newyorker--2020-05-20--How Betsey Johnson Built a Fashion Empire and Lost Her Name

In 1964 , Betsey Johnson was a twenty-two-year-old magazine editor , working in the fabrics department of Mademoiselle .
She had landed at the magazine by winning its summer scholarship contest , a program that placed promising young ladies in “ guest editor ” roles while housing them at the Barbizon , an all-female boarding house on East 63rd Street .
( Past alumna of the program included Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion . )
Though most guest editors spent just one season at the magazine , Johnson had stayed on to fill a spot vacated by a woman on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she decided that it was time to leave the strict environment of the Barbizon , where pants were forbidden and some residents had a designated chaperone .
She moved to another all-women ’ s hotel , but was soon kicked out for smoking in her room .
So she found a fifth-floor walkup underneath the Brooklyn Bridge , and , to make rent , began supplementing her magazine income by designing women ’ s tops .
Johnson had studied art at the Pratt Institute , before transferring to Syracuse University to study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to finish school somewhere where she could be a cheerleader . )
Now she found a hand-crocheted fabric and stitched it “ into sweaters that hugged the body , ” she writes in her new memoir , “ Betsey , ” which was published last month by Viking Books .
( It ’ s co-written by her former receptionist and longtime confidant Mark Vitulano . )
“ They had short , tight sleeves and a scoop neck that was trimmed with a half-inch of velvet .
I finished them off with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were adorable , if I do say so myself.
” Johnson wore one of her own creations to work , and , after her colleagues asked her where they could buy one , she started taking orders , at twenty dollars a piece .
“ I made a poster with an illustration of a girl wearing the sweater and hung it up in the ladies room at the magazine , ” she writes .
“ Well , that did it.
” The demand became so high internally that the Mademoiselle editors put a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sweater in the magazine ’ s “ Shop Here ” section .
When the actress Kim Novak wrote requesting to buy one , Johnson tucked a handwritten note into the box , signed “ XOX , Betsey.
” This story , which comes early in Johnson ’ s memoir , encapsulates many of the traits that would come to define her as a designer : the good-girl perkiness mixed with misbehavior , the extreme industriousness , the penchant for sexy silhouettes lightened with frilly embellishments .
In her memoir , and in person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refers to her customers as “ my girls , ” or “ Betsey girls , ” as if they are precocious little sisters .
Johnson ’ s signature aesthetic , which she calls “ pretty and punk , ” tends to take an almost comically high-femme idea ( a poofy tulle skirt , a slinky slip , a baby-doll dress ) and rough it up it with leopard print , or studs , or skulls—prissy sweetness cut with a touch of poison .
At the height of her career , her brand was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first steps into designer party gear ; a Betsey dress was a rite of passage , a wearable bridge to adolescence .
For decades , Johnson ’ s core business was making hot-pink prom dresses with black lace-up corsets and neon trim , selling well-mannered teen-agers a dream of rebellion from within the school gym .
Her taste seemed to spring as much from her tenure at Mademoiselle , among white-gloved editrixes , as it did from her later associations with rock and roll .
In fact , it was the editor Edie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mademoiselle , who helped her land the first job that put her in contact with the world of rock stars .
Paul Young , an entrepreneur from London , was launching a new store on Madison Avenue called Paraphernalia , and was looking for unknown designers to feature .
Young ’ s taste was forged on Carnaby Street—the mod miniskirts and latex go-go boots of the swinging British youth—and he was looking for American designers to channel the same sensibility .
He gave Johnson a tiny workroom , which she shared with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulah , and encouraged her to make whatever she wanted .
Because Johnson ’ s job at Mademoiselle had been to source interesting fabrics , she started there .
She bought lamé fishnet and made a shift dress that she called the Silverfish .
She bought faux suede and made , she wrote , “ something I called my ‘ Story of O ’ dress .
It was a little A-line with large , strategically placed brass grommets sewn into it , exposing your skin.
” ( One advertisement asked , “ Can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Betsey Johnson noise dress ?
” ) Paraphernalia became an uptown hub for downtown musicians and artists .
Andy Warhol shopped there , as did Twiggy , Nico , Edie Sedgwick , and Patti Smith .
Johnson met the members of the Velvet Underground , who were patrons of the store , and began a breakneck romance with John Cale ; they married in 1968 , the same year that Cale left the group , and divorced not long after .
“ I felt like Yoko , breaking the band up , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when I met her inside a suite at the Gramercy Park Hotel .
She was wearing bright-yellow hair extensions , which gave her head a chartreuse glow , a pink sweater with a large embroidered eye on it , and a dark rim of kohl eyeliner .
A giant , vintage Betsey Johnson gown in cherry-red tulle , draped over a chair in the corner of the room , looked like a saloon costume from an old Western .
Winningly daffy and unfiltered , and prone to reminiscing , she told me about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downtown loft with Cale , making clothing for the Velvets .
“ Lou [ Reed ] wanted gray suede .
Maureen [ Tucker ] and Sterling [ Morrison ] really let me rock out with my velvet and my studs , ” she said .
When Johnson and Cale wed , at City Hall , Andy Warhol tagged along and took pictures .
( The judge initially refused to perform the ceremony because Johnson was wearing a pants suit of her own design ; she solved the problem by walking to the restroom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her jacket down over her tights . )
When I asked Johnson if she got along well with Lou Reed , she snorted , “ To this day , I think the only good thing Lou Reed said to me was that I cut a good crotch.
” Johnson left Paraphernalia , in 1969 , to open the boutique Betsey Bunky Nini with two friends , and from there went on to design for the juniors ’ label Alley Cat .
But she left the company a few years later , breaking her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They wanted me to use ugly fabrics , ” she told me .
“ My personality was ripped apart.
” ) In 1977 , she launched her own label with a business partner , a fashion sales rep and former model named Chantal Bacon .
Johnson gave Bacon half the company up front .
“ I wanted someone to work as hard as I worked , ” she told me .
A year later , she opened her first namesake store , on Thompson Street , in Soho .
“ There was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Johnson said .
“ There was a customer that just grew between the cement.
” At first , Johnson and Bacon funnelled any profits into expanding the brand to other cities .
“ We ’ d go to places like Boston , on Newbury Street , sit outside , have a cup of coffee , and just check out if there were any girls who we think might wear my clothes , ” she said .
In New York , when they would scout new store locations , in their Fiorucci @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The police used to think we were hookers .
”

In 1964, Betsey Johnson was a twenty-two-year-old magazine editor, working in the fabrics department of Mademoiselle. She had landed at the magazine by winning its summer scholarship contest, a program that placed promising young ladies in “guest editor” roles while housing them at the Barbizon, an all-female boarding house on East 63rd Street. (Past alumna of the program included Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion.) Though most guest editors spent just one season at the magazine, Johnson had stayed on to fill a spot vacated by a woman on maternity leave. With a full-time job, she decided that it was time to leave the strict environment of the Barbizon, where pants were forbidden and some residents had a designated chaperone. She moved to another all-women’s hotel, but was soon kicked out for smoking in her room. So she found a fifth-floor walkup underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, and, to make rent, began supplementing her magazine income by designing women’s tops.
Johnson had studied art at the Pratt Institute, before transferring to Syracuse University to study fabric design. (She’d wanted to finish school somewhere where she could be a cheerleader.) Now she found a hand-crocheted fabric and stitched it “into sweaters that hugged the body,” she writes in her new memoir, “Betsey,” which was published last month by Viking Books. (It’s co-written by her former receptionist and longtime confidant Mark Vitulano.) “They had short, tight sleeves and a scoop neck that was trimmed with a half-inch of velvet. I finished them off with a little bow on the front. They were adorable, if I do say so myself.” Johnson wore one of her own creations to work, and, after her colleagues asked her where they could buy one, she started taking orders, at twenty dollars a piece. “I made a poster with an illustration of a girl wearing the sweater and hung it up in the ladies room at the magazine,” she writes. “Well, that did it.” The demand became so high internally that the Mademoiselle editors put a picture of a model sporting a Johnson sweater in the magazine’s “Shop Here” section. When the actress Kim Novak wrote requesting to buy one, Johnson tucked a handwritten note into the box, signed “XOX, Betsey.”
This story, which comes early in Johnson’s memoir, encapsulates many of the traits that would come to define her as a designer: the good-girl perkiness mixed with misbehavior, the extreme industriousness, the penchant for sexy silhouettes lightened with frilly embellishments. In her memoir, and in person, Johnson, now seventy-seven, often refers to her customers as “my girls,” or “Betsey girls,” as if they are precocious little sisters. Johnson’s signature aesthetic, which she calls “pretty and punk,” tends to take an almost comically high-femme idea (a poofy tulle skirt, a slinky slip, a baby-doll dress) and rough it up it with leopard print, or studs, or skulls—prissy sweetness cut with a touch of poison. At the height of her career, her brand was a must-have for young women taking their first steps into designer party gear; a Betsey dress was a rite of passage, a wearable bridge to adolescence. For decades, Johnson’s core business was making hot-pink prom dresses with black lace-up corsets and neon trim, selling well-mannered teen-agers a dream of rebellion from within the school gym. Her taste seemed to spring as much from her tenure at Mademoiselle, among white-gloved editrixes, as it did from her later associations with rock and roll.
In fact, it was the editor Edie Locke, Johnson’s mentor at Mademoiselle, who helped her land the first job that put her in contact with the world of rock stars. Paul Young, an entrepreneur from London, was launching a new store on Madison Avenue called Paraphernalia, and was looking for unknown designers to feature. Young’s taste was forged on Carnaby Street—the mod miniskirts and latex go-go boots of the swinging British youth—and he was looking for American designers to channel the same sensibility. He gave Johnson a tiny workroom, which she shared with a “beautiful hippy-dippy Greek” pattern-maker named Tulah, and encouraged her to make whatever she wanted. Because Johnson’s job at Mademoiselle had been to source interesting fabrics, she started there. She bought lamé fishnet and made a shift dress that she called the Silverfish. She bought faux suede and made, she wrote, “something I called my ‘Story of O’ dress. It was a little A-line with large, strategically placed brass grommets sewn into it, exposing your skin.” (One advertisement asked, “Can you bear the strange din of your Betsey Johnson noise dress?”) Paraphernalia became an uptown hub for downtown musicians and artists. Andy Warhol shopped there, as did Twiggy, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, and Patti Smith. Johnson met the members of the Velvet Underground, who were patrons of the store, and began a breakneck romance with John Cale; they married in 1968, the same year that Cale left the group, and divorced not long after.
“I felt like Yoko, breaking the band up,” Johnson told me back in February, when I met her inside a suite at the Gramercy Park Hotel. She was wearing bright-yellow hair extensions, which gave her head a chartreuse glow, a pink sweater with a large embroidered eye on it, and a dark rim of kohl eyeliner. A giant, vintage Betsey Johnson gown in cherry-red tulle, draped over a chair in the corner of the room, looked like a saloon costume from an old Western. Winningly daffy and unfiltered, and prone to reminiscing, she told me about the time she spent living in a downtown loft with Cale, making clothing for the Velvets. “Lou [Reed] wanted gray suede. Maureen [Tucker] and Sterling [Morrison] really let me rock out with my velvet and my studs,” she said. When Johnson and Cale wed, at City Hall, Andy Warhol tagged along and took pictures. (The judge initially refused to perform the ceremony because Johnson was wearing a pants suit of her own design; she solved the problem by walking to the restroom, removing her pants, and wiggling her jacket down over her tights.) When I asked Johnson if she got along well with Lou Reed, she snorted, “To this day, I think the only good thing Lou Reed said to me was that I cut a good crotch.”


