newyorker--2020-12-07--Briefly Noted Book Reviews

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

Feline Philosophy , by John Gray ( Farrar , Straus & Giroux ) .
This teasing book by a political philosopher known for critiquing liberal theories of social progress argues that philosophy is a mere distraction from our deepest fears .
Rather than groping for meaning in a universe that offers none , we should try to be more like cats , creatures congenitally “ happy being themselves.
” Gray has fun deriding philosophy but also draws on it ; Taoism ’ s presumption that all species and ways of living are equal , for instance , allows for “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in many different ways.
” Ultimately , he endorses contemplation—a mode of perception that fosters equanimity—and offers a scheme for emulating the catlike qualities that might permit us to “ thrive without anxiously inquiring how to live.
” Billion Dollar Loser , by Reeves Wiedeman ( Little , Brown ) .
By turns startling and mordantly funny , this book traces the rise and fall of the co-working startup WeWork and of Adam Neumann , one of its founders .
Wiedeman approaches his subject with a wealth of documentation and a deadpan incredulity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions and ambitions .
The book delves into WeWork ’ s fatuous real-estate maneuvers , poor treatment of its employees , and dubious corporate expenditures ( including $ 13.8 million to acquire a company that manufactures wave pools ) .
Throughout , Neumann is dislikable but not demonized .
Wiedeman lays much blame on the numerous financiers and corporate bigwigs who boosted the would-be titan until the bitter end .
The Arrest , by Jonathan Lethem ( Ecco ) .
The title of this dystopian novel refers to an unexplained phenomenon that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our hero is Journeyman , a script doctor who ’ d been struggling in Hollywood at the time of the Arrest .
The new world has no need for storytellers , so he finds work assisting the butcher and delivering local goods , until a former writing partner suggests that the Arrest is one of their unproduced science-fiction screenplays brought to life .
The novel ’ s levity masks the impact of its message , but Lethem , seeing technology as our greatest love , imagines its loss with poignancy : “ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ screens , but in droves , like creatures of the warmed ocean.
” The White Dress , by Nathalie Léger , translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer ( Dorothy ) .
Melding fact and fiction , this book revolves around the murder , in 2008 , of Pippa Bacca , an Italian performance artist who , as part of a project to promote world peace , had been hitchhiking from Milan to Jerusalem in a wedding dress .
Léger weaves together the story of Bacca ’ s journey , astute discussions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an account of the injustice Léger ’ s mother endured during her divorce .
Léger grapples with her inability to understand the motivations of others , and with the ambiguity of giving voice to the silenced , noting that Bacca ’ s killer had , in the days before he was caught , filmed obsessively with her camera , as if he wanted to “ smash his body and his sin onto the images .
”

Feline Philosophy, by John Gray (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). This teasing book by a political philosopher known for critiquing liberal theories of social progress argues that philosophy is a mere distraction from our deepest fears. Rather than groping for meaning in a universe that offers none, we should try to be more like cats, creatures congenitally “happy being themselves.” Gray has fun deriding philosophy but also draws on it; Taoism’s presumption that all species and ways of living are equal, for instance, allows for “the possibility that human beings might flourish in many different ways.” Ultimately, he endorses contemplation—a mode of perception that fosters equanimity—and offers a scheme for emulating the catlike qualities that might permit us to “thrive without anxiously inquiring how to live.”
Billion Dollar Loser, by Reeves Wiedeman (Little, Brown). By turns startling and mordantly funny, this book traces the rise and fall of the co-working startup WeWork and of Adam Neumann, one of its founders. Wiedeman approaches his subject with a wealth of documentation and a deadpan incredulity at the absurdity of Neumann’s actions and ambitions. The book delves into WeWork’s fatuous real-estate maneuvers, poor treatment of its employees, and dubious corporate expenditures (including $13.8 million to acquire a company that manufactures wave pools). Throughout, Neumann is dislikable but not demonized. Wiedeman lays much blame on the numerous financiers and corporate bigwigs who boosted the would-be titan until the bitter end.
The Arrest, by Jonathan Lethem (Ecco). The title of this dystopian novel refers to an unexplained phenomenon that has caused almost all technology to fail. Our hero is Journeyman, a script doctor who’d been struggling in Hollywood at the time of the Arrest. The new world has no need for storytellers, so he finds work assisting the butcher and delivering local goods, until a former writing partner suggests that the Arrest is one of their unproduced science-fiction screenplays brought to life. The novel’s levity masks the impact of its message, but Lethem, seeing technology as our greatest love, imagines its loss with poignancy: “They died not all at once, the screens, but in droves, like creatures of the warmed ocean.”
The White Dress, by Nathalie Léger, translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer (Dorothy). Melding fact and fiction, this book revolves around the murder, in 2008, of Pippa Bacca, an Italian performance artist who, as part of a project to promote world peace, had been hitchhiking from Milan to Jerusalem in a wedding dress. Léger weaves together the story of Bacca’s journey, astute discussions of Marina Abramović and Svetlana Alexievich, and an account of the injustice Léger’s mother endured during her divorce. Léger grapples with her inability to understand the motivations of others, and with the ambiguity of giving voice to the silenced, noting that Bacca’s killer had, in the days before he was caught, filmed obsessively with her camera, as if he wanted to “smash his body and his sin onto the images.”


newyorker--2020-12-07--Andrew Bird’s Cozy Melancholy

Andrew Bird’s Cozy Melancholy

For the past several holiday seasons , Andrew Bird , the warmly tuneful singer-songwriter-whistler-violinist , has performed a concert series called “ Gezelligheid ” —meaning “ coziness , ” or kind of a Dutch hygge—often at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago .
The holiday concerts are “ about creating an atmosphere , ” Bird said recently .
“ That ’ s what seasonal music is to me—how do we get through the dark , cold months ?
” The Gothic Revival church is made cozier by Bird ’ s stagecraft , including colored lights and a mesmerizing red-and-white contraption @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Janus Spinning Horn , made by the Chicago luthier Ian Schneller .
“ It ’ s like a cross between a flower and a Victrola horn , ” Bird said , on a Zoom from a sunny hilltop in Ojai , California .
This holiday season , he and his family are staying put in California , and , on December 13th , he will live-stream “ Gezelligheid ” from Ojai .
“ I ’ m going to string up some café lights and do it at sunset , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ exactly what you ’ re looking at ” : Oriental rug , Janus Spinning Horn , oak tree , orange groves , Topatopa Mountains .
As Bird picked up his violin to play , the Janus Horn began to spin , like an amaryllis sending out an alarm signal .
Bird , forty-seven , is tall and lean , with dark hair and a serious expression .
He tends to dress in a gently old-fashioned style—button-down shirts , the occasional fedora or vest—and when he , a non-actor , was recruited to play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of “ Fargo , ” set in mid-century Kansas City , it made intuitive sense .
( His character , Thurman Smutny , whistles when he ’ s happy , is naïve about the criminal underworld , and says things like “ It ’ s sigh-o-relief o ’ clock around here at the ol ’ Smutny household.
” ) Bird grew up in Lake Bluff , outside Chicago , and began playing the violin at age four .
“ I ’ m very close with my mom ” —Beth Bird , a print @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one who started me on violin , ” he said .
“ She tried to learn to play herself , out of solidarity.
” Later , he got a bachelor ’ s in violin performance at Northwestern , and played with the jazz-swing combo Squirrel Nut Zippers , and with his own group , Andrew Bird ’ s Bowl of Fire ; since 2003 , as a solo artist , he ’ s excelled at doing his own thing .
This fall , he released “ Hark !
, ” a holiday album @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s concert , offers beauty , and a mood of distanced coziness : gezelligheid à la mode .
Plaintive yearning abounds .
“ Christmas in April , ” which Bird wrote as lockdown came , in March— “ ‘ March ’ would not have been the most lyrical-sounding ” —hopes for “ no more sorrow , and no more fear ” and wonders about Yuletide togetherness : “ Oh , my love , when will we know / If we can meet under the mistletoe ?
” It ’ s “ a fairly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ But , whenever you know that you and most of the populace are thinking the same thing , that ’ s kind of an extraordinary moment.
” His “ White Christmas ” heightens the song ’ s natural wistfulness with cascading strings that evoke the eerie falling flowers in “ Ode to Billie Joe.
” In “ Alabaster ” ( “ Keep your lamp on , keep your lamp on ” ) , he wanted to “ capture a sense of walking in Chicago at night , and looking in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wondering what people ’ s lives are like in there.
” “ Greenwine ” merges “ Greensleeves ” — “ one of those darker , minor-key Christmas tunes ” —with a Handsome Family song about a “ dysfunctional relationship , and alcoholism , with Christmas as a backdrop.
” John Prine ’ s “ Souvenirs ” sings of melted snow , broken toys , and faded colors .
Yet it all feels pretty good .
As lockdown began , Bird said , the album “ ‘ Paris 1919 ’ was on our stereo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our household d.j.
, and he got really into John Cale.
” ( So was Lou Reed ’ s “ Transformer , ” Bird said : “ My son probably has better taste than I do.
” ) Cale , who is Welsh , composed “ Paris 1919 ” in 1972 , when he was working in L.A. and feeling nostalgic for Europe .
Its snowy , dreamy “ Andalucia ” is “ comforting and mysterious at the same time , which is , I think , the ideal description of a Christmas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s the melancholy .
Melancholy is not sad—it ’ s about half and half the mixture of happy and sad.
” Bird , plucking his violin like a guitar , begins “ Hark !
” with a delicate cover of it : “ Andalucia , when can I see ya ?
” Bird included some of his mother ’ s favorite holiday songs on “ Hark !
, ” which also features her artwork on the cover : a red-yellow-and-smoky-black painting of a winged , lantern-bearing gentleman floating above a village @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Not being able to see each other , it was nice to have this project to connect on , ” Bird said .
“ She ’ s been my No .
1 collaborator over the years.
” ♦

