Not Enough Has Changed Since Sanford and Son
The unwritten rules of Black TV
October 2021
In This Issue
Black TV writers and producers, converging megafires, America’s Atlantis, and the new Puritans. Plus portraits from Afghanistan, Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Peter Thiel, Nate Bargatze, Formula 1, guilt-free sex, and more.
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The Battle of High Hill
When two megafires converged on a small town in Oregon, the community faced a choice. People could flee, leaving the town to its fate. Or they could stay and fight.
The New Puritans
Social codes are changing, in many ways for the better. But for those whose behavior doesn’t adapt fast enough to the new norms, judgment can be swift—and merciless.
The Search for America’s Atlantis
Did people first come to this continent by land or by sea?
Don’t Go in the Basement
The new Candyman escapes a long tradition of exploiting Black pain for cheap scares.
Dispatches
Gabriela Pesqueira How to Persuade Americans to Give Up Their Guns
The way to reduce gun violence is by convincing ordinary, “responsible” handgun owners that their weapons make them, their families, and those around them less safe.
Lauren Tamaki The Nicest Man in Stand-Up
Nate Bargatze’s humor is slow, inoffensive, even soothing. And he’s one of the hottest acts in comedy.
Paul Spella Plan Z for Immigration
Let the states sort it out.
Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin How Netflix Made Americans Care About the Most European of Sports
I never gave much thought to the champagne-soaked world of Formula 1. Then I watched Drive to Survive.
Adam Ferguson Ask Us What We’ve Seen
American service members reflect on their time in Afghanistan.
Culture & Critics
Illustration by Katie Martin; images by Universal Images Group / Sylvain Grandadam / Print Collector / Getty Confessions of a Sid Meier’s Civilization Addict
How the classic strategy game drew me back in
Matt Williams What Is Crime in a Country Built on It?
How Colson Whitehead subverts genre conventions in his new book
Illustration by Vartika Sharma; Source: Alberto Rizzo / Getty The Problem With Being Cool About Sex
Half a century after the sexual revolution, a new generation of feminists understands that we still haven’t reconciled what we should want with what we do want.
Illustration by Alex Merto; source: John Lamparski / Getty Peter Thiel Hates a Copycat
The billionaire’s extreme contrarianism is the secret to his success.
Departments
Katie Martin The Commons: Can the ‘Four Americas’ Be Reconciled?
Readers respond to George Packer’s diagnosis of the country’s fracture, and the way forward.
Tim Lahan An Ode to Squirrels
What animal lives closer to us than you do?
Poetry
Paul Spella / The Atlantic