newyorker--2020-05-20--Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, May 20th

Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, May 20th

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newyorker--2020-05-20--Trump Fears Painting of Obama at White House Would Spy on Him

WASHINGTON ( The Borowitz Report ) —Donald Trump is terrified of hanging an official portrait of former President Barack Obama @ @ @ @ @ he is convinced that the painting would spy on him , a White House source @ @ @ @ @ the source , when Trump was informed that unveiling a portrait of his predecessor was @ @ @ @ @ , “ he totally freaked out.
” “ You know what will happen , ” @ @ @ @ @ That painting will be able to see and hear everything I do.
” In an @ @ @ @ @ explained that the painting of Obama , having collected damaging information about him , would @ @ @ @ @ that information on to former Vice-President Joe Biden .
Suddenly afraid that the White House @ @ @ @ @ traitorous paintings , Trump demanded that the portraits of all former Presidents who might betray @ @ @ @ @ “ The only one who made the cut was Nixon , ” the source said @

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald Trump is terrified of hanging an official portrait of former President Barack Obama at the White House because he is convinced that the painting would spy on him, a White House source has confirmed.
According to the source, when Trump was informed that unveiling a portrait of his predecessor was a storied White House tradition, “he totally freaked out.”
“You know what will happen,” Trump reportedly said. “That painting will be able to see and hear everything I do.”
In an increasingly paranoid rant, Trump explained that the painting of Obama, having collected damaging information about him, would then be able to pass that information on to former Vice-President Joe Biden.
Suddenly afraid that the White House corridors were lined with potentially traitorous paintings, Trump demanded that the portraits of all former Presidents who might betray him be removed immediately.
“The only one who made the cut was Nixon,” the source said.


newyorker--2020-05-21--“Hope You’re Staying Sane”: A Coronavirus E-mail Chain

Hope you ’ re staying sane in all this madness !
Sorry to be e-mailing you at a sensitive time , but I wanted to follow up on the below—have you had a chance to review the PowerPoint for next quarter ’ s national sales meeting ?
Be safe and well !
I ’ m doing O.K.
!
Figuring out this whole WFH thing with two kids and a husband .
How are you doing ?
You O.K.
?
What a crazy time !
I ’ ll look over the presentation now and get back to you .
At a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think we should rework some of the language to sound more positive—we could all use some positivity right now , AMIRITE ?
!
Hope you ’ re managing O.K.
!
WFH is such a struggle .
The other day , my plant asked me if I could give it some personal space and I was , like , where do you want me to go ?
We ’ re sharing a three-hundred-fifty-square-foot studio .
Sigh .
Great , get back to me on the presentation .
Definitely can make it more positive .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ or killed anyone ( yet ) —HA HA .
Thanks .
Would love to see a revised draft of the presentation , pumped up with more positivity .
While you ’ re at it , the background colors in the PowerPoint are a bit drab .
Maybe we could sub in more yellows and pinks ?
My other thought is that the image you used of the sales team .
.
.
everyone is standing quite close together , and I wonder if that ’ s a little insensitive right now ?
Perhaps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you could put your Photoshop skills to use and virtually add in some masks ?
Does that make sense ?
Am I making sense ?
I hope I ’ m making sense !
As for me , I ’ m hanging in there—by a thread !
LOL .
And don ’ t worry , the only thing I ’ ve managed to kill lately is an entire box of crayons , which I stress-ate in the corner of my office/kids ’ playroom while watching “ Outbreak ” with the sound off .
Ha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Totally making sense !
See attached for the revise .
Oh , God , I feel you girl .
The other day I went totally mental and actually consumed an entire ficus plant , first chopping it up into pieces , and then boiling it and seasoning it with soy sauce , because apparently I think I ’ m Alison Roman now or something ?
By the way , do you have any online workouts to recommend ?
I ’ ve mostly just been jumping up and down , punching pillows , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s getting old and I think I might have actually damaged my hand .
Could def use some variety .
Workouts ?
I ’ m lucky if I can get out from under my desk , where I now work ( I find it helps with the office/home separation thing ) .
But I do recommend a “ crouching-below desk ” —sitting all day is so bad for your health , and it ’ s such an easy upgrade .
All you have to do is crawl underneath the one you already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my neck , I ’ m feeling so much more energized !
The revise is perfect !
Thanks again .
My only note is that it looks like you cut out your own face from the team photo and superimposed a smiley-face emoji .
Was that on purpose ?
Maybe I ’ m crazy , but it seems sort of weird to me .
.
.
.
Anyway , let me know your thoughts .
Not crazy at all !
I thought a smiley-face would be cute since I ’ m no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( I was fired two months ago and have just been doing this as a desperate ploy to hang on to my last shred of sanity ) , but you ’ re right , it ’ s a bit insensitive given the current climate .
I ’ ve changed it to the straight-faced emoji , the one with just a line for a mouth , which feels better .
See attached for revise .
P.S .
As mentioned , my plant died suddenly earlier this week .
I ’ ll be sending out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( really miss that guy ) , and would love for you to tune in if you can .
Exactly what I was thinking—straight-faced emoji much more appropriate right now .
Thanks so much , I really appreciate it .
And that ’ s too funny—I also was fired at the beginning of all this mess !
How ’ s that for a quarantine co-inky-dink ?
Anyway , thanks again , and I will absolutely make it for the Zoom wake .
( I remember Planty was a really sweet dude . )

Photograph by Dmitry Marchenko / Alamy
Hey A,
Hope you’re staying sane in all this madness! Sorry to be e-mailing you at a sensitive time, but I wanted to follow up on the below—have you had a chance to review the PowerPoint for next quarter’s national sales meeting?
Be safe and well!
Best,
B
Hey B,
I’m doing O.K.! Figuring out this whole WFH thing with two kids and a husband. How are you doing? You O.K.? What a crazy time!
I’ll look over the presentation now and get back to you. At a glance, I can tell you I think we should rework some of the language to sound more positive—we could all use some positivity right now, AMIRITE?! Hope you’re managing O.K.!
xA
Thanks, A.
WFH is such a struggle. The other day, my plant asked me if I could give it some personal space and I was, like, where do you want me to go? We’re sharing a three-hundred-fifty-square-foot studio. Sigh.
Great, get back to me on the presentation. Definitely can make it more positive.
Hope you haven’t gone nuts or killed anyone (yet)—HA HA.
Best,
B
B,
Thanks. Would love to see a revised draft of the presentation, pumped up with more positivity. While you’re at it, the background colors in the PowerPoint are a bit drab. Maybe we could sub in more yellows and pinks? My other thought is that the image you used of the sales team . . . everyone is standing quite close together, and I wonder if that’s a little insensitive right now? Perhaps we could swap it out, or you could put your Photoshop skills to use and virtually add in some masks? Does that make sense? Am I making sense? I hope I’m making sense!
As for me, I’m hanging in there—by a thread! LOL. And don’t worry, the only thing I’ve managed to kill lately is an entire box of crayons, which I stress-ate in the corner of my office/kids’ playroom while watching “Outbreak” with the sound off. Ha, so much for my quarantine diet.
xA
A,
Totally making sense! See attached for the revise.
Oh, God, I feel you girl. The other day I went totally mental and actually consumed an entire ficus plant, first chopping it up into pieces, and then boiling it and seasoning it with soy sauce, because apparently I think I’m Alison Roman now or something? By the way, do you have any online workouts to recommend? I’ve mostly just been jumping up and down, punching pillows, kicking walls, etc., but it’s getting old and I think I might have actually damaged my hand. Could def use some variety.
Best,
B
B,
Workouts? I’m lucky if I can get out from under my desk, where I now work (I find it helps with the office/home separation thing). But I do recommend a “crouching-below desk”—sitting all day is so bad for your health, and it’s such an easy upgrade. All you have to do is crawl underneath the one you already have. Besides the permanent crick in my neck, I’m feeling so much more energized!
The revise is perfect! Thanks again. My only note is that it looks like you cut out your own face from the team photo and superimposed a smiley-face emoji. Was that on purpose? Maybe I’m crazy, but it seems sort of weird to me. . . .
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
Thanks!
xA
A,
Not crazy at all! I thought a smiley-face would be cute since I’m no longer “technically” part of the team (I was fired two months ago and have just been doing this as a desperate ploy to hang on to my last shred of sanity), but you’re right, it’s a bit insensitive given the current climate. I’ve changed it to the straight-faced emoji, the one with just a line for a mouth, which feels better. See attached for revise.
Best,
B
P.S. As mentioned, my plant died suddenly earlier this week. I’ll be sending out invites to a Zoom wake for him (really miss that guy), and would love for you to tune in if you can.
B,
Exactly what I was thinking—straight-faced emoji much more appropriate right now. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it.
And that’s too funny—I also was fired at the beginning of all this mess! How’s that for a quarantine co-inky-dink?
Anyway, thanks again, and I will absolutely make it for the Zoom wake. (I remember Planty was a really sweet dude.)
In the meantime, hope you’re staying sane!
xA


newyorker--2020-05-21--What Will It Take to Cool the Planet?

