This Week’s Issue: CRISPR and the Splice to Survive

Plus: Rachel Kushner on coming of age in San Francisco, the most hated man in the Rockies, and what’s wrong with the way we work. View in browser | Update your preferences The Control of Nature CRISPR and the Splice to Survive New gene-editing technology could be used to save species from extinction—or to eliminate them. By Elizabeth Kolbert Letter from Colorado Trolling the Great Outdoors As the wilderness gets overrun, the most hated man in the Rockies finds an audience of emulators and antagonists. By Nick Paumgarten Personal History The Hard Crowd Coming of age on the streets of San Francisco. By Rachel Kushner Profiles How El Anatsui Broke the Seal on Contemporary Art His runaway success began with castaway junk: a bag of bottle caps along the road. Now the Ghanaian sculptor is redefining Africa’s place on the global art scene. By Julian Lucas Comment The Inciter-in-Chief How surprising can Donald Trump’s recent provocation be when for years he has served as an inspiration to bigots everywhere? By David Remnick Books Is It Really Too Late to Learn New Skills? You missed your chance to be a prodigy, but there’s still growth left for grownups. By Margaret Talbot A Critic at Large What’s Wrong with the Way We Work Americans are told to give their all—time, labor, and passion—to their jobs. But do their jobs give enough back? By Jill Lepore Books Human History and the Hunger for Land From Bronze Age farmers to New World colonialists, the stories of struggle to claim more ground have shaped where and how we live. By Francisco Cantú Musical Events A Road Trip with David Hockney and Richard Wagner Hockney has loved driving through the Santa Monica Mountains blaring a Wagner soundtrack. Recently, I retraced his routes. By Alex Ross The Current Cinema Performances of Unstinting Ardor Electrify “Pieces of a Woman” In Kornél Mundruczó’s film about the aftermath of a home-birth calamity, Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn create an unforgettable impression. By Anthony Lane The Theatre The Restlessly Inventive Plays of Adrienne Kennedy A festival of readings of the playwright’s later work reveals a development in Kennedy’s thinking since her most famous play, “Funnyhouse of a Negro.” By Vinson Cunningham Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Books & Fiction Newsletter Book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature, twice a week. Humor from The New Yorker Cartoons From The Issue Cartoons from the Issue Drawings and drollery from this week’s magazine. 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.