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The Magazine

August 12, 2024

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Goings On

Goings On

Noche Flamenca, in Its Natural Habitat

Also: the hard-won rock of DIIV, “Job” on Broadway, Justin Chang’s disaster-movie picks, and more.
Tables for Two

Stracciatella Dreams, at Caffè Panna

Hallie Meyer’s gelato project expands from Union Square to Greenpoint, offering bounteous daily flavors topped with luscious imported Italian cream.

The Talk of the Town

Amy Davidson Sorkin on Court reforms; understudies for Kamala; Elizabeth Banks; Philippe Petit; the subway talk show.

Comment

The Supreme Court Needs Fixing, But How?

President Biden has proposed radical changes to the Court. Reviewing them is a reminder of why reform is so hard, despite dissatisfaction and a wealth of ideas.
Switcheroo Dept.

Kamala Harris and the Understudy Effect

Julie Benko, who hit it big after going on in place of Beanie Feldstein in “Funny Girl,” has a lot of advice for the Vice-President, now that she’s done with waiting in the wings.
The Pictures

Elizabeth Banks Likes Makeup That Smells Like Her Grandma

The actress (“The Hunger Games,” “Pitch Perfect”), director (“Cocaine Bear”), and producer (“Bottoms”) talks facials and lipstick in honor of her role in the new thriller “Skincare.”
Up in the Air

Philippe Petit Thinks You Should Look Up

The high-wire artist, famous for his Twin Towers walk, joins the tourists at Edge before an upcoming tightrope walk inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Here To There Dept.

The Podcast Shorter than Your Subway Ride, Recorded on Your Subway Ride

Kareem Rahma and Andrew Kuo devised “Subway Takes” to solicit controversial opinions on the train, like why men should sit to pee.

Reporting & Essays

American Chronicles

How Tribal Nations Are Reclaiming Oklahoma

After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of tribal interests, suddenly nearly half of the state was Native territory. What exactly does that mean?
Personal History

The Tail End

What we lose when we lose a pet.
A Reporter at Large

Notes from Underground

The life of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.
Profiles

What Does Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Actually Want?

The third-party Presidential candidate has a troubled past, a shambolic campaign, and some surprisingly good poll numbers.

Shouts & Murmurs

Shouts & Murmurs

“Me, Lania”: A First Lady’s Memoir

So I gave Donald my number and the next thing I knew I was living in a penthouse at Trump Tower and asking Alan Dershowitz to stop eating on the couch.

Fiction

Fiction

“Clay”

He was pointing something at her. A gun. Her gun?

The Critics

The Art World

The Bad Dream of Surrealism

A hundred years ago, the movement hoped to topple reality and reason. Its true achievements lie elsewhere.
Books

Is the End of Marriage the Beginning of Self-Knowledge?

In “Liars,” Sarah Manguso presents divorce as a way for women to reassert an essential identity that’s been effaced by coercive social scripts.
Books

Briefly Noted

“Fifteen Cents on the Dollar,” “Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness,” “Swift River,” and “Their Divine Fires.”
Books

Deals with the Devil Aren’t What They Used to Be

Tales of Faust’s bargain teased and consoled an earlier culture with the lure of freedom, the promise of a wider world. But Hell is everywhere now.
Musical Events

Two Centuries Later, a Female Composer Is Rediscovered

Carolina Uccelli’s opera “Anna di Resburgo” was remarkably inventive—but it vanished after its première. Teatro Nuovo has brought it back to life.
On Television

In “Lady in the Lake,” Ambition Is Everything

Natalie Portman stars in the Apple TV+ mystery as a sixties housewife who leaves her family for her career—and gets tangled up in a murder.

Poems

Poems

“Mr. Cogito and Certain Mechanisms of Memory”

“Suddenly it seems there is nothing more fragile than a landscape”
Poems

“Italian Lesson”

“the seasons change le stagioni cambiano”

Cartoons

Puzzles & Games

Crossword

The Crossword: Monday, August 5, 2024

A challenging puzzle.
The Mail
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to themail@newyorker.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.