What Will It Take to Cool the Planet?

This week ’ s newsletter is a little different , in that I mainly want to encourage you to watch a video and then play with a Web site .
Both come from the remarkable people at Climate Interactive , a project that grew out of M.I.T.
’ s Sloan School of Management .
I ’ ve admired the group ’ s co-directors , Elizabeth Sawin and Andrew Jones , for many years , and watched their En-ROADS simulator grow from fairly crude beginnings into a truly sophisticated and useful model .
It allows you to change different variables to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greenhouse-gas emissions enough to get us off our current impossible track ( screeching toward a world something like four degrees Celsius hotter ) and onto the merely miserable heading of 1.5 to two degrees Celsius envisioned in the Paris climate accords .
I pointed out last week that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us something interesting : even locking down most of the planet didn ’ t cut emissions as much as we might have thought .
( By early April , daily carbon-dioxide emissions decreased by seventeen per cent . )
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trouble is hardwired into our systems , and not solely a function of our habits and choices .
Indeed , the simulator shows that , if you reduce the growth of both populations and economies to the lowest level the programmers considered possible , the planet still warms almost 3.5 degrees Celsius .
But now reset the variables and go into the submenus for coal , gas , and oil , and perform a little experiment : stop building any new infrastructure for these fossil fuels beginning in 2025 and , all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a world that warms only 2.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 .
That ’ s why it is such good news , for instance , that New York State last week quashed plans for the Williams natural-gas pipeline across the New York City harbor : if you keep building stuff like this now , it locks in emissions for decades to come , busting our carbon budget .
It ’ s why the climate movement has fought so hard against pipelines and fracking wells and L.N.G .
terminals : with ever-cheaper renewable power , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sun and wind have a chance at filling the vacuum .
And , once you ’ ve made this basic course change , you can go back to work on other steps that the simulator can model .
Stipulate an all-out effort at making buildings and transport more efficient , and cut way back on deforestation—and now you ’ re at about 2.5 degrees .
Figure out some ways to “ highly reduce ” methane emissions from oil and gas wells , cows , and other sources , and suddenly you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these things are easy , of course .
In fact , all of them are very hard .
But stopping new infrastructure is possible—it ’ s basically a battle with the fossil-fuel industry , which , as I ’ ve been pointing out , is losing financial muscle with each passing week .
Last week , according to the Financial Times , in a fascinating interview with Bernard Looney , the C.E.O .
of BP , “ Looney noted that as crude prices have plunged , renewable energy projects had been able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has weakened the investment case for oil .
‘ It ’ s the model that is increasingly respected and admired by investors as being resilient and having a different risk profile , ’ he said.
” Bernadette Demientieff is the executive director of the Gwich ’ in Steering Committee , which has been coördinating that First Nation ’ s fight against plans for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge .
She ’ s spent much of the past few years visiting with representatives of major banks and asking them not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and , as a consequence , her community ’ s way of life .
And she ’ s been successful : among the six biggest American banks , only Bank of America has not agreed to the Gwich ’ ins ’ request .
Could you tell us what the Arctic Refuge is like this time of year—has spring begun to reach the far north ?
I would be honored to share the true beauty of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and summer on the rise .
Animals coming out and appearing all over .
Creeks and lakes starting to form beautifully .
It ’ s like nature slowly waking up .
Bank after bank has agreed not to fund drilling in the Arctic these past months .
Do you think that will make a difference ?
We have been visiting these banks for the past two years , and it was really heartfelt to see that many of them made a commitment to withdraw from going into the Arctic Refuge .
Our human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not sit by quietly and allow this to happen .
What do you think people don ’ t understand about this fight—what message would you most like to get across ?
Many people are not aware that this is not just about protecting our polar bears but this is about the indigenous voices being ignored , this is about a whole identity , about a people ’ s entire way of life being destroyed for profit .
We have a spiritual and cultural connection to the Porcupine caribou herd , and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protection of their calving grounds and the Gwich ’ in way of life .
We are rich in our culture , we are rich in our way of life .
Look out across this country and understand this is a prime example of why we continue to fight for protection of these places .
These lands , these waters , these animals are our survival .
Many of us will be O.K.
, because we are survivors , but we don ’ t only think about ourselves or our people .
We think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many American people who deserve a chance at survival .
We stand up for our future generations , the ones that do not have a voice yet , and we carry on “ in a good way ” the love , kindness , and strength of our ancestors .
The climate campaigner Jamie Henn—an old colleague—wrote a provocative piece for Common Dreams last week arguing that environmentalists need to do a better job of describing the future world they ’ d like to build .
If Fox News says that the Green New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Green New Dealers should respond with a vision of a “ cleaner , healthier , freer , fun-er new world .
A world where we aren ’ t choking on smog and exhaust .
Where you don ’ t have to worry about gas leaks or expensive water bills .
Where there ’ s no oil to change , no gaskets to replace , maybe even no car to worry about , because you ’ ve got a sexy electric bike and free , all-electric transit is just a block or two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partnership of Slate , New America , and Arizona State University ) , David Zipper argues persuasively that cities have a short window—perhaps measured in weeks—to break the reflexive habit of driving cars .
The nightmare is that subway-leery commuters will soon be driving .
“ A recent Vanderbilt study found that Bay Area residents could soon spend an additional 20 to 80 minutes per day stuck in congestion due to a shift away from mass transit .
Evidence from China , which is attempting to return to life as usual following extended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early April , cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou already had higher levels of rush hour congestion than a year ago.
” The dream looks like—well , like these survey results from the U.K. , which found that six out of ten Brits want their government to prioritize health and well-being over economic growth even after the pandemic subsides .
Doubtless that ’ s why London continues to amaze with its plans to turn the city center into a zone for bikes , buses , scooters , and pedestrians .
In a sign of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offers a guide for first-time bike buyers .

