touch with his siblings—his twin brother David , older sister Elizabeth , and older brother Andrew—even though they saw each other infrequently .
On this trip , he had relayed to them how freezing it was in Moscow and that breakfast at the Metropol included champagne and a harp player .
( “ Pleasant , impeccable , sort of a Titanic feel , ” he joked . )
But then Whelan fell out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that Sunday , the newly married couple themselves wrote to Whelan ’ s parents : Paul had vanished .
David furiously Googled “ American missing in Moscow ” and “ American killed in Moscow ” before stumbling , the next day , on a news report that said his brother had been arrested by the F.S.B .
and charged with espionage .
From what David would eventually glean , Paul was accused of receiving classified information : the flash drive supposedly contained the identities of Russian secret agents .
Whelan was taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notorious detention facility where the F.S.B .
holds its high-profile prisoners .
The Kremlin was not subtle in its messaging about the case : Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Whelan had been caught “ red-handed ” in the middle of a “ concrete , illegal act.
” It had been nearly two decades since an American had been arrested and imprisoned for espionage in Russia .
In 2000 , a retired U.S. naval-intelligence officer named Edmond Pope was held for eight months in Lefortovo after the F.S.B .
claimed that he had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He was pardoned by Vladimir Putin and sent home .
That was a different time : Putin was just a few months into his Presidency and was open to making a conciliatory gesture to the United States .
His American counterpart , Bill Clinton , was engaged in Pope ’ s case and personally lobbied Putin for his release .
Whelan ’ s arrest , however , came in an entirely different era : a moment when U.S.-Russian relations have thoroughly soured , with Putin looking to challenge U.S. interests at every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the prime troublemakers on the world stage .
Trump had promised to improve relations with Putin , but instead his first term was marked by myriad investigations into Russia ’ s interference in the 2016 election on Trump ’ s behalf , turning Russia into an unwelcome and discomfiting topic for the President .
All the same , Trump believes he has a positive rapport with Putin himself and doesn ’ t want to disturb that with “ unhappy ” conversations , according to a former senior U.S. official .
Whelan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revanchist , confrontational Kremlin ; a U.S. President who at first showed little interest in the case ; and a U.S. government bureaucracy disinclined to view Russia as a credible or fruitful partner—effectively a hostage in a geopolitical struggle with no easy or obvious resolution .
During the Republican National Convention , Trump touted his role in freeing Americans unjustly held overseas , boasting of having brought home more than fifty people from places such as Iran , Syria , Turkey , and Venezuela .
The President aired a video filmed in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and detainees thanking him .
“ We got you all back , ” Trump said .
Several in the group were Christian pastors or missionaries , including Andrew Brunson , who was released from Turkish custody in 2018 , after Trump repeatedly pushed the country ’ s President , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , to let him go .
“ If there ’ s a political benefit in it for him , he would go for it , ” a former senior Trump Administration official said .
In the case of Whelan , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump and officials across the government have been slower to act—and so far unable to free him .
Whelan himself made for an unsuspecting , and thoroughly unlucky , target .
“ Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission , ” he told assembled reporters during one pretrial hearing in Moscow .
“ In reality , they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday.
” As quickly emerged after his arrest , Whelan held four passports , a function of his mixed , international heritage : he was born in Canada , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dual citizens with roots in Ireland .
The family moved to Michigan in the early seventies , when Whelan was three years old .
Whelan ’ s acquisition of citizenship in four countries was the result of this quirk of genealogical history , but also took curiosity and persistence .
“ He thought that kind of thing was cool , out of the ordinary , that it made him interesting , ” one friend said .
“ I think that drove a lot of what Paul did.
” In his twenties , Whelan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the early two-thousands , he took a job with Kelly Services , a global office-staffing company .
Some years earlier , he had enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve , and , in 2004 , a year into the U.S. war in Iraq , he was called up for active duty .
He did two tours in administrative roles with the rank of staff sergeant ; it wasn ’ t front-line combat , but he was in a war zone all the same , and he had his share of adventures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in one of Saddam Hussein ’ s former palaces and in front of toppled statues .
In 2006 , Whelan took advantage of a travel program for U.S. service members on leave and spent two weeks in Russia .
“ For those of us who grew up during the Cold War , Russia seemed very exotic and held a lot of appeal , ” his sister Elizabeth said .
Over the next decade , Whelan took another half-dozen trips to Russia .
He marvelled at the intricate mosaics in the Moscow metro and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used on Russian trains .
At a certain point , he created an account on V.K.
, a popular Russian social network and made cheerful , anodyne posts in Russian with the help of Google Translate .
( “ Go Spartak !
” went one , in reference to the Moscow soccer team ; “ Happy Victory Day !
” read another , on Russia ’ s holiday marking Nazi Germany ’ s surrender . )
He used V.K .
to connect with a number of Russians , many of whom had backgrounds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Whelan himself , and others as well .
“ We grew up writing to pen pals—that was normal and never seemed strange or worth thinking about , until one of us was arrested by the F.S.B.
, ” his brother David said .

Around six in the evening on December 28, 2018, Paul Whelan was in his room at the Metropol Hotel, a stately Art Nouveau building across from Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. He was in town for the wedding of an American friend who was marrying a Russian woman. Whelan, who was forty-eight and had a career in corporate security, had visited Russia several times before and picked up a bit of the language. He was always happy for the chance to visit Moscow and thought that he could help other guests make their way around town.
After a Kremlin tour in the morning, Whelan was ironing his clothes for the wedding dinner that evening. As he was getting ready to take a shower, he heard a knock at the door. It was a Russian acquaintance he had come to know on earlier visits, a man with a military background like Whelan. Over the years of their friendship, the man had made his way up the career ladder at the F.S.B., Russia’s domestic security service, an organization that wields unmatched power inside the state apparatus.
Whelan hadn’t been expecting this friend, but he opened the door. The friend stepped inside, mentioned something about vacation photos, and shoved a U.S.B. flash drive into Whelan’s hands. Whelan put it into his pocket and went to the bathroom to shave. A few minutes later, F.S.B. agents who had been waiting in the hallway rushed into his room and put Whelan under arrest.
On his earlier trips to Russia, Whelan would send lively e-mail updates to his family in the States. His parents, in their eighties, live in a farmhouse not far from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He stayed in regular touch with his siblings—his twin brother David, older sister Elizabeth, and older brother Andrew—even though they saw each other infrequently. On this trip, he had relayed to them how freezing it was in Moscow and that breakfast at the Metropol included champagne and a harp player. (“Pleasant, impeccable, sort of a Titanic feel,” he joked.)
But then Whelan fell out of touch for a couple of days and, that Sunday, the newly married couple themselves wrote to Whelan’s parents: Paul had vanished. David furiously Googled “American missing in Moscow” and “American killed in Moscow” before stumbling, the next day, on a news report that said his brother had been arrested by the F.S.B. and charged with espionage. From what David would eventually glean, Paul was accused of receiving classified information: the flash drive supposedly contained the identities of Russian secret agents.
Whelan was taken to a cell at Lefortovo, a notorious detention facility where the F.S.B. holds its high-profile prisoners. The Kremlin was not subtle in its messaging about the case: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Whelan had been caught “red-handed” in the middle of a “concrete, illegal act.”
It had been nearly two decades since an American had been arrested and imprisoned for espionage in Russia. In 2000, a retired U.S. naval-intelligence officer named Edmond Pope was held for eight months in Lefortovo after the F.S.B. claimed that he had procured secret plans for a Russian-made torpedo. He was pardoned by Vladimir Putin and sent home. That was a different time: Putin was just a few months into his Presidency and was open to making a conciliatory gesture to the United States. His American counterpart, Bill Clinton, was engaged in Pope’s case and personally lobbied Putin for his release.
Whelan’s arrest, however, came in an entirely different era: a moment when U.S.-Russian relations have thoroughly soured, with Putin looking to challenge U.S. interests at every turn and U.S. officials seeing Russia as one of the prime troublemakers on the world stage. Trump had promised to improve relations with Putin, but instead his first term was marked by myriad investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, turning Russia into an unwelcome and discomfiting topic for the President. All the same, Trump believes he has a positive rapport with Putin himself and doesn’t want to disturb that with “unhappy” conversations, according to a former senior U.S. official. Whelan ended up caught between these larger forces—a revanchist, confrontational Kremlin; a U.S. President who at first showed little interest in the case; and a U.S. government bureaucracy disinclined to view Russia as a credible or fruitful partner—effectively a hostage in a geopolitical struggle with no easy or obvious resolution.
During the Republican National Convention, Trump touted his role in freeing Americans unjustly held overseas, boasting of having brought home more than fifty people from places such as Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Venezuela. The President aired a video filmed in the Diplomatic Reception Room of six former hostages and detainees thanking him. “We got you all back,” Trump said. Several in the group were Christian pastors or missionaries, including Andrew Brunson, who was released from Turkish custody in 2018, after Trump repeatedly pushed the country’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to let him go. “If there’s a political benefit in it for him, he would go for it,” a former senior Trump Administration official said. In the case of Whelan, who has no political constituency, however, Trump and officials across the government have been slower to act—and so far unable to free him.
Whelan himself made for an unsuspecting, and thoroughly unlucky, target. “Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission,” he told assembled reporters during one pretrial hearing in Moscow. “In reality, they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday.”
As quickly emerged after his arrest, Whelan held four passports, a function of his mixed, international heritage: he was born in Canada, in 1970; his parents are British-American dual citizens with roots in Ireland. The family moved to Michigan in the early seventies, when Whelan was three years old. Whelan’s acquisition of citizenship in four countries was the result of this quirk of genealogical history, but also took curiosity and persistence. “He thought that kind of thing was cool, out of the ordinary, that it made him interesting,” one friend said. “I think that drove a lot of what Paul did.”
In his twenties, Whelan worked in multiple police departments in Michigan. In the early two-thousands, he took a job with Kelly Services, a global office-staffing company. Some years earlier, he had enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, and, in 2004, a year into the U.S. war in Iraq, he was called up for active duty. He did two tours in administrative roles with the rank of staff sergeant; it wasn’t front-line combat, but he was in a war zone all the same, and he had his share of adventures. He sent home pictures of himself in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces and in front of toppled statues.
In 2006, Whelan took advantage of a travel program for U.S. service members on leave and spent two weeks in Russia. “For those of us who grew up during the Cold War, Russia seemed very exotic and held a lot of appeal,” his sister Elizabeth said. Over the next decade, Whelan took another half-dozen trips to Russia. He marvelled at the intricate mosaics in the Moscow metro and collected the metal holders for tea cups used on Russian trains. At a certain point, he created an account on V.K., a popular Russian social network and made cheerful, anodyne posts in Russian with the help of Google Translate. (“Go Spartak!” went one, in reference to the Moscow soccer team; “Happy Victory Day!” read another, on Russia’s holiday marking Nazi Germany’s surrender.) He used V.K. to connect with a number of Russians, many of whom had backgrounds in the military or law enforcement, like Whelan himself, and others as well. “We grew up writing to pen pals—that was normal and never seemed strange or worth thinking about, until one of us was arrested by the F.S.B.,” his brother David said.
A BBC reporter in Moscow, Sarah Rainsford, reached a number of Russians who corresponded with Whelan on V.K. Whelan “didn’t request to see anything suspicious,” one told her; another, who serves in the Russian military, said Whelan “seemed nice and was fascinated by our country, its history and our traditions and people!” He added, “If he’s a spy, then I’m Michael Jackson!!!!”
On his visits to Russia, Whelan met up with some of the Russians whom he had met on V.K., or knew from previous trips, for sightseeing tours around Moscow and dinner. He maintained loose, infrequent friendships with a consistency that is rare for our overprogrammed age. “You know how lots of people say, ‘Call me next time you’re in town and let’s have lunch,’ but no one ever does?” Elizabeth said. “Paul is the kind of person who actually will.” One friend and fellow former marine said Whelan was known in their circle for being exceedingly generous, “ready to go above and beyond.” He once went through the trouble of getting ordained as a minister to officiate a mutual friend’s wedding; another time, after a marine was killed in Afghanistan, Whelan picked up his friend at the airport for the funeral, and ended up driving him around and keeping him company for three days, even though he had never personally met the marine who had been killed.


