Louis Theroux’s Weird America

Plus: can Biden restore America’s belief in government?; a review of “One Night in Miami”; and a poem by Rita Dove. View in browser | Update your preferences Persons of Interest Louis Theroux’s Weird America After seeing the rest of the world reported on so often through an American lens, it is somehow reassuring, in Theroux’s documentaries, to see the tables turned—America as a foreign country. By Anna Russell Comment Can Joe Biden Restore America’s Belief That Government Is Good for People? Despite the gravity of the challenges ahead, President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris are setting out with some distinct advantages. By Margaret Talbot Annals of a Warming Planet To Counter Climate Change, We Need to Stop Burning Things Wood produces large amounts of carbon for each unit of energy it produces, and forests take decades to regrow and absorb that carbon—decades we don’t have. By Bill McKibben Double Take Sunday Reading: A Sense of Place From The New Yorker’s archive: stories about how the concept of home has shifted over time. By Erin Overbey Tables for Two A Deeper Understanding of Mexican Food at Gastronomy Underground After the pandemic halted their careers in high-end restaurants, Pablo Rojas and Roxanna Mejia have taken to devising regionally inspired taco sets and creative tasting menus for delivery. By Hannah Goldfield Culture and More The Front Row “One Night in Miami” Is a Feast of Performance The encounter of four Black cultural heroes outleaps its intimate scope to illuminate historic changes. By Richard Brody Books Briefly Noted “Icebound,” “Sylvia Pankhurst,” “Life Among the Terranauts,” and “Pickard County Atlas.” Poems “Last Words” “I don’t want to die in a poem.” By Rita Dove Poems “To Be Young” “A man chainsaws the orchard of which you once partook.” By L. S. Klatt Humor and Puzzles Daily Shouts Statistics I’ve Trusted Forever Without Verifying “Only three per cent of the Earth’s water is drinkable.” What per cent of the Earth’s Diet Coke is drinkable, though? By Ginny Hogan and Jeremy Nguyen Cryptic Crossword The Cryptic Crossword: No. 23 Cried, tossed apple drink (5). By Fraser Simpson 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.