This week’s newsletter is a little different, in that I mainly want to encourage you to watch a video and then play with a Web site. Both come from the remarkable people at Climate Interactive, a project that grew out of M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management. I’ve admired the group’s co-directors, Elizabeth Sawin and Andrew Jones, for many years, and watched their En-ROADS simulator grow from fairly crude beginnings into a truly sophisticated and useful model. It allows you to change different variables to see what it would take to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions enough to get us off our current impossible track (screeching toward a world something like four degrees Celsius hotter) and onto the merely miserable heading of 1.5 to two degrees Celsius envisioned in the Paris climate accords.
I pointed out last week that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us something interesting: even locking down most of the planet didn’t cut emissions as much as we might have thought. (By early April, daily carbon-dioxide emissions decreased by seventeen per cent.) This suggests that a great percentage of the trouble is hardwired into our systems, and not solely a function of our habits and choices. Indeed, the simulator shows that, if you reduce the growth of both populations and economies to the lowest level the programmers considered possible, the planet still warms almost 3.5 degrees Celsius.
But now reset the variables and go into the submenus for coal, gas, and oil, and perform a little experiment: stop building any new infrastructure for these fossil fuels beginning in 2025 and, all of a sudden, you’re at a world that warms only 2.8 degrees Celsius by 2100. That’s why it is such good news, for instance, that New York State last week quashed plans for the Williams natural-gas pipeline across the New York City harbor: if you keep building stuff like this now, it locks in emissions for decades to come, busting our carbon budget. It’s why the climate movement has fought so hard against pipelines and fracking wells and L.N.G. terminals: with ever-cheaper renewable power, when you manage to stop such projects, sun and wind have a chance at filling the vacuum.
And, once you’ve made this basic course change, you can go back to work on other steps that the simulator can model. Stipulate an all-out effort at making buildings and transport more efficient, and cut way back on deforestation—and now you’re at about 2.5 degrees. Figure out some ways to “highly reduce” methane emissions from oil and gas wells, cows, and other sources, and suddenly you’re nearing the two-degree mark.
None of these things are easy, of course. In fact, all of them are very hard. But stopping new infrastructure is possible—it’s basically a battle with the fossil-fuel industry, which, as I’ve been pointing out, is losing financial muscle with each passing week. Last week, according to the Financial Times, in a fascinating interview with Bernard Looney, the C.E.O. of BP, “Looney noted that as crude prices have plunged, renewable energy projects had been able to attract funding, suggesting the pandemic has weakened the investment case for oil. ‘It’s the model that is increasingly respected and admired by investors as being resilient and having a different risk profile,’ he said.”
Passing the Mic
Bernadette Demientieff is the executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, which has been coördinating that First Nation’s fight against plans for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She’s spent much of the past few years visiting with representatives of major banks and asking them not to finance the project, because it would damage the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and, as a consequence, her community’s way of life. And she’s been successful: among the six biggest American banks, only Bank of America has not agreed to the Gwich’ins’ request.
Could you tell us what the Arctic Refuge is like this time of year—has spring begun to reach the far north?
I would be honored to share the true beauty of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd. This place right now would be melting and summer on the rise. Animals coming out and appearing all over. Creeks and lakes starting to form beautifully. It’s like nature slowly waking up.
Bank after bank has agreed not to fund drilling in the Arctic these past months. Do you think that will make a difference?
We have been visiting these banks for the past two years, and it was really heartfelt to see that many of them made a commitment to withdraw from going into the Arctic Refuge. Our human rights are being violated, and we will not sit by quietly and allow this to happen.
What do you think people don’t understand about this fight—what message would you most like to get across?
Many people are not aware that this is not just about protecting our polar bears but this is about the indigenous voices being ignored, this is about a whole identity, about a people’s entire way of life being destroyed for profit. We have a spiritual and cultural connection to the Porcupine caribou herd, and we will stand strong in unity for the protection of their calving grounds and the Gwich’in way of life. We are rich in our culture, we are rich in our way of life. Look out across this country and understand this is a prime example of why we continue to fight for protection of these places. These lands, these waters, these animals are our survival.
Many of us will be O.K., because we are survivors, but we don’t only think about ourselves or our people. We think about our human race and all the many American people who deserve a chance at survival. We stand up for our future generations, the ones that do not have a voice yet, and we carry on “in a good way” the love, kindness, and strength of our ancestors.
Climate School
The climate campaigner Jamie Henn—an old colleague—wrote a provocative piece for Common Dreams last week arguing that environmentalists need to do a better job of describing the future world they’d like to build. If Fox News says that the Green New Deal is all about taking away hamburgers, Green New Dealers should respond with a vision of a “cleaner, healthier, freer, fun-er new world. A world where we aren’t choking on smog and exhaust. Where you don’t have to worry about gas leaks or expensive water bills. Where there’s no oil to change, no gaskets to replace, maybe even no car to worry about, because you’ve got a sexy electric bike and free, all-electric transit is just a block or two away.”
For Future Tense (a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University), David Zipper argues persuasively that cities have a short window—perhaps measured in weeks—to break the reflexive habit of driving cars. The nightmare is that subway-leery commuters will soon be driving. “A recent Vanderbilt study found that Bay Area residents could soon spend an additional 20 to 80 minutes per day stuck in congestion due to a shift away from mass transit. Evidence from China, which is attempting to return to life as usual following extended coronavirus lockdowns, is ominous: In early April, cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou already had higher levels of rush hour congestion than a year ago.” The dream looks like—well, like these survey results from the U.K., which found that six out of ten Brits want their government to prioritize health and well-being over economic growth even after the pandemic subsides. Doubtless that’s why London continues to amaze with its plans to turn the city center into a zone for bikes, buses, scooters, and pedestrians. In a sign of the times, the staid Financial Times offers a guide for first-time bike buyers.


newyorker--2020-05-21--The Fragile Existence of Sex Workers During the Pandemic

With each passing day , the strip club in downtown Manhattan grew a little emptier .
Fewer customers were drinking premium liquor and eating steaks in the plush banquettes ; fewer patrons were sitting at the edge of the blue-lit stage ; fewer clients were throwing dollar bills at the dancers performing on poles or in their laps .
“ It felt weird .
There was an air of desperation almost , ” Nico , a dancer at the club , told me .
As the city slowly woke up to the spread of the coronavirus this spring , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clubs across town , whose work necessitates being physically close to strangers : talking to them , consoling them , and entertaining them .
By late March , most of New York ’ s strip clubs had shut down—clubs in much of the rest of the country did the same—and , now , like hundreds of thousands of other workers , at the very least , in the sex industry , dancers are facing not only a drop in employment but also discrimination and stigma as they search for relief .
Nico , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safety net , ” said , “ This line of work has the word ‘ independent ’ built into the job description .
The club was not going to take care of us .
We were left to fend for ourselves.
” The pandemic has created a catastrophic health and economic crisis that has illuminated the fragile existence of low-wage and gig workers in the United States.The experience of sex workers , of whom the most stable work as independent contractors , is no different .
( Some strip clubs offer workers employee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minority ; in Nevada , where prostitution is legal in some counties , workers at brothels are considered independent contractors . )
Like undocumented workers who are barred from getting government benefits in exchange for their labor , and prison laborers who receive little consideration of their rights as workers , sex workers have few places to turn for help .
Federal law bars the issuance of disaster loans and grant assistance to applicants who “ present live performances of a prurient sexual nature ” or who earn income “ through the sale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presentation of any depictions or displays , of a prurient sexual nature.
” Strippers , pornography performers , and owners of sex-toy and other adult-entertainment businesses are ineligible .
Sex workers who make their money on the street and can not access public assistance are also wary of trying to access social services , for fear of being arrested .
Sex is unlike any other commodity .
It is , for some people , tied to emotional beliefs about morality and pleasure and power .
It is , for many others , tied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be transactional and unsentimental , too—a service .
Despite many parts of the sex business becoming legal , its laborers still see themselves either glamorized in popular culture as high-earning hustlers or portrayed as victims of trauma and manipulation .
Political and social stigmas limit the recognition of their basic rights as workers .
“ People don ’ t realize that most labor is exploitative under capitalism , ” Meagan , an organizer and former escort and stripper in Washington State , told me .
“ Looking at sex work from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Maya , a sex worker and undocumented immigrant from Honduras , has worked on and off for several years in different sectors of the industry , from pornography to full-service escorting .
When President Trump entered office , in 2017 , and threatened to disband the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA ) program , of which Maya is a recipient , she decided to restart sex work and go into it full time .
“ I wanted to insure that if I lost my right to work , I would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ underground and survive , ” she said .
It also lets her pay her DACA renewal fees .
Undocumented people who are found prostituting , which is classified as a misdemeanor in the state of New York , can be arrested and deported .
Of the dozen or so sex workers whom I talked to , some qualified for unemployment if they had paid taxes as independent contractors , and they were still trying to apply for it .
Others did not qualify but had savings or family to lean on .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to piece together a living .
Most were also hoping for the generosity of past clients and mutual aid from within their communities .
One young single mother , who works as an escort and performs in Internet pornography in California , told me that most women she knew in the industry were trying to provide for their families .
“ They grew up in poverty , and they want to make sure their kids don ’ t have that same life style , ” she said .
She added that she was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ break quarantine and see clients by letting her daughter stay with a relative ; every time she posts an advertisement , she becomes anxious and takes it down .
She still sees a client whom she refers to as her sugar daddy , who does not want sexual interactions .
Lily , a dancer at a strip club in Manhattan and an actress , said that she started taking classes in burlesque and decided to try stripping after she grew tired of earning little in restaurants .
She enjoys the dancing and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but says that other parts of it are difficult to handle .
“ People think that this work does not deserve dignity or respect , ” she said .
Tea Antimony , a sex worker and organizer with the Brooklyn chapter of Sex Workers Outreach Project , said the stigmas of sex work reflect social prejudices .
“ We are yet again seeing how race , class , and immigration status intersect in terms of which work is defined as valid , ” she said .
“ Sex work , like other feminized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Dancers pay as much as hundreds of dollars in house fees to perform onstage in strip clubs , ideally earning enough in tips to make a profit .
Corporate , high-end clubs discriminate against women who they decide are not thin enough , or against African-American women who wear hair styles like braids .
Some clubs fail to advocate for performers against customers who violate boundaries .
Protections for dancers , most of who are women , are strikingly absent in a profession in which the business owners are often men .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry long enough to see when the boat gets rocked , you lose your job so quick , ” Leilah , who works as a stripper , told me .
“ Everyone in the club is afraid of the power of the men who work there.
” She said that she believes a club fired her for publicly criticizing the industry .
“ Women get scared because they don ’ t want to lose their jobs , ” Lily said .
“ And who do you turn to ?
” Since losing her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instagram Live and requesting donations via her Venmo account .
She has also been thinking about starting a page on a Web site called OnlyFans to share photos and videos or to live stream directly with subscribers .
OnlyFans began in 2016 , before sex workers began to face the aftermath of the SESTA-FOSTA bills , legislation passed in Congress which targeted Web sites on which sex workers advertised , like Craigslist and Backpage .
The sites were penalized for hosting content that was allegedly related to sex-trafficking ; Backpage shut down , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many online sex workers turned to posting on OnlyFans .
The coronavirus lockdown has given the platform unexpected cache , a cult appeal .
Social-media influencers and minor celebrities have proudly announced to their followers that they have started explicit pages on the site .
Beyoncé recently rapped about the platform : sexuality seemingly empowered and coolly monetized .
The impulse to glamorize OnlyFans is , at its core , a sign of the times : capitalistic even as our economy has failed many workers , and seductive as the rituals of sex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for most sex workers on OnlyFans , the platform not only takes twenty per cent of their income , but it also requires an enormous amount of labor to attract and keep followers happy and simply make a profit .
“ I have to do a lot of work to establish some boundaries for what I will and will not do , ” Adora , who also works as a stripper , said of the way she handles subscribers .
When she worked at a strip club , she could go into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if and how they could touch her , depending on how much they tipped .
Staff at the club could help her with aggressive patrons .
Now , if an online client wants a video of a sex act , she has to decide the terms of a new kind of transaction and insure that the payment matches the work .
“ You got ta be your own bouncer , ” she said .

