TALKING POINTS BUSINESS PEOPLE

WILL HE EVER Apple’s The disaster

BECOME iPhone Cameron
SPEAKER? dilemma avoided
p.17 Rep. Kevin p.34 p.10
McCarthy

THE BEST OF THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Rebellion
in China
Why Xi Jinping’s
zero-Covid policy
may be doomed
to fail
p.4

DECEMBER 9, 2022 VOLUME 22 ISSUE 1108

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS WWW.THEWEEK.COM

 Contents 3

Editor’s letter
“Give me liberty or give me death.” Protesters in cities through-
out China were actually chanting Patrick Henry’s revolution-
ary war cry from 1775 this week, as tens of thousands poured
into the streets in defiance of the authoritarian regime in Beijing.
The demonstrators, mostly young, chanted “We don’t want
emperors!” and held up blank pieces of paper to symbolize
their inability to speak freely. Thus far, President Xi Jinping has
not ordered a violent crackdown, but police cleared streets and
photographed protesters’ faces. Those images will be fed into
China’s Orwellian face-recognition database, which tracks every
citizen’s cellphone and monitors everything from their internet
activity to jaywalking. It takes unimaginable bravery—and the
pent-up anger created by suffocating repression—for people to
defy authority in a society where “bad” citizens can be dragged
away and swallowed by the monstrous maw of the state.
Millions of Iranian women and men are summoning equally
inspiring courage to defy their theocratic rulers’ dress and moral
codes. Protesters are chanting “Death to Khamenei” in 220 Ira-
nian cities, with hundreds sacrificing their lives in bloody battles
with police. Iranians, a female university professor in Tehran
wrote under a pseudonym, are demanding “the separation of re-
ligion from state. This revolution is about freedom of choice.”
The passionate uprisings in Iran and China, as well as Ukraini-
ans’ fierce resistance against Russia’s genocidal invasion, should
remind us of the fragility and preciousness of America’s free-
doms. Our founding ideals, tarnished and dented as they might
be, still serve as lodestars to oppressed peoples around the globe.
In recent years, the 45th president and those who welcomed or
excused his assault on democracy showed us that we cannot
take self-rule and fundamental rights for granted. Strongmen and
demagogues are always waiting in the wings. William Falk
The struggle for freedom never ends. Editor-in-chief

NEWS
4 Main stories
Mass protests over Covid
lockdowns in China;
Warnock-Walker race;
election denial in Arizona
6 Controversy of the week
Can stricter laws stem an
epidemic of gun violence?
7 The U.S. at a glance
Oath Keepers sedition
convictions; Mauna Loa
erupts; protection for gay
marriage
8 The world at a glance
Sanctions on Venezuelan
oil lifted; terrorists attack
in Somalia; Taliban
resume floggings
10 People
Cameron’s yearning
for outer space; Emma
Thompson gets over
Branagh
11 Briefing
In authoritarian China, blank pages are symbols of protest. (p.3)
ARTS
22 Books
A definitive new J. Edgar
Hoover biography
23 Author of the week
A 65-year-old breakout
Editor-in-chief: William Falk
Managing editors: Susan Caskie,
Mark Gimein
Assistant managing editor: Jay Wilkins
Deputy editor/Arts: Chris Mitchell
Deputy editor/News: Chris Erikson
Senior editors: Danny Funt, Catesby
Holmes, Scott Meslow, Rebecca Nathanson,
Dale Obbie, Zach Schonbrun, Hallie Stiller
Art director: Paul Crawford
Deputy art director: Rosanna Bulian
Photo editor: Mark Rykoff
Copy editor: Jane A. Halsey
Research editors: Nick Gallagher,
Alex Maroño Porto
Contributing editors: Ryan Devlin,
Bruno Maddox
Group publisher: Paul Vizza
(paul.vizza@futurenet.com)
LEISURE Account director: Mary Gallagher
(mary.gallagher@futurenet.com)
27 Food & Drink Media planning manager: Andrea Crino
Great pizza in three pizza- Direct response advertising:
crazed cities; booze-free Anthony Smyth (anthony@smythps.com)
rums for your next eggnog
SVP, Women’s, Homes, and News:
28 Consumer Sophie Wybrew-Bond

The looming threat of
China invading Taiwan
12 Best U.S. columns
How the GOP alienated
America’s youth; abortion
nightmares multiply in
Texas
15 Best international
columns
Ethiopia’s tenuous peace;
Ugandan kids forced to
grow up too fast
16 Talking points
Alito’s ties to Christian
activists; McCarthy
vies for the speakership;
Getty (2)
debut novelist A Lego Eiffel Tower, a Managing director, news Richard Campbell
SVP, finance: Maria Beckett
drift-happy go-cart, and
24 Stage & Music more of the year’s best toys
VP, Consumer Marketing-Global
Superbrands: Nina La France
At home with four child
Consumer marketing director:
molesters in Leslie Guarnieri
Downstate BUSINESS
Manufacturing manager, North America:
25 Home Media 32 News at a glance Lori Crook
Operations manager:
The Protestant Shoppers lured back by
Cassandra Mondonedo
Revolution in a heavy discounts; Musk
video game starts a feud with Apple
33 Making money
Disney’s ‘boomerang Visit us at TheWeek.com.
boss’; hedge funds bet on For customer service go to
Microsoft TheWeek.com/service.
34 Best columns Renew a subscription at
James Apple’s troubling reliance RenewTheWeek.com or give a
on Beijing; Europe’s tepid

Cameron gift at GiveTheWeek.com.

Musk’s political agenda (p.10) Russian energy sanctions
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
4 NEWS The main stories...
Chinese rise up over Covid restrictions
What happened cause nationalistic Chinese authorities re-
Demonstrators angered to a boiling point fused to import effective Western mRNA
by China’s restrictive “zero-Covid” policies vaccines, its only protection is from
took to the streets in cities across China China’s inferior vaccines. Meanwhile, the
last weekend, in a remarkable uprising government’s failure to broadly vacci-
that represented the nation’s greatest civil nate the elderly—with only an estimated
unrest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square 40 percent of residents over 80 receiving
demonstrations. In Shanghai, Beijing, boosters, and millions left unvaccinated—
Chengdu, and at least six other cities, thou- has put “China’s most vulnerable popula-
sands of citizens clashed with police, and tion at high risk of death.”
called for an end to restrictions that have
kept residents confined to their homes for What the columnists said
monthslong stretches, sometimes without After nearly three years of harsh pan-
adequate food and medicine. Many held Protesters in Beijing: ‘We want freedom!’
demic restrictions, “something cracked,”
blank sheets of paper, in silent protest of said Li Yuan in The New York Times.
government censorship laws. Some openly called for an end to Pres- The young people I interviewed said they were angry over forced
ident Xi Jinping’s rule and Communist Party repression. “We want testing and lockdowns that kept them isolated from friends and
freedom!” chanted a crowd in Beijing. “We don’t want emperors!” family. But their discontent “goes beyond that, all the way to
The spark for the protests was a fire in an apartment building that questioning” Xi’s iron-fisted rule. China’s “future looks increasingly
killed 10 in the western Xinjiang region—deaths protesters blamed bleak,” unemployment is high, and state censorship “has killed
on quarantine barricades they said slowed rescue efforts. nearly all fun,” with limited access to social media, games, books,
and movies. “I think all of these have reached a tipping point,” said
To quiet the demonstrations, police and paramilitary forces massed Miranda, a journalist in Shanghai.
at protest sites, conducted spot-checks of people’s phones, and
visited protesters’ homes to warn them to desist. Officials made “This is a crisis of Xi’s own making,” said Michael Schuman in The
small moves to ease some Covid controls; in Guangzhou, for ex- Atlantic. Zero Covid fended off an enormous crisis at a time when
ample, officials ended mandatory mass testing. But with infections China faced an unknown virus with no vaccines. But as other coun-
hitting record numbers and hundreds of millions of Chinese lacking tries vaccinated their populations and learned to manage Covid,
protection from vaccination or prior infection, China could suffer Xi “refused to change course” and continued “brutal” restrictions
up to 2.1 million deaths if controls are lifted, the health analyt- such as business closures, mandatory quarantines, and even sepa-
ics firm Airfinity estimated. So the zero-Covid policy remained in rating infected children from parents. He now has two bad options.
effect. “The prevention and control plan has withstood the test of He could ease off “at a cost to his authority, and possibly at the
practice,” said a government official in the state-run People’s Daily. risk of an uncontrolled Covid outbreak.” Or he could “crack down
harder,” possibly inviting “even greater resistance from the public.”
What the editorials said
Xi’s zero-Covid policy has “hit a dead end,” said The Washington Capitulation seems unlikely, said Matthew Brooker in Bloomberg.
Post. Nearly three years of lockdowns have hurt the economy, shut- “Xi’s instincts are to be uncompromising in dealing with any chal-
tered factories, and left citizens “furious and fed up.” Now Xi faces lenge to the party’s grip on power.” That carries a risk of “trapping
a wrenching choice for a dictator: “whether to change, admitting the country in a loop of escalating repression and resistance.” But
failure, or to stick with a failing policy.” it’s more likely the “astonishing” uprising of the past week will
fade. Xi has fearsome tools of surveillance and social control at his
Shifting gears could yield a calamity, said National Review. Zero disposal. “Let’s not forget, though,” an ancient proverb once cited
Covid has created a populace with little natural immunity, and be- by Mao Zedong: “A single spark can start a prairie fire.”

It wasn’t all bad
QJoseph Cook was combing a
St. Augustine, Fla., beach when
he discovered a diamond ring—
which a jeweler told him was
worth $40,000. Instead of cashing
in, Cook put out a call on social
media and soon heard back from
the ring’s owners—a couple living
in Jacksonville. Three weeks later,
Cook returned the ring to them in
person. “Karma’s always good,”
QA Texas family spent five decades searching in vain for
their daughter, who was abducted by a babysitter in 1971.
Meanwhile, Melissa Highsmith, now 53, had no idea anyone
was looking for her. A breakthrough came when the family
reviewed DNA evidence on 23andMe with the help of an ama-
teur genealogist. They reached out to Highsmith and proved
their identity by referencing
a distinctive birthmark on
her back. Highsmith finally
reunited with her parents
in November, and plans to
redo her wedding so that
they can be in attendance.
QOn their way home from an
anniversary trip, Dane Entze and
his wife were enjoying the view at
Idaho’s John’s Hole Bridge—the
site of their first date—when they
spotted a car driving into the river
below. While his wife called 911,
Entze hopped a barbed-wire fence
and plunged into the water. A
woman emerged from the car and
said she was trying to end her life.
“I don’t know who you are, but
I’m here,” Entze responded. “And
Reuters, Sharon Highsmith

he said. “Every time I return an
item, I find something better.”
Sure enough, Cook has already
unearthed another diamond ring
with his metal detector.
Highsmith with her parents
“She just found out she
has a huge family,” sister
Rebecca Del Bosque said,
“who love her and never
stopped looking for her.”
I love you, and I’m going to help
you.” Entze carried the woman
ashore, and she was taken to a
local hospital, where she’s ex-
pected to make a full recovery.

Illustration by Jason Seiler.

THE WEEK December 9, 2022 Cover photos from Getty (3)
 ... and how they were covered NEWS 5

High voter enthusiasm in Georgia runoff

What happened What the columnists said
With the last undecided seat in the Senate at Don’t underestimate the importance of this
stake, record numbers of Georgians voted early race, said Heather Higgins in The Wall Street
this week in the tight runoff between Demo- Journal. Yes, the Democrats control the Senate
cratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican either way, but having a 51st Democrat “would
former NFL star Herschel Walker. Voting began make the party a lot more powerful,” giving
last weekend in some counties and across the it committee majorities and the ability to ram
state on Monday, and hundreds of thousands of through judicial nominees. Unchecked by mod-
Georgians cast ballots, breaking turnout records erate Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema,
on both Monday and Tuesday. The runoff was Democrats could even “abolish the legislative
necessary because no candidate won more than Patient lines in Columbus, Ga. filibuster.” A Walker win “would be the crucial
50 percent in the very close first round, in which Warnock received brake” on such extremism.
about 38,000 more votes than Walker out of some 4 million cast.
Polls show support for the two men split evenly, and voting will Yet Walker has proven himself “utterly unqualified” for office, said
continue through Dec. 6. Frida Ghitis in CNN.com. He has falsely claimed at various times
to be a University of Georgia graduate, a military veteran, and a
The campaign turned increasingly bitter toward the end. Walker former cop. He emits “incoherent word salads” and lacks a basic
characterized Warnock as a lackey of President Biden, who is deep- grasp of policy issues. Most troubling, he has a history of alleged
ly unpopular in Georgia, while Warnock highlighted his opponent’s domestic violence. “It’s hard to imagine a more flawed candidate.”
lies and gaffes and questioned his fitness for office. Meanwhile,
questions emerged over where Walker actually lives: He named a Still, it would be “silly to write off” Walker’s chances, said Alex
Dallas house as his primary home on his 2022 taxes, and The Daily Samuels in FiveThirtyEight.com. Republicans nearly always
Beast this week reported that his wife’s Atlanta property, which he increase their share of the vote in Georgia runoffs—and Walker
has used to claim residence in Georgia, had been rented to tenants has popular Gov. Brian Kemp stumping for him. Warnock, though,
as recently as 2021. Although Donald Trump endorsed Walker in leads in the “enthusiasm” race, with far more of his supporters
September 2021, he hasn’t campaigned with him since last March, than Walker’s saying they’re excited about their choice. Right now,
and Walker’s team has not invited the former president to Georgia. polls show the two men neck and neck, so victory will come down
“This is not Trump’s race,” Walker said in a recent interview. “This to which party can turn out its base. If Warnock does prevail, that
is Herschel Walker’s race.” will mean Georgia is no longer red, but officially “purple.”

Lake contests her loss in Arizona

What happened
Kari Lake, a 2020 election denier, denied this week that she lost
the race to be Arizona’s next governor. The Donald Trump–
endorsed Republican is suing Maricopa County, alleging voter
fraud after Secretary of State Katie Hobbs beat her by 17,000
votes. In swing states, almost every election denier who lost a
prominent midterm race has accepted defeat. Lake, however,
maintains that vote tabulation issues disenfranchised her support-
ers. Maricopa, which includes Phoenix and is the country’s fourth
most populous county, experienced some technical problems that
caused long lines, but officials said everyone was able to vote. At a
contentious public hearing this week, Lake supporters demanded
that the county’s Board of Supervisors nullify the election. “This
is a war between good and evil, and you all represent evil,” one
speaker said. The GOP-controlled board still unanimously voted
to certify the election. Trump, who recently hosted Lake at Mar-a-
Lago, protested, saying she should be “installed” as governor.
In rural Cochise County, where Lake beat Hobbs by more than
17 points, the board of supervisors voted to delay certification as
an act of protest. Hobbs is suing the county for missing the cer-
tification deadline. Outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said
he’s committed to a smooth transition. “All of us have waited
patiently for the democratic process to play out,” said Ducey, co-
chair of the Republican Governors Association, which spent over
$10 million attacking Hobbs during the election. “The people
of Arizona have spoken, their votes have been counted, and we
respect their decision.”
Reuters
What the columnists said
Is anyone surprised? said Gregory Wallance in The Hill. Lake’s
campaign slogan should have been “Heads I win, tails the elec-
tion was rigged.” After losing, she started playing Tom Petty’s
“I Won’t Back Down” on social media. “To paraphrase a
well-known saying, ‘Election denial history repeats itself, first as
tragedy, second as farce.’”
Lake has a goal in denying her election loss, said Dennis Aftergut
in The Bulwark, and it’s not to be Arizona’s governor. She’s been
running a “sub rosa vice-presidential campaign” and printing
“Trump-Lake 2024” bumper stickers “in her mind.” Denying her
own defeat and embracing victimhood status will further endear
her to Trump, and could even land her on a presidential ticket
with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he wants to court Trumpists.
That’s her endgame, “damage to democracy be damned.”
Lake’s “shenanigans” show why election reform is so crucial,
said Greg Sargent in The Washington Post. Lake only lost by
0.6 percent of the vote. Had she become governor, she would
have been positioned to “steal a future election” for the GOP
presidential candidate. The lame-duck Congress must embrace its
opportunity to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, to make
it harder for states to negate election results and to clarify the
vice president’s role in certifying elections as purely ceremonial.
Thanks to Trump’s “brazen effort” to overturn the 2020 election,
there’s “unusual bipartisan urgency” to fix the ECA. Letting this
moment pass “would be the height of folly.”

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

6 NEWS Controversy of the week
Gun violence: Would new laws matter?
To a nation already exhausted by a “historic Why this strange apathy from people who
stretch of gun violence,” the Thanksgiving demand “assault weapons” bans after
break was no break at all, said John every highly publicized atrocity? Millions
Woodrow Cox in The Washington Post. of these “scary black rifles” are in circula-
In the space of 10 days, we woke on three tion, because “middle-aged Bubbas” like to
mornings to “another high-profile shooting shoot them for fun. Only a tiny percentage
and a new death toll.” Three University of are used in homicides, the vast majority of
Virginia football players were shot and killed which are committed with handguns. To
by a disgruntled fellow student on a bus. A reduce gun violence, crack down on urban
gunman armed with an AR-15 slaughtered criminals, not law-abiding gun owners.
five patrons and wounded 17 during a drag
A memorial at a Walmart in Virginia
show at a Colorado LGBTQ bar. And back Wait, it’s Democrats who won’t enforce
in Virginia, a Walmart supervisor opened fire in a break room and gun laws? said Tim Miller in The Bulwark. The massacre in
killed six co-workers and injured four others. And those were just Colorado “could have been prevented” if local police had fol-
the shootings that made the headlines. Already this year we’ve seen lowed the state’s so-called Red Flag law and kept the shooter—
617 mass shootings (those with at least four killed or wounded), who threatened to murder his mother last year—from acquiring
or roughly two mass shootings every day—double the number an AR-15. But 37 Colorado sheriffs have declared their counties
from an equivalent period in 2018. Factor in the 110 people shot “2nd Amendment Sanctuaries” and refuse to enforce “the most
to death each day in suicides, accidents, and homicides, and we’re commonsense gun law imaginable.” Democrats may not be able
on pace to approach last year’s record-setting total of 47,000 gun to overcome a GOP Senate filibuster to the assault-weapons ban
deaths. After the Walmart massacre, an emotional President Biden already passed in the House, said the Las Vegas Sun in an edito-
called it “sick” that we’re awash in semi-automatic guns, said rial, but they should bring it to the Senate floor anyway. After
Paul LeBlanc in CNN.com, and he renewed his call for a federal so many school massacres, let’s hear Republicans explain why
assault-weapons ban. But with many Americans and Republican “Uncle Bob’s right to possess an AR-15 is more important than
legislators viewing gun ownership as “sacrosanct,” an escape from little Timmy’s right to survive the first grade.”
our “cycle of violence” seems unlikely.
Gun violence is 25 times higher in America than in any other
The number of mass shootings is indeed “horrifying,” said Kevin developed democratic nation, said Sentinel Colorado in an edito-
Williamson in The Dispatch, but why not enforce the laws we rial, and “we choose this nightmare” by doing nothing. If dozens
already have? “Democrat-run cities” are more concerned with of other advanced democracies have figured out how to “protect
“reform” than with putting criminals who use guns in prison. the rights of hunters and sportsmen” without having to endure
In Philadelphia, for example, 61 percent of gun arrests are now constant, heartbreaking carnage, “it’s hard to fathom anything
dismissed without prosecution, up from 30 percent in only 2016. more un-American” than the cynical idea that we are helpless.

