The Fiction of a Ukrainian Writer Turned Soldier

Plus: killing wolves to own the libs; “Turning Red”; and your phone’s camera roll contains a masterpiece. View in browser | Update your preferences Thursday, March 31, 2022 Welcome to the new Daily! Read about our redesign, and share your thoughts by replying to this e-mail. In today’s newsletter: • Killing wolves to own the libs • The exhaustion of Pixar’s “Turning Red” • Your phone’s camera roll contains a masterpiece Artem Chapeye on Defending Ukraine The author discusses “The Ukraine,” his story from the latest issue of the magazine. Illustration by Valerie Chiang; Source photograph by Valentyn Kuzan “I’m somehow ashamed to brag about The New Yorker to my comrades here, where what really matters is that I don’t lose vigilance while guarding them, and that we fix a truck malfunction, etc.” Those are the words of the Ukrainian writer Artem Chapeye, whose short story “The Ukraine,” about a couple’s love affair and their weekend journeys throughout the country, appears in this week’s issue. Chapeye is currently defending against the Russian invasion as a private in the Ukrainian Army—and he speaks with our fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, about leaving his wife and children to fight, squaring military service with his leftist politics and pacifism, and what the war might mean for his nation’s sense of self. “What’s most amazing, I think, is that most of us didn’t even expect so much resistance and solidarity from ourselves,” he says. “That came as a surprise, and it’s self-supporting.” Read more of the interview, as well as Chapeye’s evocative and tender short story. —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor Read the interview Fiction “The Ukraine” “She and I converged on a sullen love for our country.” By Artem Chapeye From the News Desk News Desk Fleeing the War, a Ukrainian Comes to Brooklyn As a wave of refugees begins to land in the U.S., one woman follows an unlikely path to safety. By Dexter Filkins Letter from Idaho Killing Wolves to Own the Libs? The predators have been the object of political controversy since the nineties. An aggressive new law allows people to hunt or trap as many as they can. By Paige Williams The New Yorker Live A Discussion on the War in Ukraine The New Yorker’s Masha Gessen and Joshua Yaffa, who have been reporting from Russia and Ukraine, will join the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, to discuss the conflict and participate in an extended audience Q. & A., today at 5 P.M. E.T., exclusively for subscribers. Editor’s Pick Culture Desk Your Camera Roll Contains a Masterpiece Our smartphones are stuffed with photos. The challenge is finding the good ones. By Michael Johnston Culture Dept. Culture Desk There Is More Than One Way to Be Exhausted by “Turning Red” In its attempt to celebrate Chinese Canadian culture and destigmatize menstruation, the Pixar film manages to be both hyper-specific and alienating. By Jane Hu Books “A Childhood” Is One of the Finest Memoirs Ever Written Harry Crews’s account of hard labor and hard living in the American South, first published in 1978, animates nostalgia and then annihilates it. By Casey Cep Lost and Found Dept. The Treasures in Your Trash The exhibitors of the first-ever Found Object Show search for new items among the discarded pantyhose and bottles at a Brooklyn beach, next to an old landfill. By Laura Preston The Front Row “Squirrels to the Nuts,” Reviewed This edit vastly improves on the original, but it also reveals the limitations of Peter Bogdanovich’s style. By Richard Brody The New Yorker Crossword is now five days a week, with themed puzzles on Fridays. Read more » Fun & Games Dept. Daily Cartoon Thursday, March 31st By Tom Toro Daily Shouts April Fools’ from Your Favorite Tech Company We’re going to T.P. a house! Every house in Nebraska. With our fleet of drones. By Lillian Stone, Jon Plester, and Nate Odenkirk Crossword A Beginner-Friendly Puzzle Singer David who created the alter ego Ziggy Stardust: five letters. By Patrick Berry Name Drop Play Today's Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Liz Maynes-Aminzade P.S. The family of Bruce Willis has announced that the actor is “stepping away” from performing, citing a diagnosis of aphasia, “which is impacting his cognitive abilities.” A few years ago, the film critic Richard Brody belatedly got around to watching the 1988 action touchstone “Die Hard,” which features Willis’s signature role, as Detective John McClane. In a sweeping reflection, Brody notes that Willis’s wisecracking, super-Everyman protagonist becomes a kind of blue-collar Jesus: “His sacrificial torments in the name of order and family make him a lone, white, working-class Christ figure.” Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. 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