With each passing day, the strip club in downtown Manhattan grew a little emptier. Fewer customers were drinking premium liquor and eating steaks in the plush banquettes; fewer patrons were sitting at the edge of the blue-lit stage; fewer clients were throwing dollar bills at the dancers performing on poles or in their laps. “It felt weird. There was an air of desperation, almost,” Nico, a dancer at the club, told me. As the city slowly woke up to the spread of the coronavirus this spring, so, too, did the dancers at clubs across town, whose work necessitates being physically close to strangers: talking to them, consoling them, and entertaining them. By late March, most of New York’s strip clubs had shut down—clubs in much of the rest of the country did, too—and, now, like hundreds of thousands of other workers, at the very least, in the sex industry, dancers are facing not only a drop in employment but also discrimination and stigma as they search for relief. Nico, who describes stripping as her economic “safety net,” said, “This line of work has the word ‘independent’ built into the job description. The club was not going to take care of us. We were left to fend for ourselves.”
The pandemic has created a catastrophic health and economic crisis that has illuminated the fragile existence of low-wage and gig workers in the United States. The experience of sex workers, who find the most stable work as independent contractors, is no different. (Some strip clubs offer workers employee status, but they are in the minority; in Nevada, where prostitution is legal in some counties, workers at brothels are considered independent contractors.) Like undocumented workers who are barred from getting government benefits in exchange for their labor, and prison laborers who receive little consideration of their rights as workers, sex workers have few places to turn for help. Federal law bars the issuance of disaster loans and grant assistance to applicants who “present live performances of a prurient sexual nature” or who earn income “through the sale of products or services, or the presentation of any depictions or displays, of a prurient sexual nature.” Strippers, pornography performers, and owners of sex-toy and other adult-entertainment businesses are ineligible. Sex workers who make their money on the street and cannot access public assistance are also wary of trying to access social services, for fear of being arrested.
Adora, who works as a stripper, said that establishing boundaries is important with her subscribers online.
Sex is unlike any other commodity. It is, for some people, tied to emotional beliefs about morality and pleasure and power. It is, for many others, tied to those same things, but it can be transactional and unsentimental, too—a service. Despite many parts of the sex business becoming legal, its laborers still see themselves either glamorized in popular culture as high-earning hustlers or portrayed as victims of trauma and manipulation. Political and social stigmas limit the recognition of their basic rights as workers. “People don’t realize that most labor is exploitative under capitalism,” Meagan, an organizer and former escort and stripper in Washington State, told me. “Looking at sex work from a puritanical view is deeply ingrained in society.”
Maya, a sex worker and undocumented immigrant from Honduras, has worked on and off for several years in different sectors of the industry, from pornography to full-service escorting. When President Trump entered office, in 2017, and threatened to disband the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, of which Maya is a recipient, she decided to restart sex work and go into it full time. “I wanted to insure that, if I lost my right to work, I would still be able to earn an income underground and survive,” she said. It also lets her pay her DACA renewal fees. Undocumented people who are found prostituting, which is classified as a misdemeanor in the state of New York, can be arrested and deported.
Of the dozen or so sex workers whom I talked to, some qualified for unemployment if they had paid taxes as independent contractors, and they were still trying to apply for it. Others did not qualify but had savings or family to lean on. And still others were doing whatever they could to piece together a living. Most were also hoping for the generosity of past clients and mutual aid from within their communities. One young single mother, who works as an escort and performs in Internet pornography in California, told me that most women she knew in the industry were trying to provide for their families. “They grew up in poverty, and they want to make sure their kids don’t have that same life style,” she said. She added that she was trying to decide if she could safely break quarantine and see clients by letting her daughter stay with a relative; every time she posts an advertisement, she becomes anxious and takes it down. She still sees a client whom she refers to as her sugar daddy, who does not want sexual interactions.
Lily, a dancer at a strip club in Manhattan and an actress, said that she started taking classes in burlesque and decided to try stripping after she grew tired of earning little in restaurants. She enjoys the dancing and the financial freedom the work gives her, but says that other parts of it are difficult to handle. “People think that this work does not deserve dignity or respect,” she said. Tea Antimony, a sex worker and organizer with the Brooklyn chapter of Sex Workers Outreach Project, said the stigmas of sex work reflect social prejudices. “We are yet again seeing how race, class, and immigration status intersect in terms of which work is defined as valid,” she said. “Sex work, like other feminized labor, is defined as not valid.”
Dancers pay as much as hundreds of dollars in house fees to perform onstage in strip clubs, ideally earning enough in tips to make a profit. Corporate, high-end clubs discriminate against women who they decide are not thin enough, or against African-American women who wear hair styles like braids. Some clubs fail to advocate for performers against customers who violate boundaries. Protections for dancers, most of whom are women, are strikingly absent in a profession in which the business owners are often men. “I’ve been in this industry long enough to see when the boat gets rocked, you lose your job so quick,” Leilah, who works as a stripper, told me. “Everyone in the club is afraid of the power of the men who work there.” She said that she believes a club fired her for publicly criticizing the industry. “Women get scared because they don’t want to lose their jobs,” Lily said. “And who do you turn to?”
Lily started taking classes in burlesque and decided to try stripping after she grew tired of earning little in restaurants.
Since losing her job, Lily has tried dancing on Instagram Live and requesting donations via her Venmo account. She has also been thinking about starting a page on a Web site called OnlyFans to share photos and videos or to live stream directly with subscribers.
OnlyFans began in 2016, before sex workers began to face the aftermath of the SESTA-FOSTA bills, legislation passed in Congress which targeted Web sites on which sex workers advertised, such as Craigslist and Backpage. The sites were penalized for hosting content that was allegedly related to sex trafficking; Backpage shut down, and Craigslist eliminated its personals section. Many online sex workers turned to posting on OnlyFans. The coronavirus lockdown has given the platform unexpected cachet, a cult appeal. Social-media influencers and minor celebrities have proudly announced to their followers that they have started explicit pages on the site. Beyoncé recently rapped about the platform: sexuality seemingly empowered and coolly monetized. The impulse to glamorize OnlyFans is, at its core, a sign of the times: capitalistic even as our economy has failed many workers, and seductive as the rituals of sex and dating have been upended. But, for most sex workers on OnlyFans, the platform not only takes twenty per cent of their income, it also requires an enormous amount of labor to attract and keep followers happy and simply make a profit. “I have to do a lot of work to establish some boundaries for what I will and will not do,” Adora, who also works as a stripper, said, of the way she handles subscribers. When she worked at a strip club, she could go into the lap-dance room with customers and decide if and how they could touch her, depending on how much they tipped. Staff at the club could help her with aggressive patrons. Now, if an online client wants a video of a sex act, she has to decide the terms of a new kind of transaction and insure that the payment matches the work. “You gotta be your own bouncer,” she said.
Sites like OnlyFans are beneficial for sex workers who already have big audiences online; for everyone else, the Web sites are so saturated that figuring how to best entertain customers may not be worth the time it takes to build a base. Promoting themselves on Instagram and Twitter is growing more difficult; sex workers say the platforms are banning their accounts. Some are experimenting with other methods. An acquaintance of Lily’s is charging clients forty dollars for a virtual lap dance. Emma, a Brazilian immigrant who works at a strip club in Brooklyn, told me she was excited to join a virtual collective strip show, where viewers must donate in order to watch and are encouraged to tip. As in other parts of the economy, the work has shifted online, but it remains taxing. “I admire the girls that keep working online, because it’s difficult to handle all this financial and emotional stress we’re going through, and then still give a lot to other people,” Emma told me. “I love the experience, but sex work is draining because you’re holding space for another person.”


