Author Topic: In the New Yorker...  (Read 1921908 times)

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1510 on: January 17, 2017, 11:05:12 pm »
Tell you what, it's become a whole lot easier to toss any pre-November "duty" articles involving politics.

I can't remember anything specific now, but I found it kind of interesting to read the pre-election articles after the election.
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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1511 on: January 19, 2017, 08:32:34 pm »
Possibly, it would be interesting to read one or two articles with the benefit of hindsight. But I still maintain that most everything went according to plan and Secy. Clinton received plenty of votes to win. . .more votes than any presidential candidate in history. . .except for certain strategic and mysterious losses of just a few percentage points in a handful of early-call states. She did nothing wrong and was an exemplary candidate, in my book.

Meanwhile I'm getting through the latest issues at a faster clip, since issues I once cared about I now just shrug at, since we're going to hell in a handbasket. I thought George Packer's "Parting Words" about Obama's successes and (mostly) failures was too harsh. Surprisingly, I did enjoy Jesse Eisenberg's "You Never Really Know" although he didn't win me over until the last couple of paragraphs. I read all of John Seabrook's "My Father's Cellar" and then at the end wondered why I had. Same with "Good Behavior". I'm mildly interested in Emily Nussbaum's "Tragedy Plus Time" about how "jokes won the election" but I don't really buy the premise (see the paragraph above). But the art, music, performance and books critiques leave me cold, because, why, now that Armageddon draws near?  :-\
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1512 on: January 19, 2017, 11:45:28 pm »
I can't remember anything specific now, but I found it kind of interesting to read the pre-election articles after the election.

Possibly, it would be interesting to read one or two articles with the benefit of hindsight.

If you're dealing with probably a three- or four-foot stack of unfinished magazines, it's a relief to recycle articles about how Hillary is sure to win. The "on the campaign trail with Trump" articles, I'm sure, would still be instructive.

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I thought George Packer's "Parting Words" about Obama's successes and (mostly) failures was too harsh. Surprisingly, I did enjoy Jesse Eisenberg's "You Never Really Know" although he didn't win me over until the last couple of paragraphs. I read all of John Seabrook's "My Father's Cellar" and then at the end wondered why I had.

That was my fear about the Packer -- haven't read it yet. I thought Jesse Eisenberg kept getting things published because he's a celebrity but I'll take your word for it and give him another chance to wow me beyond what I could ever imagine in any random pick from the slush pile. I read "My Father's Cellar" and thought there was a big chunk missing. (SPOILER ALERT: My father was so obsessive about wine and other liquor that he collected far more of the finest products than he could ever drink or serve in a lifetime. But he never drank a drop more than responsible. Yet his son became an alcoholic, but is in recovery now, so yay! I think there were some connective strings missing, perhaps because the recovery part is too new to address them (April 2016)? It needed something that at least hinted at more of a point -- the dad was so obsessive about alcohol, so maybe the son started drinking to become what the dad valued? Who knows. The guy has written for the New Yorker for years, so maybe they cut him some slack.)

I'm really looking forward to the Atul Gawande article! I love almost everything by him and was actually going through the George Packer first to save it. I'm half tempted to buy Being Mortal. Has anyone here read it?

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I'm mildly interested in Emily Nussbaum's "Tragedy Plus Time" about how "jokes won the election" but I don't really buy the premise (see the paragraph above

I read that online and agree, but it was an original idea and she gave it a good shot.

Quote
But the art, music, performance and books critiques leave me cold, because, why, now that Armageddon draws near?  :-\

Maybe that's all we'll have left  :-\




Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1513 on: January 20, 2017, 10:17:48 am »
If you're dealing with probably a three- or four-foot stack of unfinished magazines, it's a relief to recycle articles about how Hillary is sure to win. The "on the campaign trail with Trump" articles, I'm sure, would still be instructive.

They certainly were coming forward, instructive and frightening, which is why I've been frightened since Election Day.

But mainly I guess I think those articles would still be interesting because I think they show how The New Yorker, like all the rest of the liberal media, misjudged the country.

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I'm really looking forward to the Atul Gawande article!

I'm reading that now, so no Spoilers.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1514 on: January 23, 2017, 08:49:02 pm »
I read all of John Seabrook's "My Father's Cellar" and then at the end wondered why I had.