Pulkies’s “Jewish-Style BBQ”

“ Only Texans and Jews understand brisket , ” Anthony Bourdain once said .
An exaggeration , undoubtedly : as carefully catalogued in “ The Brisket Chronicles , ” published last year by the cookbook author Steven Raichlen , brisket is a cut of beef beloved around the world .
The French slow-cook it in wine for boeuf à la mode .
In Cuba , it gets boiled and then deep-fried to become vaca frita .
Sliced paper-thin , it is likely to appear in a bowl of Vietnamese pho .
Still , brisket is particularly prominent in both Jewish-American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pastrami-cured at delis ) and Texas barbecue ( dry-rubbed and pit-smoked ) .
This overlap is key to Pulkies , which describes its food as “ Jewish-style BBQ.
” Pulkies ’ s brisket , which is sold by the half pound , in slices lean or marbled , falls on the Jewish end of the spectrum : it ’ s confited in its own fat and served in a sauce that includes Manischewitz .
The context , however , nods squarely to Texas and , in so doing , highlights many further points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is pure barbecue , but if you told me that the excellent mini-loaf of honey-butter corn bread was a honey cake , and served it for dessert at a Rosh Hashanah dinner , I wouldn ’ t think twice about it .
The noodle-kugel mac and cheese makes you realize that one is the other by a different name .
Pickles and coleslaw bat for both teams .
It ’ s a testament to the quality of the food that the further you get into the menu , the more inclined you are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big dollop of chopped barbecue beef ( for which brisket burnt ends are jumbled with caramelized carrot and onion ) drizzled in creamy pink horseradish sauce and squashed onto a Martin ’ s potato roll is what I would call , simply , a great sandwich .
Sure , I ’ ll use matzo chips to scoop up a pint of pimento cheese—a mix of coarsely shredded Cheddar and jalapeño cream cheese—sprinkled with everything-bagel seasoning .
Gobstopper-size matzo balls with carrot coins in nine-hour turkey stock achieve a Goldilocks textural quality : not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Who cares that the soup seems to have nothing to do with barbecue ?
In fact , there is a through line : at Pulkies , the other white meat is turkey .
( Pulkies , a Yiddish term of affection for chubby baby thighs , can also mean “ drumsticks , ” as in poultry . )
Turkey legs are shredded and slathered in a tangy barbecue sauce to approximate pulled pork .
Breasts are coated in brown sugar , thyme , and black pepper and slow-roasted ; extra skin is rendered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( the crispy bits ) to top chopped liver ; and the bones are saved for the stock , which is also the base of “ Grandma Nini ’ s turkey gravy.
” “ Legend has it , ” the restaurant ’ s preparation guide explains , “ Grandma Nini served cold turkey one Thanksgiving and , upon receiving her first complaint , snapped back , ‘ Just pour some hot gravy on it !
’ ” There ’ s a preparation guide because Pulkies is a true carryout concept .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restaurateur Harris Mayer-Selinger , while he noodled around in the kitchen at his Chelsea Market burger joint , Creamline , which was temporarily closed owing to COVID-19 .
Many dishes are meant to be heated at home , and all must be ordered for delivery or picked up from a loading dock on Sixteenth Street , which lends the experience a furtive sort of charm .
Dining in is part of Mayer-Selinger ’ s plan for the future of Pulkies , and he recently signed a contract on a stall , with stools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For now , what he calls his “ scrappy quarantine project ” feels worthy of celebration .
Family-style meals for Rosh Hashanah , meant to serve four to six people , are available for preorder .
And , assuming we ’ re still socially distancing in November , it ’ s hard to imagine a better small-scale , no-fuss Thanksgiving dinner than cold turkey with hot gravy ( plus Manischewitz wine jelly ) , made by somebody else .
( Dishes $ 6- $ 48 . )
♦

“Only Texans and Jews understand brisket,” Anthony Bourdain once said. An exaggeration, undoubtedly: as carefully catalogued in “The Brisket Chronicles,” published last year by the cookbook author Steven Raichlen, brisket is a cut of beef beloved around the world. The French slow-cook it in wine for boeuf à la mode. In Cuba, it gets boiled and then deep-fried to become vaca frita. Sliced paper-thin, it is likely to appear in a bowl of Vietnamese pho. Still, brisket is particularly prominent in both Jewish-American food (braised by home cooks, pastrami-cured at delis) and Texas barbecue (dry-rubbed and pit-smoked). This overlap is key to Pulkies, which describes its food as “Jewish-style BBQ.”
Mini matzo balls in nine-hour turkey stock. Photograph by Eric Helgas for The New Yorker
Pulkies’s brisket, which is sold by the half pound, in slices lean or marbled, falls on the Jewish end of the spectrum: it’s confited in its own fat and served in a sauce that includes Manischewitz. The context, however, nods squarely to Texas and, in so doing, highlights many further points of intersection. A side of beans is pure barbecue, but if you told me that the excellent mini-loaf of honey-butter corn bread was a honey cake, and served it for dessert at a Rosh Hashanah dinner, I wouldn’t think twice about it. The noodle-kugel mac and cheese makes you realize that one is the other by a different name. Pickles and coleslaw bat for both teams.
Clockwise from left: barbecue beans; cucumber salad; cold borscht gazpacho; endive-and-apple salad; pimento cheese; corn bread. Photograph by Eric Helgas for The New Yorker
It’s a testament to the quality of the food that the further you get into the menu, the more inclined you are to toss aside taxonomy altogether. A big dollop of chopped barbecue beef (for which brisket burnt ends are jumbled with caramelized carrot and onion) drizzled in creamy pink horseradish sauce and squashed onto a Martin’s potato roll is what I would call, simply, a great sandwich. Sure, I’ll use matzo chips to scoop up a pint of pimento cheese—a mix of coarsely shredded Cheddar and jalapeño cream cheese—sprinkled with everything-bagel seasoning. Gobstopper-size matzo balls with carrot coins in nine-hour turkey stock achieve a Goldilocks textural quality: not too soft, not too firm. Who cares that the soup seems to have nothing to do with barbecue?
In fact, there is a through line: at Pulkies, the other white meat is turkey. (Pulkies, a Yiddish term of affection for chubby baby thighs, can also mean “drumsticks,” as in poultry.) Turkey legs are shredded and slathered in a tangy barbecue sauce to approximate pulled pork. Breasts are coated in brown sugar, thyme, and black pepper and slow-roasted; extra skin is rendered into schmaltz (fat) and gribenes (the crispy bits) to top chopped liver; and the bones are saved for the stock, which is also the base of “Grandma Nini’s turkey gravy.” “Legend has it,” the restaurant’s preparation guide explains, “Grandma Nini served cold turkey one Thanksgiving and, upon receiving her first complaint, snapped back, ‘Just pour some hot gravy on it!’ ”
The beans, which happen to be vegan, are pure barbecue, but the honey-butter corn bread could pass for honey cake at a Rosh Hashanah dinner. Photograph by Eric Helgas for The New Yorker
There’s a preparation guide because Pulkies is a true carryout concept. It was hatched in May by the chef and restaurateur Harris Mayer-Selinger, while he noodled around in the kitchen at his Chelsea Market burger joint, Creamline, which was temporarily closed owing to COVID-19. Many dishes are meant to be heated at home, and all must be ordered for delivery or picked up from a loading dock on Sixteenth Street, which lends the experience a furtive sort of charm.
Dining in is part of Mayer-Selinger’s plan for the future of Pulkies, and he recently signed a contract on a stall, with stools, at Brooklyn’s DeKalb Market. For now, what he calls his “scrappy quarantine project” feels worthy of celebration. Family-style meals for Rosh Hashanah, meant to serve four to six people, are available for preorder. And, assuming we’re still socially distancing in November, it’s hard to imagine a better small-scale, no-fuss Thanksgiving dinner than cold turkey with hot gravy (plus Manischewitz wine jelly), made by somebody else. (Dishes $6-$48.) ♦


newyorker--2020-09-04--Tragedy and Compassion at the Opera

Tragedy and Compassion at the Opera

“ If ever there was a year built for the extreme drama of opera , it ’ s 2020 !
@ @ @ @ @ Joyce DiDonato ( pictured above , in Barcelona ) .
Her recital in the Metropolitan @ @ @ @ @ “ Met Stars Live in Concert , ” which she performs at the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum @ @ @ @ @ Sept. 12 , swings from high tragedy to the depths of compassion , with pieces @ @ @ @ @ and Handel .
It ’ s an expression , she says , of our longing @ @ @ @ @ ourselves and our world .
”

