Joe Biden Defends His Party’s Past

Plus: the battle over Barack Obama’s legacy, and a new work of flash fiction by Anne Carson. View in browser | Update your preferences Our Columnists Joe Biden Defends His Party’s Record At the debate, a question was put to voters directly: Did the Democratic Party want to break with the politics of its own past, or did it consider that past enough? By Benjamin Wallace-Wells Our Columnists The Battle Over Barack Obama’s Legacy In a party that has been shifted to the left by social movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, many activists are eager to move beyond the policies of the Obama Administration. By John Cassidy Our Columnists Cory Booker Tests the Power of His Best Performance Booker has been on the cusp of becoming a national figure for what feels like forever. On Wednesday night, viewers saw the best of him. By Eric Lach Department of Newsletters Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Books & Fiction Newsletter Book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature, twice a week. More in Culture Flash Fiction “An Evening with Joseph Conrad” “How they got to talking about white bread he could not remember afterward, but it shone in his mind, this conversation, as the bread had shone.” By Anne Carson Cultural Comment The Whitney Biennial Protests and Accountability in Art The ouster of Warren B. Kanders as vice-chairman of the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art shows how rapidly, if circuitously, the art world is shifting. By Andrea K. Scott Culture Desk The Last Robot-Proof Job in America? A fish-delivery startup relies on the expertise of an old-timer named Bobby Tuna. By Lizzie Widdicombe Page-Turner “Valerie” Is an Extraordinary Love Letter to a Radical Feminist Sara Stridsberg’s insubordinate novel about Valerie Solanas finds a fresh expression of the truism that the personal is political. By Katy Waldman On This Day Reflections Herman Melville’s Soft Withdrawal By bowing to an organic fall, abstaining from a forced productivity, and turning to public silence and private poetry, the writer, born on this date in 1819, preserved his communion with greatness. By John Updike Humor from The New Yorker Daily Shouts Frequently Asked Questions: My Engagement The proposal was the most intimate moment of my life, which I’d be thrilled to tell you all about in detail. By Danielle Kraese Daily Cartoon Thursday, August 1st By Ali Solomon Sign up for more newsletters from The New Yorker. Visit The New Yorker shop. Question about your subscription? Contact Customer Care. New Yorker digital subscribers get unlimited access to everything on newyorker.com. Log in to your account here. We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please send your thoughts and suggestions to TNYinbox@newyorker.com. This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, NewYorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2019. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.