The Last Time Democracy Almost Died

Plus: Kobe Bryant, basketball’s great storyteller; fire at the Museum of Chinese in America; and “The Goop Lab.” View in browser | Update your preferences The Future of Democracy: Through November, The New Yorker will examine American democracy in a special series. Sign up here to receive new stories. The Future of Democracy The Last Time Democracy Almost Died Learning from the upheaval of the nineteen-thirties. By Jill Lepore More in The Future of Democracy The Future of Democracy What Happens When the News Is Gone? In Jones County, North Carolina, and many other places around the country, local journalism has just about dried up. By Charles Bethea The Future of Democracy The Right to Listen As citizens of a democracy, we need to hear one another. Why can’t we? By Astra Taylor PAID POST Stephen Wright’s visionary new comedy about contemporary America “Wildly imaginative, funny, dark, endlessly inventive, Stephen Wright is one of our most original and essential American novelists,” raves Francine Prose. “Brilliant,” says Jonathan Lethem. Processed Cheese is a major work from one of our modern masters. The Sporting Scene Kobe Bryant Was Basketball’s Great Storyteller Bryant, who died on Sunday, could seem aware of his own personal mythology. But, as his career progressed, he became more expansive about the narrative power of sports, its ability to transform an inner struggle into an outer one. By Louisa Thomas Daily Comment Lindsey Graham Wants Hunter Biden Investigated Just not right now. Opening the door to witnesses by having Biden testify will likely mean closing the door on whatever defenses Donald Trump might have left. By Amy Davidson Sorkin Politics and More Podcast The Origins of Partisanship in American Politics Jelani Cobb joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss how party loyalties are affecting the impeachment trial and what the Framers of the Constitution thought about “factionalism.” Culture and More Cultural Comment What We Lost in the Museum of Chinese in America Fire There’s been an outpouring of support, but the question remains whether spaces like MOCA will remain vibrant as notions of community grow more abstract. By Hua Hsu On Television The Magical Thinking of “The Goop Lab” Lowbrow, with high production values, Gwyneth Paltrow’s new Netflix series is a soulful kind of sponcon. By Doreen St. Félix Humor from The New Yorker Daily Shouts I Have a Cartoon Idea “You’re a cartoonist?! Have I got an idea for you!” By Jason Adam Katzenstein Daily Cartoon Monday, January 27th By Brendan Loper 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 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.