Jill Lepore on What “Wonder Woman 1984” Could Have Learned from Its Superhero’s Past

Plus: our top culture stories of 2020, featuring Fiona Apple, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and poached-and-roasted chicken. View in browser | Update your preferences Culture Desk Does “Wonder Woman 1984” Hide Its Hero’s True Superpowers? The film about a female icon ignores her history as a female rebel. By Jill Lepore The New Yorker’s Top Culture Stories of 2020 Profiles Fiona Apple’s Art of Radical Sensitivity For years, the elusive singer-songwriter worked, at home, on an album with a strikingly raw and percussive sound. By Emily Nussbaum The New Yorker Interview An Interview with Esther Perel The therapist, author, and podcast host offers wisdom on navigating romantic relationships under quarantine. By Rachel Syme Cultural Comment “Emily in Paris” and the Rise of Ambient TV Netflix is pioneering a genre of television that you don't have to pay attention to in order to enjoy. By Kyle Chayka Postscript The Rare Authority of Alex Trebek As the host of “Jeopardy!” for more than three decades, Trebek became synonymous with knowledge itself. By Doreen St. Félix Decade in Review The Age of Instagram Face How social media, FaceTune, and plastic surgery created a single, cyborgian look. By Jia Tolentino Letter from the U.K. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Fractured Fairy Tale The abrupt separation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the United Kingdom and its monarchy. By Rebecca Mead Kitchen Notes Perfecting Roast Chicken, the French Way The method—call it poach-and-roast—is regarded, at least in France, as the best way to insure a moist and not-ruined chicken. By Bill Buford Fiction “The Lottery” “The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around.” By Shirley Jackson Books The Man Who Thought Too Fast Frank Ramsey—a philosopher, economist, and mathematician—was one of the greatest minds of the last century. Have we caught up with him yet? By Anthony Gottlieb Page-Turner A Sociologist Examines “White Fragility” Robin DiAngelo’s book exposes so-called pillars of whiteness: assumptions that prop up racist beliefs without white people realizing it. By Katy Waldman Humor and Puzzles Daily Shouts Mom and Baby Are Both Doing Fine We took the liberty of putting together a registry—but, of course, no pressure whatsoever. By Jen Spyra Crossword 2020 in Literature Whitehead whose novel “The Nickel Boys” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in May, 2020: six letters. By Anna Shechtman Crossword 2020 in Science and Tech Public-health authority whose first-pitch baseball card became the best-selling card in Topps’s history (July, 2020): five letters. By Aimee Lucido 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.