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The Magazine

September 2, 2024

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Goings On

Goings On

The Charismatic Vitality of Pacita Abad’s Trapuntos

Also: The Nigerian singer Asake, Mark Morris Dance Group’s “Gloria,” the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival, and more.
The Food Scene

A “Top Chef” Winner Reheats at Il Totano

A buzzy new Italian-ish spot from Harold Dieterle doesn’t seem to know what kind of restaurant it’s trying to be.

The Talk of the Town

Jonathan Blitzer on exuberance at the D.N.C.; recording reeds at Vespertine; a symphony of odors; picturing the good life; Kamala’s balloon drop.

Comment

Can Kamala Harris Keep Up the Excitement Through Election Day?

At the Democratic National Convention, the sense of relief was as overwhelming as the general euphoria—but the campaign against Donald Trump has only just begun.
Fine Dining Dept.

Wine, Candlelight, and Singing Swamp Weeds

At Vespertine, the Michelin-starred California restaurant, Jordan Kahn has cooked up a soundtrack with Sigur Rós’s Jónsi Birgisson. The featured musician: a patch of reeds.
Gowanus Report

Along the Gowanus Canal, Notes of Tar and Manure

The perfumer who created such scents as Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds and Clinique’s Happy assesses the eau de Gowanus, one of Brooklyn’s most pungent odors.
Montecito Postcard

Putting a Fine-Art Touch on Fixer-Uppers

Gray Malin, a photographer whose customers include Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, is now turning his eye to dream houses.
Sketchpad

Convention Sketchpad by Sofia Warren

Taylor? Beyoncé? What everyone was really thinking at the D.N.C.

Reporting & Essays

American Chronicles

The Death of School 10

How declining enrollment is threatening the future of American public education.
Annals of Disaster

Real Estate Shopping for the Apocalypse

Thirty-nine per cent of Americans believe that we’re living in end times, and the market for underground hideouts is heating up.
The Political Scene

Why Was It So Hard for the Democrats to Replace Biden?

After the President’s debate with Trump, Democratic politicians felt paralyzed. At the D.N.C., they felt giddy relief. How did they do it?
Personal History

Early Scenes

The actor recalls a childhood full of danger and adventure in the South Bronx.

Shouts & Murmurs

Shouts & Murmurs

A Guide to Brat Summer

What is Brat? It’s the Cynthia doll from “Rugrats.” It’s praying to Janeane Garofalo to keep you free from harm.

Fiction

Fiction

“The Particles of Order”

If a person’s imagination, kind or wicked, was boundless, sooner or later what was imagined could become a fact.

The Critics

Books

Studying Stones Can Rock Your World

To think like a geologist is to contemplate timescales that stagger the imagination—and lay bare the planetary forces behind our earthly existence.
Books

The Forgotten History of Sex in America

Today’s battles over issues like gender nonconformity and reproductive rights have antecedents that have been lost or suppressed. What can we learn from them?
Books

Briefly Noted

“A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit,” by Noliwe Rooks; “Why Animals Talk,” by Arik Kershenbaum; “The Rich People Have Gone Away,” by Regina Porter; and “Grown Women,” by Sarai Johnson.
On and Off the Menu

Bonnie Slotnick, the Downtown Food-History Savant

In the forty-eight years that she’s lived in the West Village, the owner of the iconic cookbook shop has never ordered delivery.
Pop Music

How Post Malone Made Himself at Home in Country Music

Everyone’s headed to Nashville these days, but no one is as comfortable there as he is.
On Television

Mourning the End of “Evil,” a Show Like Nothing Else on Television

The Paramount+ procedural’s unusually serious treatment of faith—and delightfully absurdist take on almost everything else—made it a bright spot in an increasingly risk-averse TV landscape.
The Current Cinema

“Between the Temples” Is a Songful, Scathing Jewish American Love Story

Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane bring imagination and energy to Nathan Silver’s high-strung comedy about a grieving cantor and an elder bat-mitzvah student.

Poems

Poems

“Sugar”

“What was the name of that / bar was it really the Sugar / Club is it still there”
Poems

“Poem Never to Be Read Aloud”

“No words can tell us how to live, but to live is to reach / for them anyway.”

Cartoons

Puzzles & Games

Crossword

The Crossword: Monday, August 26, 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.