THE CHANGE OF SEASONS during a pandemic can happen almost imperceptibly. Suddenly, summer has slipped through your fingers. Fall usually signals the start of a fresh cultural calendar, but this year, none of the clear markers are there. Broadway remains shut down; the pageantry of Oscar season isn’t quite the same when everything’s streaming; release dates are pitched further into the distance, pegged to the hope of some theoretical future. ¶ But amid uncertainty, great art can feel like a grounding force, and there’s plenty to challenge, entertain, and debate this fall. The final stretch of 2020 includes some of the most exceptional films, shows, and books of the year: weird clown comedy, the next Big Little Lies–style soap, and the kinds of novels that help you see the world more clearly. Mark your calendars—just maybe use a pencil.
91 THINGS TO WATCH, READ, AND DO
1 The Appointment
By Katharina Volckmer (9/1)
This novel has a subtitle: “The Story of a Jewish Cock.” That should tell you something about its author’s relationship with cheeky—and, at times, downright sacrosanct— wordplay. Set over the course of one long doctor’s visit, The Appointment is a rant-as-novel, a longwinded list of grievances, questions, and observations, starting with its protagonist’s admission that she occasionally thinks about screwing Hitler. It only gets wilder from there.
2 The Lying Life of Adults
Denne historien er fra August 31–September 13, 2020-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra August 31–September 13, 2020-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Early and Often: David Freedlander - Momentum vs. Machine The Trump and Harris campaigns battle it out for every last vote.
WIth two weeks left to go, the contours of the 2024 presidential election are clear: Both campaigns need voters who usually don’t vote, and Kamala Harris needs to bring the Democratic coalition, including its Trump-curious members, back home.While the Republican side plans to spend the remaining days of the contest trying to lure low-propensity voters to the polls, the Harris team will attempt to persuade voters of color to return to its side and will try to increase numbers among white voters in previously red suburbs.
Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
SLOP started seeping into Neil Clarke's life in late 2022. Something strange was happening at Clarkesworld, the magazine. Clarke had founded in 2006 and built into a pillar of the world of speculative fiction. Submissions were increasing rapidly, but “there was something off about them,” he told me recently. He summarized a typical example: “Usually, it begins with the phrase ‘In the year 2250-something’ and then it goes on to say the Earth’s environment is in collapse and there are only three scientists who can save us. Then it describes them in great detail, each one with its own paragraph. And then—they’ve solved it! You know, it skips a major plot element, and the final scene is a celebration out of the ending of Star Wars.” Clarke said he had received “dozens of this story in various incarnations.”
The City Politic- The Other Eric Adams Scandal The NYPD shot a fare evader, a cop, and two bystanders. He defends it.
On Sunday, September 15, Derell Mickles hopped a turnstile, got asked to leave by cops, then entered the subway again ten minutes later through an emergency exit. This was at the Sutter Avenue L station, out by his mother's house, five stops from the end of the line. Police said they noticed he was holding a folded knife. They followed him up the stairs to the elevated train, asking him 38 times to drop the weapon.
Can the Media Survive?
BIG TECH, Feckless Owners, CORD-CUTTERS, RESTIVE STAFF, Smaller Audiences ... and the Return of PRINT?
Status Update
Hannah Gadsby's fascinatingly untidy tour through life after fame and death.
A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective Steve McQueen's worst film is still a solid WWII drama.
Creator, Destroyer
A retrospective reveals an architect's vision, optimism, and supreme arrogance.
In Praise of Bad Readers
In a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
Trust the Kieran Culkin Process
First, he nearly dropped out of Oscar hopeful A Real Pain. Then he convinced Jesse Eisenberg to change the way he directs.
The Funniest Vampires on TV
What We Do in the Shadows is coming to an end. Its idiosyncratic brand of comedy may be too.