I read "My Father's Cellar" and thought there was a big chunk missing. (SPOILER ALERT: My father was so obsessive about wine and other liquor that he collected far more of the finest products than he could ever drink or serve in a lifetime. But he never drank a drop more than responsible. Yet his son became an alcoholic, but is in recovery now, so yay! I think there were some connective strings missing, perhaps because the recovery part is too new to address them (April 2016)? It needed something that at least hinted at more of a point -- the dad was so obsessive about alcohol, so maybe the son started drinking to become what the dad valued? Who knows. The guy has written for the New Yorker for years, so maybe they cut him some slack.)

I'm reading the Seabrook article now, and at the point where I am in the text, I'm quite enjoying it because Seabrook grew up in my region of the country. All those things he mentions, Seabrook Farms, the Devon Horse Show, Brandywine Creek, are familiar to me. It's like reading a Longmire novel where the action occurs some place in Wyoming that I have visited.

I'm also interested in what I'm learning about Seabrook himself. He's a year younger than me. He "comes from money," which doesn't surprise me in someone who ends up writing for The New Yorker.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1515 on: January 24, 2017, 01:16:09 am »
But mainly I guess I think those articles would still be interesting because I think they show how The New Yorker, like all the rest of the liberal media, misjudged the country.

Well, the New Yorker is unabashedly part of the liberal media, but I hope you're not using that term to include the mainstream media -- like the New York Times, for example -- or you're doing what Trump supporters/Fox News viewers do. However, the mainstream media misjudged the polls, too.

Which is not completely crazy, because let's remember that Hillary did win the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. Given that, and the fact that half the eligible voters didn't vote at all, hardly seems to qualify as having "misjudged the country." They certainly misjudged the electoral college, I guess.

My son, though a left-leaning Bernie/Hillary supporter, is somehow really knowledgeable about the alt-right (and politics in general). He says a lot of those people who planned to vote for Trump were counseled to tell pollsters they weren't, so that might be another part of the problem.

In any case, I'm sick of hearing about how all the prognosticators misprognosticated. Because in the end, the election result seems to come down not to "Hilllary should have done X, Y and Z differently" -- or even Comey's ill-advised email letter -- but that a substantial portion of our fellow Americans simply are not as smart as we (at least I) gave them credit for. If that seems too harsh a way to refer to Trump voters, I'm sorry, but as I said in another thread, many didin't know the difference between the ACA and Obamacare. Beyond that, they fell for an obnoxious, racist, loose-cannon rabble-rouser who has never at any point -- up to and including the present, now that he's actual taken office -- proposed any ideas of substance.

Not worth slogging through a "duty" article to be reminded of that.

Off-topic on the ItNY thread, but I came across this article today that seems a really intelligent (if non-reassuring) analysis of the problem:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story/2017/01/trump_sold_america_a_miracle_cure_it_will_fail_he_ll_get_off_for_free.html






Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1516 on: January 24, 2017, 10:21:43 am »
Off-topic on the ItNY thread, but I came across this article today that seems a really intelligent (if non-reassuring) analysis of the problem:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/cover_story/2017/01/trump_sold_america_a_miracle_cure_it_will_fail_he_ll_get_off_for_free.html


Of course. Snake-oil salesmen usually do, somehow.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1517 on: January 24, 2017, 11:28:41 am »
Good article, Kathryn. The proposed solution is education. But, look who's putting a public education enemy in charge of education?!?!
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1518 on: January 24, 2017, 01:31:28 pm »
Seems to me "misjudging the country" includes misjudging the stupidity--or maybe just the gullibility--or maybe they're the same thing--of a lot of voters. Just sayin'.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #1519 on: January 24, 2017, 08:58:42 pm »
I'm reading the Seabrook article now, and at the point where I am in the text, I'm quite enjoying it because Seabrook grew up in my region of the country. All those things he mentions, Seabrook Farms, the Devon Horse Show, Brandywine Creek, are familiar to me. It's like reading a Longmire novel where the action occurs some place in Wyoming that I have visited.

I'm also interested in what I'm learning about Seabrook himself. He's a year younger than me. He "comes from money," which doesn't surprise me in someone who ends up writing for The New Yorker.

Well, I guess I'm just not a perceptive, or even intelligent, reader. I finished the Seabrook over dinner this evening, and I liked it and saw no problems with it.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.