For the past several holiday seasons, Andrew Bird, the warmly tuneful singer-songwriter-whistler-violinist, has performed a concert series called “Gezelligheid”—meaning “coziness,” or kind of a Dutch hygge—often at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The holiday concerts are “about creating an atmosphere,” Bird said recently. “That’s what seasonal music is to me—how do we get through the dark, cold months?” The Gothic Revival church is made cozier by Bird’s stagecraft, including colored lights and a mesmerizing red-and-white contraption: a two-headed rotating speaker called a Janus Spinning Horn, made by the Chicago luthier Ian Schneller. “It’s like a cross between a flower and a Victrola horn,” Bird said, on a Zoom from a sunny hilltop in Ojai, California. This holiday season, he and his family are staying put in California, and, on December 13th, he will live-stream “Gezelligheid” from Ojai. “I’m going to string up some café lights and do it at sunset,” he said. Otherwise, “it’s probably exactly what you’re looking at”: Oriental rug, Janus Spinning Horn, oak tree, orange groves, Topatopa Mountains. As Bird picked up his violin to play, the Janus Horn began to spin, like an amaryllis sending out an alarm signal.
Bird, forty-seven, is tall and lean, with dark hair and a serious expression. He tends to dress in a gently old-fashioned style—button-down shirts, the occasional fedora or vest—and when he, a non-actor, was recruited to play an earnest mortician in the current season of “Fargo,” set in mid-century Kansas City, it made intuitive sense. (His character, Thurman Smutny, whistles when he’s happy, is naïve about the criminal underworld, and says things like “It’s sigh-o-relief o’clock around here at the ol’ Smutny household.”) Bird grew up in Lake Bluff, outside Chicago, and began playing the violin at age four. “I’m very close with my mom”—Beth Bird, a print artist—“and she’s the one who started me on violin,” he said. “She tried to learn to play herself, out of solidarity.” Later, he got a bachelor’s in violin performance at Northwestern, and played with the jazz-swing combo Squirrel Nut Zippers, and with his own group, Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire; since 2003, as a solo artist, he’s excelled at doing his own thing.
This fall, he released “Hark!,” a holiday album, which, like this year’s concert, offers beauty, and a mood of distanced coziness: gezelligheid à la mode. Plaintive yearning abounds. “Christmas in April,” which Bird wrote as lockdown came, in March—“ ‘March’ would not have been the most lyrical-sounding”—hopes for “no more sorrow, and no more fear” and wonders about Yuletide togetherness: “Oh, my love, when will we know / If we can meet under the mistletoe?” It’s “a fairly simple, sentimental song,” Bird said. “But, whenever you know that you and most of the populace are thinking the same thing, that’s kind of an extraordinary moment.” His “White Christmas” heightens the song’s natural wistfulness with cascading strings that evoke the eerie falling flowers in “Ode to Billie Joe.” In “Alabaster” (“Keep your lamp on, keep your lamp on”), he wanted to “capture a sense of walking in Chicago at night, and looking in the warm glow of apartment buildings, wondering what people’s lives are like in there.” “Greenwine” merges “Greensleeves”—“one of those darker, minor-key Christmas tunes”—with a Handsome Family song about a “dysfunctional relationship, and alcoholism, with Christmas as a backdrop.” John Prine’s “Souvenirs” sings of melted snow, broken toys, and faded colors. Yet it all feels pretty good.
As lockdown began, Bird said, the album “ ‘Paris 1919’ was on our stereo non-stop, because my nine-year-old son is our household d.j., and he got really into John Cale.” (So was Lou Reed’s “Transformer,” Bird said: “My son probably has better taste than I do.”) Cale, who is Welsh, composed “Paris 1919” in 1972, when he was working in L.A. and feeling nostalgic for Europe. Its snowy, dreamy “Andalucia” is “comforting and mysterious at the same time, which is, I think, the ideal description of a Christmas song,” Bird said. “It’s the melancholy. Melancholy is not sad—it’s about half and half the mixture of happy and sad.” Bird, plucking his violin like a guitar, begins “Hark!” with a delicate cover of it: “Andalucia, when can I see ya?”
Bird included some of his mother’s favorite holiday songs on “Hark!,” which also features her artwork on the cover: a red-yellow-and-smoky-black painting of a winged, lantern-bearing gentleman floating above a village, in a mood of Toulouse-Lautrec-meets-Chagall whimsy. “Not being able to see each other, it was nice to have this project to connect on,” Bird said. “She’s been my No. 1 collaborator over the years.” ♦


newyorker--2020-12-07--The Best Jokes of 2020

The Best Jokes of 2020

The past year breaks down into a few eras—none of them , let ’ s be honest , especially funny .
There was the period before the coronavirus pandemic , marked roughly for me from the start of the year to the moment , in March , when , sitting in a coffee shop and reading terrifying things online , I took a last good look at the strangers around me , realizing that I wouldn ’ t be sitting in such a place again for a while .
Surely we heard a bunch of funny jokes back in our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movie theatres , or from the co-workers whom we used to see up close—but it ’ s hard to remember .
Then there were the long , doomy months of anxious stuckness , running from the spring to the fall , during which so much felt so acutely at risk .
Very little about the pandemic and our inability to rise to its challenges makes for the good kind of joke , but we adapt quickly to new realities , and the urge to laugh , bitterly or joyously , persists .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example , when various political leaders tried to bad-cop their constituents into taking the virus seriously .
In November , New Jersey ’ s governor , Phil Murphy , responding to a question about people growing tired of wearing masks , said , “ You know what ’ s really uncomfortable and annoying ?
When you die.
” ( The mayor of the small town of Walton , Kentucky , did an even more confrontational version of this bit , in a Facebook post this spring that began , “ Listen up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then there were the masks .
There has , I suppose , been something pitch-black silly about seeing the many ways that people have misworn them—omitting noses , covering only chins , dangling them off ears .
It ’ s macro failure demonstrated on a micro level , but at least we ’ re trying .
On a hot summer day , I witnessed what could be the pinnacle of the genre : a man walking down the street wearing a pair of ski goggles , ostensibly as prophylactic , his mouth and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sound .
Mostly , though , people of good will stayed inside and apart when they could , and the jokes were to be found on screens , maybe shared with those locked in with us , but better enjoyed alone , with our feeds .
There was a sharp break from the lonely-together gloom on Saturday , November 7th , around noon , when the election was called—people joined up ( too close for comfort in many instances ) to shout and dance and sing , and see the world around them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fount of humor burst forth : a weekend of great jokes—four seasons ’ s ( of total landscaping ) worth—compressed into a matter of hours .
After that release , it was back to authoritarian gesturing , bad-faith trolling , COVID spikes , lots of doom-scrolling , occasional hope-scrolling , and maybe , every once in a while , a little joke-scrolling .
Here are some of the things that brought levity to a tough year .
The Donald Trump impression flourished in the final year of his term , and its most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cooper , a comedian and former employee at Google , shot to fame with the TikTok video “ How to medical , ” in which she lip-synched the audio from one of Trump ’ s April press conferences , during which he suggested injections of disinfectant to kill the virus .
By severing Trump ’ s words from his person and linking them instead to her own inspired physical comedy , Cooper captured something new about the President ’ s petulant idiocy .
The L.A.-based comedian James Austin Johnson , meanwhile , went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to nail the cadence and nonsense of Trump ’ s delivery , but applying it to absurd subjects like Scooby-Doo and Pokémon .
In videos shot selfie-style on his phone , Johnson ’ s impression is uncanny in the eyes and lips , and he takes Trump ’ s obsessive , grudge-filled , free-associative style on a journey into the ridiculous .
“ We call him Scooby , but he doesn ’ t do , ” Johnson says , in an imagined Trump monologue about the cartoon character ’ s shortcomings .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michaela Coel ’ s series “ I May Destroy You , ” about a young writer in London wrestling with the practical and emotional fallout of a sexual assault , is no less devastating than its log line suggests , but it is also surprising , invigorating , and funny .
Coel , who is the show ’ s creator and writer , gives a dynamo lead performance as Arabella ; she starts out as a wall of wit and cool before collapsing into insecurity and doubt .
She is also , despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nerd , as we learn during a flashback to Ostia , Italy , where she and her friend Terry ( Weruche Opia ) are enjoying a weekend on Arabella ’ s publisher ’ s dime .
Out at a club , Arabella , who is on a cocktail of drugs , begs the bored Terry to stay a bit longer .
Having already bugged the d.j.s , she promises , “ They ’ re gon na play ‘ Hamilton , ’ the musical !
” “ Absolutely disgusting .
I just saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guy at the front of it wasn ’ t wearing a mask .
How selfish can you be ?
?
?
” The comedy writer Keaton Patti made my favorite Twitter joke of the year—a gloriously gross goof on this terrible moment .
Sacha Baron Cohen ’ s “ Borat Subsequent Moviefilm ” arrived at a particularly fraught time , in the days leading up to the election , and even brought Trump ’ s lawyer Rudy Giuliani into the news .
( The film found the former New York mayor in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ putative fifteen-year-old daughter , making some questionable moves . )
But the movie ’ s brightest moments concerned another Trump associate .
It ’ s undeniably funny to hear Borat pronounce the name of the American Vice-President , using the unfamiliar full version , “ Michael Pence ” —or , as a Kazakh official refers to him , “ America ’ s most famous ladies ’ man.
” Borat , meanwhile , misunderstanding an infamous story about Pence , offers a short bio : “ The vice-premier was known to be such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left alone in a room with a womans.
” Nice !
Coffee Filters at the End of the World Rumaan Alam ’ s novel “ Leave the World Behind , ” about a family from New York City that faces a vague apocalyptic disaster while on vacation in the Hamptons , is filled with so many casually piercing social observations that I could barely go a page without stopping to look away , awash in self-loathing .
One of its memorably funny lines occurs during an early scene in which the family ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the grocery store , encounters a brand whose at once accusatory , meekly resigned , and conscience-stroking name has always struck me as amusing .
“ She bought a pound of ground coffee , so potent she could smell it through the vacuum seal , and size 4 coffee filters made of recycled paper .
If you care ?
She cared !
”

