This Week’s Issue: The Human Toll of the War in Ukraine

Plus: Michael Schulman profiles Elisabeth Moss; Maya Jasanoff on ancestry; and Doreen St. Félix on the Showtime miniseries “The First Lady.” View in browser | Update your preferences Letter from Ukraine How Ukrainians Saved Their Capital When Russia attacked Kyiv, Ukrainians dropped everything to protect the city—and to ease one another’s suffering. By Luke Mogelson Portfolio The Costs of War Destruction, brutality, and terrible loss in Bucha, Kharkiv, Irpin, and elsewhere in Ukraine. Photographs by James Nachtwey Profiles How Elisabeth Moss Became the Dark Lady of the Small Screen The actor—who is also a director, a rom-com fan, and a Scientologist—likes to swim in the weird. By Michael Schulman A Critic at Large Our Obsession with Ancestry Has Some Twisted Roots From origin stories to blood-purity statutes, we have long enlisted genealogy to serve our own purposes. By Maya Jasanoff On Television “The First Lady” Is a Bad-Wig Costume Drama The Showtime miniseries manages to make life as a White House wife seem both cosmic and forgettable. By Doreen St. Félix Comment A Role Model for the Midterms Democrats need to fight back against the Republicans’ phony culture war. Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow showed how. By David Remnick Books The Making of a Femicide A Mexican novelist explores how murderous male rage flourishes in an ailing society. By Juan Gabriel Vásquez The Theatre Dinosaurs, New Jersey, and Impending Doom in “The Skin of Our Teeth” In Lileana Blain-Cruz’s new production of Thornton Wilder’s 1942 play, civilizational conflict contrasts with speech used to counsel collaboration and togetherness. By Vinson Cunningham Tour Dept. Spoon Gets Sidelined in New York Britt Daniel and Jim Eno, from the Texas band Spoon, shot some pool to kill time ahead of a gig on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” before COVID rearranged their plans. By Nick Paumgarten Humor from The New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Mastering the Art of Stress Eating If Julia Child were alive today, you can bet she’d be putting Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in the ratatouille. By Jiji Lee Cartoons from the Issue Cartoons from the Issue Drawings and drollery from this week’s magazine. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for This Week's Issue from The New Yorker. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.