Good week for:

Only in America
QA Florida woman is su-
ing Kraft Heinz, claiming
the firm’s microwavable
mac-and-cheese cups take
longer than the advertised
three-and-a-half minutes to
prepare. Amanda Ramirez’s
class-action suit states
that the label is “false and
misleading” because it takes
additional time to unlid the
cups, combine the contents
with water, stir, and “thicken.”
Ramirez is seeking $5 million.
QSan Francisco’s Board of
Supervisors has voted to let
the police department use ro-
bots to kill criminals. The 8-3
vote will enable the SFPD to
arm the city’s 17 robots with
bombs that will only be used
in “extreme circumstances”
such as terrorism. “This is
opening up a Pandora’s box
that could change our society
in a significant way,” said
Supervisor Hillary Ronen,
one of the three “no” votes.
In other news
The U.S. men’s soccer team, which advanced to the next
round of the World Cup by beating Iran, 1-0. Before the game, the Student loan-payment
freeze extended
U.S. Soccer Federation posted an image of an Iranian flag without
the Islamic Republic’s emblem to support protesters in Iran. Education Secretary Miguel
Cardona announced last week
Rebranding, with an announcement by the World Health that the pandemic-era freeze
Organization that the globally circulating virus known as on federal student loan pay-
“monkeypox” will henceforth be called “mpox,” to make the ments will be extended for an
name less “racist and stigmatizing.” eighth time since March 2020,
McNuggets, after a woman went into labor in an Atlanta saying payments should only
resume once lawsuits chal-
McDonald’s restroom and three staff members helped deliver a
healthy baby daughter. Franchise owner Steve Akinboro called it lenging the Biden administra-
tion’s loan-forgiveness plan
“the epitome of a feel-good moment for my team.”
are resolved. “It would be
deeply unfair to ask borrow-
Bad week for: ers to pay a debt that they
Going with the floe, after about 200 ice fishermen and women wouldn’t have to pay were it
had to be rescued from a chunk of ice that broke away and floated not for the baseless lawsuits
out into Minnesota’s Upper Red Lake. The local sheriff’s office brought by Republican of-
ficials and special interests,”
warned winter anglers that “early season ice is very unpredictable.”
Cardona said. The administra-
Compensation, with the news that Russian authorities have tion’s plan to forgive up to
been consoling the mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with a $20,000 in loans is in limbo
cardboard gift pack of not one but three handsome towels. following a court injunction.
The Swiss, after Switzerland’s energy minister suggested the The freeze will last until
nation’s famously reserved citizens conserve energy by taking show- Sept. 1, unless the litigation is
ers together. After some pushback, Simonetta Sommaruga clarified resolved earlier. Some 26 mil-
lion Americans have applied
that her advice was aimed at young people, and that “after a cer- for student loan forgiveness.
tain age, showering together is no longer suitable.”
AP

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

 The U.S. at a glance ...
Riverside, Calif.
Catfish killer: A
Virginia law enforce-
ment officer drove
across the country
last week to meet a
California teenager
he had communi-
Edwards
cated with online,
allegedly attempting to kidnap her after
killing her mother and grandparents.
Austin Lee Edwards, a former Virginia
state trooper, was chased down by a
SWAT team on the highway and killed
in a shootout, during which the teen was
rescued by police. Edwards is believed
to have “catfished” the girl, taking on a
false identity to obtain her personal infor-
mation. Police think Edwards parked in
a neighbor’s driveway and entered the
teen’s home, killing Mark Winek, 69,
Sharie Winek, 65, and Brooke Winek,
38, before setting the house on fire
and leaving with the girl in his
SUV. Virginia State Police said
Edwards, who left the force in
late October to start a job with
the Washington County (Va.)
Sheriff’s Office, had passed a
background check, psychologi-
cal test, and pre-employment
polygraph without “any indica-
tors of concern.”
Big Island, Hawaii
Eruption: The world’s largest active
volcano, Mauna Loa, erupted this week
for the first time in 38 years, spew-
ing lava nearly
150 feet up and
sending a river
of molten rock
toward the Big
Island’s main high-
way. Officials said
the lava did not
pose an immediate
Mauna Loa’s fire
threat to homes of
the island’s roughly 200,000 residents,
but cautioned that the situation is “very
dynamic, and the location and advance
of lava flows can change rapidly.”
The erupting volcano, which reaches
13,681 feet above sea level, poses a
variety of hazards, including volcanic
gas, volcanic smog, fine ash, and par-
ticles that locals call Pele’s hair, after
the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes
and fire. Gas bubbles in the lava burst
and rapidly cool, creating sharp glass
AP (2), Getty, Reuters
strands of molten lava that are about
0.001 millimeters thick and up to sev-
eral feet long. Pele’s hair blows down-
wind and can lodge in human skin.
Buffalo
Fueled by hate: The gunman who killed
10 Black people in May at Buffalo’s Tops
Friendly Market pleaded guilty this week
to state murder charges and domestic
terrorism motivated by hate, ensuring
he will spend life in prison without the
possibility of parole. Payton Gendron,
19, answered “yes” as the judge read
his victims’ names and asked if he killed
them because of their race. Before the
massacre, the killer had posted online a
180-page screed filled with white nation-
alist conspiracy theories. The federal
hate-crime charges to which he pleaded
guilty carry the potential for the death
penalty, although the Justice Department
has not authorized prosecutors to pursue
capital punishment in new cases. “Am
I happy he’s going to jail for life?” said
Mark Talley, whose mother, Geraldine,
was killed. “What would make me happy
is if America acknowledged its history of
racism.”
Washington, D.C.
Enshrined in law: The Senate voted 61-36
this week to repeal the 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act, ensuring that the federal
government will recognize a same-sex
marriage even if the couple moves to a
state that doesn’t do so. The bill, which
also protects interracial marriage, gained
backing from 12 Republicans on the
condition that religious institutions not
be required to approve gay weddings or
recognize same-sex unions. Sen. Cynthia
Lummis (R-Wyo.) said a bill promoting
tolerance was important amid “turbulent
times for our nation,” and Sen. Michael
Bennet (D-Colo.) invoked the recent mas-
sacre at a gay nightclub in his state. The
House is expected to pass the bill soon.
Although the Supreme Court affirmed
a constitutional right to gay marriage in
2015, Democrats pushed to codify that
decision after the court overturned Roe v.
Wade and Justice Clarence Thomas said
the court “should reconsider” other deci-
sions premised on a right to privacy.
NEWS 7
New Haven, Conn.
Torture ride: Five police officers were
arrested this week and face misdemeanor
reckless endan-
germent and
cruelty charges
in the case of
Richard “Randy”
Cox, a Black man
who sustained a
shattered spine
in a police van,
Protesting police abuses
paralyzing him
from the chest down. Facing a since-
dismissed weapons-related charge, Cox,
36, was being transported to a police
station in June when the driver slammed
the brakes. The back of the van was
not equipped with seatbelts, and Cox
smashed headfirst into an inside wall.
Officers caught on video mocked Cox’s
inability to sit up, accusing him of being
drunk, and dragged him from the van by
his feet without providing medical care.
The case evoked Freddie Gray, a
Black man who died in 2015
from injuries sustained in a
Baltimore police truck. Officers
“can make mistakes,” said New
Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson,
“but you can’t treat people the way
Randy Cox was treated.”
Washington, D.C.
Jan. 6 sedition: Stewart
Rhodes, leader of the far-right
Oath Keepers militia, was
convicted this week
along with subordi-
nate Kelly Meggs of
seditious conspiracy,
delivering a major vic- Rhodes
tory for the Justice Department. Rhodes’
two-month trial had featured the most
serious charge brought thus far among
900 criminal cases stemming from the
Capitol attack. The Yale Law School–
educated Rhodes, 57, hatched a violent-
plot to overturn Joe Biden’s election,
stashing weapons in Virginia and oversee-
ing Oath Keepers, led by Meggs, storming
the Capitol. Three other Oath Keepers
who played smaller roles in the attack—
Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and
Thomas Caldwell—were found not guilty
of sedition. All five Oath Keepers on trial
were convicted of obstructing an official
proceeding and destroying evidence;
Meggs, Harrelson, and Watkins were
convicted of an additional conspiracy
charge. “The government did a good
job,” said Rhodes’ lawyer James Lee
Bright, who said he intended to appeal.
“They took us to task.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
8 NEWS The world at a glance ...
Paris
Fired for being no fun: A French consulting firm that fired an
employee because he wouldn’t join in happy hours and week-
end social functions must pay him at least $3,000 in damages,
an appeals court ruled last week. Cubik Partners fired the man,
whose name was not made public, in 2015 for failing to fit into
the “fun” company culture. But the court found that Cubik’s man-
datory seminars at hotels, where employees had to share rooms
and sometimes beds, “often ended in excessive alcohol consump-
tion encouraged by associates who made very large quantities of
alcohol available,” and that those who didn’t participate in raun-
chy team-building exercises were bullied. The man could yet win
much more compensation: He’s asked for more than $480,000,
and a separate court will consider how much to award.
Edinburgh
Scottish independence vote nixed: The Supreme
Court of the United Kingdom ruled unanimously
last week that Scotland cannot hold a second ref-
erendum on whether to break from its more than
300-year-old union with England. Scots rejected
independence in 2014 by 55 percent, but the rul-
ing Scottish National Party believes they changed
their minds after Brexit. Some 62 percent of
Scots voted to remain in the European Union,
Sturgeon
and many now want Scotland to rejoin the EU
on its own. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the ruling
“confirms that the notion of the U.K. as a voluntary partnership of
nations is no longer, if it ever was, a reality.”

Bucharest, Romania
NATO aids Ukraine: NATO pledged this week to
provide Ukraine with the generators, transform-
ers, and other energy supplies it needs to get
through the winter, as Russia continued tar-
geted bombing of its energy infrastructure. At a
summit in Bucharest, NATO Secretary-General
Jens Stoltenberg said Russian President Vlad-
Blinken imir Putin was using winter as a weapon of
war. Russia “is willing to use extreme brutality and leave Ukraine
cold and dark this winter,” he said. “So we must stay the course
and help Ukraine prevail as a sovereign nation.” U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would provide $53 million
in assistance to help restore Ukraine’s power grid. Meanwhile, in
Berlin, Group of 7 justice ministers said they would cooperate in
investigating possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including
the targeting of heat and electricity.

Caracas
Chevron can pump for U.S.: The U.S. said this week it would ease
sanctions against Venezuela, allowing Chevron to resume pump-
ing oil for export to the U.S. only. No profits from the sale can go
to Chevron’s local partner, Venezuela’s state-owned company—
instead they must be used to pay off Venezuelan creditors in the
U.S. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil deposits, but as the
country lurched toward leftist dictatorship, the U.S. began putting
sanctions on the industry, and in 2020 halted oil cooperation alto-
gether. The Biden administration’s decision to ease the embargo
came as long-stalled talks between the Venezuelan government
and the opposition resumed in Mexico City. U.S. officials said the
sanctions relief was a reward for that breakthrough and was not
related to U.S. efforts to find new sources of oil.

Chone, Ecuador
Gunmen storm hospital: After an Ecuadoran gang gunned down
but failed to kill a 16-year-old hitman from a rival gang, they
stormed the hospital where he was being treated to try again. The
teenager, an alleged killer known as Dirty Face, was in intensive
care at Chone’s Napoleón Dávila Córdova Hospital this week
when the seven heavily armed gang members burst into the build-
ing, sending patients fleeing out the doors
in their hospital gowns. The gunmen took
four nurses hostage as they searched for the
teenager for nearly three hours, but police
Mourners at Plaza de Mayo
Buenos Aires
Activist mother remembered: Argentines this week mourned the
passing of Hebe de Bonafini, 93, the activist who held the military
dictatorship accountable for its killings of dissidents. Some 30,000
people disappeared during Argentina’s “Dirty Wars” in the 1970s
and ’80s, including de Bonafini’s two sons. In 1977, she and other
mothers of the missing began staging silent weekly vigils in Buenos
Getty (2), Policia Ecuador, Getty

managed to arrest them all without further
injury. “They didn’t know the hospital
layout, it seems,” hospital worker Homero
Andrade told local newspaper El Diario,
“and that’s why these delinquents were
All were arrested. roaming through the entire hospital.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
Aires’ main square. Wearing white headscarves, the Mothers of
the Plaza de Mayo quietly defied the regime’s orders to disperse
and drew international attention to the disappeared. After the
dictatorship fell in 1983, de Bonafini alienated some of her earlier
admirers with her praise of militant leftist autocrats. Her ashes
were buried in a place of honor on the Plaza de Mayo.
 The world at a glance ...
Moscow
Stronger anti-gay law: Both houses
of Russia’s parliament voted unani-
mously this week to make it illegal to
promote homosexuality in books and
films or online. Lawmakers said the
unanimity was a direct answer to U.S. Pride 2017: Now outlawed
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who last week urged them to
withdraw the bill, saying it would be a serious blow to freedom
of expression and human rights. “The louder they squeal in the
West,” said Sen. Taimuraz Dzambekovich, “the more we will be
sure that we are on the right track.” The new law expands on a
2013 ban on “propaganda” that could expose minors to “non-
traditional sexual relationships.” Now any content that depicts
homosexual relationships, even if it is not aimed at minors, can
bring a fine of up to $80,000.
Mogadishu, Somalia
Officials flee attack: Several high-
ranking Somali politicians narrowly
escaped death this week when al-
Shabab terrorists attacked the heavily
guarded hotel where they were
Villa Rose
meeting. The gunmen were able to
get into the Villa Rose after a suicide bomber blew himself up,
blasting through the walls. “The roof of the VIP room I was in
flew [off] and glass shattered far and wide,” tweeted Environment
Minister Adam Aw Hirsi. “Bullets rained in all directions.” Hirsi
Reuters (2), Munro Leys, Villa Rose
and another government minister broke through a back door to
escape, while Interior Minister Mohamed Ahmed Sheik Ali leaped
out of a window. By the end of a 22-hour standoff with security
forces, nine people were dead, including all six attackers and one
police officer. Al-Shabab stages frequent attacks in its quest to
overthrow Somalia’s government and impose Islamist rule, but
rarely has one come so close to killing government officials.
NEWS 9
Ankara
Iranian dissident sent back to Iran: An Iranian journalist who
disappeared from Turkey months ago has resurfaced in the
custody of Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mohammad Bagher Moradi, who fled to Turkey in 2014 after
being sentenced to prison in Iran for his critical news coverage,
vanished from Ankara on May 30. His family in Turkey said he
called them briefly last month to report that he had been kid-
napped by Turkish intelligence officers who held him for months
and tortured him before handing him over to Iranian authorities.
“This may be the fourth or fifth such illegal and secret deporta-
tion,” Salih Efe, a lawyer for Moradi’s family, told Radio Free
Europe. “I think Turkey cannot be considered a secure country
for Iranian refugees.”
Jerusalem
Bombings and attacks: Five Palestinians were
killed this week and one Israeli soldier wounded
in less than 24 hours as clashes increased in
the West Bank following last week’s terrorist
attack in Jerusalem. Among the dead were two
brothers in their 20s; the Israeli military said all Two sons killed
those killed had been throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. In
the terrorist attack last week, two bombs placed at bus stops in
Jerusalem killed two people and wounded at least 18, including
two U.S. citizens. The explosions occurred during morning rush
hour. “The conflict is again reaching a boiling point,” said Tor
Wennesland, U.N. envoy to the occupied territories. So far this
year, Israeli troops have killed more than 140 Palestinians, most
of them in nightly West Bank raids, while Palestinians have killed
more than 30 Israelis, mostly in knife attacks.
Taloqan, Afghanistan
Sharia law reimposed: Afghan women are being
publicly lashed for adultery and men flogged
for theft as the Taliban enforce their draconian
interpretation of Islamic law. After American
troops withdrew from the country in 2021 after
Public floggings
20 years, the new Taliban leaders insisted they
were no longer the extremists who had harbored terrorist Osama
bin Laden, forced women into burqas, and outlawed music. But
last month they ordered courts to resume sharia-law punishments,
including amputations and executions. Within days, 14 people
were lashed in a soccer stadium, including three women. “The
public flogging of women and men is a cruel and shocking return
to out-and-out hard-line practices by the Taliban,” said Samira
Hamidi of Amnesty International. It “exposes the de facto author-
ities’ complete disregard for international human rights law.”
Suva, Fiji
Jail for pointing out typo: A lawyer in Fiji who
mocked a judge’s typos faces up to six months in
jail after being convicted last week of contempt
of court. Richard Naidu, a lawyer and pro-
democracy activist, made a Facebook post in
February pointing out that a judge had twice Naidu
written “injection” when he meant “injunc-
tion” and joking, “Maybe our judges need to be shielded from
all this vaccination campaigning.” The post attracted only a few
dozen likes, but in July Fiji’s increasingly repressive authorities
cited it to charge Naidu with contempt of court. Critics say the
indictment is an attempt to prevent Naidu from running for
office. Others have been targeted, too: Last month, an opposi-
tion leader was charged with “insulting a woman’s modesty”
for greeting a friend’s wife with a kiss on the cheek.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
10 NEWS People
Thompson’s lesson in love
Emma Thompson seemed to have found her
match, said John Lahr in The New Yorker. The
British actress was introduced to American viewers
with the 1987 TV miniseries Fortunes of War, in
which she co-starred opposite Kenneth Branagh.
During a break in filming, Branagh sang to her in
his slight falsetto. “I burst into tears because he
sounded exactly like my father,” says Thompson, 63. Branagh was
reminiscent of her father, an actor, in another way: a charismatic
man whose attention Thompson had to fight for. Branagh “was
incandescent with ambition and performance energy,” she says.
They wed in 1989, then, in 1995, she got a shock. While directing
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Branagh started a relationship with
actress Helena Bonham Carter. Thompson was publicly humili-
ated. “I was utterly, utterly blind to the fact that he had relation-
ships with other women on set,” she says. As she came to grips
with his serial infidelity, “Any sense of being a lovable or worthy
person had gone completely.” Her self-esteem was rescued by Greg
Wise, the actor with whom she’s been married for 19 years. “I’ve
learned more from my second marriage just by being married,” she
says. “As my mother says, ‘the first 20 years are the hardest.’”

Why Weir rejects adoration

Bob Weir thinks it’s ridiculous to treat pop musicians like gods,
said Jonathan Williger in The Washington Post. A founding mem-
ber of the Grateful Dead, Weir has complex feelings toward the
band’s famously dedicated Deadhead fanbase. On the one hand,
he’s played rhythm guitar for thousands of shows, known for
cracking jokes in his slight drawl between songs. But he’s sickened
by the way some fans worship lead singer Jerry Garcia. “I won’t
have it,” says Weir, 75. “The deification that those folks made
of Jerry is basically what killed him. It disgusted him, and rightly
so.” Overworked, overweight, and obsessed with maintaining
the band’s high standards, Garcia died of a heart attack at the
age of 53 in a drug treatment facility. Weir refuses to let anyone
idolize him. “That’s a lesson I learned the hard way, from losing a
friend,” he says. In the nearly 30 years since Garcia’s death, Weir
has guarded the Grateful Dead’s legacy, filling stadiums with the
group Dead & Company, which includes original drummers Bill
Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. The group plans to disband next
year, but for now, Weir insists on the freedom to alter arrange-
ments and style. “If we were to go out and try to do a rote set, the
same thing night after night like some outfits do,” he says, “I’d
make it maybe two or three gigs and then go completely nuts.”
The doomed mission Cameron missed
James Cameron has one unrealized goal—to make a film in outer
space, said Zach Baron in GQ. The man who directed Titanic,
Terminator, and Avatar—groundbreaking for their computer-
generated visual effects and massive box-office successes—is
known for the colossal technical ambition (and eye-popping cost)
of his projects. “Difficult is a magnet for me,” says Cameron, 68.
“There are lots of smart, really gifted, really talented filmmakers
out there that just can’t do the difficult stuff. So that gives me a
tactical edge to do something nobody else has ever seen.” Before
he turned his attention to Avatar, Cameron was captivated by the
idea of filming a documentary in outer space. He asked NASA’s
then-administrator Daniel Goldin if he could shoot inside the
International Space Station. Goldin said that wasn’t feasible, but as
a compromise, he offered Cameron a seat on a space shuttle orbit-
ing the Earth. No, Cameron replied. “I want to stick to my plan.”
Goldin put him on a list to go up to the ISS, and Cameron started
training. But the Columbia, the Space Shuttle for the mission he
turned down, disintegrated on re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all
seven passengers. That ended the ISS possibility. If it were not for
his stubbornness and relentless ambition, Cameron says, he’d be
gone, too. “I f---ing saved my own life by choosing the higher path.”

