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Harold Jamieson, once chief engineer of New York City’s sanitation department, enjoyed retirement. He knew from his small circle of friends that some didn’t, so he considered himself lucky. He…

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In the Seventies, when I came of age politically, being a lefty was all about believing that “the people” would always save us, if they just knew the truth. We…

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From a manuscript in progress. In the dream I wrote this poem called “Electric.” Somehow I got the t in the middle of the title to wiggle. All the words…

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A plague of unsolved femicides haunts Mexico

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From Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, a version of Euripides’ Helen, published last month by New Directions. The play was performed last spring at the Shed’s Griffin Theater, in New…

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Why we can’t beat our addiction to war

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It was the foggy end of a drizzly day. Along the lunch counter of the Ferry Dock Tavern, gray-haired men in overalls and leather jackets were eating oyster stew. A…

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Breaking the News It was gratifying to see Greg Jackson revive the ideas of Neil Postman in his meditation on the media [“Vicious Cycles,” Essay, January], for Postman highlighted the…

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From transcripts of interviews conducted by David Stavrou with Sayragul Sauytbay, a Uighur woman from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, where the United Nations estimates that between one…

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From an account told to Witold Szabłowski by Abu Ali, a former cook for Saddam Hussein. The story is included in Szabłowski’s book How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein,…

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The first history of the most remote ocean

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Design for a grotesque mask by Johann Ulrich Stapf © Victoria and Albert Museum, London Witch hunts have always been a tool of those in power. As such, they shed…

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The legacy of colonialism threatens the future of genetic research

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From This Brilliant Darkness, out last month from W. W. Norton. The book is composed of short essays about encounters Sharlet had while photographing strangers. mike All photos by Jeff Sharlet The…

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From items found in the stomachs of dead whales since 2010, as described in news reports. Fishing nets Bundles of rope Corrugated tubing Duct tape Shopping bags Banana bags Rice…

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From lyrics referring to Donald Trump in rap songs catalogued by Genius.com. Rich Well-known Over-tan Orange Pink All-American High drama Living large On the links On the news Making big…

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Apocalypse camp at the dawn of the Great Extinction

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From “Phone Calls from the Apocalypse,” an essay in the collection Thin Places, which will be published this month by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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The life of Robert Stone

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From At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life, published this month by W. W. Norton. When I imagine my death, I do not see myself surrounded…

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From the novel Hurricane Season, which will be published this month by New Directions. They say she never really died, because witches don’t go without a fight. They say that,…

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From actions since 2006 taken by American companies and institutions to appease China. Censored music that refers to the Tiananmen Square massacreCanceled a lecture on women’s rightsRemoved an app that…

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A Shack of One’s Own Thanks to Wes Enzinna [“Gimme Shelter,” Letter from California, December], I finally understand why millennials hate baby boomers. In many ways, my own experience has…

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