The past year breaks down into a few eras—none of them, let’s be honest, especially funny. There was the period before the coronavirus pandemic, marked roughly for me from the start of the year to the moment, in March, when, sitting in a coffee shop and reading terrifying things online, I took a last good look at the strangers around me, realizing that I wouldn’t be sitting in such a place again for a while. Surely we heard a bunch of funny jokes back in our pre-COVID-19 innocence—in comedy clubs, or in movie theatres, or from the co-workers whom we used to see up close—but it’s hard to remember.
Then there were the long, doomy months of anxious stuckness, running from the spring to the fall, during which so much felt so acutely at risk. Very little about the pandemic and our inability to rise to its challenges makes for the good kind of joke, but we adapt quickly to new realities, and the urge to laugh, bitterly or joyously, persists. We got a glimpse of comedic timing, for example, when various political leaders tried to bad-cop their constituents into taking the virus seriously. In November, New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, responding to a question about people growing tired of wearing masks, said, “You know what’s really uncomfortable and annoying? When you die.” (The mayor of the small town of Walton, Kentucky, did an even more confrontational version of this bit, in a Facebook post this spring that began, “Listen up dipshits and sensible people.”)
2020 in Review New Yorker writers reflect on the year’s highs and lows.
And then there were the masks. There has, I suppose, been something pitch-black silly about seeing the many ways that people have misworn them—omitting noses, covering only chins, dangling them off ears. It’s macro failure demonstrated on a micro level, but at least we’re trying. On a hot summer day, I witnessed what could be the pinnacle of the genre: a man walking down the street wearing a pair of ski goggles, ostensibly as prophylactic, his mouth and nose uncovered but his eyes safe and sound.
Mostly, though, people of good will stayed inside and apart when they could, and the jokes were to be found on screens, maybe shared with those locked in with us, but better enjoyed alone, with our feeds. There was a sharp break from the lonely-together gloom on Saturday, November 7th, around noon, when the election was called—people joined up (too close for comfort in many instances) to shout and dance and sing, and see the world around them anew. With the celebration, a fount of humor burst forth: a weekend of great jokes—four seasons’s (of total landscaping) worth—compressed into a matter of hours. After that release, it was back to authoritarian gesturing, bad-faith trolling, COVID spikes, lots of doom-scrolling, occasional hope-scrolling, and maybe, every once in a while, a little joke-scrolling.
Here are some of the things that brought levity to a tough year.
Trump Talking Bleach and “Scooby-Doo”
The Donald Trump impression flourished in the final year of his term, and its most inventive practitioners explored opposite tacks. Sarah Cooper, a comedian and former employee at Google, shot to fame with the TikTok video “How to medical,” in which she lip-synched the audio from one of Trump’s April press conferences, during which he suggested injections of disinfectant to kill the virus. By severing Trump’s words from his person and linking them instead to her own inspired physical comedy, Cooper captured something new about the President’s petulant idiocy.
The L.A.-based comedian James Austin Johnson, meanwhile, went another way, using his own voice to nail the cadence and nonsense of Trump’s delivery, but applying it to absurd subjects like Scooby-Doo and Pokémon. In videos shot selfie-style on his phone, Johnson’s impression is uncanny in the eyes and lips, and he takes Trump’s obsessive, grudge-filled, free-associative style on a journey into the ridiculous. “We call him Scooby, but he doesn’t do,” Johnson says, in an imagined Trump monologue about the cartoon character’s shortcomings. “It’s a terrible deal.”
“Hamilton” in the Club
Photograph by Natalie Seery / HBO
Michaela Coel’s series “I May Destroy You,” about a young writer in London wrestling with the practical and emotional fallout of a sexual assault, is no less devastating than its log line suggests, but it is also surprising, invigorating, and funny. Coel, who is the show’s creator and writer, gives a dynamo lead performance as Arabella; she starts out as a wall of wit and cool before collapsing into insecurity and doubt. She is also, despite her recklessness and flair, something of a nerd, as we learn during a flashback to Ostia, Italy, where she and her friend Terry (Weruche Opia) are enjoying a weekend on Arabella’s publisher’s dime. Out at a club, Arabella, who is on a cocktail of drugs, begs the bored Terry to stay a bit longer. Having already bugged the d.j.s, she promises, “They’re gonna play ‘Hamilton,’ the musical! ”
Mask-Shaming a Human Centipede
“Absolutely disgusting. I just saw a human centipede crawling around outside and the guy at the front of it wasn’t wearing a mask. How selfish can you be???” The comedy writer Keaton Patti made my favorite Twitter joke of the year—a gloriously gross goof on this terrible moment.
Searching for Michael Pence
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” arrived at a particularly fraught time, in the days leading up to the election, and even brought Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani into the news. (The film found the former New York mayor in the hotel room of Borat’s putative fifteen-year-old daughter, making some questionable moves.)
But the movie’s brightest moments concerned another Trump associate. It’s undeniably funny to hear Borat pronounce the name of the American Vice-President, using the unfamiliar full version, “Michael Pence”—or, as a Kazakh official refers to him, “America’s most famous ladies’ man.” Borat, meanwhile, misunderstanding an infamous story about Pence, offers a short bio: “The vice-premier was known to be such a pussy hound that he could not be left alone in a room with a womans.” Nice!
Coffee Filters at the End of the World
Rumaan Alam’s novel “Leave the World Behind,” about a family from New York City that faces a vague apocalyptic disaster while on vacation in the Hamptons, is filled with so many casually piercing social observations that I could barely go a page without stopping to look away, awash in self-loathing. One of its memorably funny lines occurs during an early scene in which the family’s matriarch, on a trip to the grocery store, encounters a brand whose at once accusatory, meekly resigned, and conscience-stroking name has always struck me as amusing. “She bought a pound of ground coffee, so potent she could smell it through the vacuum seal, and size 4 coffee filters made of recycled paper. If you care? She cared!”
John Wilson’s Deadpan Vision of New York


newyorker--2020-12-07--How Mira Nair Made Her Own “Suitable Boy”