QMariah Carey may dominate the holiday-
season airwaves thanks to her 1994 smash
“All I Want for Christmas Is You,” but she
cannot legally claim to be the official
“Queen of Christmas.” The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office denied Carey’s ap-
plication last week to trademark that
title, along with “QOC” and “Princess
Christmas,” which Carey, 53, reportedly
had planned to use on products ranging
from dog leashes to coconut milk. Her
application cited a 2021 Billboard article
declaring her the “undisputed Queen
of Christmas.” But Carey’s trademark
request was disputed by several other
singers, including Elizabeth Chan, who
She accused Carey of trying to “monopo-
lize” a title that’s also been bestowed on
Chan, Darlene Love (“Christmas: Please
Baby Come Home”), and “Rockin’ Around
the Christmas Tree” singer Brenda Lee.
After Carey’s application was denied, Love
congratulated “all the other Queen of Christ-
mases around the world.”
QBob Dylan has apologized for an “error
in judgment” after outraged fans who
paid $599 for an autographed copy of the
singer’s new book discovered that every
signature was identical—indicating that
Dylan used an autopen machine to sign the
900 special copies of Philosophy of Modern
Song. Dylan, 81, said a “bad case of ver-
tigo” in 2019 now requires him to need five
helpers to complete a signing session. “The
to me, along with the assurance that this
kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art
and literary worlds.” His publisher, Simon
& Schuster, promised refunds after initially
insisting Dylan had hand-signed the books.
QKanye ‘Ye’ West’s self-described “full-on
pornography addiction” created moments
of extreme discomfort for employees at
Adidas, Rolling Stone reported last week. Ye
brought his Yeezy line to Adidas in 2013, and
his shoes and other clothes generated bil-
lions of dollars until Adidas cut ties this year
over his anti-Semitic comments. Former
Yeezy and Adidas staffers say Ye frequently
played porn videos during meetings, say-
ing he needed it “to keep me focused.” He
also reportedly showed Adidas employees
homemade sex tapes, some involving his
Getty (3)

has made 11 albums of Christmas songs. idea of using an autopen was suggested ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

 Briefing NEWS 11

If China invades Taiwan

After decades of threats, is China preparing to attack and annex the island nation?

Why would China invade? U.S.’s in strength—would send

China has long claimed sover- an armada across the strait
eignty over Taiwan and aimed to mount a huge amphibious
for reunification with the island assault. The island’s geog-
nation of 24 million people, raphy would pose myriad
located just 110 miles across problems for China’s People’s
the Taiwan Strait. The two Liberation Army (PLA):
have been separate entities since Most of Taiwan’s shoreline is
the Chinese civil war in 1949, unsuitable for ships to dock
when Mao Zedong’s Red Army and unload personnel and
defeated the forces of Chinese equipment, and a 245-mile-
nationalist Chiang Kai-shek, long mountain range from
who fled to Taiwan and set up the nation’s northern tip to
an authoritarian government southern end would serve as
Chinese warships in recent training exercises a natural obstacle to invading
there. After Chiang’s death
in 1975, the island transitioned into a prosperous democracy; troops. A less costly option would be for China to attempt a naval
it is now led by President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence blockade, cutting the island off from food and energy imports.
Democratic Progressive Party, and the vast majority of the nation’s “In two weeks, Taiwan would start to go dark,” Richard Chen,
citizens do not want to come under Beijing’s repressive rule. But Taiwan’s former deputy defense minister, told The New Yorker.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sees Taiwan as he did Hong Kong—a “No electricity, no phones, no internet. And people would start to
natural part of China stolen by pro-Western forces. To complete go hungry.” But a war would also likely lead the U.S. and other
China’s “great rejuvenation” and become the world’s leading Western nations to cut off trade with China, which imports more
power, Xi believes, China must reclaim territory it lost in the 19th food than any other country to feed its 1.4 billion people.
and 20th centuries. Experts believe Xi sees a window of opportu-
nity to invade that might close if Taiwan succeeds in arming itself Is Taiwan prepared to defend itself?
with major help from the U.S. “At some point, China will decide, No. Taiwan has about 200,000 active-duty soldiers, airmen, and
‘We have to do this,’” a Biden administration official told The sailors, compared with the PLA’s estimated 2 million. If neces-
New Yorker. “And they’ll just look for a casus belli.” sary, Taiwan could call up its 400,000 reservists, but it lacks the
weapons and infrastructure required to turn them into an effective
What are the warning signs? fighting force. Taiwan is taking some steps to harden its defenses,
As Xi strengthens his one-man grip on power, his rhetoric about though: The government approved $8 billion in emergency defense
“national unification” has taken on a more strident tone. China spending this year. It also purchased $14 billion of military hard-
has recently ratcheted up military activity with increased patrols ware from the U.S., but it hasn’t been delivered yet because the
in the Taiwan Strait and intrusions into Taiwanese airspace. In the war in Ukraine has left the U.S. with empty warehouses. For
wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last sum- now, some civilians are taking matters into their own hands and
mer, China test-fired 11 ballistic missiles into waters surrounding learning basic civil defense. Robert Tsao, a Taiwanese billionaire,
the island and conducted a large-scale naval exercise to simulate has dedicated over $30 million to a territorial defense program.
a blockade and invasion. U.S. Admiral “I don’t care if the government isn’t
Philip Davidson, then head of Indo- ready,” he said. “We have to act.”
Pacific Command, said last year China Global economic repercussions
might invade Taiwan before 2027; Taiwan manufactures about 70 percent of the Would the U.S. get involved?
Adm. Mike Gilday, the U.S. Navy’s global supply of advanced semiconductors— Almost certainly. Biden has strongly
chief of naval operations, argued that it the chips that power smartphones, cars, and implied that the U.S. would help
could happen before 2024. In October, computers. Over the past two decades, the defend the island against an attack.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken U.S. has spent about $300 billion on Taiwanese When U.S. military officers stage
chips. Even China relies on them and lacks war games to act out the various
warned that China no longer finds the
the expertise and infrastructure to produce its
current situation “acceptable” and is scenarios of a Chinese invasion of
own. In the case of an occupation, China would
“determined to pursue reunification need to force Taiwanese workers to operate the
Taiwan, they usually end badly for
on a much faster timeline.” A month semiconductor factories, but without Western the U.S. In extreme scenarios, the U.S.
later, President Biden met with Xi in imports of raw materials and equipment, pro- attacks mainland China and China
Indonesia and stressed the U.S.’s oppo- duction would quickly cease. “A world without then attacks Hawaii and Alaska. In
sition to China’s threatening actions Taiwan is a world back to the Stone Age,” a virtually all scenarios, a U.S.-China
against Taiwan. Xi warned Biden “the semiconductor executive said. Combined with war over Taiwan would be devastat-
Taiwan question is at the very core of disruptions to shipping lanes in the Western ing for both sides and the world. “A
China’s core interests.” Pacific, used by about one-third of the world’s war would fundamentally change the
sea traffic, this could spur a global economic character and complexion of global
What would an attack look like? crisis. A RAND Corporation study predicted power,” said Matthew Pottinger,
An invasion would likely start with that a yearlong war would cut the U.S.’s gross an Asia specialist at the Hoover
Chinese cyber and missile attacks on domestic product by 5 to 10 percent—but it Institution. “If Taiwan falls, we are
military infrastructure. After that, would slash China’s by 25 to 35 percent. in a different world, where the tide of
Reuters

China’s navy—which now rivals the authoritarianism becomes a flood.”

THE WEEK December 9, 2022
12 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
Republicans are aghast at the “stunning decline of support for the GOP
The GOP’s among younger voters,” said Jeff Jacoby. In House races, voters under It must be true...
lost 30 supported Democrats by a staggering 28-point margin. Why? Some
of my conservative colleagues are blaming indoctrination by left-wing
I read it in the tabloids
generation professors, while ignoring the elephant in the room: Donald Trump.
“No president in memory has so alienated younger voters” with his
QA 68-year-old man in Fresno,
Calif., was charged with
Jeff Jacoby repellent rhetoric and barbaric behavior. As these voters formed their robbery after he hobbled
The Boston Globe political identities, they saw Republicans defend and even celebrate “a into a bank while using a
boorish, insult-spewing narcissist.” As a result, an entire generation is walker and demanded $200.
“probably lost to the GOP for good.” This wasn’t inevitable. In the “He walked up, utilizing
2000 election, voters under 25 were evenly split between George W. his walker, provided a note
Bush and Al Gore. When Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, to the clerk, who gave him
he got a stunning 61 percent of the vote of 18- to 24-year-olds. Though the money, and he walked
out—with his walker,” said
Reagan was 73, he won them over with his sunny optimism and “a
Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley.
deep-rooted faith in the goodness of ordinary Americans.” If Republi- The bank clerk included a
cans want a chance with the next generation of young voters, they will tracking device with the cash,
need candidates who promote an uplifting conservative vision, rather which—along with “his slow
than Trumpist resentment and hatred. “I’m not holding my breath.” movement”—helped police
locate the suspect just two
blocks away, said Dooley.
Just as doctors like me warned, said Chavi Eve Karkowsky, abortion
Post-Roe bans are creating medical nightmares for women experiencing danger-
horrors ous pregnancy complications. A recent medical journal article describes
this new reality in Texas, where abortion laws prohibit doctors from
at hospitals intervening unless there’s an “immediate threat to maternal life.” At
two major hospitals, 28 pregnant women experienced serious compli-
Chavi Eve Karkowsky cations at less than 22 weeks’ gestation. Their agonized obstetricians
Slate were forced to “wait for something terrible to happen” for an average
of nine days, as the women suffered. During those pointless delays, 27
of the pregnancies ended in miscarriages. The one surviving baby had
massive complications, including brain swelling and bleeding and liver QA fisherman was stunned
and lung dysfunction, guaranteeing a short life with major disabilities. when he pulled a 67-pound
Most of the 28 women suffered dangerous medical complications—some goldfish from a French lake.
“serious enough to require intensive-care admission, surgery, or a second Andy Hackett, 42, reeled in
admission to the hospital.” One patient had to get a hysterectomy. If the the massive specimen, a
patients had had the option of terminating these doomed pregnancies, hybrid species of leather carp
much of this misery could’ve been avoided. “But of course,” in Texas, and koi carp, at Bluewater
“these women didn’t get a choice.” Lakes in Champagne, where
it was introduced about 20
years ago. “It was brilliant to
The House Ways and Means Committee is finally getting its hands on catch it, but it was also sheer
Why Trump’s Trump’s tax returns, said Edward McCaffery. A yearslong legal battle luck,” Hackett said. He spent
25 minutes reeling in the
tax returns ended last week when the Supreme Court denied Trump’s bid to block
their release. “So now what?” The returns, which may or may not monster fish, then threw it
still matter be released to the public, are not likely to contain any big surprises,
despite fantasies about “smoking guns” involving his connections to
back after posing for photos.
QResidents of Woburn, Mass.,
Edward McCaffery Russia. Most likely, the returns will confirm what The New York Times are being terrorized by a
CNN.com revealed in 2020 after it obtained 20 earlier years’ worth of Trump’s flock of five wild turkeys. Led
returns: Despite his ownership of a real estate company with hundreds by an aggressive male nick-
of millions in revenue, “he paid little or no taxes in most years.” That named Kevin, the birds beset
simple fact may not shock us, but it should. “Something is wrong with pedestrians, postal workers,
and kids on bikes, and even
a system in which a billionaire president can pay no taxes.” Either
stop traffic by blocking roads
Trump illegally hid income to escape federal taxes or filed returns so and pecking at car tires.
complicated the IRS couldn’t find fraud in audits that are mandatory “They don’t let you out of
for every president, or he legally exploited tax laws to avoid paying your house,” said resident
what most of us contribute. If it was all legal, “the lessons to be learned Meaghan Tolson, adding that
here are not about Trump, but about us, and our tax system.” many neighbors now keep
brooms or rakes by their
doors for self-defense. “If
Viewpoint “Merriam-Webster has chosen “gaslighting” as its Word of the Year for 2022.
you’re walking or jogging or
This is likely to surprise neither the perpetrators of gaslighting, who had yet
anything like that, they come
another banner year, nor the rest of us trying to avoid being gaslit. Undergirding all the gaslighting
for you.” When Kevin is not
is the unfortunately correct belief that there is no particular cost anymore to being widely regarded
as a liar. [Donald] Trump taught his party that shamelessness is a kind of superpower, liberating around, the other turkeys are
much more “mellow,” said
Bluewater Lakes

you to keep lying. The worst among us have the advantage in this battle, and they always will. If we
never forget that, we can hope, from time to time, to defeat them.” Tolson. “He kind of amps
Paul Waldman in The Washington Post them up.”

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

14 NEWS Best columns: Europe
To understand why the British economy is floun-
UNITED KINGDOM dering, consider the fashion brand Next, says Fra-
ser Nelson. Since Brexit dried up the flow of cheap
Why we need East European labor, the 150-year-old British com-
pany hasn’t been able to recruit enough staff to
to hire operate its warehouse in Rotherham, England, at
full productivity. CEO Simon Wolfson blames im-
local talent migration restrictions. “We have got people queu-
ing up to come to this country,” he complained re-
Fraser Nelson
cently. “And we’re not letting them in!” Wolfson is
The Daily Telegraph
a Conservative and a baron who voted for Brexit,
so his pro-migration stance is noteworthy. But
here’s an even more noteworthy fact: Some 16 per-
cent of Rotherham’s working-age residents are
unemployed. And the city is no outlier. Across the
U.K., a “staggering, scandalous” 13 percent of the
working-age population is getting jobless benefits.
Surely some of these Brits could be nudged back
into the workforce, if only firms made an effort
to woo them. Yet instead of offering training or
higher wages, employers simply ask, “Where have
the Poles gone?” It’s shortsighted and, frankly, un-
patriotic. “No country can properly prosper” if it
has given up on its homegrown talent. To import
workers instead of training them “would not just
be an economic failure but also a moral one.”

SLOVAKIA Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wastes
no opportunity to flaunt his nationalist vision of
Reminding Greater Hungary, said Michal Horsky. At a recent
World Cup match, he wore a scarf showing a map
Orbán what of Hungary four times its current size, engulf-
ing parts of Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia,
century it is Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. These were the
borders of the Kingdom of Hungary before World
Michal Horsky
War I, and right-wing Hungarian nationalists pine
Pravda for those glory days. Orbán’s scarf was intended
as a message of solidarity with that crowd, “the
most toxic element in Hungary.” I doubt Orbán
actually wants to reclaim former territories, as
Russia’s Vladimir Putin is attempting to do with
his imperialist war on Ukraine. Still, “he has more
in common with Putin” than a European leader
ought to have. Since taking office in 2010, Orbán
has weakened Hungary’s judiciary, gagged the
press, and demonized immigrants. He is a darling
of radical right-wingers in the United States and
Europe, a “holy fighter against the dictates of
Brussels and modernity.” Fortunately, our own
leaders didn’t ignore Orbán’s “embarrassing” soc-
cer garb. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger
gave his Hungarian counterpart a present: a scarf
emblazoned with Slovakia’s flag. “I noticed that
Viktor Orbán has an old scarf,” he said drily. “So
I gave him a new one.”

Poland: ‘No thanks’ to help from Germany

The errant Ukrainian missile that landed Kaczynski spoke out, “venting his antip-
on Polish territory last month didn’t drag athy to Germany.” With an election
NATO into war with Russia, said Jörg coming next year, the party is pander-
Römer in Der Spiegel (Germany), but it’s ing to nationalists. What a “dangerous
still causing the alliance a headache. Last farce.” The government is “toying with
week, Germany offered to help fellow Poland’s security in the name of short-
NATO member Poland protect itself from term political goals.”
any future accidental strikes by sending
over a high-tech Patriot missile-defense Yet from a military standpoint, it makes
system, “one of the most powerful defense most sense to deploy missile defense
systems in the world.” But that plan raised where the missiles are falling: in Ukraine,
“a number of questions.” What if Poland said Marcin Wiklo in wPolityce.pl. And
detected missiles approaching that needed sending Patriots there would give Ger-
to be shot down over Ukrainian territory? many’s reputation a much-needed boost.
That could put Poland on a collision course German Patriots come with German crews. Berlin, after all, was initially lukewarm
with Russia, potentially involving NATO in a war it desperately about endorsing sanctions that could hurt its many business ties
wants to stay out of. And who would operate the complicated in Russia, and for months it dragged its feet on sending Ukraine
Patriot system—Germans? Many Poles still distrust our military weapons. That’s left some NATO partners wondering whether
because of the Nazi invasion in World War II. In the end, Polish Germany “really wants Ukraine to win” or whether “it’s already
Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak rejected the gift. He said the thinking of doing business with Moscow again.”
Patriots with their German crews should go to Ukraine instead,
where they would be even more needed and would still help That’s not fair, said Nadia Klochko in Glavcom (Ukraine). Ger-
“increase security” on Poland’s borders. Of course, that can’t many is now the fourth-largest donor of weapons to Ukraine,
happen: German soldiers operating on Ukrainian soil would also and “just last week” it sent us “a new batch,” including another
bring NATO into conflict with Russia. 10 tanks and 53 armored vehicles. Nor has Berlin entirely ruled
out sending the Patriots to us directly: German Defense Minis-
In refusing Germany’s offer, Blaszczak has left Polish skies vul- ter Christine Lambrecht said only that because the Patriots are
nerable, said Michal Szuldrzynski in Rzeczpospolita. “In the NATO weapons intended for defense of NATO territory, the al-
worst war in Europe since 1945, this is an unforgivable mis- lies must all consult before shipping them to a non-NATO coun-
take.” Why would Blaszczak do such a thing? Because of orders try. If our own Ukrainian soldiers are able to get trained abroad
from the head of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw on how to operate the anti-missile system, we may see Patriots
Kaczynski. Poland was all set to take the German missiles until here yet—hopefully soon enough to make a difference.
Getty

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

 Best columns: International NEWS 15

Ethiopia: The glaring flaw in the peace deal

“Will the peace agreement hold?” ing their own regional elections, Abiy
asked Beka Atoma Boru in the Addis invaded with federal troops and soon
Standard (Ethiopia). After two years of called on Eritrean troops to assist
bloody, grueling civil war, the Ethiopian him. His actions were brutal. His gov-
government and the Tigrayan People’s ernment’s blockade of Tigray cut off
Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a truce food supplies, causing a famine that
last month, the result of talks that were killed some 300,000 Tigrayans and
sponsored by the African Union but had now threatens more than 5 million.
extensive U.S. input. The deal calls for His allies, the Eritrean troops, have
the rebel-led Tigrayan regional govern- been credibly accused of mass rape
ment to be dissolved and Addis Ababa’s and other war crimes.
authority over the province restored.
The TPLF will then disarm. Because The absence of Eritrea from this deal
the deal was clinched “under heavy bodes ill, said Ludger Schadomsky
pressure from the Americans,” says Ethiopia, Tigray deal: Eritrea was not at the table. in Deutsche Welle (Germany).
Ethiopian politics expert Yohannes Woldemariam, it might stick. Eritrea’s autocratic leader, Isaias Afwerki, “will do everything
But there’s one major problem: Eritrea, Ethiopia’s ally in the war, in his power to thwart the agreement.” He has a grudge against
which is accused of egregious abuses of Tigrayan civilians, has the TPLF, which was ruling Ethiopia when the two countries
yet to withdraw fully. Until it does, the Tigrayans will not dare were fighting from 1998 to 2000. That’s why he sent 100,000
to disarm—indeed, their backers, the Tigrayan diaspora, who troops to attempt the “extermination” of the Tigrayan force,
financed their fight, won’t let them. “Who is going to determine and why he was willing to sacrifice 90,000 of them. It may
that there is security in Tigray?” Yohannes asked. “The mistrust be years before Isaias gets held to account for his role in the
is very intense.” war—only after the U.N. “investigates the massacres committed
by Ethiopian soldiers and their Eritrean vassals as crimes against
They called it a civil war, but it “more closely resembles a geno- humanity, or even as ethnic cleansing.”
cide,” said Duncan Murray in The Canberra Times (Australia).
Tigrayans, a minority in Ethiopia, had dominated government Healing Ethiopia’s internal divisions won’t be easy, either, said
for three decades until 2018, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Mohamed Kheir Omer in African Arguments (U.K.). For two
was elected on a wave of optimism and began releasing political years, Abiy and his allies have spoken of the TPLF and Tigray-
prisoners. Abiy even restored relations with neighboring Eritrea, ans as “a cancer and a weed.” Hate speech and hate crimes
earning the Nobel Peace Prize. But when the newly dethroned have soared. The peace deal was of course a “step in the right
Tigrayans balked at federal control and in 2020 insisted on hold- direction.” But “the guns have not yet gone silent in Tigray.”

