| | | | | How Republican super-majorities in state legislatures are undermining the democratic process.  Photography by Cheney Orr / Reuters The scenes, at turns inspirational, bewildering, and infuriating, in the Tennessee House of Representatives throughout the past two weeks have drawn international attention, revealing the raw expression of absolute power by a local legislature and highlighting the threats to democracy playing out at the state level. But, as Sue Halpern explains today, the expulsions of two Black lawmakers, following large student protests at the capitol calling for gun control, are also part of a sweeping generational battle, in which “Republicans around the country are pushing for laws to make it more difficult for young people to vote.” The events in Tennessee represent a conflict between impassioned students and their ardent defenders on one side—who have successfully rallied wide support—and an entrenched and brutally effective political machine on the other, with few practical guardrails left to constrain it. Help shape the future of The New Yorker. Take a brief survey » | | | | Editor’s Pick |  Letter from Iten Why Were Two Female Running Champions Killed in Kenya?Iten, a small town in the Great Rift Valley, became the long-distance-running capital of the world. Then, within a span of six months, two élite athletes were found dead. By Alexis Okeowo | | | | | In the News | | Yesterday morning, five people were killed and eight were injured during a mass shooting at the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The gunman, who was killed by police, reportedly used a rifle and captured the shooting on a live stream. A few hours later, about a mile and a half away, one person was killed and another injured in a shooting near Jefferson Community and Technical College. The two events were, according to police, unrelated. But of course they had at least one thing in common: the presence of a gun. As the country has become trapped in the escalating crisis of gun violence, The New Yorker has pursued vital reporting—about how firearms became so powerful, how the defenders of expansive gun rights justify their views, and why lawmakers on the right are sounding increasingly nihilistic about public safety. Read a selection of our coverage below: | | | | Annals of Technology How Did Guns Get So Powerful?Decade by decade, firearms have become deadlier—and tightened their grip on our collective imagination. By Phil Klay | | A Reporter at Large The Shoddy Conclusions of the Man Shaping the Gun-Rights DebateJohn Lott is the most influential pro-gun researcher in the country. But his methods and findings have been repeatedly debunked. By Mike Spies | | Daily Comment After the Nashville School Shooting, a Faithless Remedy for Gun Violence“I don’t see any real role that we could do other than mess things up, honestly,” Representative Tim Burchett, of Tennessee, said. “We gotta change people’s hearts.” By Jessica Winter | | | | | | | Culture Dept. |  Cultural Comment “Yellowjackets,” and the Problem of Women Eating One AnotherThe new season of the Showtime series offers a twist on a tradition that stretches back to Melville, treating cannibalism as a kind of love language. By Tyler Foggatt | | | | | Musical Events The Doleful Minimalism of Max RichterThe composer is everywhere on film and television soundtracks, promising that we will dissolve in mist before the apocalypse arrives. By Alex Ross | | Pivot Dept. The Ministers of the Lap-Steel Revival TourThe sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, of the rock band Larkin Poe, hit up a guitar store before a gig at Webster Hall. By John Seabrook | | | | | Fun & Games Dept. |  Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger |  Daily Shouts A Review of My Positive Self-Talk by My Negative Self-Talk My big question (besides “Why, God, why?”) is this: Was the first album the fluke, or is the second? By Zach Zimmerman | |  Crossword A Moderately Challenging Puzzle University in Macon: six letters. By Erik Agard |  Daily Cartoon Tuesday, April 11th By Brendan Loper | | | | | | P.S. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has bounded past box-office expectations in its first week of release, becoming a worldwide sensation. It’s quite a turnaround for the cartoon plumber, who just last year was feeling not so super about turning forty. Simon Rich imagined Mario in crisis: “I wasn’t-a really thinking about it much until last summer. Just another birthday, right? Then it’s-a like the reality of the thing just hit me. Like, ‘Mamma mia, I’m-a going to be middle-aged.’ ” | | | | Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. | | | | | | | |
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