Nair , who was born in 1957 in the Indian state of Odisha ( then called Orissa ) , and has been based in New York for about four decades , was an obvious choice for the adaptation .
In 1988 , she directed “ Salaam Bombay !
, ” a critically acclaimed account of life in the slums of Mumbai .
She followed it up with an early Denzel Washington drama , “ Mississippi Masala , ” about an Indian from Uganda in the American South .
Since then , Nair has made ten feature films , including “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and has become known as one of the preëminent interpreters of the Indian-immigrant experience .
Nair has also adapted classic novels , including “ Vanity Fair , ” and several pieces of modern literature , such as Jhumpa Lahiri ’ s “ The Namesake ” and Mohsin Hamid ’ s “ The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
” In a Profile of Nair , in 2002 , John Lahr wrote , “ Nair ’ s films negotiate disparate ethnic geographies with the same kind of sly civility she practices in life .
Her approach is sometimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political films , but she does make her films politically .
Her gift , to which ‘ Monsoon Wedding ’ attests , is to make diversity irresistible.
” Nair and I recently spoke over Zoom , while she was completing work on the last episode of the series .
During our conversation , which has been edited for length and clarity , we discussed her career as a filmmaker , the challenges of adapting an epic novel , and how rising intolerance in India , led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Boy.
” After our interview , it was reported that members of the B.J.P .
called for an investigation of Netflix , the series ’ Indian distributor , claiming that the depiction of a kiss between a Muslim man and Hindu woman intentionally affronts religious sentiments , which in India is a criminal offense .
Netflix has made no public comment , and Nair declined to address the complaint .
I ’ ve got my ten copies of “ Suitable Boy ” behind me to— Welcome to the club .
I have them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one edition , which is hard to find , where it ’ s divided into three sections .
That ’ s the one I really worked on , because it was possible to carry .
So tell me , then : How does one adapt a fourteen-hundred-page novel ?
Are you going through the book with a pen ?
I know you didn ’ t write the script , but just tell me what the process is like .
I ’ ve done several adaptations from the start with the writer—say , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” —and normally I would have a point of view that would drive it through .
Like , “ The Namesake ” was , for me , more about the parents ’ love than about the American son they bred .
In this case , that was done for me initially by Andrew Davies as the distillation of the novel .
When I got into it , he had just finished eight one-hour drafts .
We had to bring it down to six hours , and that ’ s when we did two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lata finding herself through the sea of suitors and literature and her family and the propriety of nineteen-fifties Indian life , and to weave those strands of essentially a personal , humanist look at family life into a look at a country that was trying to find itself after establishing its freedom .
That was my concern .
And also , as you know , the seeds of much of the terrible politics of today were also planted at independence and Partition .
We ’ re talking in a week when the Hindu-nationalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is overseeing the placement of a cornerstone for a temple at the site of a mosque , the Babri Masjid , that was destroyed by Hindu fanatics in 1992 .
I was going to ask how much you wanted to adapt something like “ A Suitable Boy ” now , because of what ’ s going on .
Very much so .
The history of that schism is something that was important to me—to show the beautiful syncretism that we have shared for generations and that now is very actively being obliterated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the language , the music , or the friendships .
Your soundtrack choices in the film , which include a lot of ghazal poetry and music , suggest that a celebration of Indo-Muslim culture was important to you .
Deeply , and not just because I love it and I have breathed it forever , but also because Saeeda Bai , the great courtesan character that Vikram wrote , is partly inspired by Begum Akhtar , one of our greatest singers .
They draw on poets like Ghalib , like Mir , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an extraordinary treasure , to be honest .
For me , it was the soul of the film , the ghazals .
It was like introducing a new kind of musical cinematic language to the BBC , because they were not sure .
[ Laughs ] They didn ’ t quite understand why I had to have what they call these musical interludes , and it was a very interesting dialogue—because they are , for me , the core .
Seth wrote a book , “ The Golden Gate , ” that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ titles in “ A Suitable Boy ” are like little couplets .
Is it especially hard trying to adapt something where the language is so precise and almost musical .
It ’ s beautiful to adapt that , or to try to adapt that .
We also share a mischievous sense of humor about our language , as well .
For me to work with Vikram was like having an angel on the shoulder in terms of language .
I could go to him for any nuance .
I didn ’ t disturb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but sometimes I wanted a couple more rhymes , and I would wake him up early in the morning and say , “ Please , Vikram , something to go with roses that rhymes with Haresh.
” We had a rhyme about sweet peas , about somebody admiring the sweet peas and “ Are they ready to please ?
” When I got to the set , the art director had misunderstood sweet peas for actual peas .
Green peas .
And the flowers were not sweet peas but red roses .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Please replace this with roses.
” In one hour , I would have a rhyme .
In terms of the musical nature of the text itself , that is for me a little bit akin to the cinematic rhythm of a scene , especially interwoven with another world .
I love that layering because India is really , as you know , about that .
We live cheek by jowl .
Was there ever a question of whether the show would be in English ?
Not that some of these characters wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ English .
What Vikram did beautifully was also the anglicized world of Indians .
This is a world that was real , too , and was so beautifully and funnily brought to life by him .
Even Lata herself would have thought and dreamt mainly in English and spoken to her family in both languages .
But , when I came in early on , I insisted that the people who would speak Urdu should speak Urdu .
And Vikram welcomed it , and he said , “ Thank you for translating it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they allowed some of it , but I would have gone further .
I wish I ’ d had freer rein to move more , but what we did was also very carefully nuanced .
The music and the culture of it , and the location and the context and the way people actually spoke to each other , was , for me , the truth .
What did you make of the debate over having a white person adapt the screenplay ?
I think it ’ s unfortunate .
It is such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ art of making six hours .
I really did think that the distillation by Andrew was masterful .
I used to joke with him , “ I ’ m going to make you look really very good with all these extra languages and all it being so topical and political and nuanced.
” He would be open to us .
I did bring a lot more back into it—like , for instance , Mrs. Mahesh Kapoor .
She , for me , was very important and a quiet foundation of this family .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ translation of “ A Suitable Boy , ” Vikram made a special mention of her character in the book ’ s preface .
She ’ s a very strong character , so scenes were brought back in by me and from the book .
One of the actresses in your series got into some legal trouble in India for protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act , passed by the B.J.P.-controlled parliament and backed by Modi , which jeopardizes the rights of India ’ s Muslims .
Can you talk a little bit about what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sadaf Jafar , who stepped into the pretty decent-sized role of Bibbo , the maid who runs the home of the courtesan .
On the 17th of December , we completed shooting .
And , on the 19th , there was a protest , and Sadaf could be seen on video trying to quell and question the violence that was going on .
Still , she was booked with many other activists on the street , and put into jail for more than two weeks .
She was released on the 7th of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

This month marks the American release of the director Mira Nair’s six-part television adaptation of “A Suitable Boy,” Vikram Seth’s beloved, kaleidoscopic novel of early post-Partition India, from 1993. (It began streaming on Acorn TV on December 7th.) The book, which, at more than thirteen hundred pages, is longer than “War and Peace,” tells the story of a young woman, Lata, and her search for a husband, while also featuring a remarkable cast of characters, largely from four interwoven families. The novel also touches on land reform, cricket, and religious tension, in playful, inventive language and sometimes with laugh-out-loud humor. Seth reportedly has been working on a sequel for more than a decade, the rumors of which have thrilled his fans.
Nair, who was born in 1957 in the Indian state of Odisha (then called Orissa), and has been based in New York for about four decades, was an obvious choice for the adaptation. In 1988, she directed “Salaam Bombay!,” a critically acclaimed account of life in the slums of Mumbai. She followed it up with an early Denzel Washington drama, “Mississippi Masala,” about an Indian from Uganda in the American South. Since then, Nair has made ten feature films, including “Monsoon Wedding,” from 2001, and has become known as one of the preëminent interpreters of the Indian-immigrant experience. Nair has also adapted classic novels, including “Vanity Fair,” and several pieces of modern literature, such as Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake” and Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” In a Profile of Nair, in 2002, John Lahr wrote, “Nair’s films negotiate disparate ethnic geographies with the same kind of sly civility she practices in life. Her approach is sometimes oblique: she doesn’t make political films, but she does make her films politically. Her gift, to which ‘Monsoon Wedding’ attests, is to make diversity irresistible.”
Nair and I recently spoke over Zoom, while she was completing work on the last episode of the series. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed her career as a filmmaker, the challenges of adapting an epic novel, and how rising intolerance in India, led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, affected her work on “A Suitable Boy.” After our interview, it was reported that members of the B.J.P. called for an investigation of Netflix, the series’ Indian distributor, claiming that the depiction of a kiss between a Muslim man and Hindu woman intentionally affronts religious sentiments, which in India is a criminal offense. Netflix has made no public comment, and Nair declined to address the complaint.
I’ve got my ten copies of “Suitable Boy” behind me to—
Welcome to the club. I have them in various versions. There’s one edition, which is hard to find, where it’s divided into three sections. That’s the one I really worked on, because it was possible to carry.
So tell me, then: How does one adapt a fourteen-hundred-page novel? Are you going through the book with a pen? I know you didn’t write the script, but just tell me what the process is like.
I’ve done several adaptations from the start with the writer—say, with Julian Fellowes, on “Vanity Fair”—and normally I would have a point of view that would drive it through. Like, “The Namesake” was, for me, more about the parents’ love than about the American son they bred. In this case, that was done for me initially by Andrew Davies as the distillation of the novel. When I got into it, he had just finished eight one-hour drafts. We had to bring it down to six hours, and that’s when we did two things: to make the story about Lata finding herself through the sea of suitors and literature and her family and the propriety of nineteen-fifties Indian life, and to weave those strands of essentially a personal, humanist look at family life into a look at a country that was trying to find itself after establishing its freedom. That was my concern. And also, as you know, the seeds of much of the terrible politics of today were also planted at independence and Partition.
We’re talking in a week when the Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is overseeing the placement of a cornerstone for a temple at the site of a mosque, the Babri Masjid, that was destroyed by Hindu fanatics in 1992. I was going to ask how much you wanted to adapt something like “A Suitable Boy” now, because of what’s going on.
Very much so. The history of that schism is something that was important to me—to show the beautiful syncretism that we have shared for generations and that now is very actively being obliterated, whether it is the culture, the language, the music, or the friendships.
Your soundtrack choices in the film, which include a lot of ghazal poetry and music, suggest that a celebration of Indo-Muslim culture was important to you.
Deeply, and not just because I love it and I have breathed it forever, but also because Saeeda Bai, the great courtesan character that Vikram wrote, is partly inspired by Begum Akhtar, one of our greatest singers. They draw on poets like Ghalib, like Mir, like Dagh, so it’s such an extraordinary treasure, to be honest. For me, it was the soul of the film, the ghazals. It was like introducing a new kind of musical cinematic language to the BBC, because they were not sure. [Laughs] They didn’t quite understand why I had to have what they call these musical interludes, and it was a very interesting dialogue—because they are, for me, the core.
Seth wrote a book, “The Golden Gate,” that’s entirely in verse. The chapter titles in “A Suitable Boy” are like little couplets. Is it especially hard trying to adapt something where the language is so precise and almost musical.
It’s beautiful to adapt that, or to try to adapt that. We also share a mischievous sense of humor about our language, as well. For me to work with Vikram was like having an angel on the shoulder in terms of language. I could go to him for any nuance. I didn’t disturb Vikram too much during the shooting, but sometimes I wanted a couple more rhymes, and I would wake him up early in the morning and say, “Please, Vikram, something to go with roses that rhymes with Haresh.” We had a rhyme about sweet peas, about somebody admiring the sweet peas and “Are they ready to please?” When I got to the set, the art director had misunderstood sweet peas for actual peas. Green peas. And the flowers were not sweet peas but red roses. So I rang up Vikram and said, “Please replace this with roses.” In one hour, I would have a rhyme. In terms of the musical nature of the text itself, that is for me a little bit akin to the cinematic rhythm of a scene, especially interwoven with another world. I love that layering because India is really, as you know, about that. We live cheek by jowl.
Was there ever a question of whether the show would be in English? Not that some of these characters wouldn’t in some cases be speaking English.
What Vikram did beautifully was also the anglicized world of Indians. This is a world that was real, too, and was so beautifully and funnily brought to life by him. Even Lata herself would have thought and dreamt mainly in English and spoken to her family in both languages. But, when I came in early on, I insisted that the people who would speak Urdu should speak Urdu. And Vikram welcomed it, and he said, “Thank you for translating it back.” I have to say that they allowed some of it, but I would have gone further. I wish I’d had freer rein to move more, but what we did was also very carefully nuanced. The music and the culture of it, and the location and the context and the way people actually spoke to each other, was, for me, the truth.