Brazil is drowning in guns, said Cida Barbosa.
BRAZIL Over the past four years, President Jair Bolsonaro
issued some 40 decrees loosening weapons restric-
An armed tions “under the pretext” of self-defense. His sup-
porters went on a buying spree, and the number
land, thanks to of privately owned guns in Brazil nearly doubled
to 1.9 million. Any citizen can now buy up to
Bolsonaro six guns, along with 200 rounds of ammunition
for each annually. Sport shooters can register up
Cida Barbosa
to 60 weapons, including semi-automatic rifles,
Correio Brazilense
while those deemed gun collectors can hoard as
many weapons as they want. This “arms binge”
is having predictable results, including a surge in
accidental shootings such as the recent tragedy
in São Paulo, where a 36-year-old woman unin-
tentionally killed herself while posing for a selfie
with a friend’s pistol. Worse, we’re now getting
American-style school shootings. In Espirito Santo
last week, a teenager kitted out like a soldier
opened fire in two schools in a small town, kill-
ing three people and wounding eight. Thankfully,
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will
be sworn in Jan. 1, has promised to end “this bar-
barism.” The only people who should be wielding
weapons are trained professionals like the police.
It’s time to “disarm Brazil.”

UGANDA Ugandan children are growing up way too fast,
said Mable Twegumye Zake. Many drop out of
Where kids school to pay the bills or take care of their younger
siblings. Psychologists call this “parentification,”
take on adult when kids are forced to take on adult roles in the
household. I witnessed it just the other day, when
responsibility I got a flat tire. The mechanic who came to my
aid was a “short, skinny young boy clad in an
Mable Twegumye Zake
oversized dark blue coverall.” Just 8 years old,
Nile Post the boy told me most of his siblings worked—
because, he said, “we have to help put food on
the table.” The problem stems from the collapse
Reuters
of child-rearing. In the old days, the parents were
only part of a child’s upbringing; extended fam-
ily and the rest of the village also had “clear-cut
complementary roles to play.” We believed then
that “a child is like a goat, it needs constant vigi-
lance to tame it.” But colonialism and the rise of
the cult of individualism “shattered the founda-
tional fabric of the extended family,” replacing it
with the nuclear family. Now, if one parent dies
or the family finances fail, it’s goodbye innocence.
Parentified children may seem impressively mature,
but 8-year-olds shouldn’t be “looking after entire

of Uganda’s traditional, community-based model families.” Our kids deserve a true childhood.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
16 NEWS
Noted
QNearly 30 percent of
Americans now live alone,
up from 13 percent in
1960. Among households
headed by someone over
50, nearly 36 percent
are single-occupancy, as
older Americans are now
more likely to have been
divorced, separated, or
never married. Research
links aging alone with
shorter life spans and
diminished physical and
mental health.  tices,” including Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas,
The New York Times
QAt least 38 hospitals in
rural Mississippi are at
imminent risk of closure,
state officials say. Despite
its high number of poor,
uninsured residents, the
state has declined to
expand Medicaid, and
the Covid-19 pandemic
overwhelmed hospitals
with patients who could
not pay for care.
Associated Press
QAmong 700 protests
where people showed up
with firearms since 2020,
77 percent of gun carriers
were promoting right-
wing views. In open-carry
states, people are showing
up at contentious public
meetings carrying weap-
ons, and at a campaign
stop, an armed man con-
fronted Texas Democratic
gubernatorial candidate
Beto O’Rourke, saying that
he was “not welcome in
this town.”
The New York Times
QFox News aired an
average of 141 weekday
segments on violent crime
each week from Septem-
ber until Election Week
2022. After the election, the
number of violent crime
stories on the network
dropped by 50 percent.
The Guardian (U.K.)
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
Talking points
Supreme Court: Cozy ties to religious activists
The Supreme Court’s conser-
vative justices complain that
critics question the legitimacy
of their rulings, said Dahlia
Lithwick in Slate. But the
reasons to doubt their impar-
tiality are even greater than
anyone suspected. The New
York Times recently revealed
that “wealthy religious zeal-
ots paid money to pray with
Alito: Just dinner with friends
and socialize with and extract
priceless personal favors from Supreme Court jus- their efforts to smear “center-right justices.”
and the late Antonin Scalia, even as those justices
were hearing cases of great interest to the Chris-
tian right. Former evangelical leader Rev. Rob
Schenck told the Times that in 2014 Alito revealed Thomas, and Scalia repeatedly ruled that contra-
to activists Gayle and Donald Wright of the group ception, abortion, and LGBTQ rights infringed
Faith and Action over dinner at his home “that
the religious objectors would be on the winning
side” of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. That ruling
exempted Christian-owned companies from
providing contraception coverage in their health
plans. Alito denies leaking but admits socializing
with the Wrights. The real scandal is that Alito,
Thomas, and Scalia allowed “a massive influence
network” to spend time with them in their homes, own, and “they have given the public reason for
and pray with them in their chambers.
Actually, this is nothing but “another case of
political intimidation,” said The Wall Street
Twitter: Musk’s clear political agenda
Elon Musk has gone down the “right-wing rab-
bit hole,” said Michael Hiltzik in the Los Ange-
les Times. Over the past two weeks, he’s made
it clear that the primary reason for his failing
$44 billion purchase of Twitter was to use the
platform to—in his words—“establish an even
playing field” for far-right views, and provide
what he calls “a counter-narrative” to “the woke
mind virus.” Last week, Musk announced that
virtually all banned Twitter accounts would be
restored, including those of white supremacists,
anti-Semites, and misogynists; traded approving
tweets with election deniers like Dinesh D’Souza
and anti-immigrant activists; and even tweeted
an image of Pepe the Frog, a symbol of the racist
alt-right. Musk used his platform to attack adver-
tisers who’ve fled Twitter, and endorsed Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, calling
him a “sensible and centrist” candidate. He even
vowed to start a war with Apple for pulling its
ads, and claimed the company threatened to pull
Twitter from its app store. “Do they [Apple] hate
free speech in America?” Musk tweeted.
“I’m in for the Elon Musk revolution,” said
Michael Brendan Dougherty in National Review.
Under previous ownership, Twitter had become
Journal in an editorial.
Democrats are “relentlessly”
attacking the court because
they’re bitter they’ve lost
control of it. Schenck, now a
pro-choice progressive, is an
unreliable whistleblower who
waited eight years to make
his charge against Alito.
Democrats’ concerns about
the Supreme Court’s ethics
are just “a smokescreen” for
It’s no smear to wonder why those justices
have agreed with the Christian right in virtually
every case, said Sarah Posner in MSNBC. Alito,
on the “religious freedom” of the conserva-
tive Christians who raised at least $30 million
through Faith and Action to influence them.
The fundamental problem is that the Supreme
Court has no mandatory “code of conduct,”
said The Washington Post in an editorial. Lower
courts have one, but justices on the Supreme
Court are left to make ethics decisions on their
its mistrust.” Only 40 percent of Americans now
approve of the court. It’s time for the court to set
transparent and firm ethical standards for itself.
“At stake is no less than its legitimacy.”
a tool of censorship and control by the “com-
missars” of the center-left Establishment, and so
had Facebook, Google, and virtually all of Silicon
Valley. Not surprisingly, “almost everyone in the
Establishment is firing back,” and putting pres-
sure on advertisers to abandon Twitter. But the
world’s richest man will fight back, and it will be
fascinating to watch as he tries to complete Twit-
ter’s “successful exit from the wokerati.”
To understand Musk, you need to read libertarian
author Ayn Rand, said Andreas Kluth in Bloom-
berg. The protagonists of Rand’s sophomoric
novels “are cartoons” of what people like Musk,
Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel all wish to be: vision-
ary, superior beings “who rebel against—and
burst—the limits of the humdrum and stultifying
mainstream.” When little people get in the way,
they crush them. Musk and his billionaire buddies
have actually updated Rand, said Derek Robert-
son in Politico, and see themselves as avatars of
“tech libertarianism.” They seek to undermine
the “cultural regime” that they believe dominates
the media, academia, and corporate governance.
Musk’s many critics believe he is destroying Twit-
Getty (2)
ter, but in his “aggrieved, hyper-individualistic
view,” he is saving it—and the country too.
 Talking points NEWS 17

McCarthy: Is his speakership bid doomed? Wit &

“Kevin McCarthy has a prob-
lem,” said Chris Cillizza in
moderates, including at least
17 representatives who won
Wisdom
CNN.com. The midterm elec- in swing districts that voted “I do not wish women to
tions gave his party at least for President Biden in 2020. have power over men but
220 seats in the House of Rep- Their appetite for Trump- over themselves.”
Mary Wollstonecraft, quoted
resentatives, but the minority ist theatrics is likely limited, in Blasting News
leader needs at least 218 votes and it “may simply be
to be elected Speaker of the impossible” to please both “It is human nature to
House on Jan. 3. “Right now, factions. House investiga- hate him whom you have
injured.”
he doesn’t have that.” With tions of Hunter Biden and Tacitus, quoted in Forbes
the Republicans expected to Biden administration officials
hold 222 seats, five members McCarthy doesn’t have the votes... yet. and policies shouldn’t be “There is no more
from the hard-right House Freedom Caucus have inherently toxic—but only if those investigations wretched prison than the
openly said they will not vote for McCarthy, don’t devolve into “clown shows.” And that’s “an fear of hurting someone
who loves you.”
and there may be other defectors as well. That ‘if’ so large you can see it from orbit.” Rainer Maria Rilke, quoted
could sink his bid and launch the first rounds of in The New York Times
additional voting for the speaker role since 1923. McCarthy faces a no-win scenario even before
McCarthy has been employing “a variety of dif- the speaker vote is taken, said Chris Stirewalt “If the path before you is
clear, you’re probably on
ferent methods” to woo reluctant hard-liners, in The Dispatch. The government “hits its next somebody else’s path.”
said Emine Yücel in Talking Points Memo. He fiscal cliff” on Dec. 16, when a stopgap funding Joseph Campbell, quoted
has promised to restore election denier Marjorie package expires. A government default would in The Atlantic
Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to committees and oust be an economic and political disaster benefiting
“Through 99 percent of
progressives such as Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and neither party, but “congressional Republicans our time on Earth, we have
Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from theirs. want Democrats to do all the heavy lifting” in been wanderers—and the
the lame-duck session. For McCarthy to publicly next place to visit is Mars.”
It’ll be grimly fascinating to watch McCarthy, cooperate with Democrats would “further jeop- Carl Sagan, quoted in the
a longtime “dealmaker and glad-hander,” try ardize his chances” with the Freedom Caucus/ Uniontown, Pa., Herald-
Standard
to “horse-trade his way into the speakership,” MAGA radicals. He thus needs the debt ceiling
said Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times. to be raised without looking like he helped in “Happy is the land that has
He needs the votes of the “clown caucus” in the any way. Even a politician experienced in “Mark no need of heroes.”
MAGA wing, including Greene, but also needs Antony–like contortions in the pursuit of power” Bertolt Brecht, quoted in
the Financial Times
to placate his party’s fiscal conservatives and might find that hard to pull off.
“Show me a hero and I’ll
write you a tragedy.”
Trump: The anti-Semites who came to dinner F. Scott Fitzgerald, quoted
in The Times (U.K.)
It’s easy to feel numbed to Donald Trump’s are.” Fuentes reportedly gushed at the dinner that
offensive, attention-seeking antics, said Michelle Trump is “one of the greatest Americans that has
Goldberg in The New York Times, but “I confess ever lived,” and urged him to ratchet up his rhet-
to being astonished that the former president oric, so Trump let him talk. That’s indefensible. It Poll watch
dined last week with one of the country’s most feels as if a lot of people “are just starting to tire
Q58% of Republicans
influential white supremacists,” Nick Fuentes. of the whole unending, enervating circus.” and 48% of Democrats
The 24-year-old podcaster and YouTube person- report having a meal with
ality was brought along by Kanye “Ye” West, Even Republicans who’ve been afraid to criticize someone of another party
whom Trump invited to his Mar-a-Lago club Trump expressed disgust, said Karen Tumulty in the past year. 79% of
shortly after Ye’s rants about going “death con 3” in The Washington Post. Former Vice President Democrats say they have
on the Jews. Fuentes is a Holocaust denier who Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike very little or nothing in
has endeared himself to the GOP’s MAGA wing Pompeo, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Arkansas common with Repub-
by arguing that “Christians should have all the Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson all scolded licans, while 74% of
power,” said Matt Lewis in The Daily Beast. He’s Trump for breaking bread with Fuentes. “Have Republicans say the same
also suggested executing lawmakers who voted these critics been in a coma since 2015?” asked about Democrats.
to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, and stripping David Frum in The Atlantic. Trump launched his Axios/Ipsos
women of the right to vote. Fuentes and Trump political career by insisting Barack Obama was Q75% of Americans have
reportedly hit it off, with Trump turning to Ye to born in Africa, and has been cozying up to bigots, used Facebook in the past
say, “I really like this guy. He gets me.” extremists, and neo-Nazis for years. “Only the six months, while just
political calculations have possibly changed.” 34% report using Twitter
“Dining with Nazis” is a bad look, of course, Trump lost in 2020, and his handpicked MAGA or TikTok. 44% of social
said Gerard Baker in The Wall Street Journal. candidates took a beating in the midterms. So media users spend the
But this “symposium of disordered minds” was the GOP now views Trump as a loser—someone most time on Facebook,
not Trump endorsing Fuentes’ hateful views. who can cost them power rather than delivering compared with 8% on
Trump is no anti-Semite. He is, however, guilty it. If Trump somehow wins the 2024 nomination, TikTok and 4% on Twitter.
of having “limitless capacity for hearing people “the deal will be on again,” and Republicans will GRID/Harris
Getty

tell him things he wants to hear—whoever they return to excusing the inexcusable.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
18 NEWS Pick of the week’s cartoons

THE WEEK December 9, 2022 For more political cartoons, visit: www.theweek.com/cartoons.
20 NEWS Technology

Gaming: Virtual reality’s only killer app

Meta’s newest virtual-reality headset winning is a fancy Zoom meeting.”
may not be exactly what Meta “prom- And Workrooms is “a core part of the
ised,” said Brian Chen in The New Meta Quest Pro strategy,” aimed at
York Times, but for game players, the “enticing your average office worker to
new Quest Pro is stunning. It has a use a headset.” Another productivity
“higher-definition picture, receiving app, Immersed, allows you to project
quadruple the number of pixels of its your computer screen in VR, said Sofia
predecessor, the Quest 2,” with a bet- Pitt in CNBC.com. “In theory, this is a
ter controller for tactile manipulation. great idea,” because the headset elimi-
And it supports hundreds of gaming nates other workplace distractions. In
titles, delivering “visually stunning, practice, though, “I felt disoriented.”
immersive gaming in a lightweight, My eyes grew tired after reading a
wireless headset.” Of course, this isn’t single article, “and the headset felt too
what Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg told Meta’s new headset: Good for gamers, not the office heavy to wear for more than an hour.”
us to expect. He is spending billions
building out a metaverse that he envisions will “transform the And the problems don’t end there, said Geoffrey Fowler in The
way we work, collaborate, and create art.” The reality, though, Washington Post. The Quest Pro comes embedded with cameras
is that the best of what the metaverse has to offer is gaming. that track facial movements and applies “those to your avatar
“People should buy the Quest Pro for the same reasons they get in real time.” My device, however, couldn’t even “detect when
PlayStations and Nintendos: to be entertained and find brief es- I stuck out my tongue.” Supposedly, the “biggest leap” for the
capes from the real world.” Quest Pro is that it incorporates “mixed reality”—a view of
your immediate, real-world surroundings that you can augment
Yes, gamers might be Meta’s best bet, said Adi Robertson in The or interact with virtually. But the “real world” I saw inside the
Verge—because its marquee virtual office “is one of the worst Quest Pro “was more like the underwater scenes in the Aqua-
apps I’ve ever used.” Workrooms is “a social app in the sense man movie, warped and washed out.” App developers might
that it’s built for meetings with colleagues,” but finding anybody eventually have better ideas to overcome these technological
on there “is a matter of luck.” It’s so glitchy, “it’s like spinning limitations. For now, it’s hard to figure out “a compelling reason
a roulette wheel designed by Franz Kafka, where the prize for using a face computer is better than a phone or laptop.”

Innovation of the week Bytes: What’s new in tech

A new household device can
alert distracted people to door-
bells, breaking glass, baby cries,
or other important sounds, said
Ben Coxworth in New Atlas. Earzz
is a small “cube-shaped device”
intended “to be placed in the part of
the house where the target noise is
most audible.” Users must down-
load an app to choose the noise
they want Earzz to recognize. The
device sends a smartphone notifica-
tion to alert the user if it detects the
noise, offering some peace of mind
to heavy sleepers or people who
like wearing headphones around
the house. A single Earzz device can
listen for three separate sounds; for
total audio surveillance, you can set
multiple devices around a house,
each listening for different noises.
Hurdles for Microsoft-Activision deal
The Federal Trade Commission will likely
file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft’s
$69 billion acquisition of video game maker
Activision Blizzard, said Josh Sisco in Politico.
“A lawsuit would be the FTC’s biggest move
yet under chair Lina Khan to rein in the power
of the world’s largest tech companies.” Central
to the agency’s concerns is whether acquiring
Activision, which makes popular titles like
Call of Duty and Candy Crush, “would give
Microsoft an unfair boost in the video game
market.” Sony has emerged as the deal’s pri-
mary opponent, arguing that Microsoft could
make Activision’s titles exclusive to Xbox,
harming makers and players of other consoles.
Seeking to mollify opponents, Microsoft has
promised to keep Call of Duty available on
Sony’s PlayStation, and offered Sony a 10-year
licensing agreement to the game.
China’s luxury electric cars
China’s electric-vehicle industry is steering a
new path into the U.S., said Jeanne Whalen
in The Washington Post. Polestar “bills itself
as a Swedish brand competing for well-
heeled” Western buyers, but it “is controlled
by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu,” the founder
a major Chinese auto manufacturer. Volvo
and Geely founded Polestar in 2017 and
placed its headquarters in Sweden, where its
top managers and designers are based. But
the company’s main vehicle, Polestar 2, “is
manufactured at a plant in Luqiao, China.”
Chinese-made vehicles are subject to a 25 per-
cent import tariff imposed by the Trump
administration, and they aren’t eligible for the
$7,500 federal tax credit for the purchase of
EVs assembled in North America.
Staying in touch with yourself
“Texting yourself sounds weird until you try
it,” said David Pierce in The Verge, but once
you do you’ll find you can’t live without it.
Many people already email themselves notes,
documents and reminders. Using messaging
apps makes the process quicker—Apple’s or
Google’s apps work fine, as do others such as
WhatsApp. Messaging apps “integrate well”
with your phone’s sharing menu and make it
simple to transfer data between devices. And
“you’re not stuck with a million ‘No Subject’
emails in your inbox.” App developers are
starting to notice self-texting: WhatsApp has
added a Message Yourself feature, which
“puts your own contact at the top of the list
Getty

and majority shareholder of Zhejiang Geely, when you start a new chat.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022

