This Week’s Issue: How Nations Decide to Kill

Qassem Suleimani and the calculus of assassination. Plus: Should an overdose be prosecuted as a homicide? View in browser | Update your preferences Annals of Covert Action How Nations Decide to Kill The targeting of Qassem Suleimani, and the calculus of assassination. By Adam Entous and Evan Osnos A Reporter at Large The Wrong Way to Fight the Opioid Crisis People struggling with addiction who share a lethal dose of drugs are being prosecuted as killers. By Paige Williams Life and Letters Vivian Gornick Is Rereading Everyone, Including Herself The critic and memoirist returns to the books she’s loved—and the lives she’s lived. By Alexandra Schwartz Dept. of Finance Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth? The critique of economic growth, once a fringe position, is gaining widespread attention in the face of the climate crisis. By John Cassidy Comment Trump’s Impeachment and the Degrading of Presidential Accountability The President will see an acquittal—which was preordained by the highly partisan Senate—as license for further abuse. By Amy Davidson Sorkin Books Did Lincoln Really Matter? What the Civil War tells us about who has the power to shape history. By Adam Gopnik Musical Events The Pittsburgh Symphony’s Savage Precision Manfred Honeck and his musicians prove that the right orchestra and the right conductor can unleash unsuspected energies in familiar works. By Alex Ross Humor from The New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Etymology of Some Common Typos The word “jumptde” is an elongated verb form of pre-Celtic origin, later common in Turkic languages, which fell out of favor when it became kind of a pain. By Ian Frazier 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.