After Roe, Letting Pregnant Patients Get Sicker—by Design

Plus: a thought experiment in social reshuffling; Max Porter’s novel of troubled youth; and Paul Schrader on his new film, “Master Gardener.” View in browser | Update your preferences Saturday, May 6, 2023 Dispatch In the Post-Roe Era, Letting Pregnant Patients Get Sicker—by Design Fearing legal repercussions, doctors in Texas say they are risking grave patient harm to comply with new abortion restrictions. By Stephania Taladrid From the News Desk Essay Let’s Randomize America! A thought experiment in social reshuffling. By Dalton Conley Dispatch The Siege of Wounded Knee Was Not an End but a Beginning Fifty years ago, the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization invited the American Indian Movement to Pine Ridge and reignited a resistance that has never gone away. By Benjamin Hedin and Nick Estes The New Yorker Radio Hour State Legislatures Go Rogue The political scientist Jacob Grumbach on what to make of Republican lawmakers expelling or censuring their political opponents. With David Remnick Editor’s Picks Profiles Paul Schrader Wants to Make Another Movie His new film, “Master Gardener,” completes a trilogy that began with “First Reformed.” But the writer-director is no longer content with it being his last. By Alex Abramovich Page-Turner Max Porter’s Novel of Troubled and Enchanted Youth The teen-aged protagonist of “Shy” is caught between helpless sensitivity and impulsive violence. By Katy Waldman Books We Recommend This Week Reviews of notable new fiction and nonfiction. The Best Minds, by Jonathan Rosen (Penguin Press). This engrossing memoir centers on the author’s childhood friend Michael Laudor, who developed schizophrenia and, in his thirties, committed a horrific murder. Rosen thoughtfully interweaves this story with an account of changing attitudes toward mental illness. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. We Should Not Be Friends, by Will Schwalbe (Knopf). When Schwalbe met Maxey, he never imagined that they’d be compatible. This delicate memoir tracks their intermittent friendship, from initiation into one of Yale’s secret societies to thirty-five-year college reunion. Gradual revelations from parts of Maxey’s life which Schwalbe missed make for an unexpected page-turner that may inspire readers to reach out to old friends. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Romantic Comedy, by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House). Flirting with the tropes of its namesake genre, this playful novel follows Sally, a writer on an “S.N.L.”-like show called “Night Owls,” who falls in love with one of its guest hosts. The novel is preoccupied with the instinctual nature of self-sabotage, and with the fulfillment that can come from defying ingrained impulses. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Künstlers in Paradise, by Cathleen Schine (Henry Holt). Julian, a directionless young New Yorker, ventures west, to Venice Beach, to help care for his zesty ninety-three-year-old grandmother. When the pandemic descends, he finds himself sequestered indefinitely with her, as she recounts memories of her Anschluss-ruptured Vienna childhood and her family’s subsequent immigration to Hollywood, where she came to know legends including Arthur Schoenberg and Greta Garbo. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. The best books of 2023 so far What are you reading this week? Reply to let us know. Culture Dept. The Deep The Shipwreck Hunters of Jamaica Bay The city’s unofficial waterfront czar hits the not so high seas (the final resting place of tugboats, houseboats, and one warship) for some salvage work. By Adam Iscoe The Front Row Catching Up to a Great Film That I Waited Decades to See After the viewing of Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Walkover,” I felt the sting of other rare masterpieces that should be part of cinematic history. By Richard Brody Fiction “The Plaza” “She wanted to believe him but didn’t want to be a fool. It occurred to her, though, that there was no real difference.” By Rebecca Makkai This Week in Fiction Rebecca Makkai on Serious Parody The author discusses “The Plaza,” her story from the latest issue of the magazine. By Deborah Treisman Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play the Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger Daily Shouts We Should Start a Commune! Why not? We all read that graphic-novel adaptation of “Das Kapital.” By Maddie Fischer and Graham Techler Shouts & Murmurs Bud Light in Damage-Control Mode Open on a Clydesdale. Cut to a half-nude farmer. Sweaty, muscular. Add another fit farmer. Voice-over of the Gettysburg Address, and we’re set. By John Kenney Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.