Bob Woodward’s Bad Characters

Plus: what a negative coronavirus test really means; the novelist Ayad Akhtar’s provocative work; and Thelonious Monk. View in browser | Update your preferences Medical Dispatch Why a Negative Test Doesn’t Guarantee You Don’t Have the Coronavirus We want coronavirus tests to give us the all-clear. But, in medicine, test results are clues, not answers—and no test is perfect. By Clayton Dalton Page-Turner Bob Woodward’s Bad Characters The combined effect of Woodward’s interviews with President Trump is definitive proof that there is such a thing as too much access. By Isaac Chotiner U.S. Journal The Recurring Trauma of California’s Wildfires Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before another fire tried to outdo the awful accomplishments of the Camp Fire, from 2018. By Robert P. Baird Life and Letters Life and Letters An American Writer for an Age of Division The playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar has never been afraid of provoking audiences. His latest work explores the origins of Trump’s toxicity, the tensions of Muslim identity, and the splintering of a family and a country. By Alexandra Schwartz PAID POST New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett The Evening and the Morning takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that ends where mega-bestseller The Pillars of the Earth begins. Read or listen now. Culture and More The Front Row The Thrills of a Rediscovered Thelonious Monk Recording “Palo Alto,” a previously unissued concert recording of Monk and his quartet, offers distinctive and illuminating pleasures. By Richard Brody A Critic at Large Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music The field must acknowledge a history of systemic racism while also giving new weight to Black composers and musicians. By Alex Ross Crossword Today’s Crossword Red bottoms’ bottoms: five letters. By Erik Agard Humor from The New Yorker Daily Shouts Compliments I’ve Received in My Thirties, Translated What “Wow, my dog really likes you!” actually means. By Danielle Kraese Daily Cartoon Wednesday, September 16th By Amy Kurzweil This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.