“If ever there was a year built for the extreme drama of opera, it’s 2020!” says the scintillant mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (pictured above, in Barcelona). Her recital in the Metropolitan Opera’s streaming series “Met Stars Live in Concert,” which she performs at the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum, in Germany, on Sept. 12, swings from high tragedy to the depths of compassion, with pieces by Monteverdi, Berlioz, and Handel. It’s an expression, she says, of our longing “to find harmony within ourselves and our world.”


newyorker--2020-09-04--Bette Midler on “Coastal Elites”

Bette Midler on “Coastal Elites”

The new film “ Coastal Elites ” is a series of monologues written by Paul Rudnick , one of which features Bette Midler as a retired New York schoolteacher who ’ s educated , funny , possibly insane , and in police custody for snatching a MAGA hat off a man in a coffee shop .
That ’ s not much of a stretch for Midler .
Plus , Jill Lepore describes how a pandemic ends , and N. K. Jemisin talks about how the virulent racism of H. P. Lovecraft , a pioneer of horror writing , shaped his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Screenwriter Paul Rudnick on “ Coastal Elites ” In the new film , on HBO , the actress ’ s role is no big stretch : a smart , funny New Yorker so angered by a MAGA hat that she winds up in police custody .
( This segment contains adult language . )
A celebrated science-fiction author grapples with her genre ’ s deep legacy of racism .
A historian recalls the desperate measures taken to protect children from polio in a time no less frightening than our own , and how @ @ @ @ @ @

The new film “Coastal Elites” is a series of monologues written by Paul Rudnick, one of which features Bette Midler as a retired New York schoolteacher who’s educated, funny, possibly insane, and in police custody for snatching a MAGA hat off a man in a coffee shop. That’s not much of a stretch for Midler. Plus, Jill Lepore describes how a pandemic ends, and N. K. Jemisin talks about how the virulent racism of H. P. Lovecraft, a pioneer of horror writing, shaped his influential fiction.
Bette Midler and the Screenwriter Paul Rudnick on “Coastal Elites”
In the new film, on HBO, the actress’s role is no big stretch: a smart, funny New Yorker so angered by a MAGA hat that she winds up in police custody. (This segment contains adult language.)
N. K. Jemisin on H. P. Lovecraft
A celebrated science-fiction author grapples with her genre’s deep legacy of racism.
Jill Lepore on How a Pandemic Ends
A historian recalls the desperate measures taken to protect children from polio in a time no less frightening than our own, and how the disease was then forgotten.


newyorker--2020-09-04--Battling Anxiety Over Making Sure Your Vote Gets Counted

As if 2020 had not frayed nerve endings enough , now begins a season of brain-frying electoral anxiety .
As President Trump stokes and amplifies violence in Portland and other cities , and as the Twitterverse obsesses over every twitch in the polls , a calendar of high-wattage media events looms : three Presidential debates , a Vice-Presidential debate , and a slew of live-streamed candidate appearances .
It is a season already deformed by Donald Trump ’ s unhinged speeches and his belief in himself as a producer of populist reality spectacles , and it is plain that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basest instincts between now and November 3rd .
And it ’ s not just the members of your own social bubble who think that the stakes in this election are astoundingly high .
A record eighty-three per cent of registered voters surveyed this summer by the Pew Research Center believe that it matters greatly which candidate wins—a conviction held equally by partisans in both major parties .
( In 2000 , the figure was fifty per cent , and the apathy was also evenly split . )
To a significant extent , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may think .
The country appears poised to set a new record for the share of ballots cast early—perhaps well more than half of all votes , through early in-person voting as well as absentee and mail-in balloting .
( Each state allows its own mix of methods ; some states do much more than others to facilitate early ballots . )
That rise will be owing , in part , to citizens seeking to avoid the health risks of Election Day crowds , but it will also mark the extension of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the share of American voters who cast their ballots before Election Day doubled , from about twenty per cent to forty per cent , as opportunities for early voting expanded in both red states and blue .
This year , in response to the emergency of the coronavirus pandemic , many states expanded mail voting for their primaries .
The first general-election ballots will be cast in mid-September ; among the states that allow voting that early is Michigan , an Electoral College battleground .
( Early-vote results are not publicly released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The research findings of political scientists suggest that the growth of early and mail voting hasn ’ t favored one major party over the other , and , before this year at least , it hasn ’ t greatly affected voter turnout , either .
Early voters do tend to be more politically engaged than late voters , the research shows , and so they often have their minds made up and are unpersuadable by fall campaign developments , such as debate performances .
( This year , the first Presidential debate is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last for October 22nd . )
In any event , studies show that “ debates have little to no impact on the outcome ” of elections , Paul Gronke , the director of the Early Voting Information Center , at Reed College , told me .
“ The evidence over a very long time , ” he said , is that debates merely “ reinforce beliefs of those who are already committed , but don ’ t sway voters.
” Yet voting this year will be different in ways that could alter past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risky and , for many people , more difficult than in any recent Presidential election .
The pandemic is one reason ; another is Trump ’ s vocal , unabashed campaign of voter suppression , in which he has denounced well-established and secure practices , and spread misinformation about the potential for fraud in mail voting and in the use of drop-off boxes .
Last week , Trump tweeted that “ fraud and abuse ” from mail voting “ will be an embarrassment to our Country , ” even as the F.B.I.
, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it had no evidence of any foreign plot to manipulate mail voting .
Trump ’ s demagoguery is clearly aimed at delegitimizing the election and intimidating voters , and it may also be designed to sway Trump-friendly judges who will decide myriad partisan lawsuits over voting practices .
All in all , it constitutes the most blatant use of Presidential power to prevent lawful voting since the days of Jim Crow .
Trump and his allies appear to be succeeding , at least in the realm of perception : the Pew survey found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expect voting to be difficult this fall , while just thirty-five per cent of Trump supporters do .
That gap almost certainly reflects , in part , the long history of obstacles that Democratic voters of color , particularly African-Americans , have faced when trying to exercise their right to vote .
But it also suggests that Trump ’ s tweetstorms and offhand comments are persuading even many white Democrats that they will have a hard time casting their ballots successfully .
According to data assembled by the political scientist Michael McDonald , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail at higher rates than Republicans in battleground states such as Florida .
The anxieties of mail-in voters are hardly irrational : the easiest way to vote safely during the pandemic—by mail—also carries heightened risks of disenfranchisement , because the Trump campaign donor recently installed as Postmaster General has overseen a slowdown in mail-delivery times .
“ A lot of confusion has been injected into the process because of bad actors , ” Nse Ufot , the chief executive of the New Georgia Project , a nonprofit working for voter enfranchisement that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives , told me .
Helping low-income voters cast their ballots requires navigating one barrier after another .
For example , the state ’ s Republican governor and legislature have refused to pay for the postage on mail-in ballots , so groups like the New Georgia Project are raising funds to do it .
“ It is not the work of civil-rights organizations to do the work of government , ” she said .
“ It is not our responsibility to pay for postage .
.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ find ourselves doing.
” This spring , Congress authorized four hundred million dollars to support election administration , far less than what some voting-rights watchdogs argue is necessary .
Nonprofits are now pouring funds to some states to support government budgets .
In July , following the debacle of Wisconsin ’ s April primary election , when thousands of mailed-in ballots weren ’ t counted , and Election Day voters endured long lines , the Center for Tech and Civic Life , a Chicago-based nonprofit , provided more than six million dollars in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order to help them prepare for voting this fall .
Last week , the center announced a ten-million-dollar grant to the city of Philadelphia , to help it handle a rise in mail voting .
( The city ’ s prior election-administration budget was fifteen million dollars . )
Turnout by Philadelphia ’ s Black voters is vital to the Democrats ’ hopes to retake Pennsylvania from Trump , who won the state by just forty-four thousand votes in 2016 .
Facebook , Google , and major foundations are listed as donors on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the center declined to say who specifically funded the recent large grants to cities in battleground states this year .
Such funding is certainly needed , though , for , among other things , allowing election administrators to create multiple paths to the ballot box for voters most at risk of being denied access to it .
Democrats have rallied this summer to defend mail-in voting against the President ’ s attacks , and that is necessary , but “ the truth is , vote by mail does not work for every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national campaign director for All Voting Is Local , a campaign housed under the Leadership Conference Education Fund , which works to remove barriers to voting , told me .
“ African-American voters vote by mail at much lower rates than white voters .
Native Americans living on tribal land without a standard address or reliable delivery ” of mail can ’ t rely on that means .
“ We need options , ” Fried said , including ballot-return drop boxes and adequate early in-person polling places .

