What Happens When Jobs Are Guaranteed?

Plus: new fiction by Salman Rushdie, the prisoner swap that led to Brittney Griner’s release, and how “The Daily Show” squandered the opportunity that was Trevor Noah. View in browser | Update your preferences Saturday, December 10, 2022 Annals of Inquiry What Happens When Jobs Are Guaranteed? In a small Austrian village, an experimental program finds—or creates—work for the unemployed. By Nick Romeo From the News Desk Daily Comment Brittney Griner’s Swap for the “Merchant of Death” Is Just the Latest Deal The average number of Americans detained abroad has risen by nearly six hundred per cent during the past decade. By Robin Wright Q. & A. Why Xi Jinping Changed His Mind on “Zero COVID” After weeks of protests, China will ease its stringent pandemic restrictions. The reversal could be a boon for the economy—and lead to a wave of deaths. By Isaac Chotiner The Sporting Scene The Redemption of Tua Tagovailoa After a secret plot to replace him, a terrifying concussion, and wondering to himself, “Do I suck?,” has the Dolphins quarterback finally turned Miami into a winner? By Dexter Filkins Editor’s Pick Fiction “A Sackful of Seeds” “She would not sacrifice her body merely to follow dead men into the afterworld. She would refuse to die young and would live, instead, to be impossibly, defiantly old.” By Salman Rushdie Books We Recommend This Week Reviews of notable new fiction and nonfiction. James Purdy, by Michael Snyder (Oxford). This biography of a cult writer and pioneer of queer fiction tries to reconcile mainstream neglect of his work with the acclaim he received from authors including Tennessee Williams and Susan Sontag. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Beyond Measure, by James Vincent (Norton). This book uses a seemingly simple question—How did our units of measurement originate?—to deliver a profound reflection on how we experience and describe the world. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Cocoon, by Zhang Yueran, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang (World Editions). In this multilayered novel about the sins and traumas of China’s past, two childhood friends reunite in their provincial home town after years apart. Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Everything the Light Touches, by Janice Pariat (HarperVia). Four characters embark on journeys that bring them into close communion with nature, in this philosophical novel. A young Indian woman finds a sense of purpose in her country’s rural east. In the Edwardian era, an English botanist journeys to the same remote area, searching for a mythical tree. Carl Linnaeus, the father of biological classification, travels through Lapland, and Goethe develops his framework for perceiving the unity of a natural world in which “all is leaf.” Buy now on Amazon or Bookshop. Our Essential Reads of 2022 What are you reading this week? Reply to let us know. Culture Dept. On Television How “The Daily Show” Squandered the Opportunity That Was Trevor Noah Only occasionally did the series fully deliver on its initial promise of using Noah’s outsider’s gaze to satirize America. By Inkoo Kang Screening Room A Puppet Family’s Campout, Marked by Egomania and Infidelity Daniel Robert Hope’s animated short “The Clearing” offers a playful take on marital psychodrama, which unfolds on a wilderness trip. By Alexandra Brady Film by Daniel Robert Hope The Front Row The Radical, Exuberant Transformation of “Random Acts of Flyness” The second season of Terence Nance’s HBO series scrutinizes the nature of artistic collaboration while developing a visionary exploration of Black American life. By Richard Brody Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play the Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger Daily Shouts The Most Embarrassing Ways I’ve Lost Eight Billion Dollars Donated sixteen billion dollars to a charity that cuts all of the money that it receives in half. By Charlie Dektar Shouts & Murmurs The Procrastination Diary of Merrick Garland Should I work on my Trump indictment today? Or should I look at espresso machines online? By Anand Giridharadas \ Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.