newyorker--2020-05-21--Trump Is a Superspreader—of Distraction

Trump Is a Superspreader—of Distraction

A couple of months ago , in the early days of the Great Shutdown , Republicans complained that Democrats ’ impeachment of Donald Trump had distracted the President from taking more aggressive action to counter the spread of the coronavirus .
Trump ’ s Senate trial , they pointed out , began in January , just as COVID-19 was making its way out of China and the President was receiving his first briefings about it .
“ I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment , ” the Senate Majority Leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ host Hugh Hewitt in late March .
Trump , when asked about McConnell ’ s comments at the time , first denied that he was distracted before allowing that the Senate trial “ probably ” did divert him .
After all , he deadpanned , “ I certainly devoted a little time to thinking about it.
” The public did not buy the impeachment defense , however .
Polls since then have shown that a majority of Americans hold Trump himself accountable for America ’ s halting , uncertain reaction to the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more striking given a new model from epidemiologists at Columbia University , released this week , showing that tens of thousands of American lives might have been saved if major cities had closed down even one week earlier in March .
It ’ s no wonder that Trump and the Republicans are the ones trying to use impeachment as a distraction now .
In recent days , the Republican-controlled Senate has not considered any major legislation related to the virus and the historic havoc it has wrought on the country ’ s public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have any current plans to do so , leaving the fate of a three-trillion-dollar relief measure passed by the Democratic-controlled House last Friday uncertain .
Meanwhile , a Senate Judiciary subcommittee voted along party lines to issue a subpoena that seeks to resurrect one of Trump ’ s main impeachment deflections—the canard that his scheme to extort Ukraine into investigating his election rival , Joe Biden , was based on criminal wrongdoing by Biden when his son Hunter was a board member at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma .
At the same time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ post-impeachment purge of independent watchdogs across the federal government .
When Trump fired the State Department ’ s inspector general , late last Friday , it was the fifth time an inspector general had been pushed out since the Senate trial ended , in early February .
After Mitt Romney , the lone Senate Republican to vote in favor of Trump ’ s conviction at the trial , criticized the firing , Trump hit back with a trademark tweet .
“ Loser , ” the tweet said , attached to a video revisiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Presidential election .
Trump lovers may find the return to the Ukraine impeachment story endlessly satisfying revenge drama played nightly on Fox .
Still , riling up his base over impeachment , or retaliating for it , or whatever it is that the President is doing , is only part of Operation Obfuscation .
Trump right now is mass-proliferating diversions , from last week ’ s spurious “ Obamagate ” to this week ’ s threat to withhold federal funds from Democratic-led states that make it easier for voters to cast ballots by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as though Trump is generating more controversies than usual these days , that ’ s because he is .
He is a superspreader of distraction .
It ’ s an excellent way to make one forget , at least for a while , about the death and economic destruction currently rampaging across the country .
An added benefit of trolling , from the President ’ s perspective , is that it is also diverting the attention of the nation ’ s many Trump-haters , for whom his prolific stupidities and public feuds offer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Consider the predictable furor that ensued after Trump announced that he was taking hydroxychloroquine , the anti-malaria drug that he has publicly touted as a potential treatment for the coronavirus , despite studies showing that it may , in fact , be harmful .
When the House Speaker , Nancy Pelosi , said that a “ morbidly obese ” person like Trump should not be taking such a medically unadvisable risk , Trump kept the story alive by calling her a “ sick ” person .
The two , it should be noted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ripped up his State of the Union speech , on the day before his acquittal in the Senate ’ s impeachment trial .
Of course Trump is trying to distract .
The emerging politics of the pandemic are not good for him , nor are they likely to get better .
They have recast the fall election as a referendum on Trump ’ s basic competence to lead the country through a once-in-a-century convergence of crises .
During the pre-pandemic impeachment era , Richard Nixon was the inescapable historical point of comparison for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is Herbert Hoover .
Running for reëlection after the stock market crash of 1929 and three failed years of trying to stop the Great Depression , Hoover promised Americans that “ Prosperity Is Just Around the Corner.
” Upbeat predictions amid bread lines didn ’ t cut it , and Hoover lost badly .
The brutal political reality of running for another term while the country is experiencing mass unemployment is one that almost no President can overcome .
In fact , the last time an American incumbent successfully won during a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Hoover ’ s campaign slogan seems like a winner today compared with the clunker Trump has been trying out in recent days : “ Transition to Greatness !
” On May 7th , Trump débuted the phrase , saying at a White House appearance with Texas Governor Greg Abbott that , while the economy was cratering now , he expected that late this year—preferably , right around the November election—it would begin to “ transition into greatness.
” A fantastic 2021 would follow .
“ I think next year we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” the President insisted .
The line stuck with him .
By the next day , at an appearance with Republican members of Congress , Trump was calling it his new campaign mantra , claiming to have invented it on the spot ( although he had used the same phrase just the day before ) , and insisting it was a more brilliant advertisement for his reëlection than anything the professionals could come up with .
“ It ’ s a great term .
It just came out at this meeting , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on .
“ That ’ s right .
It came out by accident .
It was a statement and it came out and you can ’ t get a better one .
We can go to Madison Avenue and get the best , the greatest geniuses in the world to come up with a slogan , but that ’ s the slogan we ’ re going to use : ‘ Transition to Greatness.
’ And it ’ s starting right now.
” I suppose it ’ s not a surprise , more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump will lie about anything , even the coinage of a campaign slogan , but on simple grounds of political malfeasance alone this one seems to be an epic Presidential fail .
It ’ s safe to say that nobody ever got reëlected to anything by promising a “ transition.
” You would think the guy whose 2016 success was aided by a catchy campaign slogan on a red baseball cap would know a dud when he sees one .
Politicians win by attacking the other team , as Trump did so effectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ronald Reagan ’ s 1980 promise to “ Make America Great Again.
” It is a lot harder to do that if you ’ re an incumbent , and harder still if you ’ re the incumbent at a time of epic death and economic suffering .
If the record you ’ re running on is so bad that your own slogan vows to do better next time , it ’ s hard to envision winning .
Yet that is exactly what Trump is selling these days .
“ TRANSITION TO GREATNESS , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4:39 A.M. On Tuesday , emerging from a lunch with Senate Republicans , he explained once again his theory of the case .
“ It ’ s a transition to greatness , ” Trump said .
“ Above all , next year , you are going to have a tremendous year.
” On Wednesday , he promised , on Twitter , a “ normalization !
” that somehow , miraculously , will take America out of this mess , “ now that our country is Transitioning back to Greatness.
” Madison Avenue is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this at least .

A couple of months ago, in the early days of the Great Shutdown, Republicans complained that Democrats’ impeachment of Donald Trump had distracted the President from taking more aggressive action to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Trump’s Senate trial, they pointed out, began in January, just as COVID-19 was making its way out of China and the President was receiving his first briefings about it. “I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment,” the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, told the radio host Hugh Hewitt in late March. Trump, when asked about McConnell’s comments at the time, first denied that he was distracted before allowing that the Senate trial “probably” did divert him. After all, he deadpanned, “I certainly devoted a little time to thinking about it.” The public did not buy the impeachment defense, however. Polls since then have shown that a majority of Americans hold Trump himself accountable for America’s halting, uncertain reaction to the pandemic. His belated response is all the more striking given a new model from epidemiologists at Columbia University, released this week, showing that tens of thousands of American lives might have been saved if major cities had closed down even one week earlier in March.
It’s no wonder that Trump and the Republicans are the ones trying to use impeachment as a distraction now. In recent days, the Republican-controlled Senate has not considered any major legislation related to the virus and the historic havoc it has wrought on the country’s public health and economy. Nor does it have any current plans to do so, leaving the fate of a three-trillion-dollar relief measure passed by the Democratic-controlled House last Friday uncertain. Meanwhile, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee voted along party lines to issue a subpoena that seeks to resurrect one of Trump’s main impeachment deflections—the canard that his scheme to extort Ukraine into investigating his election rival, Joe Biden, was based on criminal wrongdoing by Biden when his son Hunter was a board member at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. At the same time, Trump has continued his systematic post-impeachment purge of independent watchdogs across the federal government. When Trump fired the State Department’s inspector general, late last Friday, it was the fifth time an inspector general had been pushed out since the Senate trial ended, in early February. After Mitt Romney, the lone Senate Republican to vote in favor of Trump’s conviction at the trial, criticized the firing, Trump hit back with a trademark tweet. “Loser,” the tweet said, attached to a video revisiting Romney’s defeat in the 2012 Presidential election.
Trump lovers may find the return to the Ukraine impeachment story endlessly satisfying revenge drama played nightly on Fox. Still, riling up his base over impeachment, or retaliating for it, or whatever it is that the President is doing, is only part of Operation Obfuscation. Trump right now is mass-proliferating diversions, from last week’s spurious “Obamagate” to this week’s threat to withhold federal funds from Democratic-led states that make it easier for voters to cast ballots by mail this fall. If it seems as though Trump is generating more controversies than usual these days, that’s because he is. He is a superspreader of distraction. It’s an excellent way to make one forget, at least for a while, about the death and economic destruction currently rampaging across the country.
An added benefit of trolling, from the President’s perspective, is that it is also diverting the attention of the nation’s many Trump-haters, for whom his prolific stupidities and public feuds offer an endless supply of new outrage. Consider the predictable furor that ensued after Trump announced that he was taking hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that he has publicly touted as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, despite studies showing that it may, in fact, be harmful. When the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said that a “morbidly obese” person like Trump should not be taking such a medically unadvisable risk, Trump kept the story alive by calling her a “sick” person. The two, it should be noted, have not spoken since she theatrically ripped up his State of the Union speech, on the day before his acquittal in the Senate’s impeachment trial.
Of course Trump is trying to distract. The emerging politics of the pandemic are not good for him, nor are they likely to get better. They have recast the fall election as a referendum on Trump’s basic competence to lead the country through a once-in-a-century convergence of crises. During the pre-pandemic impeachment era, Richard Nixon was the inescapable historical point of comparison for Trump’s corruption-ridden Presidency. Now it is Herbert Hoover. Running for reëlection after the stock market crash of 1929 and three failed years of trying to stop the Great Depression, Hoover promised Americans that “Prosperity Is Just Around the Corner.” Upbeat predictions amid bread lines didn’t cut it, and Hoover lost badly. The brutal political reality of running for another term while the country is experiencing mass unemployment is one that almost no President can overcome. In fact, the last time an American incumbent successfully won during a recession was in 1924.
Then again, Hoover’s campaign slogan seems like a winner today compared with the clunker Trump has been trying out in recent days: “Transition to Greatness!” On May 7th, Trump débuted the phrase, saying at a White House appearance with Texas Governor Greg Abbott that, while the economy was cratering now, he expected that late this year—preferably, right around the November election—it would begin to “transition into greatness.” A fantastic 2021 would follow. “I think next year we’re going to have a phenomenal year,” the President insisted.
The line stuck with him. By the next day, at an appearance with Republican members of Congress, Trump was calling it his new campaign mantra, claiming to have invented it on the spot (although he had used the same phrase just the day before), and insisting it was a more brilliant advertisement for his reëlection than anything the professionals could come up with. “It’s a great term. It just came out at this meeting,” he told the Republicans as reporters looked on. “That’s right. It came out by accident. It was a statement and it came out and you can’t get a better one. We can go to Madison Avenue and get the best, the greatest geniuses in the world to come up with a slogan, but that’s the slogan we’re going to use: ‘Transition to Greatness.’ And it’s starting right now.”
I suppose it’s not a surprise, more than three years into his Presidency, that Trump will lie about anything, even the coinage of a campaign slogan, but on simple grounds of political malfeasance alone this one seems to be an epic Presidential fail. It’s safe to say that nobody ever got reëlected to anything by promising a “transition.” You would think the guy whose 2016 success was aided by a catchy campaign slogan on a red baseball cap would know a dud when he sees one. Politicians win by attacking the other team, as Trump did so effectively four years ago, by ripping off Ronald Reagan’s 1980 promise to “Make America Great Again.” It is a lot harder to do that if you’re an incumbent, and harder still if you’re the incumbent at a time of epic death and economic suffering. If the record you’re running on is so bad that your own slogan vows to do better next time, it’s hard to envision winning. Yet that is exactly what Trump is selling these days. “TRANSITION TO GREATNESS,” Trump tweeted this Monday, at 4:39 A.M. On Tuesday, emerging from a lunch with Senate Republicans, he explained once again his theory of the case. “It’s a transition to greatness,” Trump said. “Above all, next year, you are going to have a tremendous year.” On Wednesday, he promised, on Twitter, a “normalization!” that somehow, miraculously, will take America out of this mess, “now that our country is Transitioning back to Greatness.” Madison Avenue is surely grateful that Trump is claiming responsibility for this at least.
If a return to normal isn’t really around the corner, Trump can at least offer distraction and denial. Diversion was and is the point. As if the coronavirus did not exist. As if more than a thousand Americans weren’t dying every day of this terrible virus without a cure. It was only a few weeks ago that the President was saying the United States might lose only fifty or sixty thousand Americans, or perhaps a hundred thousand total, to the disease. On April 10th, he predicted that COVID-19 deaths in the United States would be “substantially below the one hundred thousand” figure, perhaps even as low as half of that. But now it is the start of the Memorial Day weekend, a time when the country traditionally pays tribute to its wartime fallen, and Trump’s “invisible enemy” is about to pass that awful milestone of a hundred thousand American deaths. The grim symbolism of this year’s holiday is not likely to be soon forgotten, no matter how hard the President tries.
A Guide to the Coronavirus