As if 2020 had not frayed nerve endings enough, now begins a season of brain-frying electoral anxiety. As President Trump stokes and amplifies violence in Portland and other cities, and as the Twitterverse obsesses over every twitch in the polls, a calendar of high-wattage media events looms: three Presidential debates, a Vice-Presidential debate, and a slew of live-streamed candidate appearances. It is a season already deformed by Donald Trump’s unhinged speeches and his belief in himself as a producer of populist reality spectacles, and it is plain that the President intends to double down on his basest instincts between now and November 3rd. And it’s not just the members of your own social bubble who think that the stakes in this election are astoundingly high. A record eighty-three per cent of registered voters surveyed this summer by the Pew Research Center believe that it matters greatly which candidate wins—a conviction held equally by partisans in both major parties. (In 2000, the figure was fifty per cent, and the apathy was also evenly split.)
To a significant extent, the voting will be over sooner than you may think. The country appears poised to set a new record for the share of ballots cast early—perhaps well more than half of all votes, through early in-person voting as well as absentee and mail-in balloting. (Each state allows its own mix of methods; some states do much more than others to facilitate early ballots.) That rise will be owing, in part, to citizens seeking to avoid the health risks of Election Day crowds, but it will also mark the extension of an underappreciated trend. Between 2004 and 2016, the share of American voters who cast their ballots before Election Day doubled, from about twenty per cent to forty per cent, as opportunities for early voting expanded in both red states and blue. This year, in response to the emergency of the coronavirus pandemic, many states expanded mail voting for their primaries. The first general-election ballots will be cast in mid-September; among the states that allow voting that early is Michigan, an Electoral College battleground. (Early-vote results are not publicly released until Election Day or afterward.)
The research findings of political scientists suggest that the growth of early and mail voting hasn’t favored one major party over the other, and, before this year at least, it hasn’t greatly affected voter turnout, either. Early voters do tend to be more politically engaged than late voters, the research shows, and so they often have their minds made up and are unpersuadable by fall campaign developments, such as debate performances. (This year, the first Presidential debate is scheduled for September 29th, and the last for October 22nd.) In any event, studies show that “debates have little to no impact on the outcome” of elections, Paul Gronke, the director of the Early Voting Information Center, at Reed College, told me. “The evidence over a very long time,” he said, is that debates merely “reinforce beliefs of those who are already committed, but don’t sway voters.”
Yet voting this year will be different in ways that could alter past patterns, because it will be more risky and, for many people, more difficult than in any recent Presidential election. The pandemic is one reason; another is Trump’s vocal, unabashed campaign of voter suppression, in which he has denounced well-established and secure practices, and spread misinformation about the potential for fraud in mail voting and in the use of drop-off boxes. Last week, Trump tweeted that “fraud and abuse” from mail voting “will be an embarrassment to our Country,” even as the F.B.I., contradicting earlier Presidential tweets, affirmed that it had no evidence of any foreign plot to manipulate mail voting. Trump’s demagoguery is clearly aimed at delegitimizing the election and intimidating voters, and it may also be designed to sway Trump-friendly judges who will decide myriad partisan lawsuits over voting practices. All in all, it constitutes the most blatant use of Presidential power to prevent lawful voting since the days of Jim Crow. Trump and his allies appear to be succeeding, at least in the realm of perception: the Pew survey found that sixty per cent of Biden supporters expect voting to be difficult this fall, while just thirty-five per cent of Trump supporters do.
That gap almost certainly reflects, in part, the long history of obstacles that Democratic voters of color, particularly African-Americans, have faced when trying to exercise their right to vote. But it also suggests that Trump’s tweetstorms and offhand comments are persuading even many white Democrats that they will have a hard time casting their ballots successfully. According to data assembled by the political scientist Michael McDonald, Democrats are already attempting to vote by mail at higher rates than Republicans in battleground states such as Florida. The anxieties of mail-in voters are hardly irrational: the easiest way to vote safely during the pandemic—by mail—also carries heightened risks of disenfranchisement, because the Trump campaign donor recently installed as Postmaster General has overseen a slowdown in mail-delivery times.
“A lot of confusion has been injected into the process because of bad actors,” Nse Ufot, the chief executive of the New Georgia Project, a nonprofit working for voter enfranchisement that was founded by Stacey Abrams, the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, told me. Helping low-income voters cast their ballots requires navigating one barrier after another. For example, the state’s Republican governor and legislature have refused to pay for the postage on mail-in ballots, so groups like the New Georgia Project are raising funds to do it. “It is not the work of civil-rights organizations to do the work of government,” she said. “It is not our responsibility to pay for postage . . . and yet that is what we find ourselves doing.”
This spring, Congress authorized four hundred million dollars to support election administration, far less than what some voting-rights watchdogs argue is necessary. Nonprofits are now pouring funds to some states to support government budgets. In July, following the debacle of Wisconsin’s April primary election, when thousands of mailed-in ballots weren’t counted, and Election Day voters endured long lines, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a Chicago-based nonprofit, provided more than six million dollars in grants to five Wisconsin cities, in order to help them prepare for voting this fall. Last week, the center announced a ten-million-dollar grant to the city of Philadelphia, to help it handle a rise in mail voting. (The city’s prior election-administration budget was fifteen million dollars.) Turnout by Philadelphia’s Black voters is vital to the Democrats’ hopes to retake Pennsylvania from Trump, who won the state by just forty-four thousand votes in 2016. Facebook, Google, and major foundations are listed as donors on the center’s Web site, but the center declined to say who specifically funded the recent large grants to cities in battleground states this year.
Such funding is certainly needed, though, for, among other things, allowing election administrators to create multiple paths to the ballot box for voters most at risk of being denied access to it. Democrats have rallied this summer to defend mail-in voting against the President’s attacks, and that is necessary, but “the truth is, vote by mail does not work for every voter,” Hannah Fried, the national campaign director for All Voting Is Local, a campaign housed under the Leadership Conference Education Fund, which works to remove barriers to voting, told me. “African-American voters vote by mail at much lower rates than white voters. Native Americans living on tribal land without a standard address or reliable delivery” of mail can’t rely on that means. “We need options,” Fried said, including ballot-return drop boxes and adequate early in-person polling places.
The effects of the pandemic and Trump’s rhetoric will also be felt on Election Day, of course, when more voters with less firm convictions typically cast their ballots. There is some uncertainty and debate among pollsters and political scientists about both how many truly undecided voters are left in the last weeks of a Presidential election and what affects their behavior. YouGov, which conducts online tracking surveys of the contest between Trump and Biden, reported in late August that about four per cent of respondents were “not sure” which candidate they would vote for, a lower figure than the comparable one in August, 2016, which was seven per cent. Yanna Krupnikov, a political scientist at Stony Brook University, told me that self-described undecided voters are such a heterogeneous group that it is probably not helpful to think of them as a single category. She and other political scientists believe that the true number of undecideds could be overstated by polling; some voters tell pollsters that they are independent or undecided even when they are not, because their self-image is that of an open-minded person. But, given that late voters who are truly undecided also tend to be less politically engaged, with all of the confusion and worry this year, “There’s a question of whether, if they’re so undecided so late into the campaign, are they really going to turn out to vote,” Krupnikov told me. “If it’s scary to vote, and you’re not enthusiastic, why put yourself through that?”


newyorker--2020-09-04--The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes

The ideas were elaborate .
Smith wanted the urn in a lighted vitrine in the Algonquin , but the manager , Edward Pitt , declined to take it , saying it made him squeamish .
An aviation-company representative proposed sprinkling the ashes out of an airplane over the Hudson .
An artist said that he had developed a way to mix the ashes with oil , and could paint Parker so she could live on as a “ portrait in perpetuity.
” A guest proposed that she be encased in a bar , to honor her love of drinking .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ashes in paper like cocaine , and divvy them up among the crowd .
O ’ Dwyer thought these suggestions “ macabre and inappropriate.
” He confessed at the time , “ I have no idea what we will decide.
” The conundrum soon became headline news in papers as far away as Australia ; the critic Joseph McLellan at the Washington Post set it to a thirteen-stanza poem : Benjamin Hooks , then the director of the N.A.A.C.P.
, attended the raucous Algonquin meeting .
The N.A.A.C.P .
had recently moved its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and he offered that Parker could be sent there .
Diehard New Yorkers scoffed at the thought of shipping her out of the city , but the idea won O ’ Dwyer over .
The dean of Howard University ’ s architecture school built a site for the burial , in a grassy area next to the parking lot behind the N.A.A.C.P.
’ s offices , calling it the Dorothy Parker Memorial Gardens .
The site had four concentric circles of brown bricks , to evoke the Algonquin Round Table , and was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ashes were interred there in October , 1988 .
“ The idea of a white woman leaving her entire estate , all she had , to the Black cause was unparalleled , ” Hooks told a local reporter .
“ I can imagine the gesture was greeted with a raised eyebrow by many whites.
” Over time , Parker ’ s gravesite , though well intentioned , fell into some disrepair .
The site was largely forgotten by fans , hidden as it was behind a suburban office building .
By the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tree roots were breaking through the sidewalk , and thousands of brown pine needles covered the area .
The nearby parking lot was empty .
The only marking on the grave was a small circular epitaph set in Helvetica italics that praised a connection between the Jewish and Black communities .
( Parker was half Jewish , though she attended Catholic school . )
In 2006 , Kevin C. Fitzpatrick , a professional tour guide , found out that the N.A.A.C.P .
was considering moving its headquarters to Washington , D.C. Fitzpatrick is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an avid Parker fan : he wrote a guidebook called “ A Journey into Dorothy Parker ’ s New York , ” founded the Dorothy Parker Society , and hosts a yearly event at the Algonquin called Parkerfest .
“ I identified with her as a New Yorker with bad jobs , bad relationships , bad bosses , and a love of having fun , ” he told me .
Fitzpatrick worried about what would happen to Parker if the N.A.A.C.P .
moved .
“ There ’ s this thing with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have graves , ” he said .
The urn of Parker ’ s best friend , the humorist and actor Robert Benchley , was sent to his family empty .
The ashes of the critic Alexander Woollcott were meant to be sent to his alma mater , Hamilton College , but were instead sent to Hamilton , New York .
Fitzpatrick thought that it might make more sense to move Parker to a more permanent resting place .
“ This can happen , ” he said .
“ Judy Garland got moved .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
.
Look what happened to Truman Capote.
” After a dispute , the writer ’ s ashes were divided between his partner and a friend , and some of his remains were later sold at auction .
“ You could write a book about his afterlife , ” Fitzpatrick said .
Fitzpatrick had been in touch with Parker ’ s relatives , three grandnieces who live in central New York .
“ She was Aunt Dot , ” Nancy Arcaro , Parker ’ s middle grandniece , told me .
They lost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uncle had a tiff over a family funeral ; they didn ’ t realize that she was famous , even though their mother kept her books in the family ’ s home library .
“ I remember we heard about her death when we were getting in the car , ” Joan Grossman , Parker ’ s youngest grandniece , said .
“ It was on the radio , and it was on the nightly news , too .
Headline news in the New York Times.
” The grandnieces were shocked to hear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains .
“ Our family never knew that her ashes were in a drawer , ” Susan Cotton , the eldest of the trio , said .
They wanted her brought back to Woodlawn Cemetery , in the Bronx , where Parker ’ s parents and grandparents were buried .
When the grandnieces called Woodlawn , they found out that , in fact , Parker ’ s father had purchased a plot with six places , and two empty ones had been passed down to Parker ; the fact had been forgotten after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had any say in the Baltimore situation , and of course we would want her with the family , ” Arcaro said .
Fitzpatrick worked on a proposal for her move , which required collecting signed letters from family members and retrieving court documents .
( “ Parker ’ s cremains are treated like an asset , like a condo , ” he said . )
At the beginning of this year , fourteen years later , permission was granted .
This August , Fitzpatrick met me at Penn Station , wearing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ box , which he had built to carry the urn .
“ I can ’ t believe this is actually happening , ” he said , as we boarded a train to Baltimore .