newyorker--2020-12-07--Atul Gawande on Taming the Coronavirus

Atul Gawande on Taming the Coronavirus

Can a vaccine be distributed fairly ?
What will be the impact of a large number of people not taking it—as they say they won ’ t ?
Atul Gawande , a New Yorker staff writer who was recently appointed to President-elect Joe Biden ’ s COVID-19 task force , walks David Remnick through some of the challenges of this pivotal moment .
F.D.A .
approval of at least one vaccine is expected imminently , but hospitalizations are still rising rapidly around the country , and Gawande is concerned that news of an approval could lead to more irresponsible behavior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting vaccinated , they start throwing the masks away and you can ’ t get them to do social distancing , ” he said , “ then you ’ re really relying on vaccination as the sole prong of the strategy.
” More than forty per cent of people polled say they are reluctant to take the new vaccines , but Gawande suspects that the real number of resisters may be much smaller .
“ Part of the reason it ’ s good that health-care workers would go first is [ that ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Which means we ’ re all going to know people who got vaccinated , and we ’ re going to see that they did all right .
”

Download a transcript.|||
Photograph by David Odisho / Bloomberg / Getty
Can a vaccine be distributed fairly? What will be the impact of a large number of people not taking it—as they say they won’t? Atul Gawande, a New Yorker staff writer who was recently appointed to President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 task force, walks David Remnick through some of the challenges of this pivotal moment. F.D.A. approval of at least one vaccine is expected imminently, but hospitalizations are still rising rapidly around the country, and Gawande is concerned that news of an approval could lead to more irresponsible behavior. “If, once people start getting vaccinated, they start throwing the masks away and you can’t get them to do social distancing,” he said, “then you’re really relying on vaccination as the sole prong of the strategy.” More than forty per cent of people polled say they are reluctant to take the new vaccines, but Gawande suspects that the real number of resisters may be much smaller. “Part of the reason it’s good that health-care workers would go first is [that] . . . health-care workers are everywhere. Which means we’re all going to know people who got vaccinated, and we’re going to see that they did all right.”
More on the Coronavirus


newyorker--2020-12-07--Daily Cartoon: Monday, December 7th

Daily Cartoon: Monday, December 7th

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newyorker--2020-12-07--MyPillow Guy Joins with Trump to Promote MyPardon

WASHINGTON ( The Borowitz Report ) —In a limited-time offer to current and former White House staffers , Mike Lindell @ @ @ @ @ MyPillow Guy , is joining forces with Donald J. Trump to promote a new product @ @ @ @ @ 69.98 , the price of a MyPillow , Trump associates will receive a preëmptive pardon @ @ @ @ @ for all federal crimes .
Unlike MyPillow , which comes with a ten-year warranty , @ @ @ @ @ , Lindell said .
“ People wonder how someone who worked for Donald Trump can @ @ @ @ @ Lindell said .
“ With MyPardon , you ’ ll sleep like a baby .
@

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a limited-time offer to current and former White House staffers, Mike Lindell, better known as the MyPillow Guy, is joining forces with Donald J. Trump to promote a new product called MyPardon.
For $69.98, the price of a MyPillow, Trump associates will receive a preëmptive pardon rendering them immune from prosecution for all federal crimes.
Unlike MyPillow, which comes with a ten-year warranty, MyPardon is guaranteed for life, Lindell said.
“People wonder how someone who worked for Donald Trump can sleep at night,” Lindell said. “With MyPardon, you’ll sleep like a baby.”


newyorker--2020-12-08--Trump’s Attacks on Local Officials Are Spreading Hatred and Inciting Violence

For many political insiders , the handover of power is what matters most , and , since the transition has officially begun , that is where the focus should be .
On Sunday , Chris Wallace , of Fox News , asked Senator Bill Cassidy , of Louisiana , one of the few Republicans who has publicly recognized Biden ’ s victory , whether Trump ’ s refusal to accept the election result was damaging American democracy .
“ The President , in effect , has conceded when he ordered the General Services Administration to begin the transition , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t say it explicitly , but he appeared to suggest that Trump ’ s post-election crusade is largely sound and fury .
Many of his colleagues would privately agree with that characterization .
But Trump ’ s wild charges and rabble-rousing look very different from places like Sandy Springs , Georgia , a small city fifteen miles north of Atlanta , where Gabe Sterling lives .
Having served a couple of terms on the local city council , Sterling now works for Georgia ’ s secretary of state , Brad Raffensperger , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his claims that Biden ’ s victory in the state was fraudulent .
After Raffensperger made this declaration , Trump targeted him on Twitter , calling him a “ RINO ” ; since then , the attacks from the President and his allies have continued .
Last week , Sterling himself attracted national attention when he warned “ someone ’ s going to get shot ” if Trump didn ’ t cease his assaults on local officials and the election process .
Sterling ’ s timely warning drew attention to what is happening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states where Trump is challenging the election results .
“ I have a police car outside my house right now , ” Sterling said , on Sunday , when Chuck Todd interviewed him on “ Meet the Press.
” Sterling also noted that Raffensperger ’ s wife had received “ sexualized , violent threats on her personal cell phone.
” But what finally prompted him to come forward publicly , he said , were online threats to an otherwise anonymous contractor in Georgia who worked for Dominion Voting Systems , the software vendor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vast Trumpian conspiracy theory .
“ They tracked down his family and started harassing them , ” Sterling recalled .
“ And it said his name , ‘ You have committed treason .
May God have mercy on your soul , ’ with a slowly swinging noose .
And at that point I just said , ‘ I ’ m done.
’ ” Threats of violence , and lynching , haven ’ t been confined to Georgia .
Over the weekend , a member of the Michigan state assembly , Representative Cynthia Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook a number of hate messages that were left on her phone , last week , after she took part in a contentious hearing on alleged-voter fraud that Rudy Giuliani , Trump ’ s personal lawyer , participated in .
“ Your name and phone number is out there now , ” an unidentified woman says in one of the messages .
“ You ’ re getting doxed bitch .
You ’ re done .
You ’ re so f***ing done .
You should be swinging from a f***ing rope , you Democrat.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ nature are part of a broader pattern of harassment and intimidation .
On Saturday evening , a crowd of pro-Trump supporters , some of them reportedly carrying firearms , gathered outside the Detroit home of Michigan ’ s top election official , the secretary of state , Jocelyn Benson .
A livestream of the protest that was posted on Facebook showed the demonstrators bellowing through horns and shouting , “ Stop the Steal.
” The crowd didn ’ t disperse until police arrived .
“ Through threats of violence , intimidation , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home and their political allies seek to undermine and silence the will and voices of every voter in this state , no matter who they voted for , ” Benson said in a statement that she issued on Sunday .
“ Their goal is to overturn and upend the results of the election that are clear and unequivocal , and that 5.5 million Michigan citizens participated in.
” The harrying and threats aren ’ t confined to battleground states .
In Vermont , which Biden carried by more than thirty-five percentage points , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jim Condos , revealed last week that members of his election team had received a voice message threatening them with execution .
“ This has to stop , ” the account said on Twitter .
“ The wild unfounded accusations amplified by @ realDonaldTrump need to stop.
” In Virginia and Kentucky , too , there have been reports of threats against local officials and election workers .
From responsible local officials on both sides of the political divide , the message is the same : Trump ’ s ego-fuelled post-election crusade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more hatred , and increasing the likelihood of bloodshed .
In modern American history , there has never been anything like this active subversion of peaceful democracy on the part of a President , and yet the response is strangely muted .
In part , this can be attributed to exhaustion with Trump : after nearly four years in office , he has normalized behavior previously associated with mafia bosses and tinhorn dictators .
But there are other factors at play , too .
On the Republican side , strategic calculations ahead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that many officials are displaying .
“ They just want to keep the Trump supporters whipped up because they think that ’ s the best path to win the Senate races , ” Sterling said in his interview with Chuck Todd .
Rather than backing Raffensperger and other officials who have dismissed the voter fraud accusations , including Brian Kemp , the Republican governor of Georgia , national Republicans are keeping quiet .
That leaves the bully pulpit to Trump .
On the Democratic side , Trump ’ s demagoguery has evoked widespread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to shift the focus to the incoming Administration , and some of them want to preserve the possibility of obtaining coöperation from Republicans in the next Senate should the G.O.P .
retain control .
Such considerations perhaps explain a certain tempering in their recent public response .
In an interview with CNN last week , Biden went so far as to say that he could understand why many Republican senators hadn ’ t publicly acknowledged his victory .
Politics sometimes demands tactical behavior .
Right now , though , the urgent responsibility of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leadership of the Republican Party—is to make it clear that they stand together behind democracy .
The best way to do this is to state unequivocally that the President ’ s charges are baseless , and to demand that the targeting of local officials by Trump and his goons stop immediately .
In the words of the Vermont secretary of state ’ s office : “ Silence is complicity.
” Read More About the Presidential Transition • Donald Trump has survived impeachment , twenty-six sexual-misconduct accusations , and thousands of lawsuits .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden is the next President .
• With litigation unlikely to change the outcome of the election , Republicans are looking to strategies that might remain even after rebuffs both at the polls and in court .
• With the Trump Presidency ending , we need to talk about how to prevent the moral injuries of the past four years from happening again .
• If 2020 has demonstrated anything , it is the need to rebalance the economy to benefit the working class .
There are many ways a Biden Administration can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give up his attempt to overturn the election .
But his efforts to build an alternative reality around himself will continue .
• Sign up for our daily newsletter for insight and analysis from our reporters and columnists .