newyorker--2020-05-21--What to Stream: “The Liberation of L. B. Jones,” a 1970 Film About the Agonies of Racial Injustice

Amazon Prime has recently made available a 1970 movie , “ The Liberation of L. B. Jones , ” which , if not an unmitigated artistic masterwork , does offer an illuminating view of history and also a disturbingly accurate picture of what hasn ’ t changed in America in the intervening half century .
Based on a 1965 novel , “ The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones , ” by Jesse Hill Ford ( who wrote the film ’ s script with Stirling Silliphant ) , it was the last movie directed by William Wyler , who made his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a reserved filmmaker—theatrically precise as a director of actors and meticulous , if fussy , as a creator of compositions—and he had trouble sharing in the hectic tenor of the times .
But he was discerning in his choice of subjects , and , as in “ The Liberation of L. B. Jones , ” impassioned in his presentation of them .
The film is set in the ( fictitious ) small town of Somerton , Tennessee ( based on the town of Humboldt , where Ford was from , and where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There , a young black man , Sonny Boy Mosby ( Yaphet Kotto ) , returns , after a dozen years ’ absence , bearing a handgun with which he plans to kill a white police officer who ’ d brutalized him when he was thirteen .
The town ’ s most prosperous black resident , L. B. Jones ( Roscoe Lee Browne ) , the middle-aged owner of Somerton ’ s “ colored ” funeral parlor , hires the town ’ s most prominent citizen , a white attorney named Oman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to represent him in divorce proceedings .
L. B. wants to divorce his much younger wife , Ella ( Lola Falana ) —a black woman , she is having an affair with Willie Joe Worth ( Anthony Zerbe ) , another white police officer .
But Hedgepath—who ’ s also a local official , the town attorney—has a problem : because Ella plans to contest the divorce ( she wants a big chunk of L. B.
’ s money ) , Willie Joe will be named as a corespondent , and the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affair with a black woman will cost him his job and make him an outcast in Somerton ’ s white community .
Though the attorney represents a black client , he considers himself a representative of the town ’ s white population over all , and it ’ s their well-being , not his client ’ s , that concerns him .
The drama of the film lies in Hedgepath ’ s effort to protect Willie Joe—by doing his best to get his own client , L. B. , to drop his divorce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its subject is the unequal access to legal redress on the basis of race—and the entire nexus of injustices , indeed the reign of violence , that such inequity entails .
“ The Liberation of L. B. Jones ” depicts post-Jim Crow life in a nonetheless white-supremacist America .
Public accommodations are desegregated—all people come in through the same doors—but social life is utterly segregated , and racism remains endemic and unchallenged .
The town ’ s white people use the N-word as often as “ howdy ” and call black men of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power remains completely in the hands of the town ’ s white residents .
The mayor , the police officers , and the attorney are white , and there ’ s no suggestion whatsoever that the legal right to vote has meant much in practice to the town ’ s black residents , or that anything like evenhanded justice prevails .
On the contrary , Somerton ’ s reign of injustice is an ugly nexus of racism and misogyny .
Somerton ’ s white men—at least , some of them , and ones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legitimate prey , and the entire violent mechanism of ( in ) justice is organized to enable their sexual privilege and sexual violence .
The film presents an array of racist injustices that involve the legal establishment as well as the police , who arrest with impunity any black person on nonexistent charges ; the town ’ s white people brandish the law as a standing threat to black residents .
Merely seeing two white officers march a young black man , his hands cuffed behind his back , into the folksy local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the horror of the moment proves all the more consequential in the course of the action .
L. B. , a cautious and practical businessperson , is nonetheless burdened by the painful memory of a suppressed civil-rights protest in the town and haunted by its aftereffects ; his own effort to honor that memory and redress that wrong plays a major role in the story .
The movie ’ s view of resistance to political racism goes beyond demonstrations , though : “ The Liberation of L. B. Jones ” evokes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s killing—and , for that matter , the premeditated killing—of a police officer is morally justified .
Wyler doesn ’ t get close to the perspective of the town ’ s black residents , or channel the furies , both righteous and monstrous , at the story ’ s core—his sense of drama is all too literal , and he renders the performances blatantly emblematic .
Nonetheless , the film is sufficiently confrontational , its incidents sufficiently agonizing and infuriating , to reflect back at viewers a frank , bitter , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s political substance wasn ’ t lost on viewers of the time ; the most important reviews that it got weren ’ t from critics but from audiences .
The American Film Institute ’ s catalogue entry for “ The Liberation of L. B. Jones ” cites contemporary references to reports that some viewers feared a “ race riot ” after a screening ; that a pipe bomb went off in a Bronx theatre where it was playing ; and that “ disturbances ” after showings at U.S. Army bases led to its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the life of Ford , the book ’ s author , who wrote the novel on the basis of real-life events and people in his home town—which rendered him a pariah there .
Soon after the movie ’ s release , Ford—who still lived in Humboldt—killed a black man whom he suspected of criminal intent .
( The case is discussed in Ford ’ s obituary in the Times and was widely reported on in the early seventies . )
Anne Cheney wrote a biography of Ford , which was published in 1996 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Humboldt , looks ripe for another movie—a documentary .

Lola Falana and Roscoe Lee Browne in "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo
Amazon Prime has recently made available a 1970 movie, “The Liberation of L. B. Jones,” which, if not an unmitigated artistic masterwork, does offer an illuminating view of history and also a disturbingly accurate picture of what hasn’t changed in America in the intervening half century. Based on a 1965 novel, “The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones,” by Jesse Hill Ford (who wrote the film’s script with Stirling Silliphant), it was the last movie directed by William Wyler, who made his first features in the mid-nineteen-twenties. Wyler was a reserved filmmaker—theatrically precise as a director of actors and meticulous, if fussy, as a creator of compositions—and he had trouble sharing in the hectic tenor of the times. But he was discerning in his choice of subjects, and, as in “The Liberation of L. B. Jones,” impassioned in his presentation of them.
The film is set in the (fictitious) small town of Somerton, Tennessee (based on the town of Humboldt, where Ford was from, and where some of the filming took place). There, a young black man, Sonny Boy Mosby (Yaphet Kotto), returns, after a dozen years’ absence, bearing a handgun with which he plans to kill a white police officer who’d brutalized him when he was thirteen. The town’s most prosperous black resident, L. B. Jones (Roscoe Lee Browne), the middle-aged owner of Somerton’s “colored” funeral parlor, hires the town’s most prominent citizen, a white attorney named Oman Hedgepath (Lee J. Cobb), to represent him in divorce proceedings. L. B. wants to divorce his much younger wife, Emma (Lola Falana)—a black woman, she is having an affair with Willie Joe Worth (Anthony Zerbe), another white police officer. But Hedgepath—who’s also a local official, the town attorney—has a problem: because Emma plans to contest the divorce (she wants a big chunk of L. B.’s money), Willie Joe will be named as a corespondent, and the public knowledge that he’s having an affair with a black woman will cost him his job and make him an outcast in Somerton’s white community. Though the attorney represents a black client, he considers himself a representative of the town’s white population over all, and it’s their well-being, not his client’s, that concerns him.
The drama of the film lies in Hedgepath’s effort to protect Willie Joe—by doing his best to get his own client, L. B., to drop his divorce suit. Which is to say that its subject is the unequal access to legal redress on the basis of race—and the entire nexus of injustices, indeed the reign of violence, that such inequity entails. “The Liberation of L. B. Jones” depicts post-Jim Crow life in a nonetheless white-supremacist America. Public accommodations are desegregated—all people come in through the same doors—but social life is utterly segregated, and racism remains endemic and unchallenged. The town’s white people use the N-word as often as “howdy” and call black men of any age “boy.” Moreover, power remains completely in the hands of the town’s white residents. The mayor, the police officers, and the attorney are white, and there’s no suggestion whatsoever that the legal right to vote has meant much in practice to the town’s black residents, or that anything like evenhanded justice prevails.
On the contrary, Somerton’s reign of injustice is an ugly nexus of racism and misogyny. Somerton’s white men—at least, some of them, and ones with power—view young black women as their legitimate prey, and the entire violent mechanism of (in)justice is organized to enable their sexual privilege and sexual violence. The film presents an array of racist injustices that involve the legal establishment as well as the police, who arrest with impunity any black person on nonexistent charges; the town’s white people brandish the law as a standing threat to black residents. Merely seeing two white officers march a young black man, his hands cuffed behind his back, into the folksy local police station is a horror to observe, and the horror of the moment proves all the more consequential in the course of the action.
L. B., a cautious and practical businessperson, is nonetheless burdened by the painful memory of a suppressed civil-rights protest in the town and haunted by its aftereffects; his own effort to honor that memory and redress that wrong plays a major role in the story. The movie’s view of resistance to political racism goes beyond demonstrations, though: “The Liberation of L. B. Jones” evokes the question of when a black person’s killing—and, for that matter, the premeditated killing—of a police officer is morally justified. Wyler doesn’t get close to the perspective of the town’s black residents, or channel the furies, both righteous and monstrous, at the story’s core—his sense of drama is all too literal, and he renders the performances blatantly emblematic. Nonetheless, the film is sufficiently confrontational, its incidents sufficiently agonizing and infuriating, to reflect back at viewers a frank, bitter, and outraged political diagnosis.
The movie’s political substance wasn’t lost on viewers of the time; the most important reviews that it got weren’t from critics but from audiences. The American Film Institute’s catalogue entry for “The Liberation of L. B. Jones” cites contemporary references to reports that some viewers feared a “race riot” after a screening; that a pipe bomb went off in a Bronx theatre where it was playing; and that “disturbances” after showings at U.S. Army bases led to its ban there. The same entry details the life of Ford, the book’s author, who wrote the novel on the basis of real-life events and people in his home town—which rendered him a pariah there. Soon after the movie’s release, Ford—who still lived in Humboldt—killed a black man whom he suspected of criminal intent. (The case is discussed in Ford’s obituary in the Times and was widely reported on in the early seventies.) Anne Cheney wrote a biography of Ford, which was published in 1996; the story of Ford, and of Humboldt, looks ripe for another movie—a documentary.