Two years later, Parker died, of a heart attack, and was found slumped in her suite by her chambermaid, with Troy at her side. Parker named her friend Lillian Hellman, a playwright and columnist, the “executrix” of her estate, but when Hellman learned that she hadn’t been left any money, she fumed, swearing that Parker must have been drunk when she wrote the will. Out of spite, Hellman ordered all of Parker’s effects to be thrown away, including her papers, books, clothes, and keepsakes. She also disobeyed Parker’s wishes for a quiet cremation and organized a public memorial at a funeral home on the Upper East Side. Parker’s body was laid out in a size-three beaded gold caftan given to her by Gloria Vanderbilt; Hellman delivered a eulogy for a packed house; a violinist played Bach. (A court eventually stripped Hellman of control over the estate.)
Later that week, King was interrupted at B. B. Beamon’s Restaurant, in Atlanta, and told that he had inherited Parker’s estate. He had never heard of her, and was baffled, but exclaimed to his dining companions, fellow-activists from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “This verifies what I said, that the Lord shall provide.” Parker had specified in her will that, should something happen to King, her estate should go to the N.A.A.C.P. Ten months later, King was assassinated, at the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee. The N.A.A.C.P. soon became the owner of her assets and her work. (To this day, the organization approves all uses of Parker’s writing. It has not disclosed how much it has made from licensing fees and royalties, but the amount is likely not insignificant; “The Portable Dorothy Parker,” a best-selling collection of her work, has never been out of print since it was published in 1944.)
Parker was cremated at Ferncliff Crematory, in Westchester County. No one ever came to collect the ashes, and they sat on a shelf for years. Storage fees were never paid, and so, in 1973, after many unreturned phone calls, a frustrated clerk at Ferncliff sent the urn to the address listed on Parker’s paperwork, which had once belonged to the office of Parker’s lawyer, Oscar Bernstien. By this time, Bernstien had retired, and his partner, Paul O’Dwyer, had taken over the practice. O’Dwyer had barely interacted with Parker and didn’t know what to do with the delivery. He stuffed the urn into a filing cabinet attached to his desk, where it was soon forgotten.
In the early nineteen-eighties, the author and actor Malachy McCourt visited O’Dwyer’s office and began telling a story about meeting Parker at a Hollywood party in 1961, without recognizing her. “She was brightly dressed, her hair not white, blondish, warm and friendly and somewhat amused by my attention,” McCourt told me. “And I said, ‘You’re sure now that you don’t want to spend the night with me?’ And she said, ‘Young man, you might think you are flattering me, but you’re mistaken.’ ” O’Dwyer asked McCourt if he wanted to see Parker again. “I said, ‘Yeah, but I think she’s dead.’ He gave me a look and went to his desk and pulled out an urn from a metal filing cabinet in his bottom drawer. It was not large, maybe the size of a small flower vase; it was only about ten inches, I think. Very small. And he said, ‘So here she is again!’ And I said, ‘Oh my God! How are you, Dorothy?’ ”
In 1988, O’Dwyer, then eighty-one, decided to do something about Parker’s ashes while he still could. He called Liz Smith, a gossip columnist for the Daily News who had been a friend of Parker’s, and asked for advice. Smith mentioned Parker’s plight in her column, and soon received more than seventy letters in response. O’Dwyer then held a cocktail party of thirty Parker devotees at the Algonquin Hotel. He explained to the guests that the instructions in Parker’s will were unclear about where her remains should go, and he asked them for suggestions.
The ideas were elaborate. Smith wanted the urn in a lighted vitrine in the Algonquin, but the manager, Edward Pitt, declined to take it, saying it made him squeamish. An aviation-company representative proposed sprinkling the ashes out of an airplane over the Hudson. An artist said that he had developed a way to mix the ashes with oil, and could paint Parker so she could live on as a “portrait in perpetuity.” A guest proposed that she be encased in a bar, to honor her love of drinking. One inebriated brainstormer wanted to wrap the ashes in paper like cocaine, and divvy them up among the crowd. O’Dwyer thought these suggestions “macabre and inappropriate.” He confessed at the time, “I have no idea what we will decide.” The conundrum soon became headline news in papers as far away as Australia; the critic Joseph McLellan at the Washington Post set it to a thirteen-stanza poem:
Liz Smith (the columnist) has told,
A story grim and dark,
About a girl named Parker who,
Can’t find a place to park.
Benjamin Hooks, then the director of the N.A.A.C.P., attended the raucous Algonquin meeting. The N.A.A.C.P. had recently moved its headquarters from New York to Baltimore, and he offered that Parker could be sent there. Diehard New Yorkers scoffed at the thought of shipping her out of the city, but the idea won O’Dwyer over. The dean of Howard University’s architecture school built a site for the burial, in a grassy area next to the parking lot behind the N.A.A.C.P.’s offices, calling it the Dorothy Parker Memorial Gardens. The site had four concentric circles of brown bricks, to evoke the Algonquin Round Table, and was surrounded by rhododendrons. Parker’s ashes were interred there in October, 1988. “The idea of a white woman leaving her entire estate, all she had, to the Black cause was unparalleled,” Hooks told a local reporter. “I can imagine the gesture was greeted with a raised eyebrow by many whites.”
Over time, Parker’s gravesite, though well intentioned, fell into some disrepair. The site was largely forgotten by fans, hidden as it was behind a suburban office building. By the time I visited, earlier this year, tree roots were breaking through the sidewalk, and thousands of brown pine needles covered the area. The nearby parking lot was empty. The only marking on the grave was a small circular epitaph set in Helvetica italics that praised a connection between the Jewish and Black communities. (Parker was half Jewish, though she attended Catholic school.)
In 2006, Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, a professional tour guide, found out that the N.A.A.C.P. was considering moving its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Fitzpatrick is fifty-four, with a crewcut, and is an avid Parker fan: he wrote a guidebook called “A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York,” founded the Dorothy Parker Society, and hosts a yearly event at the Algonquin called Parkerfest. “I identified with her as a New Yorker with bad jobs, bad relationships, bad bosses, and a love of having fun,” he told me. Fitzpatrick worried about what would happen to Parker if the N.A.A.C.P. moved. “There’s this thing with the Round Table people: disgracefully very few have graves,” he said. The urn of Parker’s best friend, the humorist and actor Robert Benchley, was sent to his family empty. The ashes of the critic Alexander Woollcott were meant to be sent to his alma mater, Hamilton College, but were instead sent to Hamilton, New York. Fitzpatrick thought that it might make more sense to move Parker to a more permanent resting place. “This can happen,” he said. “Judy Garland got moved. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald moved. . . . Look what happened to Truman Capote.” After a dispute, the writer’s ashes were divided between his partner and a friend, and some of his remains were later sold at auction. “You could write a book about his afterlife,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick had been in touch with Parker’s relatives, three grandnieces who live in central New York. “She was Aunt Dot,” Nancy Arcaro, Parker’s middle grandniece, told me. They lost touch with her after she and their uncle had a tiff over a family funeral; they didn’t realize that she was famous, even though their mother kept her books in the family’s home library. “I remember we heard about her death when we were getting in the car,” Joan Grossman, Parker’s youngest grandniece, said. “It was on the radio, and it was on the nightly news, too. Headline news in the New York Times.” The grandnieces were shocked to hear about the fate of Parker’s remains. “Our family never knew that her ashes were in a drawer,” Susan Cotton, the eldest of the trio, said. They wanted her brought back to Woodlawn Cemetery, in the Bronx, where Parker’s parents and grandparents were buried. When the grandnieces called Woodlawn, they found out that, in fact, Parker’s father had purchased a plot with six places, and two empty ones had been passed down to Parker; the fact had been forgotten after her death. “Our family never had any say in the Baltimore situation, and of course we would want her with the family,” Arcaro said.
Fitzpatrick worked on a proposal for her move, which required collecting signed letters from family members and retrieving court documents. (“Parker’s cremains are treated like an asset, like a condo,” he said.) At the beginning of this year, fourteen years later, permission was granted. This August, Fitzpatrick met me at Penn Station, wearing a polka-dotted mask and carrying a ten-by-fourteen-inch pinewood box, which he had built to carry the urn. “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” he said, as we boarded a train to Baltimore.