Artemis 1’s high orbit around the moon
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission has success-
fully put its Orion spacecraft into orbit
around the moon, reports The New York
Times. Last week, the unmanned capsule
carried out a lunar flyby, soaring within
81 miles of the surface, the closest it will
get, and taking some spectacular photos.
Then it burned its engines to enter a
distant retrograde orbit—traveling in the
opposite direction of the moon’s orbit of
Earth—40,000 miles from the surface,
reaching at its farthest point 270,000
miles from Earth, farther than any other
spacecraft designed to carry astronauts.
(The previous record, some 248,000 miles
It doesn’t get any easier.
Dangers of repeat Covid
Your second bout with Covid may be
worse than your first. Researchers at the
Department of Veterans Affairs analyzed
the health-care records of nearly 41,000
patients who had been infected two or
more times. The median time between the
first and second infections was just over
half a year. Compared with people who
had only had one infection, the repeat
patients were three times more likely to
be hospitalized and twice as likely to die.
They also had a threefold increased risk of
heart issues and blood-clotting conditions,
and a twofold increased risk of fatigue.
The findings applied regardless of whether
they had been vaccinated or boosted. The
results don’t prove a causal relationship,
and other research has suggested that rein-
fections become less severe over time. But
study co-author Ziyad Al-Aly, from the
VA St. Louis Health Care System, says the
findings should encourage people not to be
blasé about reinfection. “Getting it a sec-
ond time is almost like you’re trying your
chance again with Russian roulette,” he
tells The Washington Post. “You may have
NASA, Getty (3)
dodged a bullet the first time, but each
time you get the infection you are trying
your luck again.”
Health & Science
from Earth, was set when the crippled
Apollo 13 craft had to swing around the
moon.) There was a hiccup along the way:
The spacecraft lost communications with
Mission Control in Houston for a tense
47 minutes, but engineers soon restored
the link. Once the capsule’s 25-day jour-
ney is complete, it will head back to
Earth and splash down in the Pacific. The
mission is the first step in the Artemis
program, which aims to return astronauts
to the moon and establish a lunar base.
Artemis 2, a crewed mission, is planned
for 2024, and the following year Artemis 3
will land astronauts on the moon. So far,
Anxiety and high blood pressure No drinking during pregnancy
It’s widely assumed that being stressed
out can lead to high blood pressure. But
a new study suggests that the reverse is
true—that hypertension can cause neuroti-
cism. Researchers examined blood pres-
sure readings from more than 700,000
people in Europe and compared them with
data showing how the individuals scored
for anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and
well-being. By measuring variations in
genes—a technique known as Mendelian
randomization—they were able to identify
a causal relationship between high diastolic
blood pressure and neuroticism, but no link
with the other conditions. Those with neu-
roticism tend to be excessively self-critical.
Although doctors have long known that
high blood pressure can harmfully impact
the heart, this is one of the first studies to
suggest it can also affect personality, reports
The Times (U.K.). Lead author Lei Cai,
from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, says
the reason for the link is unclear, but that
“blood pressure is a link between the brain
and the heart, and thus may promote the
development of personality traits.”
Turtles talk, just not much
Children learn that dogs bark, owls hoot,
and cows moo. But what about turtles?
Until recently scientists would probably
have said the docile reptiles don’t make
any sound at all, says SmithsonianMag
.com. But new research suggests many
of them do in fact use vocalizations to
communicate. Study co-author Gabriel
Jorgewich-Cohen, from the University of
Zurich in Swit-
zerland, first real-
ized the conven-
tional wisdom
was wrong when
he successfully
recorded his pet A single snort can say a lot.
NEWS 21
Orion took a selfie on the way.
it is all going to plan. “I would give it a
cautiously optimistic A+,” says project
leader Mike Sarafin.
Having just one glass of wine a week dur-
ing pregnancy may be enough to alter the
structure of your baby’s brain. That’s the
conclusion of a new study of fetal develop-
ment. The researchers scanned 24 fetuses
between 22 and 36 weeks’ gestation whose
mothers said they had consumed alcohol
while pregnant. The alcohol intake varied:
Some subjects said they had drunk to
intoxication, but 17 of the 24 said they
averaged less than one drink a week. Yet
all of the scans showed a significant reduc-
tion in brain development compared with
the babies of mothers who hadn’t drunk
at all. The change was particularly pro-
nounced in the right superior temporal
sulcus, an area of the brain involved in
social cognition and language develop-
ment. “Unfortunately, many pregnant
women are unaware of the influence of
alcohol on the fetus during pregnancy,”
lead author Patric Kienast, from the Uni-
versity of Vienna, tells The Daily Tele-
graph (U.K.). “It is our responsibility not
only to do the research but also to actively
educate the public about the effects.”
turtle Homer making several sounds. He
broadened his search and managed to
capture noises from 50 species of turtles,
almost none of which had been recorded
before. These sounds varied hugely:
grunts, chirps, snorts, and clicks. The rea-
son for the communication varied, too,
with some turtles using it to woo females
and others vocalizing while fighting
male rivals. Jorgewich-Cohen says these
noises were probably missed in the past
because they
were so infre-
quent. “Some of
these animals,”
he said, “make
a sound every
two days.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
22
Review of reviews: Books
Book of the week
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the
Making of the American Century
by Beverly Gage
(Viking, $45)
The J. Edgar Hoover we think we know
was “the stuff of liberal nightmares: a
red-baiter, a wiretapper, a sower of dis-
cord through covert manipulations,” said
Jennifer Szalai in The New York Times.
Beverly Gage’s impressive new biography
affirms all of those characterizations, but it
also complicates Hoover’s story, “deepening
our understanding of him and, by exten-
sion, the country he served.” Before he
became notorious for his abuses of power,
including the surveillance and harassment
of civil rights leaders and antiwar protest-
ers, Hoover was, for most of his 48 years
as director of the FBI and its precursor, “an
exceedingly popular figure.” Gage doesn’t
downplay Hoover’s flaws, but “part of
what makes G-Man such a fascinating
book is how much attention Gage pays to
Hoover’s other side—that of the consum-
mate bureaucrat.”
Novel of the week
Now Is Not the Time to Panic
by Kevin Wilson
(Ecco, $28)
Kevin Wilson’s latest novel feels “des-
tined to become a cult classic, if not just
a classic, period,” said Tod Goldberg
in USA Today. In the summer of 1996,
two 16-year-old misfits in small-town
Tennessee have just initiated a forma-
tive romance when they create a poster
bearing a cryptic 21-word message and
anonymously hang copies all over town.
The posters inspire copycats, then a
deadly moral panic. As one of the two in-
stigators looks back on the events of that
summer years later, Now Is Not the Time
to Panic achieves “a sepia-toned realism
that never ceases to entertain.” Wilson’s
first book since 2019’s Nothing to See
Here could have been just another
sojourn into “arty-girl-meets-arty-boy”
territory, said Alexis Burling in the San
Francisco Chronicle. But it’s “so heart-
breakingly honest, with an ‘us against
the world’ feel and punk rock spirit, that
it’s easy to jump on board.” Wilson has
captured “that unique time in one’s life”
when exercising self-expression “has
the power to change the world, or at
least your perception of it.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
ARTS
Hoover in 1953: A consummate inside player
He was clearly “a man of profound contra-
dictions,” said Kai Bird in The Washington
Post. A racist who worked for years to
break up the Ku Klux Klan, he was also a
passionate anti-communist who stood up to
Joe McCarthy. Born in Washington, D.C.,
Hoover was just 29 when he became direc-
tor of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924,
and though he soon amassed great individ-
ual power, he “invariably” acted with the
approval of the eight presidents he served.
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt, in fact, who
first authorized Hoover to use wiretaps in
surveilling domestic targets. G-Man ends
Suzuki: The Man and His
Dream to Teach the Children
of the World
by Eri Hotta (Belknap, $30)
Any parent wonder-
ing if their child
might be a musical
prodigy will at some
point stumble upon
the Suzuki method,
said David Mehegan
in The Arts Fuse.
The approach—built
upon the belief that
every child has the
capacity to play
well—has spread around the world since
World War II and remains particularly influ-
ential in North America. “Still, probably
few people know much, or anything, about
Shinichi Suzuki himself, the determined,
mild Japanese visionary who began the
movement that bears his name.” Eri Hotta’s
new biography, the first by a non-follower,
proves to be “a revelation on many levels.”
Suzuki’s own love of music grew organi-
cally, said Meghan Cox Gurdon in The
Wall Street Journal. Born in 1898 into a
family that manufactured stringed instru-
ments, he fell in love with the violin at 17
up relating “a very sad story,” because it
shows that Hoover dedicated his life to bol-
stering the federal government’s reputation
as a force for good, yet wound up taking
actions that gravely undermined civic trust.
Though other Hoover biographies exist,
Gage’s highly readable 700-page book
“now becomes the definitive work.” It’s
“brilliant at showing us who the man was.”
That holds true even regarding Gage’s
handling of Hoover’s personal life, said
Margaret Talbot in The New Yorker.
Though the Yale historian acknowledges
that we still don’t know if her subject was
gay, her deft account leaves “little doubt”
that Hoover was essentially married to
Clyde Tolson, his principal aide at the FBI
and the man to whom he willed most of
his estate. Just don’t buy Gage’s suggestion
that Hoover was somehow a tragic figure.
“Much that she writes about cuts against
that interpretation,” including when she
says that “he did as much as any individual
in government to contain and cripple move-
ments seeking social justice.” There wasn’t
a single such campaign, in fact, that he
didn’t treat as a criminal conspiracy. “That
is a devastating assessment.”
and studied in Germany before returning
home to perform with his brothers in a
string quartet. It struck him during that
time that children should be able to learn
music the same way they learn language: by
listening, then emulating. He also believed
fluency on the violin was within reach of
every child regularly exposed to music,
though for him, “the violin was less impor-
tant as an instrument to be mastered than
as a tool to be used to promote human
flourishing.” Following World War II, he
devoted himself to spreading his philosophy.
The success of Suzuki’s method “raises a
larger question,” said Adam Gopnik in
The New Yorker. “Is the kind of mastery
we associate with historic ‘prodigies’ actu-
ally available to every child, with the right
encouragement?” The answer, more or
less, is yes: “Small children are surprisingly
capable of learning difficult things if they’re
motivated by their own curiosity and some-
one else’s enthusiasm.” Steep them in music
and a way to produce it, and they will. It
doesn’t even matter if today’s adherents of
the Suzuki method have forgotten that the
founder’s true purpose was to build a better
world by nurturing children’s sensitivity to
beauty. As long as countless kids around
the planet continue to play with the joy he
Getty
promoted, Suzuki’s vision lives on.
 The Book List
Best books…chosen by Stephanie McCarter
Stephanie McCarter, a classics professor at the University of the South, is the
translator of an acclaimed new version of Ovid’s narrative poem Metamorphoses.
Below, McCarter recommends six other translations of classic works of literature.
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho trans-
lated by Anne Carson (2002). Sappho is one
of the few female poets we have from Greco-
Roman antiquity, though her work survives
mainly in tantalizing fragments. Like the source
text, Carson’s translation brilliantly evokes a
world of female eroticism in sharp contrast with
the political maneuverings of men.
The Battle Between the Frogs and the Mice
translated by A.E. Stallings (2019). Attributed
to Homer by the Romans, this mock Greek epic
humorously describes a battle between frogs and
mice, complete with gods taking sides and lend-
ing aid to their favorites. Stallings’ rhyming cou-
plets capture the poem’s playful tone, while Grant
Silverstein’s illustrations make it fun for all ages.
Seneca: Six Tragedies translated by Emily
Wilson (2010). Seneca’s tragedies take traditional
Greek myths and steep them in the philosophi-
cal, rhetorical, and political climate of Neronian
Rome, giving them the spectacular over-the-
top–ness you would expect of gladiatorial
combat. Wilson, best known for her Odyssey,
is also a brilliant translator of ancient drama.
Also of interest...in major new memoirs
The Light We Carry
by Michelle Obama (Crown, $32.50)
Michelle Obama can be “so intent
on finding the good” that at times
she costs herself credibility, said Aida
Edemariam in The Guardian. Still, the
former first lady has managed to fol-
low up her hit 2018 memoir with an
advice book that reads like “a carefully worked-
out manifesto for surviving, and hopefully thriv-
ing, in the world.” The chapter on parenting is
“worth the price of admission alone,” and every
page makes clear that staying positive can be a
“grinding, moment-by-moment” challenge.
Novelist as a Vocation
by Haruki Murakami (Knopf, $28)
Haruki Murakami’s baggy new collec-
tion of essays adds up to “a generally
charming excursion through the mind
of one of the world’s most beloved
novelists,” said Priscilla Gilman in
The Boston Globe. The Japanese
author attributes his success to chance, and
Sewanee.edu, Moya Nolan
ARTS 23
Author of the week
Bonnie Garmus
No one would ever call Bonnie
Garmus an overnight suc-
Andromache, Hecuba, Trojan Women by cess, said Sadie Stein in The
Euripedes, translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien New York Times. Now 65, the
(2012). Euripides famously centered female career copywriter had accu-
experiences in his tragedies, and his plays mulated nearly 100 rejections
Andromache, Hecuba, and Trojan Women exam- of previous book proposals
ine war’s costs not for the men who die but for before a fragment of Lessons
the women who survive. Svarlien’s taut poetic in Chemistry
renderings combine with Ruth Scodel’s learned launched a
bidding war
notes to make this an especially accessible volume.
and the novel
Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of went on to
Rhodes, translated by Aaron Poochigian (2014). become the
Apollonius’ epic follows Jason and the Argonauts likely best-
in their pursuit of the Golden Fleece—a feat they selling debut
accomplish with the help of an infatuated and of 2022. The story, about a
immensely clever Medea. Poochigian’s dexterous female scientist who over-
comes circa-1961 gender bar-
iambic pentameter makes this version of the 3rd-
riers by using a TV cooking
century BCE Greek tale a lively, engaging read. show to empower herself and
The Golden Ass by Apuleius, translated by other women, was inspired by
Sarah Ruden (2013). This Roman novel tells of the author’s own experiences
a man transformed into a donkey who goes on a of what she calls “garden
quest to regain his human form. It offers intrigu- variety misogyny.” But the
ing glimpses into the lives of marginalized people, layered tale has struck a chord
with a variety of readers—the
including women and the enslaved, and into the
only exceptions seeming to
treatment of animals. Ruden at her finest! be the early buyers who sent
hate mails because the book’s
bubblegum-pink cover and
flirty depiction of the heroine
seemed to promise a steamier
So Help Me God adventure. “They were like,
by Mike Pence (Simon & Schuster, $35) ‘You’re the worst romance
novelist ever!’” Garmus says.
Though Mike Pence’s memoir is at
times captivating, it’s also “singularly Garmus refers to Lessons in
frustrating,” said Tim Alberta in The Chemistry as “a love letter to
Atlantic. Pence is a decent man at scientists and the scientific
heart, but even after bravely standing brain.” But while she shares
up to the mob that invaded the U.S. certain traits with her heroine,
Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, “he has chosen to revert Elizabeth Zott, including a
to vice-presidential form,” delivering an account habit of stress-exercising on
of his experience on Team Trump that “focuses a rowing machine, she has
almost exclusively on the positives” and pretends never aspired to be a scientist
herself. Instead, she created
that Jan. 6 came out of the blue. “It’s an insult to
Elizabeth to celebrate all
the reader’s intelligence.”
women who have achieved
No Filter success in male-dominated
fields. “I felt like I was writing
by Paulina Porizkova (The Open Field, $27) my own role model, and so
“For readers seeking juice from she came easily,” she says.
celebrity memoirs, Paulina Porizkova Readers now write Garmus to
doesn’t scrimp,” said Michelle Ruiz report that the novel prompted
them to quit their jobs or
in The New York Times. Though the
even divorce their partners.
1980s supermodel reveals a weakness
“Sometimes I want to say,
for clunky metaphor in her otherwise ‘You know it’s fiction, right?’”
“taut” 240-page memoir, the book “comes alive”

she says. “On the other hand,

because he has no grand theory of fiction to pres-
ent, “the strongest essays are those that bring us
into Murakami’s unlikely career path and his odd
routines.” The book works best as “a fascinating
backstage pass” to his writing process.
when she smashes the glamorous surface of her
30-year marriage to rock star Ric Ocasek, who
cut her from his will weeks before his death. She
“walks a delicate line” in describing the relation-
ship, capturing its “many conflicting truths.”
it was what I was trying to get
across: You can really do what
you need to do. You just have
to dig in really hard.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
24 ARTS Review of reviews: Stage & Music
“Plays, movies, and TV shows are
regularly, lazily, called shocking,”
said Tim Teeman in The Daily Beast.
“Downstate actually is.” Created by
Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris
and previously staged in Chicago and
London, the 2018 drama has now
arrived on Broadway in a “daring,
disturbing, and flawlessly executed”
production that’s one of the must-see
shows of the year. But steel yourself:
Downstate chronicles a day inside a
halfway house in Illinois for four men
who have sexually molested children.
They will be confronted, sometimes
graphically, with the crimes they’ve
committed and the pain that they’ve
caused. Though “sharp comedy” has
somehow been threaded into the dialogue,
“it says something about how good every
actor is that it is kind of impossible to
laugh at any of it.”
These men are “not mere monsters,” and
that’s what’s most unsettling, said Charles decades earlier arrives and bluntly calls him retribution is enough? And what quantity
Isherwood in The Wall Street Journal.
“They are recognizably complicated human All four of the former prison inmates are
beings, seemingly normal, sometimes frac-
Downstate
Playwrights Horizon, New York City ++++
Housemates Francis Guinan and K. Todd Freeman
tious, sometimes friendly folk you might
pass on the street.” The “most confound-
ing” of these characters is a genial septua-
genarian in a wheelchair who peppers his
conversation with words like “golly” and
“shoot,” even when one of his victims of
an evil person who deserves to be dead.
ostracized and despised, and though Norris conscience begin.”
and director Pam MacKinnon “by
no means minimize the ugliness of
their transgressions,” they cause our
emotions to whipsaw between disgust
and compassion. “Engaged viewers
may find themselves feeling that their
moral compass has gone haywire.”
“If that sounds like the last thing
you need in these fraught, chaotic
times—if your default impulse is
toward easier entertainment, a bit of
light relief—I ask you to reconsider,”
said Laura Collins-Hughes in The
New York Times. The play grapples
with issues too important to ignore,
including how we should balance
punishment and forgiveness and how
contested the privileges of victimhood can
be. Do we forgive offenders like these,
though? “And can we afford to, when
those trespasses are egregious and the
danger of their repetition remains?” You
leave the theater in knots. “How much
of compassion—bestowed on whom—is
too much? Let the wrestling with your

Caitlin Rose Nas Weyes Blood

Cazimi
++++
“Caitlin Rose was never
one to fit squarely
in any genre,” said
Maeri Ferguson in No
Depression. Though
her music has been
called alt-country, the
35-year-old Nashville
singer-songwriter has always “toed the line
of pop songwriting,” and her first record
in nearly a decade “embraces her gift for
soaring melodies and earworm choruses.”
Rose’s clear, sweet voice has been “sorely
missed” since critics hailed her 2013 album,
The Stand-In. This buoyant follow-up
“feels like a reunion with an old friend.”
The album frequently gives off a “late
’70s, California vibe,” said Hal Horowitz
in American Songwriter. But because so
many of Cazimi’s 12 songs have the sterile,
glossy feel of multitrack studio efforts, “it’s
hard to shake the nagging feeling that it
could have been much better with a starker
instrumental edge.” Rose’s main collabora-
tors here helped steer Kacey Musgraves
to Album of the Year honors, said Chris
Deville in Stereogum. But these songs
are punchier than Musgraves’. The drums
“tumble with arena-rock bombast,” the gui-
King’s Disease III
++++
“This is Nas’ best
rapping performance in
quite some time, which
is saying something,”
said Marcus Shorter in
Consequence. Three
decades into his career,
the influential New
York City rapper born Nasir Jones has
become newly prolific. After doing little
in the 2010s except take a couple victory
laps, he’s been on fire since he teamed
up with the producer Hit-Boy for 2020’s
Grammy-winning King’s Disease. The pair’s
fourth and most confident collaboration
gives us “Nas at his most introspective,
observational, and musical.” Over a layered
mix of soul samples and jazz loops, the
49-year-old “experiments with flows,
rhythms, and cadences” more than he has
since the ’90s. “We’ve heard Nas’ rags-to-
riches story,” and his self-mythologizing
can sometimes get “monotonous,” said
Peter Berry in Complex. “Very few rappers
have been this good for this long,” though,
and it’s right to celebrate “a strong album”
from a veteran who has never chased
trends. While most of his contemporaries
died young or faded into obscurity, “Nas
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
++++
Weyes Blood’s previous
album won her com-
parisons with Carole
King and Joni Mitchell,
and her new one “easily
matches its acclaimed
predecessor,” said Mark
Richardson in The Wall
Street Journal. Natalie Mering, the 34-year-
old singer-songwriter who performs as
Weyes Blood, “instantly went from indie
favorite to major artist” with 2019’s Titanic
Rising, and her “icily beautiful” follow-up
is another ambitious collection of lush
chamber pop. Atmospheric strings, horns,
and woodwinds envelop Mering’s “clear
and precise” voice as she sings of loneli-
ness and the search for connection in a
fractured world. Though her themes are
overly common on pandemic-era albums,
“her idiosyncrasies as a writer and a per-
former keep the music personal and alive,”
said Andy Cush in Pitchfork. Her gossamer
voice is “so poised that small deviations
convey depths of feeling.” Her music,
meanwhile, “resists rigid structure,” includ-
ing on the standout single “God Turn Me
Into a Flower,” which extols vulnerability as
a strength. Where Titanic was exuberant
Joan Marcus

tar solos are “consistently ripping,” and the still has a lot to say—and the mic skills to baroque pop, this sequel is “more like a
result “reminds me of ’90s Wilco.” make people listen.” collection of secular hymns.”