Among political leaders and the national press, there seems to be a consensus that Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, although reprehensible, are also something of a farce. Across the country, state officials are busy certifying the vote tallies and selecting electors to the Electoral College. Every day, it seems, the courts deliver another blow to the President’s legal team. With Trump’s chances of prevailing vanishingly slim, it is tempting to dismiss his incendiary behavior as grifting or theatre. Last week, I wrote about the grift factor. This past weekend, a front-page story in the Times discussed which of Shakespeare’s doomed rulers Trump most resembled: Julius Caesar, Richard III, or King Lear.
For many political insiders, the handover of power is what matters most, and, since the transition has officially begun, that is where the focus should be.
On Sunday, Chris Wallace, of Fox News, asked Senator Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, one of the few Republicans who has publicly recognized Biden’s victory, whether Trump’s refusal to accept the election result was damaging American democracy. “The President, in effect, has conceded when he ordered the General Services Administration to begin the transition,” Cassidy replied. The senator didn’t say it explicitly, but he appeared to suggest that Trump’s post-election crusade is largely sound and fury. Many of his colleagues would privately agree with that characterization.
But Trump’s wild charges and rabble-rousing look very different from places like Sandy Springs, Georgia, a small city fifteen miles north of Atlanta, where Gabe Sterling lives. Having served a couple of terms on the local city council, Sterling now works for Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who enraged Trump last month by publicly dismissing his claims that Biden’s victory in the state was fraudulent. After Raffensperger made this declaration, Trump targeted him on Twitter, calling him a “RINO”; since then, the attacks from the President and his allies have continued. Last week, Sterling himself attracted national attention when he warned “someone’s going to get shot” if Trump didn’t cease his assaults on local officials and the election process. Sterling’s timely warning drew attention to what is happening on the ground in Georgia and other states where Trump is challenging the election results.
“I have a police car outside my house right now,” Sterling said, on Sunday, when Chuck Todd interviewed him on “Meet the Press.” Sterling also noted that Raffensperger’s wife had received “sexualized, violent threats on her personal cell phone.” But what finally prompted him to come forward publicly, he said, were online threats to an otherwise anonymous contractor in Georgia who worked for Dominion Voting Systems, the software vendor that is at the center of a vast Trumpian conspiracy theory. “They tracked down his family and started harassing them,” Sterling recalled. “And it said his name, ‘You have committed treason. May God have mercy on your soul,’ with a slowly swinging noose. And at that point I just said, ‘I’m done.’ ”
Threats of violence, and lynching, haven’t been confined to Georgia. Over the weekend, a member of the Michigan state assembly, Representative Cynthia Johnson, who is African-American, posted to Facebook a number of hate messages that were left on her phone, last week, after she took part in a contentious hearing on alleged-voter fraud that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, participated in. “Your name and phone number is out there now,” an unidentified woman says in one of the messages. “You’re getting doxed bitch. You’re done. You’re so f***ing done. You should be swinging from a f***ing rope, you Democrat.”
Online messages and calls of this nature are part of a broader pattern of harassment and intimidation. On Saturday evening, a crowd of pro-Trump supporters, some of them reportedly carrying firearms, gathered outside the Detroit home of Michigan’s top election official, the secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson. A livestream of the protest that was posted on Facebook showed the demonstrators bellowing through horns and shouting, “Stop the Steal.” The crowd didn’t disperse until police arrived. “Through threats of violence, intimidation, and bullying, the armed people outside my home and their political allies seek to undermine and silence the will and voices of every voter in this state, no matter who they voted for,” Benson said in a statement that she issued on Sunday. “Their goal is to overturn and upend the results of the election that are clear and unequivocal, and that 5.5 million Michigan citizens participated in.”
The harrying and threats aren’t confined to battleground states. In Vermont, which Biden carried by more than thirty-five percentage points, the office of the secretary of state, Jim Condos, revealed last week that members of his election team had received a voice message threatening them with execution. “This has to stop,” the account said on Twitter. “The wild unfounded accusations amplified by @realDonaldTrump need to stop.” In Virginia and Kentucky, too, there have been reports of threats against local officials and election workers.
From responsible local officials on both sides of the political divide, the message is the same: Trump’s ego-fuelled post-election crusade is deepening already bitter divides, inciting more hatred, and increasing the likelihood of bloodshed. In modern American history, there has never been anything like this active subversion of peaceful democracy on the part of a President, and yet the response is strangely muted.
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In part, this can be attributed to exhaustion with Trump: after nearly four years in office, he has normalized behavior previously associated with mafia bosses and tinhorn dictators. But there are other factors at play, too. On the Republican side, strategic calculations ahead of the Georgia runoffs are reinforcing the pusillanimity that many officials are displaying. “They just want to keep the Trump supporters whipped up because they think that’s the best path to win the Senate races,” Sterling said in his interview with Chuck Todd. Rather than backing Raffensperger and other officials who have dismissed the voter fraud accusations, including Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, national Republicans are keeping quiet. That leaves the bully pulpit to Trump.
On the Democratic side, Trump’s demagoguery has evoked widespread condemnation. But Democratic leaders would like to shift the focus to the incoming Administration, and some of them want to preserve the possibility of obtaining coöperation from Republicans in the next Senate should the G.O.P. retain control. Such considerations perhaps explain a certain tempering in their recent public response. In an interview with CNN last week, Biden went so far as to say that he could understand why many Republican senators hadn’t publicly acknowledged his victory.
Politics sometimes demands tactical behavior. Right now, though, the urgent responsibility of all elected officials in Washington—especially the congressional leadership of the Republican Party—is to make it clear that they stand together behind democracy. The best way to do this is to state unequivocally that the President’s charges are baseless, and to demand that the targeting of local officials by Trump and his goons stop immediately. In the words of the Vermont secretary of state’s office: “Silence is complicity.”
Read More About the Presidential Transition


newyorker--2020-12-08--How to Avoid Ivanka

How to Avoid Ivanka

Ivanka takes midmorning jogs .
Go on your runs before ten .
Ivanka tries to strike up conversation in the farmers ’ -market line .
Bring a book .
Ivanka shows up at art galleries overdressed in her “ # WomenWhoWork ” blouse with the pink frilly bows .
Wear your largest mask—maybe she won ’ t recognize you .
Ivanka is going to send you a bunch of passive-aggressive texts , such as “ how are you ?
, ” “ just making sure you ’ re doing all right , ” and “ been so long , checking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are free to “ grab coffee.
” You wonder who has time to grab coffee , as you stand in line for your apple-pie latte .
( It ’ s free with your redeemed points . )
“ I saw Ivanka ’ s mom at the doctor ’ s office , ” she says .
“ Ivanka ’ s mom , ” she repeats a few more times .
“ Do you know Ivanka ’ s moving back to New York ?
” You say nothing .
“ Do you know she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are your kids ?
” she says , as if you left the kids you don ’ t have in a hot car .
“ How are you , Mom ?
” you ask , trying to change the subject .
“ Sometimes I forget to wash my hands , ” she says , ruefully .
“ Mom , you have to wash your hands !
Sing ‘ Happy Birthday ’ twice.
” “ You are so smart , ” your mom says .
“ You should call Ivanka , ” she adds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say that you and she have the same hair .
Your hair isn ’ t straight or blond .
Ivanka will say that you and she have the same sense of humor .
You haven ’ t made a joke .
Ivanka will say , “ Socrates once said , ‘ Change comes from within.
’ ” He didn ’ t .
He literally never said that .
One day , you will open an Amazon package and find a small Rifle Paper Co. desk calendar inside featuring lovely hand-painted flowers—a different arrangement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ordered this ?
“ I just thought of you , ” Ivanka will say .
You have been using it for nearly two months before she mentions this .
Ivanka will like and repost something that you wrote .
She will comment , “ That ’ s MY friend !
” Her friends will like it .
Her friends will friend you , will follow you , will message you .
You will be asked to explain racism for her friend ’ s child ’ s book report .
“ Leave out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You run into each other on a morning jog .
Even sweaty , she looks impeccable—the human embodiment of “ shop the look.
” You say , “ No , Ivanka.
” And you walk away .
But then you look back and you see it .
She is dabbing at her face—a single tear .
You walk faster , turn the corner , and , safely out of sight , you pump your fist , because you did it !
You made Ivanka cry .
Then you realize that your North @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wasn ’ t a human tear .
It ’ s just raining .

