This Week’s Issue: The Future of America’s Contest with China

Plus: investigating whether hurting makes us human, John McPhee on a project meant not to end, and Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables.” View in browser | Update your preferences A Reporter at Large The Future of America’s Contest with China Washington is in an intensifying standoff with Beijing. Which one will fundamentally shape the twenty-first century? By Evan Osnos Dept. of Science A World Without Pain Does hurting make us human? By Ariel Levy Annals of Inquiry The Equality Conundrum We all agree that inequality is bad. But what kind of equality is good? By Joshua Rothman Personal History Tabula Rasa: Volume One A project meant not to end. By John McPhee The Current Cinema Paris on the Brink in “Les Misérables” In Ladj Ly’s film, set in a tough suburb, even everyday scenes vibrate with a sense that things are about to explode. By Anthony Lane Comment What Will Another Decade of Climate Crisis Bring? 2019 has been called the year we woke up to climate change. Australia’s wildfires are yet more evidence that it’s time we started acting like it. By Elizabeth Kolbert Scavenging Dept. DJ Shadow’s Sonic Archeology Sleuthing through the New York Public Library’s music and recorded-sound archives, the sampling whiz found the “Sophisticated Soul Man,” Donny Osmond in German, and a band-camp record. By Zach Helfand A Critic at Large Why a Champion of Reparative Justice Turned on the Cause The writer Javier Cercas helped launch Spain’s historical-memory movement. In his new book, he asks whether score-settling and sanctimony have come to distort the nation’s past and poison its future. By Giles Harvey Humor from The New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Sideline Interview with Sisyphus “I feel like maybe the rock just wanted it more,” Sisyphus said, after his opponent rolled back down the hill. “A rock that big, you really have to bring your A game to get it to stay up there.” By Jay Martel Cartoons From The Issue Cartoons from the Issue Drawings and drollery from this week’s magazine. 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.