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

 Review of reviews: Home Media ARTS 25

Video games: Pentiment and other historical adventures

Video games often use historical settings
for atmosphere, but Pentiment digs
deeper, said Lewis Packwood in The
Guardian. This adventure inspired by
Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose
and set in 16th-century Bavaria “fosters
a genuine connection with the ordinary
people living, eating, working, and dying
through a period of tumultuous change.”
You play as Andreas Maler, an artist
who arrives in a new town to work in
a monastery illustrating manuscripts, a
Andreas rides a ship of fools in ‘Pentiment.’
dying trade. When a nobleman is mur-
dered, Andreas investigates, and as he talks with the locals, “the
dialogue drips with fascinating historical detail.” Protestantism
was spreading, as were peasant revolts, and the conversations are a midsize studio can do when it has the resources to pursue its
“wonderfully evocative” of how those shifts touched daily life.
The game’s graphics resemble the art on medieval manuscripts,
and all dialogue appears as written text, said Joshua Wolens
in PC Gamer. “Never before has a game made such incredible
use of fonts.” Priests’ speech is conveyed in a sanctimonious
Gothic script, while farmers speak in peasant scratch. As you
chat and share meals with villagers and their children, “you’ll
end up forming relationships with all of them,” which makes it
wrenching to turn over a suspect for execution. Andreas’ deci-
sions weigh on him, and because the game twice leaps forward
to span 25 years, it “invites players to sit with the sadness of
hard truths,” said Shannon Liao in The Washington Post.
Loved ones die in this world, and justice is imperfect. “While
playing, I found myself repeatedly
pondering my own life and mortality.”
A Plague Tale: Requiem
“Medieval France has never looked bet-
ter,” said Luke Winkie in NYMag.com.
This Game of the Year nominee, a sequel
to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, dou-
bles down on what made that delight-
fully macabre action-adventure a hit.
You play as a slingshot-wielding teenager
who escapes her war-torn, plague-ridden
homeland and flees to Provence with her
little brother, dodging soldiers of the Inquisition and hordes of
diseased rats along the way. The “startling” graphics show what
vision. “But best of all is the storytelling, which somehow man-
ages to ground this gothic nightmare in the human beings who
need to survive it—one swarm of vermin at a time.”
Trek to Yomi
“Trek to Yomi is a cinematic experience,” said Zackery Cuevas
in PC Magazine. Set during Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867),
this side-scrolling 2D action game was heavily influenced by
classic samurai movies. You play as a young warrior who under-
takes a journey to confront the bandits who ransacked his vil-
lage. That straightforward revenge story is elevated by top-notch
voice acting and black-and-white visuals that give the hero’s tale
“the glow of an unknown Akira Kurosawa film.” Truly, “every
frame is a painting.”

New and notable podcasts

Death of an Artist Case 63 The Paddlefish Caviar Heist
(Pushkin Industries/Somethin’ Else) (Gimlet) (Imperative/Vespucci)

Ana Mendieta’s 1985 “Audio fiction is yet This is “a weird one,”

death “drove battle
lines through the New
York art world,” said
Max Pearl in NYMag
.com. The 36-year-old
Cuban native had
been a rising star;
her husband, Carl Andre, was a leading
minimalist sculptor, and he stood trial for
murder after Mendieta died in a fall from
their 34th-floor apartment. Andre was
acquitted in 1988, but art historian Helen
Molesworth decided to revisit the case and
the two artists’ contrasting work. For all
the true-crime intrigue of her podcast, its
“most novel element is its analysis of what
came after Mendieta died: the war of ideas
waged by lawyers, artists, journalists, crit-
ics, and activists that turned her from flesh
and blood into the loaded symbol she is
today.” The series “works best when con-
sidering what Mendieta’s death revealed
Obsidian Entertainment
to have its Serial
moment,” said Fiona
Sturges in the Financial
Times. The month-
old podcast featur-
ing Hollywood stars
Julianne Moore and
Oscar Isaac hasn’t been that kind of break-
out hit, but it has been hovering near the
top of Spotify’s podcast charts, and it is
“highly bingeable.” Moore plays a psychia-
trist and Isaac a new patient who claims to
have traveled back in time from the year
2062 to save the world from a pandemic
that could wipe out humanity. The story
plays out in 10 episodes, and most run well
under 15 minutes. Throughout, “the writing
is taut,” and the final episode delivers “the
mother of all twists, which leaves the door
tantalizingly ajar for further seasons.” The
stars add “a heavy dollop of on-air chemis-
try,” said Fiona McCann in The Irish Times.
said Miranda Sawyer in
The Guardian. A decade
ago, the Missouri town
that’s home to a strange
ancient lake dweller
called the paddlefish
became the center of a
crime ring because the fish’s roe tastes so
similar to Russian Sevruga caviar. “That’s
it, really. That’s the story.” And though food
journalist Helen Hollyman is a diligent
reporter, she has too much background
to establish to make the early episodes
grabby. But there’s plenty to enjoy here,
said Tom Nicholson in Esquire. With poach-
ers killing paddlefish by the hundreds and
organized-crime groups circling the town
“like so many Great Whites,” federal inves-
tigators mounted a secret war to land some
trophy catches of their own. Hollyman’s
account ranges widely, filling listeners in
on the history of caviar and even pulling in

about the art world,” said Kat Rooney in
PodcastReview.org. “A persistent theme is
the insistence of art world elites on separat-
ing Andre’s brilliant sculptures from Andre
the alleged murderer.”
In fact, as Isaac’s character uses his ses-
sions to persuade his shrink that he needs
her to join his mission, “the sexual tension
is up there with the narrative tension.” It’s
“wild and gripping stuff.”
a 1996 bombing in Russia that was blamed
on Chechen terrorists. Whenever she’s
circling the paddlefish’s home waters, “the
vibe’s enjoyably kooky, and should scratch
any itches for small-town Americana.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
26 ARTS
Streaming tips
Top recent documentaries...
Fire of Love
Maurice and Katia Krafft
loved volcanoes. One of the
best documentaries of 2022
tells the story of the married
volcanologists, who shot
spectacular footage during
their daredevil travels and
died in 1991 during the erup-
tion of Japan’s Mount Unzen.
Disney+
Three Minutes: A Lengthening
A certain Oscar contender,
this hourlong film breaks
down, and then breaks
down again, three minutes
of 16 mm film that was shot
in a Polish village in 1938.
The footage captures a lively
Jewish community that
would be erased by the Nazis
a year later. $1 on demand
The Territory
Director Alex Pritz’s docu-
mentary plays like a thriller
as it chronicles the fight of
the Uru-eu-wau-wau, a Brazil-
ian indigenous tribe, to save
their way of life while farmers
slash and burn the rain forest
around them. Disney+
Moonage Daydream
Brett Morgen’s portrait of
David Bowie, fashioned from
archival interviews and fan-
tastic concert footage, may
be the best way anyone could
get to truly know the rock leg-
end and his groundbreaking
work. $6 on demand
Bad Axe
David Siev’s highly per-
sonal film focuses on his
Cambodian-American family
as his parents struggle to keep
a restaurant afloat in Bad Axe,
Mich., at a moment when the
pandemic, the George Floyd
protests, and rising anti-Asian
sentiment make every day
more stressful. $7 on demand
What We Leave Behind
Iliana Sosa’s portrait of her
grandfather, Julián Moreno,
is a touching reminder of how
extraordinary ordinary lives
can be. Moreno traveled by
bus from Mexico to El Paso to
visit his family every month
until he was 89, when he
began building a home for his
children to return to. Netflix
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
Television
The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching
His Dark Materials
The third and final season of the BBC/HBO series
adaptation of Philip Pullman’s esteemed fantasy
novels opens with a pair of hourlong episodes.
Young Lyra Belacqua, prophesied to be the
second Eve, has been targeted for death by the
Magisterium, whose members believe that elimi-
nating her will prevent humanity’s second fall.
Lyra’s friend Will goes in search of her in a sea-
son that will also see Lyra’s father lead his rebel
army against the authoritarian theocracy. Dafne
Keen, Amir Wilson, James McAvoy, and Ruth
Wilson co-star. Monday, Dec. 5, at 9 p.m., HBO
Connect
This mind-bending six-part series from Japanese
director Takashi Miike may be the least family-
friendly thing yet to arrive on Disney+. Made
in South Korea, Connect follows an immortal
humanoid who escapes from organ harvesters
after they’ve taken one of his eyes. But he discov-
ers once it’s implanted in a serial killer that he
can still see with it, and he makes it his mission
to take down the killer and retrieve what’s his.
Available Wednesday, Dec. 7, Disney+
Retrograde
It’s hard to reconcile the abrupt ending of the
20-year U.S. war in Afghanistan with all that was
poured into it. This powerful documentary from
director Matthew Heineman puts viewers on
the ground during the final nine months before
the U.S. withdrawal to see the unfolding tragedy
through the eyes of the last in-country Green
Berets, a conflicted Afghan general, and citizens
facing an inevitable Taliban takeover. Thursday,
Dec. 8, at 9 p.m., National Geographic
Little America
Get ready for another round of American
dreams. The second season of this acclaimed
series from CODA director Siân Heder drama-
tizes eight new immigrant stories drawn from
real accounts. One episode features a young Sri
Lankan woman in Texas who enters a marathon
car-kissing contest. Others focus on a Korean
medical student whose true talent is hat design
and a Somali chef who’s determined to make
Smith: At war with an evil force
Jung Hae-in, the star of ‘Connect’
his mark at the Minnesota State Fair. Available
Friday, Dec. 9, AppleTV+
Money Heist: Korea Joint Economic Area
The Korean version of Money Heist returns after
a monthslong break with its six-part Season 1
conclusion. A spectacular heist that has captured
the attention of a unified Korea is now spinning
toward a climax, with a team of code-named
thieves having taken hostages inside the national
mint. Whatever happens next won’t be a carbon
copy of the Spanish Money Heist that spawned
the franchise. Available Friday, Dec. 9, Netflix
Other highlights
2022 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinals
If you didn’t catch World Cup fever in the earlier
rounds, you may want to tune in to track the
fates of the final eight squads. The quarterfinal
matches begin at the same hours on consecutive
days. Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10, at
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Fox/Telemundo and Peacock
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Del Toro’s well-received animated take on the
classic tale of the wooden boy makes its stream-
ing debut. Available Friday, Dec. 9, Netflix
2022 National Christmas Tree Lighting
A Washington tradition will hit the century mark
when the president and first lady light this year’s
Christmas tree on the National Mall. Performers
will include Shania Twain, LL Cool J, and Joss
Stone. Sunday, Dec. 11, CBS
Show of the week
Emancipation
Forget for a moment that Emancipation is Will
Smith’s first movie since The Slap. It is also a
movie about the man, known as Whipped Peter,
who revealed the deep scars on his back to a
Union Army photographer and thus became the
subject of a widely distributed photo that galva-
nized anti-slavery sentiment. In a dramatization
directed by Antoine Fuqua, Smith plays Peter
as an iron-willed man who in his determination
to reunite with his wife and children escapes
Disney+, Apple TV
through an alligator-infested Louisiana swamp
and fights with the Union corps that provided
him refuge. Available Friday, Dec. 9, Apple TV+
• All listings are Eastern Time.

Critics’ choice: New destinations in three pizza capitals
Michigan & Trumbull Detroit
“Detroit-style pizza aficionados will tell
you that a good ‘DSP’ is more about
the dough and the crust than the place-
ment of the sauce or toppings,” said
Melody Baetens in The Detroit News.
At Michigan & Trumbull, which has
emerged as the best modern pizzeria in
the city, the crust is exemplary: “sturdy”
but “not too dense”—a perfect bed for
simply seasoned crushed Stanislaus toma-
toes and cheese whose lacy edges crisp
against the sides of a deep 8-by-10-inch
pan. Husband and wife Nathan Peck and
Kristen Calverley named the place after the
location of the old Tiger Stadium, and the
throwback vibe at every table “hits right
in the feels.” But Peck and Calverley are
innovators, too, directing 25 percent of
revenues on their monthly specialty pies to
local charities and finding ways to re-create
the flavors of a Big Mac even on a gluten-
free crust. Everything is delicious. Ladle
out some of Peck’s vodka sauce and “I
could eat it like a bowl of tomato bisque.”
1441 W. Elizabeth St.
Kim’s Uncle Westmont, Ill.
“Pizza may be the most unifying and
polarizing of Chicago’s iconic foods,”
said Louisa Chu in the Chicago Tribune.
We fiercely defend the deep-dish style,
yet “our Proustian pizza is more likely
LEISURE
Food & Drink
Shorten and the Federighis at Kim’s Uncle
a thin crust tavern-style, cut in squares.”
But greater Chicago was arguably light
on excellent tavern pizzas until Bradley
Shorten and his partners Billy and Cecily
Federighi revitalized a small suburban piz-
zeria formerly known as Uncle Pete’s but
operated for the previous half-century by a
woman named Kim. Shorten uses a 1954
Faulds pizza oven to produce cracker-thin
crusts that are “not just crisp, but deep
with character.” The sausage and spicy
giardiniera combo “has become something
of a signature,” while the pepperoni pie
is another highlight—loaded with charred
pepperoni rounds doused with Mike’s
Hot Honey. My favorite might be the
mushroom, onion, and black olive pizza,
finished with Pecorino wisps that are “like
bubbles to Champagne.” It’s one of many
27
reasons the partners have more business
than their little oven can handle. Still,
they’re determined not to replace her.
“She’s a part of the soul of the building.”
207 N. Cass Ave.
Mel’s New York City
For a place that could draw crowds for
its pizzas alone, Mel’s “seems to push too
hard on the fun factor,” said Pete Wells
in The New York Times. Club music
plays all night, and you can lose track of
how many friendly staffers stop to ask if
you’re enjoying yourself. But Mel’s aims
to exorcise the bad juju of the restaurant it
replaced, a crown jewel in Mario Batali’s
empire before Batali was felled by sexual
misconduct accusations. Melissa Rodriguez
has graduated from chef of Del Posto
to chef-owner of Mel’s, and you will do
better than well to order a salad, a baked
stuffed clam, and a New York strip steak
the likes of which “many steakhouses can’t
equal.” The pizzas are special, though.
They’re Neapolitan influenced, but “the
crust is crisper underneath, chewier and
more flavorful,” and Rodriguez inventively
strays from topping traditions. “The frutti
di mare pizza uses spicy tomato sauce as
a backdrop for tender octopus, squid, and
shrimp. The mushroom pie gains depth
from smoked mozzarella, soft shallots, and
aged Balsamic vinegar.” 85 10th Ave.

Recipe of the week Spirits: Nonalcoholic rum

“This flavor-packed dish is wondrously simple to prepare,” said Dimitri Demopoulos in When you remove the rum from certain
Milk Street magazine. Once you’ve tossed the shrimp with napa cabbage, ginger, soy, cocktails, “they lose their entire vibe,”
lime, and other bold seasonings, the cooking is nearly a one-step process that takes less said Allison Robicelli in The Washington
than 15 minutes. “During cooking, the combined moisture of the shrimp, marinade, and Post. Fortunately, quality nonalcoholic
vegetables creates a savory-sweet sauce that’s especially delicious spooned over rice.” rums are proliferating. While my search
Ginger-scallion skillet shrimp with napa cabbage didn’t turn up a white rum worth its
4 scallions, white parts minced, green parts cut into 2-inch pieces, reserved separately • price, each of these dark rums deliver
½ bunch cilantro, stems minced, leaves roughly chopped, reserved separately • ¼ cup the strong, complex flavor that makes a
mirin • 2 tbsp soy sauce • 1 tbsp finely grated ginger • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil • 1 tsp mojito or daiquiri a treat.
grated lime zest, plus 2 tbsp lime juice • kosher salt and ground black pepper • 1½ lbs CleanCo ($30). With its “toasty notes of
extra-large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and patted dry • 4 oz napa cabbage, cut length- clove, star anise, and cayenne pepper,”
wise into 2-inch strips, then crosswise into 2-inch pieces (about 2 cups) this beautiful caramel-hued rum is
wonderful in sweetened drinks like
• In a 12-inch skillet off heat, stir together are pink at edges and beginning to curl, 6 hot buttered rum.
scallion whites, cilantro stems, mirin, soy to 9 minutes, stirring once about halfway Seir Hill Biscayne ($35). Built for
sauce, ginger, sesame oil, through. Remove from heat cocktails, this one delivers “bold
Tribune News Service Photos/TCA, Connie MIller

lime zest, and ¼ tsp salt. and let stand, covered, until notes of dark molasses and
Add shrimp and toss to shrimp are opaque through- charred oak” and a “fierce gingery
coat, then distribute in an out, 2 to 3 minutes. bite that cuts through any mixer.”
even layer. Scatter scallion • Stir in lime juice and half Rumish ($35). Any cocktail
greens and cabbage over the cilantro leaves, then brightened by sugar and citrus
the top. taste and season with salt will find a worthy playmate in this
• Set the cool pan over me- and pepper. Sprinkle with “boisterous” spirit, whose spice
dium heat. Cover and cook remaining cilantro leaves. notes are rounded off by hints of
undisturbed until shrimp Serves 4. vanilla and oak.

