The Magazine

March 6, 2023

“The Florida Book-of-the-Month Club,” by Barry Blitt.

Reporting

Brave New World Dept.
Can A.I. Treat Mental Illness?
New computer systems aim to peer inside our heads—and to help us fix what they find there.
By Dhruv Khullar
The Control of Nature
Phosphorus Saved Our Way of Life—and Now Threatens to End It
Fertilizers filled with the nutrient boosted our ability to feed the planet. Today, they’re creating vast and growing dead zones in our lakes and seas.
By Elizabeth Kolbert
Annals of Higher Education
The End of the English Major
Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. What happened?
By Nathan Heller
A Reporter at Large
How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unravelled
The tech company Wirecard was embraced by the German élite. But a reporter discovered that behind the façade of innovation were lies and links to Russian intelligence.
By Ben Taub

More Reporting

The Critics

Pop Music
The Transcendence of Laraaji
Much of New Age music exists somewhere between the intellectual avant-garde and wellness hooey. Laraaji shows that the genre’s best practitioners were truly radical.
By Amanda Petrusich
Books
The Worlds of Italo Calvino
Despite his reputation as a postmodernist, Calvino’s imagination was more in tune with pre-modern literary modes.
By Merve Emre
Books
A Serbian British Writer Revitalizes the Novel of the Émigré
Long caught between the Western imagination and the Soviet sphere of influence—much like the Balkans themselves—the novelist Vesna Goldsworthy forges something new.
By Thomas Mallon
Books
Briefly Noted
“Cobalt Red,” “Three Roads Back,” “Evil Flowers,” and “Western Lane.”
On Television
The Cathartic Pessimism of the “Party Down” Revival
Since the show’s first two seasons, it has become harder to sustain the illusion that either Hollywood or the economy at large doles out its shrinking perks fairly.
By Inkoo Kang
The Current Cinema
“Cocaine Bear” and the Problem of High-Concept Plots
Like “Snakes on a Plane” and “We Bought a Zoo,” Elizabeth Banks’s film provides exactly what the title promises. Then what?
By Anthony Lane

More Criticism

The Talk of the Town

Evan Osnos on the prospect of a new cold war; Dry Cleaning at the nail salon; the return of MoviePass; C.I.A. wellness; street-cleaning solutions.

Comment
Sliding Toward a New Cold War
Not since the Berlin Wall fell has the world been cleaved so deeply by the kind of conflict that John F. Kennedy called a “long, twilight struggle.”
By Evan Osnos
Recuperation Dept.
Self-Care, Rock-and-Roll Division
After weeks on the road, the members of the British band Dry Cleaning settled in for a mani-pedi day in Carroll Gardens.
By Nick Paumgarten
The Pictures
MoviePass, Take Two!
Stacy Spikes, whose subscription service relaunched last fall, discusses the corporate takeover that bankrupted it, and being called an “idiot” by Bob Weinstein.
By Sheelah Kolhatkar
Wellness Dept.
Finally, Zumba Classes for Latter-Day Jason Bournes
As part of the C.I.A.’s wellness rebrand, the agency has a spiffy new gym at Langley, a “chief wellbeing officer,” and virtual-reality beach-walk experiences.
By Antonia Hitchens
Sketchpad
Some Alternatives to Alternate-Side Parking
Street sweepers can’t get around all the scofflaws, so what if we announced parking regulations via town crier, or cultivated car-devouring potholes?
By Emily Flake

More Talk of the Town

Shouts & Murmurs

Shouts & Murmurs
New Twitter Check Marks in a Rainbow of Colors
How about Orange? (Trump and Trump-related impersonators only.) Or Blue Sweater/Glasses? (For @georgesantosreallyIswear and @georgewashingsantos.)
By Bill Scheft

More Shouts & Murmurs

Cartoons

Fiction

Fiction
“Snowy Day,” by Lee Chang-dong
“The only things he can see now are snow and barbed wire. There’s nothing left in the world but barbed wire.”
By Lee Chang-dong

More Fiction

Puzzles & Games Dept.