newyorker--2020-09-04--The American Prisoner in Russia Trapped Between Putin and Trump


newyorker--2020-09-05--Some Calming New Breathing Exercises to Try Out

Observe how you fill your lungs with air and then push that air out through your mouth .
Be present with each inhale and exhale .
Do this until you ’ ve forgotten how to breathe automatically and are forced to continue breathing this way forever in order to stay alive : in , out , in , out , in , out—never stopping , always observing .
Think about how your body must do this every minute of every day , and how if this system is ever interrupted , even for a brief period of time , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s a wonder you haven ’ t spontaneously asphyxiated .
Yet .
Contemplate similarly constant systems in your body , such as the heart pumping your blood .
Ba-bump .
Ba-bump .
Ba-bump .
What if it stopped ?
That happens sometimes to people , when they least expect it .
And how does the blood coursing through your veins not erode their soft interiors , the way a river erodes canyon walls ?
Can that happen ?
Oh , shit—remember to breathe .
Breathe in for a measure of two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considering the inevitabilities of your circulatory system .
Why are your shoulders tensing up ?
It should be the opposite .
You are doing it wrong .
Why do you always do everything wrong ?
Try again .
Oh , no , it ’ s even worse now .
Relax your shoulders , damn it !
This is exactly why you never accomplish any goal you set .
Breathing techniques work for your friend Jessica and for the host of that podcast you like , so they should damn well work for you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the podcast host is candid with her audience about her own struggles with mental health , and you don ’ t see them whining about how they can ’ t get breathing techniques to work .
This is why you don ’ t have a podcast .
Wait , is the air supposed to exit through your mouth or your nose ?
Well , now you ’ re just swallowing the air—that ’ s definitely not supposed to happen .
Your intestines won ’ t appreciate that later on tonight .
Speaking of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making kombucha again , for the probiotics .
That should help the chronic stomach aches .
Although , the last time you tried D.I.Y .
fermenting , your friend ’ s girlfriend told you that she heard of someone who died from a brain infection because of homemade kombucha , so you threw yours out .
You definitely don ’ t want to die of a brain infection .
Hold your breath in until it feels like you ’ re trying to hold off a train that ’ s barrelling toward you and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s wrong .
Something ’ s definitely wrong .
Pinpricks all over your skin , especially your scalp .
Body light as a plastic bag floating around , and causing just as much harm to society .
You pace the floorboards before entering the pantry , where you notice a stack of brown-paper bags like the one your brother once forced you to use when he was babysitting right after he spit in your mouth and you proceeded to cry uncontrollably until you hyperventilated , which is also happening right now .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out , in , and out , in , and out .

Sisyphus Breathing
Observe how you fill your lungs with air and then push that air out through your mouth. Be present with each inhale and exhale. Do this until you’ve forgotten how to breathe automatically and are forced to continue breathing this way forever in order to stay alive: in, out, in, out, in, out—never stopping, always observing. Think about how your body must do this every minute of every day, and how if this system is ever interrupted, even for a brief period of time, that’s the end for you. It’s a wonder you haven’t spontaneously asphyxiated. Yet.
Contemplate similarly constant systems in your body, such as the heart pumping your blood. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. What if it stopped? That happens sometimes to people, when they least expect it. And how does the blood coursing through your veins not erode their soft interiors, the way a river erodes canyon walls? Can that happen? Oh, shit—remember to breathe.
Superego Technique
Breathe in for a measure of two, then purse your lips and stop considering the inevitabilities of your circulatory system. Why are your shoulders tensing up? It should be the opposite. You are doing it wrong. Why do you always do everything wrong? Try again. Oh, no, it’s even worse now. Relax your shoulders, damn it! This is exactly why you never accomplish any goal you set. Breathing techniques work for your friend Jessica and for the host of that podcast you like, so they should damn well work for you. Jessica experiences anxiety and depression and the podcast host is candid with her audience about her own struggles with mental health, and you don’t see them whining about how they can’t get breathing techniques to work. This is why you don’t have a podcast.
Wait, is the air supposed to exit through your mouth or your nose?
Trapped-Air Breathing
Well, now you’re just swallowing the air—that’s definitely not supposed to happen. Your intestines won’t appreciate that later on tonight. Speaking of gut health, maybe you should start making kombucha again, for the probiotics. That should help the chronic stomach aches. Although, the last time you tried D.I.Y. fermenting, your friend’s girlfriend told you that she heard of someone who died from a brain infection because of homemade kombucha, so you threw yours out. You definitely don’t want to die of a brain infection. Hold your breath in until it feels like you’re trying to hold off a train that’s barrelling toward you and no one will help.
Paper Bag
Something’s wrong. Something’s definitely wrong. Pinpricks all over your skin, especially your scalp. Body light as a plastic bag floating around, and causing just as much harm to society. You pace the floorboards before entering the pantry, where you notice a stack of brown-paper bags like the one your brother once forced you to use when he was babysitting right after he spit in your mouth and you proceeded to cry uncontrollably until you hyperventilated, which is also happening right now. You grab one and breathe in, and out, in, and out, in, and out.
Ah, the old classic.


newyorker--2020-09-05--How Charli D’Amelio Became the Face of TikTok

When President Trump signed an executive order to force the sale of TikTok , many Americans wondered , perhaps not for the first time , what the fuss was about .
The Chinese-owned app has become popular with teen-agers worldwide , but it ’ s not the most inviting place .
After signing up , new users are firehosed with a channel of videos made by random people who are referencing unfamiliar trends .
The videos themselves are embellished with strange hashtags ( # xyzbca ) and wild special effects .
Anticipating this disorientation , the app directs you to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that TikTok often appoints as your Virgil is the platform ’ s most popular creator .
She is not an Instagram heiress , a world-class athlete , or a successful recording artist .
Charli D ’ Amelio is a soft spoken , Connecticut-bred high schooler who performs short dance routines , often in her bedroom .
Since joining the app last spring , D ’ Amelio has amassed over six billion likes and eighty-two million followers .
Feeling dumbfounded by D ’ Amelio ’ s popularity , or “ not getting the hype @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passage .
The reaction is so prevalent that D ’ Amelio referenced it in her profile bio , which read , “ Don ’ t worry , I don ’ t get the hype either.
” The conditions that led to her success are an unusual alignment between a social-media creator and an algorithm .
Fame on TikTok has been , to a certain degree , automated .
Unlike other social-media platforms that connect you with your friends , TikTok is a discovery-based app .
Users can choose who to follow , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a stream of videos curated by TikTok , is where most people direct their attention on the app .
Every time you watch , like , or engage with a video , the algorithm becomes more effective .
The reported average watch time on TikTok is forty-five minutes .
D ’ Amelio ’ s videos have been algorithmic gold from the start .
The TikTok creator Madisen Dewey , who makes popular videos about the app ’ s algorithm , explained how D ’ Amelio joined TikTok in the spring of 2019 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virality : “ Back then , there were far more people consuming , rather than creating , content .
Users were able to gain exposure at a faster rate , and , at the time , no one was doing dance content.
” When the majority of TikTok ’ s content still consisted of lip-synching and humor videos , D ’ Amelio began posting short , approachable dance routines , and more or less ignited a movement .
Her first major viral moment spawned from her coverage of Jalaiah Harmon ’ s “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ credit D ’ Amelio as the original “ Renegade ” choreographer . )
Although D ’ Amelio is a trained competitive dancer , her TikTok performances seem casual and unlabored .
The New York City-based choreographer Grace Buckley , who has worked with D ’ Amelio in the past , said that the teen-ager “ has always had a natural , self-assured sense of style while she ’ s dancing , which has translated very successfully to TikTok.
” D ’ Amelio has refined the subtle components of a TikTok dance performance : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and flow .
“ Her command of dynamics makes it look effortless , ” the dancer and YouTuber Luna Montana told me .
“ Technically , she is very relaxed and slow , and moves slightly behind the music .
You watch her and think , Oh , that looks easy , let me try it !
” A user attempting to learn a more complex dance routine ( such as “ Renegade ” ) might watch one of D ’ Amelio ’ s videos hundreds of times .
Visiting her profile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looking to participate in a dance trend .
These skyrocketing watch counts made D ’ Amelio a good solution to TikTok ’ s “ cold start problem.
” Marc Faddoul , an artificial-intelligence researcher at the U.C .
Berkeley School of Information , explained , “ Charli is a very ‘ median ’ user , both in terms of her demographics and the type of content she produces .
That makes her a very ‘ safe ’ recommendation choice that can generate engagement across the board , including for users that don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infer preferences from.
” But D ’ Amelio ’ s value to TikTok and its culture goes well beyond metrics .
She “ carries the perfect message for the brand ’ s strategy : on TikTok , everyone can be famous and happy !
” Faddoul said .
The young people who form the majority of D ’ Amelio ’ s fan base certainly grasp the power of her online influence .
“ They understand what it means to have a following and are more willing to put themselves out there to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Charli , a girl from a normal suburban family who has achieved this dream with TikTok , becomes an idol .
Unlike influencer culture , which often conveys unattainable standards of beauty and wealth , TikTok culture reveres ordinariness .
“ It doesn ’ t surprise me at all that Charli D ’ Amelio has become as popular as she has , nor does it surprise me that people might be confused by it , ” Boman Martinez-Reid , a successful creator , told me .
“ People want to see normal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Kudzi Chikumbu , TikTok ’ s director of creator community in the United States , describes D ’ Amelio ’ s success as a “ testament to her hard work and consistency , most of all , her relatability.
” With each passing day , more red-carpet walkers and industry proponents appear on the platform , and outspoken creators , such as the comedian Brittany Tomlinson , worry that TikTok will become generic and corporate .
“ The best-case scenario is that plain-Jane creators will continue to rise to fame and be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ The worst-case scenario is that it becomes overloaded with brands and celebrities , so much so that we ’ re forced off the app.
” Creators now face a more harrowing threat than a polluted culture : a federal ban .
Trump ’ s executive order has provoked a wave of panicked content on TikTok , ranging from enraged rants to political pranks .
Many of the app ’ s stars , with their livelihoods on the line , have made concerted efforts ( if not desperate pleas ) to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Meanwhile , the confident D ’ Amelio has carried on with business as usual , interrupting her usual dance programming with sales promotions for her beauty products and her upcoming book , “ Essentially Charli : The Ultimate Guide to Keeping It Real.
” D ’ Amelio ’ s blissful apathy is a symptom of her achievement ; she now maintains a degree of financial and cultural security that transcends any platform .
TikTok ’ s future is in limbo , but her career is not .
In the event of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Amelio will be just fine dancing on her own .