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

28 LEISURE Consumer
Holiday gift guide: The year’s best toys
Lego Eiffel Tower
At nearly 5 feet tall, Lego’s new
Eiffel Tower is the brand’s loftiest
creation yet. The 10,001-piece kit
Emory the Elephant faithfully replicates the wrought-
Hugimals are stuffed iron Paris landmark, including its
animals that are as platforms and elevators.
comforting as a weighted $630, lego.com
blanket. Like his puppy, Source: The Verge
teddy bear, and sloth
cousins, Emory weighs
about 4.5 pounds
and makes a calming
snuggle buddy.
$64, hugimalsworld.com
Source: Time

Akito the
Fox Camera
Available in six
child-friendly models,
including a panda,
a unicorn, and a
kitty, each Kidamento
digital camera comes
with a 16 GB memory
card and a sticker
booklet.
$90, kidamento.com
Source: Country Living

Mario Kart Ride-on Racer

Jakks Pacific’s 24-volt rechargeable
race car “will be the talk of the neigh-
borhood.” It can hit 8 mph, and the fat
plastic rear wheels “allow for drifting
action, just like in the game.”
$398, walmart.com
Source: The Toy Insider

PlanToys Drum Set

This toddler-size kit features
drums made entirely of Create a Castle
rubberwood, a cymbal, a Buildmaster Snow Castle
working kick-drum pedal, Create a Castle’s indoor-activity kit helps kids
and two rubber sticks. build an intricate mini sandcastle that looks like it’s
$250, plantoys.com been carved from snow. The sand compound can be
Source: Architectural Digest used over and over because it doesn’t dry out.
$35, createacastle.com
Source: NYMag.com

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

30 Best properties on the market
This week: Homes built in the 1940s

1 Nashville The renova- 2 Washoe Valley,

tion of this 1946 five-
bedroom home in Green
Hills preserved many
historic details. The house
has original molding and
wainscoting, oversize mul-
lioned windows, a carved-
wood staircase, and
hardwood floors; a living room with French doors to a dining patio; a
sitting area with fireplace; a dining room; and an open chef’s kitchen
with island. Outside are a covered back patio and landscaped front and
back yards with extensive lawns and mature trees. $1,650,000. Will
Reynolds, Park Realty/Luxury Portfolio International, (404) 984-3858
Nev. The 1946
Franktown Light-
ning W Ranch is a
regional landmark.
Buildings include
a three-bedroom main house featuring a vast chef’s kitchen
and a primary suite with fireplace; a two-bedroom second
house with added guest suite; and a detached heated garage
with office, gym, workshop, and in-law quarters. The 22-acre
property has stately trees, lawns, a tennis court, a pond with a
boat dock, and a mountaintop lot with lake, valley, and Sierra
Nevada views. $5,500,000. Megan Lowe, Chase International
Real Estate/Luxury Portfolio International, (775) 690-0040

3 New York City The Aristocrat is a 13-story cooperative built in

1949. This fully renovated one-bedroom penthouse has high ceil-
ings, oversize soundproofed casement windows, recessed lighting,
in-ceiling speakers, oak floors, chef’s kitchen, marble bathroom,
home office, and living room with a south-facing bay window
and French doors to a wraparound terrace. Amenities include a
doorman, a super, bicycle and laundry rooms, and garage park-
ing; the Museum of Modern Art, Broadway, and Central Park
are walking distance. $1,650,000. Laurie Silverman, Sotheby’s
International Realty–Downtown Manhattan, (212) 810-4987

THE WEEK December 9, 2022

 Best properties on the market 31
4 Savannah
This 1940
three-bedroom
brick house
on the Cres-
cent has been
restored and
updated. The
house features
tray ceilings,
wainscoting, oversize mullioned windows,
a living room with fireplace, library with
built-ins, gourmet kitchen with butler’s pan-
try, sunroom, garden workroom, and laun-
dry room. Outside are front and back yards
laid out with lawns, trees, stone paths, and
garden beds, a flagstone patio, a pergola,
and a carport; Tiedeman Park is steps away.
$1,200,000. Monica McGoldrick, Daniel
Ravenel Sotheby’s International Realty,
(912) 667-7407

2
1
3

6
4

5 Los Angeles Band leader and Orson Welles associate Ludwig

Gluskin commissioned this midcentury pool home in the Holly-
wood Hills. The 1948 three-bedroom house has a living room
with double-height walls of glass, a floor-through second-level
primary suite with balcony, a downstairs flex room, a converted
garage office, and panoramic views taking in the Hollywood sign
and Griffith Observatory. The 0.64-acre landscaped lot includes
a covered flagstone patio and a classic kidney-shaped swimming
pool. $3,800,000. Brian Courville, Compass, (310) 622-0312

Steal of the week

6 Portsmouth, Va.
This four-bedroom
brick home in the
Glenshellah neigh-
borhood was built
in 1948. The house
features hardwood
floors, stairway,
and walk-in closet; high ceilings with crown molding; arched
doorways; eat-in kitchen; dining room with bay window;
living room with bay window and fireplace; finished attic;
recreation room; and enclosed paved stone porch. The double
lot is landscaped with trees, shrubs, and expansive lawns
and includes a spacious shed. $394,900. Mickey Collins,
Century 21, (757) 472-1672
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
32
The bottom line
QThe maximum size of
home-mortgage loans eli-
gible for backing by Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac will
rise to $1,089,300 next year
from $970,800 this year. It’s
the first time the federal
government is backstopping
home loans of more than
$1 million.
The Wall Street Journal
QHome prices fell in Septem-
ber for a third straight month,
slipping 0.8 percent, for a
total decline of 2.2 percent
over three months. Declines
in some markets have been
much steeper, with San Fran-
cisco prices down 10.4 per-
cent from their height.
Fortune
QIn an
interview this
week, bank-
rupt crypto
entrepreneur
Sam Bank-
man-Fried
said he was down to his
last $100,000. His estimated
wealth had peaked earlier
this year at $26.5 billion.
Axios
QTesla controlled about
65 percent of the growing
U.S. electric-vehicle market
during the first nine months
of this year. From 2018
through 2020, Tesla had
about 80 percent of the EV
market. Its share dropped to
71 percent in 2021.
CBSNews.com
QMeta was fined $275 mil-
lion by Irish regulators for
a data leak that violated
Europe’s privacy rules. The
penalty brings the fines that
European regulators have im-
posed on Meta since last year
to more than $900 million.
The New York Times
QThe Thanksgiving Day
game between the Dallas
Cowboys and New York Gi-
ants had just over 42 million
viewers, making it the most-
watched regular-season NFL
game on record, according
to Nielsen. Roughly 22 mil-
lion people watched NBC’s
broadcast of the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade.
The Hollywood Reporter
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
BUSINESS
The news at a glance
Retail: Deep discounts bring shoppers back
It seems there’s no holding It’s a strange time for the con-
back the American consumer, sumer economy, said Leticia
said Melissa Repko in CNBC Miranda in Bloomberg. “Flush
.com. Despite decades-high consumers last year are now
inflation, a record 196.7 mil- pinched by inflation,” while
lion people “flocked back to retailers that were “low on
stores and hunted for deals from inventory last year now have
Thanksgiving Day to Cyber too much.” Online sales during
Monday,” according to the Black Friday reached a record
National Retail Federation. That $9.1 billion, “but the 2.3 per-
figure crushed estimates and out- cent increase from last year’s
Black Friday mania returns.
did last year’s number by 9.4 per- supply chain–crunched season
cent. Much of the spending was online, but was tepid compared with 13 percent in 2020 and
physical stores saw visits rise 17 percent from a 19 percent in 2019.” That may be evidence con-
year ago. Retailers looking to unload extra inven- sumers, drowning in discounts since the summer,
tory have been especially generous with their are exhausted. Despite an encouraging opening
discounts this year to win over inflation-weary weekend, holiday season may yet prove soft for
consumers. So far, the strategy is working. many retailers.
Feuds: Twitter-Apple standoff over App Store fees A Chinese mogul
Elon Musk stepped into an ongoing fight over Apple’s App Store fees, decamps for Japan
said Kate Conger and Tripp Mickle in The New York Times. In a series Elusive Chinese tycoon
of tweets this week, Twitter’s new owner “accused Apple of threaten- Jack Ma has been found
ing to withhold Twitter from its App Store,” and promised to “go to in Tokyo, where he has
war” over the 30 percent commission that Apple demands from app been quietly living for
store transactions. Musk’s new business plan for Twitter is “predicated the past six months,
on subscription sales,” and he has “set the stage for a power struggle” said Kana Inagaki in the
with Apple. Musk accused Apple of “censorship,” and said that Apple, Financial Times, putting
to rest two years of
Twitter’s biggest single advertiser, had halted ads on the platform.
“intense public specula-
Transportation: U.S. steps in to force rail labor deal tion.” The whereabouts
The House this week approved legislation “to head off a loom- of the founder of
Alibaba and Ant Group
ing nationwide rail strike,” said Kevin Freking and Josh Funk in the
have been a mystery
Associated Press, requiring workers to accept a labor compromise since “he criticized
reached in September. The deal had been rejected by four of 12 rail
Chinese regulators” and
unions, but President Biden urged Congress to intervene, though law- accused the state banks
makers “expressed reservations about overriding the negotiations.” The of having a “pawnshop
House passed a separate bill that would grant rail workers sick leave, mentality.” After Ma,
but the prospects of that in the Senate are uncertain. then China’s richest
citizen, spoke out, China
Contagion: BlockFi bankrupt as FTX damage spreads forced the financial-
Another large crypto firm, BlockFi, filed for bankruptcy this week, services firm Ant to call
said Hannah Lang in Reuters, becoming “the latest industry casualty” off its $37 billion initial
of the financial contagion after the crypto exchange FTX collapsed public offering, and
in November. In its bankruptcy filing, crypto lender BlockFi pointed fined Alibaba $2.8 billion
to its exposure to FTX, claiming it is owed $680 million by Alameda for antitrust abuses. The
Research, a crypto-trading firm affiliated with FTX. In July, FTX once outspoken busi-
bailed out BlockFi with a $400 million revolving credit facility after nessman has since kept
a low profile—his last
customers rushed to withdraw funds as crypto prices swooned.
tweet was November
Finance: Banks seek to resolve anger over scams 2020—but “has been
Customers who fell victim to Zelle scams could soon get their money spotted in various coun-
tries, including Spain
back, said David Benoit and AnnaMaria Andriotis in The Wall Street
and the Netherlands.”
Journal. “JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are His primary base of
among the banks in advanced discussions to create a playbook for
late has been Tokyo;
refunding customers and each other for illegitimate transfers” on Zelle, he and his family have
the peer-to-peer payment system that is jointly owned by a group of also taken “stints in hot-
Reuters, Getty
major banks. While banks are not required to refund “customers who springs and ski resorts
are duped into sending money,” an increase in scams on Zelle by thieves in the countryside.”
posing as bank employees has angered lawmakers and regulators.
 Making money BUSINESS 33

Boomerang bosses: Tough lessons from Disney

Securing a worthy replacement is “ar- It rejected rising Hollywood studio
guably a CEO’s most important job,” mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was
said Beth Kowitt in Bloomberg. News passed over as company president in
that Bob Iger would return to Disney 1994. Iger also postponed his retire-
to replace Bob Chapek, his handpicked ment four times, “sidelining would-be
successor, was greeted by investors as successors” such as Tom Staggs and
though “the prodigal son had returned.” Kevin Mayer. Such succession planning
Indeed, “Wall Street loves a boomerang “evokes Greek mythology—Cronus
CEO,” and we’ve seen several of them eating his young.”
over the years, from Michael Dell to
Charles Schwab to Howard Schultz at Corporate boards can be easily swayed
Starbucks. On paper, it makes sense to by the argument for bringing back
invite back a well-regarded chief execu- an established leader, said Nicholas
tive “to get a company that has gone Iger: A CEO who flubbed the choice of successor Gordon in Fortune, but high-profile
off the rails since his departure back on “boomerang CEOs” have a mixed
track.” But “really their return should be viewed as a failure record. Many people point to Steve Jobs, “who returned to lead
in leadership” by both the CEO and the company’s board. “A Apple after being forced out as CEO 12 years earlier.” How-
boomerang is just a Band-Aid,” and it’s an indictment of the ever, that story is an outlier: A 2020 study published in MIT
boardroom if they “can see no other alternative to the future Sloan Management Review found that, on average, the stock
than what’s worked in the past.” performance of companies led by boomerang CEOs wound up
10.1 percent lower than for first-stint counterparts. Returning
Why is succession planning so hard? asked The Economist. One CEOs, the researchers found, often struggle to accept the need
answer: “Grooming a replacement brings leaders face-to-face for strategic changes. All managers need to think of an exit strat-
with their own mortality.” Iger himself suggested as much in his egy, said Teri Parker in The Orange County Register, and it’s
2019 memoir, acknowledging that “all CEOs like to think that best to implement it when “the business is running smoothly.” If
they are irreplaceable.” Good leadership, he said, “demands the the planning begins “because of a problem, the outcome may be
opposite.” But when it came to following his own guidelines, nowhere near what you expected.” After all, the goal in creating
Iger fell short. This kind of mismanagement is not new for a succession plan is “setting yourself up for a successful transition
Disney, said Dawn Chmielewski and Helen Coster in Reuters. to retirement”—not to find yourself right back in the job.

What the experts say Charity of the week

Microsoft leads hedge fund ‘VIPs’
Microsoft has replaced Amazon as the most
popular large holding among hedge funds,
said Alexandra Semenova in Yahoo. Accord-
ing to strategists at Goldman Sachs, which
analyzes positions across 786 hedge funds,
“82 have Microsoft among their top 10 long
positions; Amazon appeared across the lead-
ing cohort of picks 79 times.” Facebook
parent Meta, which is down 66 percent this
year, fell out of the top five for the first time
since 2014, while Uber and Netflix rose into
the top five. “Mega-cap tech giants continue
to dominate,” despite their struggles in 2022.
Goldman’s “VIP” basket of the 50 stocks
that appear most often among hedge funds’
top 10 holdings is down nearly 30 percent
this year, “on pace for its second-worst year”
in two decades.
Returns will be harder this season
Retailers are rethinking their return policies,
said Jessica Dickler in CNBC.com. Last year,
“the return rate was about 16.6 percent
of total U.S. retail sales, or $761 billion in
returned goods.” But at least 10 percent of
returned goods cannot be resold, and this
year businesses don’t feel like they are in a
Getty
Though free returns are beloved by consum-
ers, “stores such as Gap, Old Navy, Banana
Republic, and J. Crew (once known for a
generous return policy that spanned the life-
time of a garment), shortened their regular
return windows to within a month.” A few
stores, including Anthropologie, REI, and
L.L. Bean, are even charging restocking fees
for mailed returns.
‘Charm’ prices disguise bad deals
Obviously, buying something for $9.99 isn’t a
much better deal than getting it for $10, said
Josh Zumbrun in The Wall Street Journal. But
retailers ending goods in 9 is an age-old trick
often “used to camouflage bad deals.” Ending
prices in 99 cents—sometimes called charm
pricing—is a trick that has “been around so
long no one is sure of its origins.” Over time,
we have come to associate such prices with
sales—ads as far back as 1880 tout special
deals with $1.99 and 99 cent offers. In real-
ity, though, when stores raise prices “they
strongly prefer charm prices to soften the
blow.” A 2021 paper by economists Daniel
Levy and Avichai Snir found that items priced
ending in 9 “were on average 18 percent
higher than when those same items’ prices
Since 1997, the
56,000 square feet
of the Plains Art
Museum (plainsart
.org) have con-
nected art, artists,
residents, and
visitors of Fargo,
N.D. The nonprofit
houses 4,000 American and global
objects, including a collection of Native
American art with both traditional crafts
and more contemporary work, and a
collection of African art focused on West
Africa. The museum’s Creativity Among
Native American Artists initiative fos-
ters understanding and appreciation of
Native American culture, sponsoring
an artist-in-residence program as well
as an intensive educational program
for young Native American artists. The
museum also incorporates the Katherine
Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity,
a multipurpose space that offers classes
in ceramics and other arts for adults and
youth, as well as family programs.
Each charity we feature has earned a
four-star overall rating from Charity
Navigator, which rates not-for-profit
organizations on the strength of their
finances, their governance practices,
and the transparency of their operations.
Four stars is the group’s highest rating.

position “to afford such a hefty price tag.” had different endings.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
34 Best columns: Business

Troubled union: Apple’s China problem

As China’s Covid-lockdown protests spread,
Apple is finally being forced to address its
dependence on Beijing, said Tim Culpan in
Bloomberg. Last week, fighting broke out
at a massive factory complex nicknamed
“iPhone City” in Zhengzhou, where footage
of violent scenes showed “white-clad storm
troopers in protective gear beating people,
while hordes of workers fight back.” For
weeks, workers had been “confined to their
dorms, starved of reliable information, denied
adequate food, and fearing for their safety.”
The 200,000-person industrial metropolis is
Violent clashes in ‘iPhone City’
owned by Taiwan’s Foxconn, but it has been
making iPhones since 2007. The unrest there is “likely to result
in a production shortfall of close to 6 million iPhone Pro units
this year.” The conflict might “have been avoided if Apple and
its suppliers” had had “sufficient backup options.” But China
still produces roughly 95 percent of Apple’s iPhones, despite
“mounting evidence that such concentration is a major political
and economic risk.”
Helen Raleigh in The Federalist. It’s not just
the moral hypocrisy of turning a blind eye
to China’s environmental and human rights
issues. It’s that Apple has tied its supply
chain and profitability to “the mercy of one
man—China’s dictator for life, Xi Jinping.”
Apple has other options, said The Econo-
mist. In September, it “started making its
new iPhone 14 in India,” and shifted Mac
Book and AirPod production to Vietnam.
“The need to spread operational risk” is
one motive. Another is that “average wages
in China have doubled in the past decade.”
India’s sketchy infrastructure always held it back, but it has im-
proved. “Apple also increasingly sees locals as potential custom-
ers” for its iPhones. Still, it’s impossible to ignore that Apple “re-
quires its own ‘city’ just to build iPhones,” said Dan Gallagher
in The Wall Street Journal. Bank of America analysts earlier this
month wrote that it will take “many years” for Apple to achieve
“meaningful diversification from China-based manufacturing.”

“It’s no coincidence that Apple’s rise from near bankruptcy in the
1990s has closely followed China’s economic ascent,” said Tripp
Mickle in The New York Times. In many ways, Apple “pioneered
a best-of-both-worlds business model: Products designed in Cali-
fornia were assembled inexpensively in China and sold to the
country’s growing middle class.” Over time, it has added more
Chinese components to its products at lower prices. In recent
years, however, those ties “have turned into a liability,” and
Washington is “watching carefully what goes into its products.”
Apple can “no longer afford to ignore its China problem,” said
Breaking up is hard to do, said Pete Sweeney in Reuters. Despite
massive tariffs, foreign direct investment in China “rose 14 per-
cent from January to October.” Apple may be diversifying its
supply chain, but other firms, such as Starbucks, are “increas-
ing exposure.” Politicians hoping to replicate China’s supply
chain ought to remember it “started building out the logistical
infrastructure in the 1980s.” It has taught “hundreds of millions
of blue-collar workers to be seasoned manufacturing hands in
sophisticated production systems.” Replicating that elsewhere
requires more than wishful thinking.

Europe wants to “look tough on Russia” with oil
Empty words price caps, but not so tough that it causes Euro-
on Russian peans real pain, said Javier Blas. European leaders
are currently wrangling over the prices at which
oil and gas wholesale natural gas and Russian oil exports
should be capped ahead of the winter. The idea is to
Javier Blas squeeze President Vladimir Putin’s funding for the
Bloomberg war in Ukraine. However, in practice they don’t cap
much. The European Commission has proposed a
price cap on natural gas of $286.40 per megawatt
hour. That’s more than double where current prices
are. Conditions imposed on when the caps can
be triggered make them even less likely to go into
effect. Russia’s income might fall “if EU govern-
ments introduce a hard cap on demand. But no one
in Europe is prepared to regulate who can consume
gas and how much.” The threat of a cap on Russian
oil exports is just as toothless and has “more holes
than Swiss cheese.” The proposed cap there is about
$65 to $70 per barrel, above where Putin’s crude
currently sells. “There is only one policy that can cut
the flow of petrodollars to Putin,” and that is a full
oil embargo. But “no one in the West is prepared to
implement that.”