Crossword
The Crossword: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
A moderately challenging puzzle.
By Erik Agard

Poems

Poems
“A Graveyard in New England”
“Only recently has it been revealed / it’s not just in our beds lovers must bundle.”
By Paul Muldoon
Poems
“Put My House”
“Put my house / inside the / boat.”
By Eileen Myles

More Poetry

Goings On About Town

The Theatre
Arinzé Kene’s Postmodern Portrait of a One-Man Show
In “Misty,” at the Shed, the actor-playwright-rhapsode uses spoken-word performance to explore overfamiliar constructs of Blackness.
Tables for Two
A Hot-Pot Marathon at Four Coconuts and the Dolar Shop
Four Coconuts, in Flushing, specializes in Hainanese-style chicken-coconut hot pot; the Dolar Shop, in the East Village, is an outpost of a Shanghai-based chain.
By Hannah Goldfield

More Goings On About Town

Mail

Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to [email protected]. 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.

Letters from our Readers

Reporting

Can A.I. Treat Mental Illness?

New computer systems aim to peer inside our heads—and to help us fix what they find there.

Phosphorus Saved Our Way of Life—and Now Threatens to End It

Fertilizers filled with the nutrient boosted our ability to feed the planet. Today, they’re creating vast and growing dead zones in our lakes and seas.

The End of the English Major

Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. What happened?

How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unravelled

The tech company Wirecard was embraced by the German élite. But a reporter discovered that behind the façade of innovation were lies and links to Russian intelligence.

The Critics

The Transcendence of Laraaji

Much of New Age music exists somewhere between the intellectual avant-garde and wellness hooey. Laraaji shows that the genre’s best practitioners were truly radical.

The Worlds of Italo Calvino

Despite his reputation as a postmodernist, Calvino’s imagination was more in tune with pre-modern literary modes.

A Serbian British Writer Revitalizes the Novel of the Émigré

Long caught between the Western imagination and the Soviet sphere of influence—much like the Balkans themselves—the novelist Vesna Goldsworthy forges something new.

Briefly Noted

“Cobalt Red,” “Three Roads Back,” “Evil Flowers,” and “Western Lane.”

The Cathartic Pessimism of the “Party Down” Revival

Since the show’s first two seasons, it has become harder to sustain the illusion that either Hollywood or the economy at large doles out its shrinking perks fairly.

“Cocaine Bear” and the Problem of High-Concept Plots

Like “Snakes on a Plane” and “We Bought a Zoo,” Elizabeth Banks’s film provides exactly what the title promises. Then what?

The Talk of the Town

Evan Osnos on the prospect of a new cold war; Dry Cleaning at the nail salon; the return of MoviePass; C.I.A. wellness; street-cleaning solutions.

Sliding Toward a New Cold War

Not since the Berlin Wall fell has the world been cleaved so deeply by the kind of conflict that John F. Kennedy called a “long, twilight struggle.”

Self-Care, Rock-and-Roll Division

After weeks on the road, the members of the British band Dry Cleaning settled in for a mani-pedi day in Carroll Gardens.

MoviePass, Take Two!

Stacy Spikes, whose subscription service relaunched last fall, discusses the corporate takeover that bankrupted it, and being called an “idiot” by Bob Weinstein.

Finally, Zumba Classes for Latter-Day Jason Bournes

As part of the C.I.A.’s wellness rebrand, the agency has a spiffy new gym at Langley, a “chief wellbeing officer,” and virtual-reality beach-walk experiences.

Some Alternatives to Alternate-Side Parking

Street sweepers can’t get around all the scofflaws, so what if we announced parking regulations via town crier, or cultivated car-devouring potholes?

Shouts & Murmurs

New Twitter Check Marks in a Rainbow of Colors

How about Orange? (Trump and Trump-related impersonators only.) Or Blue Sweater/Glasses? (For @georgesantosreallyIswear and @georgewashingsantos.)

Cartoons

Fiction

“Snowy Day,” by Lee Chang-dong

“The only things he can see now are snow and barbed wire. There’s nothing left in the world but barbed wire.”

Puzzles & Games Dept.

The Crossword: Tuesday, February 21, 2023

A moderately challenging puzzle.

Poems

“A Graveyard in New England”

“Only recently has it been revealed / it’s not just in our beds lovers must bundle.”

“Put My House”

“Put my house / inside the / boat.”

Goings On About Town

Arinzé Kene’s Postmodern Portrait of a One-Man Show

In “Misty,” at the Shed, the actor-playwright-rhapsode uses spoken-word performance to explore overfamiliar constructs of Blackness.

A Hot-Pot Marathon at Four Coconuts and the Dolar Shop

Four Coconuts, in Flushing, specializes in Hainanese-style chicken-coconut hot pot; the Dolar Shop, in the East Village, is an outpost of a Shanghai-based chain.

Mail

Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to [email protected]. 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.