newyorker--2020-05-21--Anatomy of a Book

Anatomy of a Book

In D. W. Young ’ s lighthearted , lexical short film “ A Body of Language , ” a bookdealer shows off “ one of the antiquarian book world ’ s favorite prints ” : a caricature of a bedraggled , elderly bibliophile standing in a muddle of books , as if he has risen from them .
His hair is slightly mussed , eyes obscured behind spectacles , and he wears a suit with a pocket square .
Titled “ Anatomy of an Antiquarian Bookseller , ” the poster ’ s provenance makes it something that dealers of rare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the design , by the artist Ronald Searle , were produced , as a commission for the centenary of a Scottish book-trading firm .
Searle labelled the portrait with terms drawn from the vernacular of book-dealing that apply equally to the settling and slumping of a body , which , once in fine condition , is now merely fair : dog-eared ; mottled calf ; joints badly worn ; spine cracked .
The obscure and fanciful language of the book world—particularly the bodily lingo—is the focus of the above film , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on camera describe with relish their favorite terms .
“ I love the words , ” one dealer says .
“ The way that they resonate within a kind of closed system is so beautiful , and the way that they relate to humans—the head of the spine , the foot of the spine , the spine.
” “ Dentelles , ” another tells us , as he ever so gently traces a finger down a frilly gilt border , is the name for the golden edging on the inside of a cover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ French dentelle , which means “ lace , ” and which itself comes from the Middle French for “ little tooth.
” It is often fascinating to hear experts discuss their craft , because the demonstration of extreme competence and precision is powerfully appealing : there is a name for every part and every production method , and particularly for every malady .
The specialized language is all in the service of diagnosis and correction .
When a book has been read too much or loved too roughly , it ’ s “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If the spine tilts just a bit to the side , it ’ s “ slightly cocked.
” ( “ A little juvenile , don ’ t you think ?
” one book dealer exclaims . )
When paper is browning from age or moisture , it ’ s “ foxed.
” Some things sound bad but are not so : “ stab holes ” might show that a book has been bound from side-stitched installments that were published separately .
And that “ mottled calf ” from the poster isn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the name for a method of using dribbles of acid to make young leather look more interesting .
Accordingly , and comfortingly , the language of cures for booky ills is also expansive .
The film tells us about wormholes in the binding , showing spines chawed to dust by pests , but it also reassures us about the existence of “ remboîtage ” : the procedure for swapping covers if you have one volume with marvellous innards but a ragged cover , and another that is gorgeously packaged but drab inside .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Book Collectors ” —the antiquarians ’ bible , compiled by John Carter and Nicolas Barker—reveals that , while books can be chipped , creased , tired , and disbound , they can also be re-cased , pressed , re-hinged , and guarded .
( If only healing the cockled or faded body were so easy . )
If “ all professions are conspiracies against the laity ” —as one bookseller jokes , quoting George Bernard Shaw—then sometimes the rest of us want to be in the congregation , guided by someone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our parts .
The professionals , positively glowing with their expertise , reassure us that someone has already seen and recognized the details , and has a word for the state of things and how they are likely to change over time .
What ’ s more , someone has already devised a fix for our troubles .
Searle ’ s scribbly and just a bit soiled librarian does not need to be a “ rare survival ” —an astonishingly well-preserved and scarce piece .
His appeal comes from his dictionary of imperfections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms is its own kind of delight .

In D. W. Young’s lighthearted, lexical short film “A Body of Language,” a bookdealer shows off “one of the antiquarian book world’s favorite prints”: a caricature of a bedraggled, elderly bibliophile standing in a muddle of books, as if he has risen from them. His hair is slightly mussed, eyes obscured behind spectacles, and he wears a suit with a pocket square. Titled “Anatomy of an Antiquarian Bookseller,” the poster’s provenance makes it something that dealers of rare tomes especially appreciate: only fifty lithographs of the design, by the artist Ronald Searle, were produced, as a commission for the centenary of a Scottish book-trading firm. Searle labelled the portrait with terms drawn from the vernacular of book-dealing that apply equally to the settling and slumping of a body, which, once in fine condition, is now merely fair: dog-eared; mottled calf; joints badly worn; spine cracked.
The obscure and fanciful language of the book world—particularly the bodily lingo—is the focus of the above film, and the two dozen or so booksellers interviewed on camera describe with relish their favorite terms. “I love the words,” one dealer says. “The way that they resonate within a kind of closed system is so beautiful, and the way that they relate to humans—the head of the spine, the foot of the spine, the spine.” “Dentelles,” another tells us, as he ever so gently traces a finger down a frilly gilt border, is the name for the golden edging on the inside of a cover; the word is drawn from the French dentelle, which means “lace,” and which itself comes from the Middle French for “little tooth.”
It is often fascinating to hear experts discuss their craft, because the demonstration of extreme competence and precision is powerfully appealing: there is a name for every part and every production method, and particularly for every malady. The specialized language is all in the service of diagnosis and correction. When a book has been read too much or loved too roughly, it’s “thumb-soiled” (deliciously icky-sounding). If the spine tilts just a bit to the side, it’s “slightly cocked.” (“A little juvenile, don’t you think?” one book dealer exclaims.) When paper is browning from age or moisture, it’s “foxed.” Some things sound bad but are not so: “stab holes” might show that a book has been bound from side-stitched installments that were published separately. And that “mottled calf” from the poster isn’t a sign of decay—it’s only the name for a method of using dribbles of acid to make young leather look more interesting. Accordingly, and comfortingly, the language of cures for booky ills is also expansive. The film tells us about wormholes in the binding, showing spines chawed to dust by pests, but it also reassures us about the existence of “remboîtage”: the procedure for swapping covers if you have one volume with marvellous innards but a ragged cover, and another that is gorgeously packaged but drab inside. And a look through the “ABC for Book Collectors”—the antiquarians’ bible, compiled by John Carter and Nicolas Barker—reveals that, while books can be chipped, creased, tired, and disbound, they can also be re-cased, pressed, re-hinged, and guarded. (If only healing the cockled or faded body were so easy.)
If “all professions are conspiracies against the laity”—as one bookseller jokes, quoting George Bernard Shaw—then sometimes the rest of us want to be in the congregation, guided by someone who can offer us the language to describe our parts. The professionals, positively glowing with their expertise, reassure us that someone has already seen and recognized the details, and has a word for the state of things and how they are likely to change over time. What’s more, someone has already devised a fix for our troubles. Searle’s scribbly and just a bit soiled librarian does not need to be a “rare survival”—an astonishingly well-preserved and scarce piece. His appeal comes from his dictionary of imperfections, and because the cataloguing of exacting terms is its own kind of delight.


newyorker--2020-05-21--Could the Coronavirus Pandemic Change Iran’s Political Future?

Iran ’ s Supreme Leader , Ayatollah Khamenei , has failed to cover up the extent of the damage done @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus crisis .
Dexter Filkins travelled to Iran in February , just as the outbreak @ @ @ @ @ Dorothy Wickenden to discuss what Iranian doctors and young dissidents told him , and why @ @ @ @ @ a breaking point for the generation of aging revolutionaries .

Photograph by Ali Mohammadi / Bloomberg / Getty
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has failed to cover up the extent of the damage done to the country by the coronavirus crisis. Dexter Filkins travelled to Iran in February, just as the outbreak was metastasizing. He joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss what Iranian doctors and young dissidents told him, and why people think this could be a breaking point for the generation of aging revolutionaries.