“The prototypical face of crypto is young, white,
How crypto techy, and male,” said Annie Lowrey, “but perhaps
burned Black no other demographic has been hit harder by the
crypto bust than Black Americans.” Black investors
investors were late to the crypto frenzy, but they joined with
gusto. By 2021, Black Americans were “more likely
Annie Lowrey than their white counterparts” to invest in digital
The Atlantic assets. Such alternative investments “held practical
appeal” for members of a historically marginal-
ized community. “Discriminated against by banks,
overlooked by investment managers, redlined and
saddled with educational debt,” you can under-
stand why so many turned to esoteric opportunities.
appealing to Black investors who distrusted tradi-
tional finance. “You could buy Bitcoin on Cash App
without a credit check.” The surge in Bitcoin’s value
coincided with the distribution of stimulus checks
and expanded unemployment benefits, meaning mil-
lions of people “suddenly had cash on hand.” Then
the crypto market fell apart. “We saw the same
thing happen with the internet bubble, when many
African-American first-time investors chased hot
internet stocks,” said John Rogers, the founder of
Ariel Investments, one of the few Black-owned in-
vestment firms. Once again, we see how badly Black
families need better pathways to building wealth
Reuters

Crypto was touted as a disruption to Wall Street, than speculative moon shots.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022

The singer whose Fame burned out early
At 20, Irene Cara
Irene
Cara was brimming with
1959–2022 talent and ambition.
In the Academy
Award–winning title track of 1980’s
Fame, the self-assured performing
arts student she played ecstatically
proclaims to the world, “I’m gonna
live forever/I’m gonna learn how to
fly/I feel it coming together/People
will see me and cry.” Director
Alan Parker knew she could act
but initially wasn’t sure she was a strong enough
singer for the role, but in a studio tryout Cara
proved herself a powerhouse. Three years later,
“Flashdance…What a Feeling,” the title track to
another blockbuster film, proved she could write
and sing an Oscar-winning song as well. “I don’t
mean to sound immodest,” she said in a 1985
interview, “but I’d never had any doubt that I’d
be successful.”
Cara was born Irene Escalera into a large Bronx
family, said the Miami Herald. Her parents,
a Cuban-American movie usher and a Puerto
Rican–born mambo saxophonist, “recognized
her talents early.” At age 5, she was playing
piano; by 9, she’d made her Broadway debut.
She appeared in the children’s TV series The
Electric Company in the early 1970s, alongside
The computer programmer with a sense of humor
Fred Brooks had a
Fred
Brooks way with software
1931–2022 and with words. A
computer engineer at
IBM, in the early 1960s he was put
in charge of the critical software
component of what Fortune called
“IBM’s $5 billion gamble.” Back
then, each computer had its own
distinct hardware design, which
meant engineers had to write new
software for each model. Brooks created the first
operating system that could work across multiple
models: the groundbreaking OS/360. It was a
phenomenal success that made IBM the indus-
try leader for decades and was the progenitor
for Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s iOS. And
his choice of an 8-bit byte became the standard
for nearly all computers today. The achieve-
ment turned Brooks into an industry legend,
Getty, U.N.C. Department of Computer Science
and he wrote an influential book on the project,
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software
Engineering. Among its dictates is the axiom
known as Brooks’ law: Adding manpower to a
late software project only makes it later. “The
bearing of a child takes nine months,” he wrote,
“no matter how many women are assigned.”
Brooks grew up in Greenville, N.C., with a doc-
tor father and homemaker mother. At 13, he read
Obituaries 35
The activist wife
who protected
Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and
Thurgood Marshall
Morgan Freeman. By the time
she was cast in Fame, she was Cissy Marshall had an
already a veteran actress and employment office clerk to
backup singer. But the “edgy thank for finding both her
teen drama” about students at calling and her husband. The
New York’s High School for clerk got her a job with the
NAACP, where
the Performing Arts earned her
Cissy she began
mega-fame, said Vanity Fair. The Marshall a lifetime of
“unforgettable, traffic-stopping” 1928–2022 civil rights
title number was one of two activism and
songs from the film that got met Thurgood Marshall, who
Oscar nominations—and since Cara sang both, would become the first Black
she was “competing against herself for the same justice on the Supreme
movie, a feat that had not been seen before.” Court. “She saw my dark
skin, and she sent me to
But though she scored another hit with “What a the NAACP,” Marshall said
Feeling,” the album on which it appeared would in 2016. “And to this day, I
thank her, because had it
indirectly “derail her career,” said The Times
not been for her, I wouldn’t
(U.K.). She sued the record company for royal-
have known anything about
ties in 1985, triggering an eight-year legal battle
a race problem.”
that eventually yielded a $1.5 million payout but,
she claimed, got her blackballed from the music She was born Cecilia Suyat
industry. Her later work saw no major successes. in Maui, to parents who’d
Performing, she revealed in a 2018 interview, was immigrated from the Phil-
more something her parents steered her toward ippines. Her mother died
than something she’d wanted for herself. But she when she was young, and
her father sent her at age 20
harbored no resentment. “I was able to fulfill to live with relatives in New
their dreams for me before they passed away,” York to get her away from
she said. “I’m happy about that.” a boyfriend. She took night
classes in stenography at
Columbia University and
then put those skills to work
at the NAACP, transcribing
a Time magazine article about legal briefs for the Brown v.
Board of Education deci-
the first programmable computer
sion that desegregated
and knew instantly that comput- schools. When recently
ers were his future. He studied widowed Thurgood Mar-
physics at Duke University, said shall, who’d successfully
The Wall Street Journal, then argued the case, asked her
earned a doctorate in applied to marry him, she at first
mathematics at Harvard before demurred, saying marry-
going to work for IBM. “A ing a non-Black woman 20
devout Christian,” he felt teach- years younger would be
bad for his image, said The
ing was his true calling, and he
Washington Post, but he
soon left the corporate world to found one of the “would not be deterred.”
first computer science departments in the country,
at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Marshall guarded her hus-
band’s legacy after his death
As chair for 20 years he “built that department in 1993, said The New York
into prominence,” said I Programmer, and spent Times, downplaying his
frustrations with the “slow
three more decades teaching and doing research.
progress of civil rights” as
Most programmers today know Brooks from
she served on the boards of
his “quirky classic,” The Mythical Man-Month,
the Supreme Court Historical
said The New York Times, which is still “rou-
Society and the NAACP
tinely cited as gospel by computer scientists.” In Legal Defense Fund. She
his later years, Brooks thought that was a bad remained a “vibrant and
sign, saying the continued relevance of a 1975 engaged member of the
book meant that coding was still plagued by the court family,” said Chief
same problems it had in its infancy. But he also Justice John Roberts. With
her “saucy” humor, he said,
acknowledged his immense influence. “I had
“you wanted to sit next to
gone to IBM because I thought it was a place
where you could change the world,” he said in her at any event.”
2016. “And it was, and we did.”
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
36 The last word
Work, transformed
After decades of having their jobs control their lives, workers are demanding more freedom, said
Helaine Olen in The Washington Post. Americans are still figuring out what that means.

I
N FEBRUARY 2020, few The third cohort—more likely
would have predicted the to be Black or Latino, more
wave of dissatisfaction likely to be lower-income—
that was about to roll over were left to labor in person.
the American workplace. Some got temporary boosts
The United States, it was in pay, but these were mostly
common to say, was a nation rescinded after several months.
of workaholics—and we They were more likely to get
seemed to like it that way. exposed to the coronavirus—
and to be among the more
Our professional lives had than 1 million Americans who
taken on the overtones of a died of Covid-19.
secular religion; they were a
primary way to find meaning All of it—the lockdowns, the
in the world and a crucial part disease, the sudden change in
of our identity. We were “mar- household functioning and
ried to the job,” in the words how or whether we worked
of therapist and author Ilene at all—amounted to a massive
Philipson. Even precarious, psychological shock, leading
low-paying gigs were valorized White-collar workers refused to go back to the pre-Covid status quo.
many to ask why labor looms
as “hustle culture,” represent- so large in our psyches. “It
ing freedom to perform labor on our terms. There were the millions who thought they really was an opportunity—an unwelcome
possessed a secure job, only to be laid off opportunity—to take a look at the mad
Fast-forward to fall 2022. The number of or furloughed as the pandemic lockdowns scramble that many of us have just assumed
people quitting, while down from the peak, set in. There were white-collar office work- was normal,” said Kate Shindle, who as
remains at the highest level since the 1970s. ers who continued to work 40 or more president of the Actors’ Equity Association
White-collar workers don’t want to give up hours a week, but now from home. Then represents a particularly hard-hit industry.
working remotely. Low-paying sectors such there were the workers—grocery store
Then, when the economy unexpectedly
as the hospitality industry can’t find enough employees, food service workers and util-
boomed back, Americans were poised to
people willing to work for the wages on ity workers, as well as police officers, pivot. As many had recognized, it was one
offer. Union organizing and strikes have postal workers, teachers, and health-care thing to seek meaning in work but another
been on an upswing. providers—whose work was suddenly to see our lives subsumed by it—and for
Myriad commenters have tried to name the dubbed “essential,” without whose efforts what? A less-than-adequate paycheck? A
collection of trends underway: The Great society as we knew it would cease to func- job that could literally kill you? “Maybe
Resignation. The Great Renegotiation. tion. All these groups saw their relationship the poor safety net really kept people from
Quiet Quitting. The Great Reevaluation. with their employers suddenly upended. analyzing the role of work in their lives,”
It’s not easy to nail down a movement At the same time, parents—especially David Blustein, author of The Importance
that spans striking nurses and unionizing women—experienced a huge increase in of Work in an Age of Uncertainty and a
strippers, Amazon warehouse workers and responsibility at home as schools and child professor at Boston College’s Lynch School
work-from-home Wall Street bankers. care shut down. of Education and Human Development,
told me. “Maybe the American work ethic
But what’s increasingly clear is that the From there, the three groups’ fates
was a form of survival.”
March 2020 decision to partially close diverged. The first group, exiled from their

down the American economy shattered
Americans’ dysfunctional, profoundly
unequal relationship with work like
nothing in decades. And even if there
was great discomfort in a shutdown that
severed almost every one of us from
assumptions about how we earn a living,
we also found an unexpected opportunity:
to remake our relationship with the labor
that fills our days.
T
jobs, found themselves scrambling for a
paycheck and a sense of meaning—but
ultimately found their finances buttressed
by everything from an expansion of
unemployment to a student loan payment
moratorium.
The second, many of whom previously
spent more time with their work “fami-
lies” than their real ones, found themselves
working within their own homes. Minus
HE UNITED STATES has a long history
of labor unrest. We weren’t sim-
ply given the eight-hour workday,
minimum wage, and laws protecting union
organizing. They came about after decades
of strikes and worker advocacy. Together,
measures such as these helped bring pros-
perity and security to workers following
World War II.
But within a few decades, business interests

T
O UNDERSTAND WHAT happened, it’s
helpful to divide the 164 million
Americans who were in the labor
commutes and pesky workplace interrup- reasserted themselves. When President
tions (though often plus the presence of Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic
children), many found they had free time— controllers in 1981, it signaled a profound
Getty (2)

force in February 2020 into three rough to bake bread, engage with pandemic pets, change in the balance of power. As inequal-
categories. or take on increasing household tasks. ity soared, work conditions deteriorated.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022

The number of high-earning men who put
in more than 50 hours a week at work
increased sharply; college graduates spent
more time on the job than those who didn’t
graduate high school. Others, mainly lower-
wage workers, worked contingent sched-
ules, unable to plan for child care or know
whether they’d earn enough to pay for it.
American worker protections fell behind
those of other industrialized countries, with
the federal minimum wage, adjusted for
inflation, peaking when the Bee Gees were
still charting hits.
Today, there is still no national law guaran-
teeing a single day of paid vacation or sick
leave. A 2019 Gallup survey found that
when you measure everything from pay to
control over the work environment, secu-
rity and happiness, barely 4 in 10 employed
Americans could be described as having a
“good job.”
And we wanted one, more than almost
anyone, even ourselves, realized. Over
and over, when people spoke to journal-
ists, including me, about why they’d
made changes in their professional lives
since March 2020, they told us they
liked receiving better wages when they
switched employers. But even more, they
wanted greater control over the terms of
their labor.
Peter Contreras, comparing a prior
furniture-store management position
with his current one in sales, told me
about his better compensation, easier
commute—and a boss who understands
he sometimes wants to adjust his schedule
to see his children play sports. Or take
Colton Smith, who was working at an
investment bank in New York when the
pandemic hit. “You get a lot of time in the
apartment to yourself, you’re FaceTiming
with family and friends,” he told me about
his decision to quit his job last year and
bike across the country. “You start to
remember what life is about.” He’s now
seeking a job in augmented reality.
Business start-ups soared. Lindsay Scola
quit her job with a Los Angeles talent
agency to consult for celebrities and busi-
nesses on social-impact investing and
advocacy. “Pre-pandemic, I was just one
of those people running as fast as I could,”
she said. Going out on her own, she said,
allowed her to “set up my life in a way that
worked better for me.”
Others decided to stick with their jobs—but
fight to make them better. The pandemic
catalyzed some high-publicity union cam-
paigns, with new young leaders emerging.
When Amazon warehouse assistant man-
ager Christian Smalls was fired after orga-
nizing an employee walkout to protest a
The last word
lack of Covid protections, he went on to
found a union that won the first successful
authorization vote at one of the company’s
warehouses. Where unions were already
present, they pressed for better pay and
treatment. Nurses in Minnesota went on
a three-day strike in September, asking for
not only a pay raise but also an end to
understaffing that, they said, put patients’
lives at risk.
Though these group efforts got attention,
even more Americans revolted against work
culture individually. Consider the supposed
phenomenon of quiet quitting. Rallying
their peers on YouTube and TikTok, Gen
Zers proclaimed they would perform
assigned duties only during official work
hours and say no when asked to take on
extra tasks in the name of getting ahead.
Scolds were aghast, but as others pointed
out, this type of “quitting” is what used to
be known as “working full time.”
The pandemic breathed new life into unions.
And the newly remote workers? As com-
panies announce return-to-office plans,
they have encountered significant pushback
from employees, who say they are both
happier and more productive at home.
Increasingly, corporate honchos are taking
a stand not at five days of in-person work
but three. Take financial giant BlackRock,
where chief executive Larry Fink’s “hard
line” for employees is a hybrid model. This
is an enormous victory for many office
workers—and one almost nobody could
have imagined in February 2020.
T
HE NEW ORDER still faces head-
winds. An increasing number of
companies—including Meta—are
carrying out layoffs, while others are slow-
ing hiring and upping performance expecta-
tions on those currently employed. Jerome
H. Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve,
said he would most likely continue to raise
interest rates but acknowledged “there will
very likely be some softening of labor mar-
ket conditions.”
37
Employers are clearly feeling emboldened.
Goldman Sachs is insisting all employees
report to the office five days a week, no
ifs, ands, or buts. For all the attention paid
to new union organizing at places such as
Starbucks, overall membership continues
to fall. A cynic will recall we’ve been here
before. The 1970s also saw union activism
and questioning of the meaning of work—
it’s the decade that turned the career guide
What Color Is Your Parachute? into a
best-seller—only for both to crash and
burn in the 1980s.
But there are crucial differences between
then and now. An increased level of remote
work, likely in a hybrid format, is almost
certainly here to stay, says Nick Bloom,
a professor of economics at Stanford
University, who has studied the topic for
decades. Employees want it, technologi-
cal advances continue to make it easier,
and companies that forbid it completely
are likely to find themselves at a
disadvantage.
And while labor laws need to be
updated for our new reality, from pro-
tections for remote workers (yes, you
should be paid for that email you sent
after dinner!), to long-sought changes
to empower union organizing, states
are beginning to step into the breach.
California, for instance, recently
enacted legislation to set up a council
governing conditions and pay for fast-
food workers.
Perhaps most important, demographic
trends favor today’s workforce. In 1990,
about 20 percent of the workforce was
over the age of 50. Now 1 in 3 workers
fall into that cohort. One recent work-
ing paper posted on the National Bureau of
Economic Research website found a large
percentage of the workers who exited the
job market during the pandemic were Baby
Boomers—with some retirements pushed
up by the pandemic. The main beneficia-
ries? Younger workers, now having an
easier time getting promoted.
The past two and a half years brought
immense upheaval, and we’ll be struggling
to process the resulting changes for years.
But it’s undeniable that some of these shifts
were long overdue. Workers are highly
unlikely to forget what we learned: namely,
that our jobs are much more flexible than
we thought. And after decades of subservi-
ence to work, Americans have finally made
significant strides toward restoring it to its
proper role in our lives. Now it’s our job to
keep it there.
This story was first published in The
Washington Post. Used with permission.
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
38
Crossword No. 675: Back in Charge by Matt Gaffney
ACROSS
1 Cracker spreads
6 ___ fixe menu
10 Subtle hiss
14 “It’s ___” (“Do not miss
it!”)
15 Forty-yard dash, e.g.
16 Airport guesses, briefly
17 Disney CEO from
2005 to 2020, recently
rehired to replace his
successor
19 General, for one
20 Grafton or Bird
21 Iowa senator Joni
22 Prepares (oneself), as
for a shock
23 Unreliable
25 Toothbrush brand
27 Myron Ullman was
CEO of this venerable
retailer twice (2004–11
and 2013–15)  DOWN
29 Decorative container
32 Punjabi prince
35 Stare rudely at
36 Machine part
37 ___ Wagner Tonight
(MSNBC show)
38 Like Taos and Sedona
40 “Let me see if I’m
hearing you right...”
41 Neither here ___ there
42 ___ bowl (fruity
breakfast)
43 Church sections
44 Olaf Scholz’s nat.
45 Steve Ells founded
this restaurant chain;
between 2006 and
2016 he became its
CEO, then co-CEO,
then CEO again
THE WEEK December 9, 2022
The Puzzle Page
48 Civil war–ravaged 13 Shaming syllables
nation 18 Odyssey
50 Gym member’s 22 “What’s Going On”
concern singer Marvin
54 Mansfield or Meadows 24 Cleaner brand
56 Put off 26 Count (on)
58 Hotel amenity 28 Payback for rude
59 Nest-egg funds service
60 He was Twitter’s CEO 30 Wine with an accent
from 2006 to 2008, and mark
then again from 2015 31 Socially aware gps.
to 2021 32 Sounded, as wind
62 List of dishes chimes
63 Nebraska county 33 Hand-lotion ingredient
named for a tribe 34 Yahoo! co-founder
64 Cobra shapes and former “Chief
65 Herb used in Yahoo” who returned
saltimbocca in 2008 to the lead
66 Tough to catch, as a the company again,
certain fish as CEO, with mixed
67 Prepared for prayer results
38 Feel it after the gym
39 Fallback plan for
1 Break down, as a inclement weather
sentence 40 Start taking customers
2 Love, in Lyon 42 High point
3 Yam or potato, e.g. 43 Pavement or Oasis
4 Suffix with Siam genre
5 Prepare to go jogging 46 Bad way to sing
6 Title for Harry or 47 All even
William 49 Follow
7 ___-to-riches story 51 Nail polish brand
8 Bartender’s instrument 52 Witch’s weapon
9 One older than a 53 “And not a maiden, as
Millennial thou ___ he is”: The
10 Danger Taming of the Shrew
11 Howard Schultz built 54 Carrey and Cramer,
this company, then for two
left its CEO job twice 55 Part of town
and returned to it 57 Coll. major for an
twice, most recently in environmentalist
April 2022 60 Rogan or Alwyn
12 Volleyball surface 61 Florida Gov. DeSantis
Sources: A complete list of publications cited in The Week can be found at theweek.com/sources.
The Week Contest
This week’s question: A 68-year-old man who uses a
walker allegedly robbed a bank in Fresno, Calif., and
was caught two blocks away. Come up with the title of a
crime movie about this slow-moving bandit.
Last week’s contest: A Gainesville, Texas, landlady insists
one of her rental properties is haunted by ghosts who
are making sexual overtures to tenants. Come up with
the PG title of a movie about a group of paranormal
researchers who attempt to rid the building of these pro-
miscuous presences.
THE WINNER: “The XXX Files”
Matthew Lane, Emporia, Kan.
SECOND PLACE: “The Best Little Haunted House in Texas”
Dale Bagley, Macon, Mo.
THIRD PLACE: “Kinky Boos”
Hunter Burgan, Los Angeles
For runners-up and complete contest rules, please go
to theweek.com/contest.
How to enter: Submissions should be emailed to
contest@theweek.com. Please include your name,
address, and daytime telephone number for verification;
this week, please type “Walker robber” in the subject
line. Entries are due by noon, Eastern Time, Tuesday,
Dec. 6. Winners will appear on
the Puzzle Page next issue and at
theweek.com/puzzles on Friday,
Dec. 9. In the case of identical
or similar entries, the first one
received gets credit.
WThe winner gets a one-year
subscription to The Week.
Sudoku
Fill in all the
boxes so that
each row, column,
and outlined
square includes
all the numbers
from 1 through 9.
Difficulty:
medium
Find the solutions to all The Week’s puzzles online: www.theweek.com/puzzle.
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