Photograph by Alo Ceballos / Getty
Ivanka takes midmorning jogs. Go on your runs before ten.
Ivanka tries to strike up conversation in the farmers’-market line. Bring a book.
Ivanka shows up at art galleries overdressed in her “#WomenWhoWork” blouse with the pink frilly bows. Wear your largest mask—maybe she won’t recognize you.
Ivanka is going to send you a bunch of passive-aggressive texts, such as “how are you?,” “just making sure you’re doing all right,” and “been so long, checking in.” She wants to know if you are free to “grab coffee.” You wonder who has time to grab coffee, as you stand in line for your apple-pie latte. (It’s free with your redeemed points.)
Your mom will call.
“I saw Ivanka’s mom at the doctor’s office,” she says.
“Ivana?” you say.
“Ivanka’s mom,” she repeats a few more times. “Do you know Ivanka’s moving back to New York?”
You say nothing.
“Do you know she has two kids?”
You don’t have kids.
“Where are your kids?” she says, as if you left the kids you don’t have in a hot car.
“How are you, Mom?” you ask, trying to change the subject.
“Sometimes I forget to wash my hands,” she says, ruefully.
“Mom, you have to wash your hands! Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.”
“You are so smart,” your mom says.
You catch yourself smiling.
“You should call Ivanka,” she adds, before hanging up.
Ivanka will say that you and she have the same hair. Your hair isn’t straight or blond.
Ivanka will say that you and she have the same sense of humor. You haven’t made a joke.
Ivanka will say, “Socrates once said, ‘Change comes from within.’ ” He didn’t. He literally never said that.
One day, you will open an Amazon package and find a small Rifle Paper Co. desk calendar inside featuring lovely hand-painted flowers—a different arrangement every month. Did you forget that you ordered this? “I just thought of you,” Ivanka will say. You have been using it for nearly two months before she mentions this.
Ivanka will like and repost something that you wrote. She will comment, “That’s MY friend!” Her friends will like it. Her friends will friend you, will follow you, will message you. You will be asked to explain racism for her friend’s child’s book report. “Leave out the bad parts,” Ivanka requests.
You run into each other on a morning jog. Even sweaty, she looks impeccable—the human embodiment of “shop the look.”
“So, coffee?” she asks.
You say, “No, Ivanka.” And you walk away.
But then you look back and you see it. She is dabbing at her face—a single tear.
You walk faster, turn the corner, and, safely out of sight, you pump your fist, because you did it! You made Ivanka cry.
Then you realize that your North Face is also wet and it probably wasn’t a human tear. It’s just raining.


newyorker--2020-12-08--The Deadly Cost of America’s Pandemic Politics

The case is among the most important in American public health .
Since then , the courts have generally recognized that the government may use its powers expansively to protect the health of the people it represents .
In 1944 , Congress went further , passing the Public Health Service Act , which clearly established the federal government ’ s authority to enforce quarantines and other health measures .
Two weeks ago , the Supreme Court struck down an order issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo limiting the size of gatherings in houses of worship during the coronavirus pandemic .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not to the existence of public-health restrictions but to their uneven application .
The Constitution does not tolerate “ color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches , synagogues and mosques , ” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote .
The law around pandemic restrictions is mostly clear .
It ’ s the politics that are at issue .
The balancing of individual liberty and public health may now be the most contentious issue in American life .
Vaccines for the novel coronavirus are on the way , but until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depend on community-based intervention—such as masks , distancing , and isolation—that must be carried out by ordinary Americans .
Their willingness or unwillingness will determine how many people die .
Our differences of opinion , therefore , have concrete , immediate , and drastic consequences .
Recent surveys indicate that Americans hold a slew of conflicting beliefs about the virus and the pandemic .
Most recognize that the virus will eventually surge in their area—but , at the same time , eight in ten think that they can avoid getting infected .
Though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting worse , they have become less likely to say that they will comply with shelter-in-place orders , should they become necessary .
( In the spring , more than two-thirds of Americans said that they were very likely to follow them ; now less than half say they will . )
The decline has been driven mainly by a shift in the attitudes of Republicans , who are now less than half as likely as Democrats to say that they will stay home .
Among citizens of high-income countries , Americans are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel more divided now than they did before the pandemic ; we also disagree more than is usual about whether the government has handled the pandemic well so far .
For President-elect Joe Biden ’ s supporters , the pandemic was the most important issue in the 2020 election ; for Donald Trump ’ s , it was among the least .
Americans are also growing more divided on a host of individual subjects , including vaccines , contact tracing , mask mandates , and the trustworthiness of public-health officials .
In recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bubbled over , culminating in record and increasing numbers of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations .
In the course of the late summer and early fall , conservative media outlets cast doubt on the effectiveness of demonstrably effective public-health strategies , and many governors , fearing political repercussions , shied away from imposing distancing mandates until their states ’ I.C.U.s overflowed with COVID-19 patients .
Meanwhile , achieving widespread vaccination will require overcoming high levels of vaccine hesitancy : in a recent poll , only fifty-eight per cent of Americans said that they would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rushed timelines as a key concern .
Hesitancy is more common on the right , but it exists on the left , too : though less than half of Republicans said that they were willing to get vaccinated , three in ten Democrats were also resistant .
“ You can always expect some opposition , ” Howard Markel , a physician and historian at the University of Michigan , who helped create the concept of “ flattening the curve , ” told me .
“ The first word in ‘ public health ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great many people .
The public is not a monolith , especially in an open , democratic society.
” Even so , Markel is surprised by the breadth and intensity of disagreement .
“ It ’ s the most polarized pandemic in history , ” he said .
During the 1918 flu , there were protests against public-health measures—in San Francisco , for instance , a group called the Anti-Facemask League objected to a local mask ordinance—but they amounted to “ a sliver of what we ’ re seeing today.
” That pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and leaders positioned adherence to public-health recommendations as a form of patriotism .
“ What ’ s different today is that elected officials are pouring gasoline on the embers of discontent , ” Markel said .
“ It ’ s incredibly dangerous.
” Adam Berinsky , a political scientist at M.I.T.
, studies the links between public opinion , misinformation , and political polarization .
Berinsky divides the population into three groups : people who are correctly informed , people who are uninformed , and people who are actively misinformed .
He believes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engaging the second group— “ people who don ’ t necessarily know what they think ” —and on limiting the influence of the third .
The problem is that , in a networked age , fringe misinformation spills easily into mass consciousness .
“ If the misinformed people kept to themselves , it would be less of a problem , ” he said .
“ But , by polluting the information ecosystem , they cause others to doubt .
Then more people think , Maybe where there ’ s smoke , there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the responsibility for quelling misinformation rests with our politicians .
“ It starts from the top , ” he said .
“ Had there been a unified response from elected leaders , there would have been more unified attitudes among the public.
” The arrival of the Biden Administration will undoubtedly improve federal communication about the pandemic .
But the horse may have left the barn : at this point , nearly every aspect of our response has become politicized .
Elected officials are already thinking about tomorrow ’ s primary challengers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they seek to prove their ideological bona fides .
Our greatest challenge is not the virus , but ourselves .
Ohio ’ s Republican governor , Mike DeWine , has led one of America ’ s more aggressive COVID-19 responses .
Ohio was the first state to close schools when the coronavirus began spreading in the spring ; since then , DeWine has ordered mask mandates , curfews , and business closures , even as other G.O.P .
leaders have railed against them .
For much of the year , Ohio seemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now , though , like much of the Midwest , it is experiencing skyrocketing cases and hospitalizations ; the state , DeWine says , is “ on fire.
” All the same , Ohio ’ s Republican legislature has repeatedly introduced bills to limit the governor ’ s authority , and some in the Party have moved to impeach him .
Although DeWine has relatively high approval ratings statewide , he is struggling to position his decisions within a conservative movement that sees pandemic restrictions as ideologically objectionable .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , after ordering a statewide curfew .
“ And that means I worry about the child before it ’ s born and I worry about the eighty-year-old who ’ s in a nursing home who might get COVID.
” Stark County , where I grew up , is a swing county within a swing state .
Curious about how people there were thinking about the virus , I reached out to friends and acquaintances , asking them to connect me with people I could interview .
Many were eager to talk ; some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehemently disagreeing with my pandemic coverage .
Andrew Sigler , one of the Ohioans I talked with , works at a software company in northeastern Ohio ; now in his mid-thirties , he grew up in the area but spent much of the past decade in San Francisco and Chicago , before moving back home .
Sigler told me that , like many people he knows , he ’ s grown resentful of public-health mandates and what he views as attempts to shame people for going about their lives .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ When this first started , I was as scared as anyone .
This was uncharted territory .
But now we know a lot about who ’ s at risk and how much risk they ’ re taking .
I think it ’ s reasonable for people to have different priorities based on their situations.
” Sigler told me that he ’ s been living a “ relatively at-risk ” life style .
He eats at restaurants indoors .
He ’ s flown to Las Vegas for a weekend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his friends .
“ I think you have to take a risk-versus-reward approach , ” he said .
“ Living in fear is no way to live .
A lot of people have painted a picture of pure doom and gloom , which I don ’ t buy.
” Sigler shares some of the concerns of public-health officials , but disagrees about what ’ s at stake and about the trade-offs worth making .
“ This is absolutely a dangerous virus , ” he told me .
“ It needs to be respected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choices and freedoms .
I think it ’ s fine to have some restrictions , but mandates and shutdowns—I don ’ t think that ’ s the answer .
You ’ re just killing people in a different way .
It ’ s not through disease—it ’ s by destroying a business someone took decades to build .
I can ’ t help but think about all the damage we ’ re doing to families with little kids who aren ’ t going to school , to people who lost their jobs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use.
” Sigler cited the virus ’ s disproportionate effects—although it can sicken people of all ages , the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths occur among older Americans—and objected to measures that upend society as a whole in order to protect a relatively small number of vulnerable individuals .
He admits that his argument is inflected with ageism , but holds to it nonetheless .
“ Are we shutting down our country to protect an age group that ’ s on the back nine of life ?
” he said .
“ You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society .
The older you are , the more precautions you should take .
But we shouldn ’ t be imposing lockdowns and mandates on everyone else .
Who is Mike DeWine to tell people they can ’ t go out for a drink ?
” I asked him about the recent surge in infections , pointing out that , without aggressive public-health action , many states are struggling with overwhelmed I.C.U.s and shortages of medical staff ; some are on the brink of rationing care .
“ They kept telling us we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curve and build capacity , ” Sigler said .
“ They knew there was going to be another surge .
Well , why didn ’ t they use all that time to build capacity ?
Shame on the system for dragging its feet.
” This fall , Sigler ’ s family called to check in on his ninety-three-year-old grandfather , who ’ d been relatively careful during the pandemic—going out for groceries , gas , and the occasional dinner , but otherwise staying isolated .
They couldn ’ t reach him .
Growing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; they found him slumped over and unresponsive in his chair— “ deadweight , ” Sigler said .
They rushed him to a hospital , where he was diagnosed with COVID-19 .
After that , he bounced between I.C.U.s , emergency departments , and an assisted-living facility .
A few days after I first spoke with Sigler , his grandfather was back in the hospital , and his family was struggling to decide whether to insert a feeding tube and conduct a tracheostomy .
Ultimately , he said , they decided to “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were stopped ; the ventilator was disconnected .
Sigler ’ s grandfather was transferred home for hospice care , and died .
I asked Sigler if his grandfather ’ s death had changed his views on the virus .
“ I stand by what I said , ” he told me .
“ This is a horrible and dangerous disease .
I ’ m all for precautions .
But shutdowns aren ’ t safe or reasonable .
My grandfather lived a long and full life.
” Emmert believes that the government has substantially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus .
“ I ’ m fine if you want to wear a mask , ” he said .
“ But they have no right to mandate that you do.
” ( He doesn ’ t require masks for customers in his store , nor does he wear one , although he does wash his hands “ a lot.
” ) “ I believe in small , necessary government , ” he said .
“ Right now , they ’ re involved in so many things they have no business in .
DeWine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teen-agers.
” During our conversation , Emmert often argued against the state ’ s public-health measures by repeating false claims made by President Trump : that sunshine can prevent coronavirus infection , that hydroxychloroquine can treat it , that Anthony Fauci can not be trusted because he is a Democrat .
“ COVID deaths are overblown , ” Emmert said .
“ A lot of these people are dying with COVID , not of COVID .
They have lung cancer or bad diabetes .
They already had one foot on a banana peel @ @

