The Other MAGA President

Jon Lee Anderson on Javier Milei. Plus: the best podcasts of 2024; the conservative attack on over-the-counter birth control; and the art of carpentry. View in browser | Update your preferences Tuesday, December 3, 2024 In today’s newsletter, Jon Lee Anderson reports on the slash-and-burn austerity measures in Argentina that have earned admiration from Trump acolytes. Plus: • The conservative attack on over-the-counter birth control • Sarah Larson on the best podcasts of 2024 • Honoring the art of carpentry Javier Milei Wages War on Argentina’s Government The President, a libertarian economist given to outrageous provocations, wants to remake the nation. Can it survive his shock-therapy approach? Photograph by Tommaso Protti for The New Yorker Supporters of Javier Milei, the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” President of Argentina, call him the Madman or the Wig—a reference to his hairdo, an unkempt shag with disco sideburns. Detractors liken him to the pilot of an aircraft plunging toward the ground. Milei—who came to power, amid an anti-incumbent wave, in part by blaming economic trouble on corruption among politicians, journalists, trade unionists, and academics—believes in a drastic reduction in the scope of government. He once declared that “the state is the pedophile in the kindergarten, with the children chained up and slathered in Vaseline.” Jon Lee Anderson met with Milei, and, in this week’s issue, he details the striking parallels he found between the Argentinean President and America’s President-elect. Read the story The Lede Reporting and commentary on what you need to know today. Is Contraception Under Attack? Photograph by Eric Helgas The birth-control pill can now be bought over the counter in America, for the first time in the medication’s roughly sixty-year history. The safe, inexpensive contraceptive, which has been available without a prescription in more than a hundred other countries for many years, “is arriving at a fraught time for reproductive freedom in the U.S.,” Margaret Talbot writes. Anti-abortion groups, conservative politicians, and influencers on TikTok touting “natural family planning” have mounted an assault on what is among the best-studied preventative-health measures available. Read the story » Our journalism relies on your support. If you believe in fearless, fair, and fact-checked reporting, please subscribe today. Subscribe now Joshua Rothman Are Grownups Just Giant Kids? Illustration by Josie Norton Children and adults are a lot alike—both enjoy a yummy treat or a new toy, be it a miniature race car or a real one, and both resent being left out—and yet there are many social and cultural barriers between childhood and adulthood. “Adult life can come to feel random—in the midst of it, you find yourself hemmed in by seemingly arbitrary circumstances,” Joshua Rothman writes. “It can help to conjure a sense of being the same person you’ve always been.” Read the column » Open Questions publishes every Tuesday. If you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter, please share it. Was it forwarded to you? Sign up. The Year in Review 2024 in Review The Best Podcasts of 2024 Despite industry turmoil, old and new shows continue to innovate, whether investigating Elon Musk, high-school mysteries, or our relationship to death itself. By Sarah Larson Read more New Yorker writers on the highs and lows of the past year. Editor’s Pick Books The Deep Elation of Working with Wood In “Ingrained,” Callum Robinson honors not just the art of carpentry but the passion of labor itself. By Casey Cep Fun & Games Dept. Crossword A Moderately Challenging Puzzle Tradition during which performers pretend to eat and spit out lettuce for good luck: nine letters. By Wyna Liu Shouts & Murmurs How to Make the World a Better Place in Ten Easy Steps Aristotle became Aristotle by sitting around for hours. Who knows what’ll happen if you stop moving and just think. By Meghana Indurti Daily Cartoon Tuesday, December 3rd By Emily Flake Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play a quiz from our archive » P.S. The first, fleeting flakes of the season swirled briefly in New York City this morning, bringing with them a wintery mood befitting of Margaret Atwood’s story “Stone Mattress,” from 2011, in which a woman named Verna embarks on an Arctic cruise, “a vacation, pure and simple,” among “the vast cool sweeps of ice and rock and sea and sky.” Verna intends to “take a breather, do some inner accounting, shed worn skin”—certainly not to kill someone. And yet . . . ❄️ Today’s newsletter was written by Hannah Jocelyn. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Let us know. If you like the daily newsletter, browse more New Yorker newsletters. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.