When Donald Meets Hillary
Who will win the debates? Trump’s approach was an important part of his strength in the primaries. But will it work when he faces Clinton onstage?
October 2016
In This Issue
The Politics Issue: A presidential Ponzi scheme, sizing up the debates, Trump’s punk-rock appeal, and female-leader backlash. Plus, museums learn to love selfies, the failure of poetry, Ta-Nehisi Coates on O. J. Simpson, and much more.
Cover Story
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‘There’s Nothing Better Than a Scared, Rich Candidate’
How political consulting works—or doesn’t
What O. J. Simpson Means to Me
His great accomplishment was to be indicted for a crime and then receive the kind of treatment typically reserved for rich white guys.
O
An exhibition of unintended consequences. A short story
The World Is a Thriving Slaughterhouse
Sifting through decades of testimony of people caught up in the horrors of violent zealotry, a writer grapples with what hasn’t changed in our new world of terror.
Dispatches
Edmon de Haro; Alex Wong / Getty Fear of a Female President
Hillary Clinton’s candidacy has provoked a wave of misogyny—one that may roil American life for years to come.
John Cuneo The Brain Bro
Forget Adderall. Forget Provigil. Eric Matzner says his nootropics will make your brain sharper in weeks.
James Walton Do People Need Small Talk to Be Happy?
In one study, college students who had substantive conversations were more content than their peers who exchanged mere pleasantries. But don’t write off chitchat just yet.
Larry Downing / Getty Getting Bill Out of the House
If Hillary Clinton takes office, her best adviser in mediating Israel and Palestine’s century-old conflict might be the man who came closest to doing it before.
Justin Renteria America’s Monopoly Problem
How big business jammed the wheels of innovation
Finn Frandsen / POLFOTO / AP Big in Denmark: The U.S. Ambassador
“Rufus Gifford is a rock star.”
Alvaro Dominguez Please Turn On Your Phone in the Museum
Cultural institutions learn to love selfies, tailor-made apps, and social media.
Joe McKendry The Radical and the Racist
A very short book excerpt
The Culture File
Diego Patiño Donald Trump, Sex Pistol
The punk-rock appeal of the GOP nominee
David Plunkert Sympathy for the Robot
Westworld, HBO’s new series, reframes the classic monsters-run-amok plotline: The audience watches androids become more human—as the humans become less so.
Sophia Foster-Dimino Pity the Substitute Teacher
Nicholson Baker went undercover in the classroom. His resulting book delivers a message about education that Americans still need to hear.
Denise Nestor Haunted Womanhood
A biography by Ruth Franklin captures Shirley Jackson’s punishing upbringing and marriage, which perhaps informed the destruction of heroines in her work.
Kevin Van Aelst Why (Some) People Hate Poetry
It’s the site and source of disappointed hope.
Harper The Gangly Texan Pianist Who Wooed Soviets During the Cold War
Russian audiences swooned over Van Cliburn during a fraught period in relations with his home country. Nigel Cliff tells the humble musician’s story in a new biography.
Random House The Fraught Friendships of Eight Great Artists
Sebastian Smee’s group biography details four incentivizing rivalries between famous painters as they strove for excellence.
Departments
The Conversation
Readers respond to our July/August cover story and more
Graham Roumieu What Concept Most Needs a Word in the English Language?
A big question
Poetry
Sunset, Wings
A poem