On March 15, 1902, Henning Jacobson, a pastor in Cambridge, Massachusetts, refused the smallpox vaccine. At the time, Massachusetts was one of eleven states that allowed officials to enforce mandatory immunizations; a resurgent outbreak had led the local health board to order vaccination or revaccination of the city’s inhabitants. For his refusal, Jacobson was prosecuted and fined. He spent the next three years arguing that mandated vaccination violated his liberty. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, where Justice John Marshall Harlan delivered the majority opinion upholding the Massachusetts law. “Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own . . . regardless of the injury that may be done to others,” Harlan wrote. “A community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.”
The case is among the most important in American public health. Since then, the courts have generally recognized that the government may use its powers expansively to protect the health of the people it represents. In 1944, Congress went further, passing the Public Health Service Act, which clearly established the federal government’s authority to enforce quarantines and other health measures. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court struck down an order issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo limiting the size of gatherings in houses of worship during the coronavirus pandemic. But the Court, following precedent, objected not to the existence of public-health restrictions but to their uneven application. The Constitution does not tolerate “color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote.
The law around pandemic restrictions is mostly clear. It’s the politics that are at issue. The balancing of individual liberty and public health may now be the most contentious issue in American life. Vaccines for the novel coronavirus are on the way, but until they arrive tens of thousands of lives depend on community-based intervention—such as masks, distancing, and isolation—that must be carried out by ordinary Americans. Their willingness or unwillingness will determine how many people die. Our differences of opinion, therefore, have concrete, immediate, and drastic consequences.
Recent surveys indicate that Americans hold a slew of conflicting beliefs about the virus and the pandemic. Most recognize that the virus will eventually surge in their area—but, at the same time, eight in ten think that they can avoid getting infected. Though Americans generally agree that the pandemic is getting worse, they have become less likely to say that they will comply with shelter-in-place orders, should they become necessary. (In the spring, more than two-thirds of Americans said that they were very likely to follow them; now less than half say they will.) The decline has been driven mainly by a shift in the attitudes of Republicans, who are now less than half as likely as Democrats to say that they will stay home. Among citizens of high-income countries, Americans are the most likely to say that they feel more divided now than they did before the pandemic; we also disagree more than is usual about whether the government has handled the pandemic well so far. For President-elect Joe Biden’s supporters, the pandemic was the most important issue in the 2020 election; for Donald Trump’s, it was among the least. Americans are also growing more divided on a host of individual subjects, including vaccines, contact tracing, mask mandates, and the trustworthiness of public-health officials.
In recent months, this discontent and disarray have bubbled over, culminating in record and increasing numbers of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. In the course of the late summer and early fall, conservative media outlets cast doubt on the effectiveness of demonstrably effective public-health strategies, and many governors, fearing political repercussions, shied away from imposing distancing mandates until their states’ I.C.U.s overflowed with COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, achieving widespread vaccination will require overcoming high levels of vaccine hesitancy: in a recent poll, only fifty-eight per cent of Americans said that they would get immunized, citing the vaccines’ rushed timelines as a key concern. Hesitancy is more common on the right, but it exists on the left, too: though less than half of Republicans said that they were willing to get vaccinated, three in ten Democrats were also resistant.
“You can always expect some opposition,” Howard Markel, a physician and historian at the University of Michigan, who helped create the concept of “flattening the curve,” told me. “The first word in ‘public health’ is ‘public.’ There are a great many people. The public is not a monolith, especially in an open, democratic society.” Even so, Markel is surprised by the breadth and intensity of disagreement. “It’s the most polarized pandemic in history,” he said. During the 1918 flu, there were protests against public-health measures—in San Francisco, for instance, a group called the Anti-Facemask League objected to a local mask ordinance—but they amounted to “a sliver of what we’re seeing today.” That pandemic unfolded alongside the First World War, and leaders positioned adherence to public-health recommendations as a form of patriotism. “What’s different today is that elected officials are pouring gasoline on the embers of discontent,” Markel said. “It’s incredibly dangerous.”
Adam Berinsky, a political scientist at M.I.T., studies the links between public opinion, misinformation, and political polarization. Berinsky divides the population into three groups: people who are correctly informed, people who are uninformed, and people who are actively misinformed. He believes that our efforts should focus primarily on engaging the second group—“people who don’t necessarily know what they think”—and on limiting the influence of the third. The problem is that, in a networked age, fringe misinformation spills easily into mass consciousness. “If the misinformed people kept to themselves, it would be less of a problem,” he said. “But, by polluting the information ecosystem, they cause others to doubt. Then more people think, Maybe where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
Berinsky thinks that much of the responsibility for quelling misinformation rests with our politicians. “It starts from the top,” he said. “Had there been a unified response from elected leaders, there would have been more unified attitudes among the public.” The arrival of the Biden Administration will undoubtedly improve federal communication about the pandemic. But the horse may have left the barn: at this point, nearly every aspect of our response has become politicized. Elected officials are already thinking about tomorrow’s primary challengers; even as they watch hospitals fill, they seek to prove their ideological bona fides. Our greatest challenge is not the virus, but ourselves.
Ohio, where I grew up and where my parents still live, is a compelling case study in the mutual incomprehension that has taken root during the pandemic. Ohio has been a quintessential swing state for more than half a century, although over the past decade it has moved steadily to the right. Barack Obama carried it narrowly in 2012, but Trump won easily in 2016 and 2020. In recent years, Ohioans have been weighed down by a stagnant economy, which never fully recovered after the Great Recession. In parts of northeastern Ohio, three-quarters of the population live in a neighborhood with rising poverty; Cleveland is among the fastest shrinking cities in the country.
Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, has led one of America’s more aggressive COVID-19 responses. Ohio was the first state to close schools when the coronavirus began spreading in the spring; since then, DeWine has ordered mask mandates, curfews, and business closures, even as other G.O.P. leaders have railed against them. For much of the year, Ohio seemed to have the virus under control. Now, though, like much of the Midwest, it is experiencing skyrocketing cases and hospitalizations; the state, DeWine says, is “on fire.” All the same, Ohio’s Republican legislature has repeatedly introduced bills to limit the governor’s authority, and some in the Party have moved to impeach him. Although DeWine has relatively high approval ratings statewide, he is struggling to position his decisions within a conservative movement that sees pandemic restrictions as ideologically objectionable. “I’m completely pro-life,” he said recently, after ordering a statewide curfew. “And that means I worry about the child before it’s born and I worry about the eighty-year-old who’s in a nursing home who might get COVID.”
Stark County, where I grew up, is a swing county within a swing state. Curious about how people there were thinking about the virus, I reached out to friends and acquaintances, asking them to connect me with people I could interview. Many were eager to talk; some had been active on social media, vehemently disagreeing with my pandemic coverage. Andrew Sigler, one of the Ohioans I talked with, works at a software company in northeastern Ohio; now in his mid-thirties, he grew up in the area but spent much of the past decade in San Francisco and Chicago, before moving back home. Sigler told me that, like many people he knows, he’s grown resentful of public-health mandates and what he views as attempts to shame people for going about their lives. “It’s been an evolution for me,” he said. “When this first started, I was as scared as anyone. This was uncharted territory. But now we know a lot about who’s at risk and how much risk they’re taking. I think it’s reasonable for people to have different priorities based on their situations.”
Sigler told me that he’s been living a “relatively at-risk” life style. He eats at restaurants indoors. He’s flown to Las Vegas for a weekend. He regularly plays pickup basketball with his friends. “I think you have to take a risk-versus-reward approach,” he said. “Living in fear is no way to live. A lot of people have painted a picture of pure doom and gloom, which I don’t buy.” Sigler shares some of the concerns of public-health officials, but disagrees about what’s at stake and about the trade-offs worth making. “This is absolutely a dangerous virus,” he told me. “It needs to be respected, but so do people’s choices and freedoms. I think it’s fine to have some restrictions, but mandates and shutdowns—I don’t think that’s the answer. You’re just killing people in a different way. It’s not through disease—it’s by destroying a business someone took decades to build. I can’t help but think about all the damage we’re doing to families with little kids who aren’t going to school, to people who lost their jobs, to those struggling with isolation and substance use.”