In the New Yorker...

[Jeff Wrangler]

Wow, that Aug. 6-13 issue is chock-full of interesting stuff. Of course there's Ronan Farrow's now-famous article about sexual harassment at CBS, but I think the Ariel Levy and Nathan Heller articles are interesting, too. Right now I'm reading the article about the Dutch crime family. (The Dutch? Who knew?)

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tell you what, when I read Adam Gopnik on a book, I frequently come away with the feeling that I would not need to read the book, that I've gotten everything I need to know from Adam Gopnik.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Everybody should read Rebecca Mead (Aug. 20).

[Jeff Wrangler]

I've given up on the Bill Browder article (Aug. 20) because I found it boring. (I've heard that name before, but I can't remember the context.)

I may also give up on "Rocket Man" because I don't particularly care about "Virgin Galactic's quest to send tourists into space." Even if it happens in my lifetime, I'll never be able to afford it, so why should I care?

Uncharacteristically for me, I'm reading the short story, "A Refugee Crisis," by Callan Wink. So far I like the story, but the author may be more interesting than his fiction. According to the Contributors page, he lives in Livingston, Montana, and is a fly-fishing guide on the Yellowstone River. Now, how cool a life is that, to be a writer of short stories who is also a fly-fishing guide on the Yellowstone River?

[Jeff Wrangler]

I may also give up on "Rocket Man" because I don't particularly care about "Virgin Galactic's quest to send tourists into space." Even if it happens in my lifetime, I'll never be able to afford it, so why should I care?

Typically, this is too long. I'm reading it after all because I'm out of stuff to read over lunch. Actually, it is kind of interesting.

[Front-Ranger]

Uncharacteristically for me, I'm reading the short story, "A Refugee Crisis," by Callan Wink. So far I like the story, but the author may be more interesting than his fiction. According to the Contributors page, he lives in Livingston, Montana, and is a fly-fishing guide on the Yellowstone River. Now, how cool a life is that, to be a writer of short stories who is also a fly-fishing guide on the Yellowstone River?

I dug the issue out of the recycling to read this story on your recommendation.

[serious crayons]

I'm in the middle of Elizabeth Kolbert's article in the latest issue, "Shaking the Foundations," which introduces at least one Big Idea involving billionaires, Andrew Carnegie, the wealth gap and charitable giving that I'd never even thought of before. It shifts my whole perspective.

Though it does help explain why I've always held somewhat mixed feelings about Bill Gates.

[Front-Ranger]

"Refugee Crisis" started out very unpromising and sank even further but redeemed itself in the end. It contains insights into the tortured mind of the fiction writer. Although, it seemed to me that it should be classified as a memoir rather than a fiction piece.

[Front-Ranger]

Help! My friend R. tells me that a recent issue featured a cover with a dog floating in a pool. I never seemed to get this issue. Has anyone else?

[serious crayons]

I have seen that. I'm not sure where it is in my house and am too lazy to look for it at the moment but will keep an eye out and report back here when I see it.

You probably know that as a subscriber, you can go to the site and read anything you want from any issue back to the 1920s. They're kind of a pain to read because, last I checked, they give you pictures of the pages and you have to flip through and enlarge and move around the columns. But of course much of the more recent content is available in regular screen-size online article form.

I thought I'd quickly google recent covers, but was having trouble finding the right one. Instead, I ran across this site, which has a bunch of New Yorker covers turned into GIFs.

https://giphy.com/explore/new-yorker-covers