The dancer Charli D’Amelio is the perfect ambassador for TikTok. Photograph by Jesse Dittmar / Redux
When President Trump signed an executive order to force the sale of TikTok, many Americans wondered, perhaps not for the first time, what the fuss was about. The Chinese-owned app has become popular with teen-agers worldwide, but it’s not the most inviting place. After signing up, new users are firehosed with a channel of videos made by random people who are referencing unfamiliar trends. The videos themselves are embellished with strange hashtags (#xyzbca) and wild special effects. Anticipating this disorientation, the app directs you to successful and welcoming accounts. The person whom TikTok often appoints as your Virgil is the platform’s most popular creator. She is not an Instagram heiress, a world-class athlete, or a successful recording artist. Charli D’Amelio is a soft-spoken, Connecticut-bred high schooler who performs short dance routines, often in her bedroom. Since joining the app last spring, D’Amelio has amassed more than six billion likes and eighty-two million followers.
Feeling dumbfounded by D’Amelio’s popularity, or “not getting the hype,” is a TikTok rite of passage. The reaction is so prevalent that D’Amelio referred to it in her profile bio, which read, “Don’t worry, I don’t get the hype either.” The conditions that led to her success are an unusual alignment between a social-media creator and an algorithm. Fame on TikTok has been, to a certain degree, automated. Unlike other social-media platforms that connect you with your friends, TikTok is a discovery-based app. Users can choose who to follow, but the “For You” page, a stream of videos curated by TikTok, is where most people direct their attention on the app. Every time you watch, like, or engage with a video, the algorithm becomes more effective. The reported average watch time on TikTok is forty-five minutes.
D’Amelio’s videos have been algorithmic gold from the start. The TikTok creator Madisen Dewey, who makes popular videos about the app’s algorithm, explained how D’Amelio joined TikTok in the spring of 2019, which was a particularly fertile time for virality: “Back then, there were far more people consuming, rather than creating, content. Users were able to gain exposure at a faster rate, and, at the time, no one was doing dance content.” When the majority of TikTok’s content still consisted of lip-synching and humor videos, D’Amelio began posting short, approachable dance routines, and more or less ignited a movement. Her first major viral moment spawned from her coverage of Jalaiah Harmon’s “Renegade” dance. (Many falsely credit D’Amelio as the original “Renegade” choreographer.)
Although D’Amelio is a trained competitive dancer, her TikTok performances seem casual and unlabored. The New York City-based choreographer Grace Buckley, who has worked with D’Amelio in the past, said that the teen-ager “has always had a natural, self-assured sense of style while she’s dancing, which has translated very successfully to TikTok.” D’Amelio has refined the subtle components of a TikTok dance performance: facial expressions, hand movements, timing, and flow. “Her command of dynamics makes it look effortless,” the dancer and YouTuber Luna Montana told me. “Technically, she is very relaxed and slow, and moves slightly behind the music. You watch her and think, Oh, that looks easy. Let me try it!” A user attempting to learn a more complex dance routine (such as “Renegade”) might watch one of D’Amelio’s videos hundreds of times. Visiting her profile became an almost necessary step for users looking to participate in a dance trend.
These skyrocketing watch counts made D’Amelio a good solution to TikTok’s “cold-start problem.” Marc Faddoul, an artificial-intelligence researcher at the U.C. Berkeley School of Information, explained, “Charli is a very ‘median’ user, both in terms of her demographics and the type of content she produces. That makes her a very safe recommendation choice that can generate engagement across the board, including for users that don’t have a very detailed history to infer preferences from.” But D’Amelio’s value to TikTok and its culture goes well beyond metrics. She “carries the perfect message for the brand’s strategy: on TikTok, everyone can be famous and happy!” Faddoul said.
The young people who form the majority of D’Amelio’s fan base certainly grasp the power of her online influence. “They understand what it means to have a following and are more willing to put themselves out there to get it,” Dewey said. Someone like Charli, a girl from a normal suburban family who has achieved this dream with TikTok, becomes an idol. Unlike influencer culture, which often conveys unattainable standards of beauty and wealth, TikTok culture reveres ordinariness. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that Charli D’Amelio has become as popular as she has, nor does it surprise me that people might be confused by it,” Boman Martinez-Reid, a successful creator, told me. “People want to see normal people go on to do great things.” Kudzi Chikumbu, TikTok’s director of creator community in the United States, describes D’Amelio’s success as a “testament to her hard work and consistency—most of all, her relatability.”
With each passing day, more red-carpet walkers and industry proponents appear on the platform, and outspoken creators, such as the comedian Brittany Tomlinson, worry that TikTok will become generic and corporate. “The best-case scenario is that plain-Jane creators will continue to rise to fame and be recognized for their talent,” she said. “The worst-case scenario is that it becomes overloaded with brands and celebrities, so much so that we’re forced off the app.”
Creators now face a more harrowing threat than a polluted culture: a federal ban. Trump’s executive order has provoked a wave of panicked content on TikTok, ranging from enraged rants to political pranks. Many of the app’s stars, with their livelihoods on the line, have made concerted efforts (if not desperate pleas) to divert their fandom to other social channels. Meanwhile, the confident D’Amelio has carried on with business as usual, interrupting her usual dance programming with sales promotions for her beauty products and her upcoming book, “Essentially Charli: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping It Real.” D’Amelio’s blissful apathy is a symptom of her achievement; she now maintains a degree of financial and cultural security that transcends any platform. TikTok’s future is in limbo, but her career is not. In the event of a shutdown, come September 15th, D’Amelio will be just fine dancing on her own.


newyorker--2020-09-05--Who Are You Calling Latinx?

Who Are You Calling Latinx?

As a reader of this publication , you will have undoubtedly come across the term “ Latinx.
” Politicians—including Elizabeth Warren , Julián Castro , and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—have adopted it and use it regularly in speeches .
It is commonplace in universities and progressive circles .
And yet the Pew Research Center recently released the results of a nationwide poll revealing that less than twenty-five per cent of the people whom the term claims to name have even heard of it .
In fact , the number of Latinx people who use “ Latinx ” is just three per cent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Latinx seems like only the most recent chapter in the saga of trying to label a population that has pushed back against every previous attempt to name it—to name us .
The people successively referred to as Hispanics , Latinos , and now Latinx , who now number more than sixty million , almost twenty per cent of the U.S. population , only reluctantly agree that they are actually one and the same people .
Just thirty-nine per cent say they have “ a lot in common ” with one another , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thirty-nine per cent think they share “ some values , ” fifteen per cent say they share “ only a little , ” and five per cent say they share “ almost nothing.
” If you give members of this community the freedom to choose how to identify themselves , the more than fifteen years of polling that Pew has conducted show that most prefer other collective names : Mexicans ( or Mexican-Americans , or Chicanos ) , Puerto Ricans ( or Boricuas ) , Cubans , Salvadorans , Guatemalans , Colombians , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ descent .
Increasingly , more people choose to identify as indigenous or as Black .
Not long ago , I ran my own quick poll .
A colleague who was raised in Ciudad Juárez and educated in El Paso , said that , when he filled out his census form , he marked himself as Hispanic when asked about ethnicity , but left the race box blank .
“ I identify as a Borderlander , but the census doesn ’ t capture that , so I adopt Hispanic as a public and social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would like to mark mestizo— “ part indigenous , part European ” —as his race , but there is no such option .
A Dominican friend said that she marks Hispanic/Latino and adds Dominican , but marks “ other ” in the race category and is frustrated because she is not allowed to add more : she ’ d like to mark herself Black and also Taíno , but “ they won ’ t understand what that is.
” A third friend said that she marks Hispanic/Latino and Puerto Rican , but , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen as white , she leaves “ race ” blank because she thinks that choosing white would be identifying with the hierarchies of a white-supremacist ideology .
In other words , it ’ s complicated .
Why bother , then , inventing one name to bind the many together ?
Perhaps it ’ s because these people , who carry legacies of two continents of varied cultures , traditions , ethnicities , social status , and even languages , do have one thing in common : the ways in which they ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this country .
Until a half century ago , that discrimination—in housing , employment , education , health care , justice , and influence—was hidden by the fact that those now being called Latinx were counted in the census as “ white.
” That is why , in the nineteen-sixties and seventies , as the sociologist G. Cristina Mora describes in her 2014 book , “ Making Hispanics : How Activists , Bureaucrats & Media Constructed a New American , ” a coalition of activists , public officials , and media executives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ create a new census category .
The chosen label was Hispanic , a term that had been used in its Spanish-language version , hispanos , by different local communities , among them New York Puerto Ricans who supported the Spanish Republican cause in the nineteen-thirties and New Mexicans who , to this day , trace their roots to the Spanish conquistadores of the sixteenth century .
For the first time , questionnaires were sent to a sample population asking if they were of “ Mexican , Puerto Rican , Cuban , Central or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It was estimated that 9.1 million people , or roughly 4.5 per cent of the total U.S. population , were Hispanics .
In 1980 , the Census Bureau incorporated the question into the decennial census that year ; by then , Hispanics had reached about 6.4 per cent .
In the following years , a group of TV stations that later became Univision played a central role in packaging the separate groups under that label .
For the first Spanish-language network in the country , here was an incredible opportunity to invent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the advertising industry .
Univision was so decisive and so successful in selling the idea of Hispanics that , through soap operas , talk shows , and newscasts , it proved persuasive not only to advertisers but to the newly constructed audience itself .
In the nineteen-nineties , however , “ Hispanics ” came under heavy criticism by a new generation of activists and multiculturalists .
They objected to its reference to Spain , with the country ’ s history of colonial oppression in Latin America , and to its glossing over of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ various communities .
As the novelist Sandra Cisneros said , in 1992 , “ To say Hispanic means you ’ re so colonized you don ’ t even know for yourself or someone who named you never bothered to ask what you call yourself.
” Then came the alternative : Latino .
The term had emerged during the civil-rights era but waned .
It was revived and included as a synonym of Hispanic in the 2000 census , thus redefining the by then roughly 12.5 per cent of the population as people of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but included Brazilians , who speak Portuguese .
Hispanic and Latino became synonyms outside the census , too .
In the recent poll , when Pew asked this population which of the two labels better describes it , sixty-one per cent preferred Hispanic , but only twenty-nine per cent opted for Latino .
In the early two-thousands , a young , global movement for gender equity evolved , bringing about the rise of “ they ” as a singular pronoun .
To many of those activists and intellectuals , “ Latino ” was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with most Spanish words , Latino is gendered : ending in “ o , ” it is masculine ; Latina is the feminine version . )
After the short-lived alternatives Latin @ and Latino/a , by the mid-two-thousands , many people , particularly in the academic world , had settled on Latinx .
Mark Hugo Lopez , the director of global migration and demography research at Pew , told me recently that its research shows that the use of Latinx became more common in the aftermath of the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orlando , when “ media , celebrities , corporations , and universities ” started to embrace the term .
In September , 2018 , the editors of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary adopted it .
Inside the community , it was initially used by L.G.B.T.Q .
groups , artists , and academics , but many others greeted it with mockery .
Some columnists claimed it was awkward and impossible to pronounce .
Latinx was “ the bulldozing of Spanish , ” Hector Luis Alamo , then the deputy editor of the news site Latino Rebels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had gone through the entire Spanish dictionary and found not a single word with an “ x ” following a consonant .
The popular Latino culture site Remezcla ran a Twitter poll asking its followers how they pronounced it : the votes were divided between LAT-in-x and La-TEEN-x .
“ If you can say Kleenex , you can say Latinx , ” Ed Morales , the author of the 2018 book “ Latinx : The New Force in American Politics and Culture , ” maintained .
Others argue that Latinx is “ an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an attack against the Spanish language : in Latin American countries , the proposed neuter form substitutes an “ e ” for an “ a ” or an “ o ” ( in this case , Latine ) .

As a reader of this publication, you will have undoubtedly come across the term “Latinx.” Politicians—including Elizabeth Warren, Julián Castro, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—have adopted it and use it regularly in speeches. It is commonplace in universities and progressive circles. And yet the Pew Research Center recently released the results of a nationwide poll revealing that less than twenty-five per cent of the people whom the term claims to name have even heard of it. In fact, the number of Latinx people who use “Latinx” is just three per cent.
At first glance, the rise of Latinx seems like only the most recent chapter in the saga of trying to label a population that has pushed back against every previous attempt to name it—to name us. The people successively referred to as Hispanics, Latinos, and now Latinx, who now number more than sixty million, almost twenty per cent of the U.S. population, only reluctantly agree that they are actually one and the same people. Just thirty-nine per cent say they have “a lot in common” with one another, according to another Pew survey, and thirty-nine per cent think they share “some values,” fifteen per cent say they share “only a little,” and five per cent say they share “almost nothing.” If you give members of this community the freedom to choose how to identify themselves, the more than fifteen years of polling that Pew has conducted show that most prefer other collective names: Mexicans (or Mexican-Americans, or Chicanos), Puerto Ricans (or Boricuas), Cubans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Colombians, or any of our many nationalities of descent. Increasingly, more people choose to identify as indigenous or as Black.
Not long ago, I ran my own quick poll. A colleague who was raised in Ciudad Juárez and educated in El Paso, said that, when he filled out his census form, he marked himself as Hispanic when asked about ethnicity, but left the race box blank. “I identify as a Borderlander, but the census doesn’t capture that, so I adopt Hispanic as a public and social identity,” he explained. He would like to mark mestizo—“part indigenous, part European”—as his race, but there is no such option. A Dominican friend said that she marks Hispanic/Latino and adds Dominican, but marks “other” in the race category and is frustrated because she is not allowed to add more: she’d like to mark herself Black and also Taíno, but “they won’t understand what that is.” A third friend said that she marks Hispanic/Latino and Puerto Rican, but, even though in Puerto Rico she is seen as white, she leaves “race” blank because she thinks that choosing white would be identifying with the hierarchies of a white-supremacist ideology.
In other words, it’s complicated. Why bother, then, inventing one name to bind the many together? Perhaps it’s because these people, who carry legacies of two continents of varied cultures, traditions, ethnicities, social status, and even languages, do have one thing in common: the ways in which they’ve been discriminated against by the white majority in this country. Until a half century ago, that discrimination—in housing, employment, education, health care, justice, and influence—was hidden by the fact that those now being called Latinx were counted in the census as “white.” That is why, in the nineteen-sixties and seventies, as the sociologist G. Cristina Mora describes in her 2014 book, “Making Hispanics: How Activists, Bureaucrats & Media Constructed a New American,” a coalition of activists, public officials, and media executives lobbied the Johnson and Nixon Administrations to create a new census category.
The chosen label was Hispanic, a term that had been used in its Spanish-language version, hispanos, by different local communities, among them New York Puerto Ricans who supported the Spanish Republican cause in the nineteen-thirties and New Mexicans who, to this day, trace their roots to the Spanish conquistadores of the sixteenth century. For the first time, questionnaires were sent to a sample population asking if they were of “Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, Other Spanish” origin. It was estimated that 9.1 million people, or roughly 4.5 per cent of the total U.S. population, were Hispanics. In 1980, the Census Bureau incorporated the question into the decennial census that year; by then, Hispanics had reached about 6.4 per cent.
In the following years, a group of TV stations that later became Univision played a central role in packaging the separate groups under that label. For the first Spanish-language network in the country, here was an incredible opportunity to invent a national audience and sell it to the advertising industry. Univision was so decisive and so successful in selling the idea of Hispanics that, through soap operas, talk shows, and newscasts, it proved persuasive not only to advertisers but to the newly constructed audience itself.
In the nineteen-nineties, however, “Hispanics” came under heavy criticism by a new generation of activists and multiculturalists. They objected to its reference to Spain, with the country’s history of colonial oppression in Latin America, and to its glossing over of the racial and ethnic diversity within the various communities. As the novelist Sandra Cisneros said, in 1992, “To say Hispanic means you’re so colonized you don’t even know for yourself or someone who named you never bothered to ask what you call yourself.”
Then came the alternative: Latino. The term had emerged during the civil-rights era but waned. It was revived and included as a synonym of Hispanic in the 2000 census, thus redefining the by then roughly 12.5 per cent of the population as people of Latin American descent—a move that excluded Spaniards but included Brazilians, who speak Portuguese. Hispanic and Latino became synonyms outside the census, too. In the recent poll, when Pew asked this population which of the two labels better describes it, sixty-one per cent preferred Hispanic, but only twenty-nine per cent opted for Latino.
In the early two-thousands, a young, global movement for gender equity evolved, bringing about the rise of “they” as a singular pronoun. To many of those activists and intellectuals, “Latino” was a gendered—and therefore flawed—term. (As with most Spanish words, Latino is gendered: ending in “o,” it is masculine; Latina is the feminine version.) After the short-lived alternatives Latin@ and Latino/a, by the mid-two-thousands, many people, particularly in the academic world, had settled on Latinx. Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of global migration and demography research at Pew, told me recently that its research shows that the use of Latinx became more common in the aftermath of the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, the L.G.B.T.Q. night club in Orlando, when “media, celebrities, corporations, and universities” started to embrace the term. In September, 2018, the editors of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary adopted it.
Inside the community, it was initially used by L.G.B.T.Q. groups, artists, and academics, but many others greeted it with mockery. Some columnists claimed it was awkward and impossible to pronounce. Latinx was “the bulldozing of Spanish,” Hector Luis Alamo, then the deputy editor of the news site Latino Rebels, protested. He said that he had gone through the entire Spanish dictionary and found not a single word with an “x” following a consonant. The popular Latino culture site Remezcla ran a Twitter poll asking its followers how they pronounced it: the votes were divided between LAT-in-x and La-TEEN-x. “If you can say Kleenex, you can say Latinx,” Ed Morales, the author of the 2018 book “Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture,” maintained. Others argue that Latinx is “an anglicization,” a colonialist residue, an attack against the Spanish language: in Latin American countries, the proposed neuter form substitutes an “e” for an “a” or an “o” (in this case, Latine).