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PRICE $6.99 JUNE 30, 2014 JUNE 30, 2014 7 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN 19 THE TALK OF THE TOWN Dexter Filkins on Obama and Iraq; diving at the World Cup; Jane Gardam; cockroach genome; urban planning: the musical. john cOlapinto 24 SHY AND MIGHTY What’s next for the xx? david sedaris 30 STEPPING OUT Living the Fitbit life. jeffrey toobin 34 THE ABSOLUTIST Don’t underestimate Ted Cruz. nathan heller 46 MOMENT TO MOMENT Time and Richard Linklater. FICTION rebecca Curtis 56 “THE PINK HOUSE” THE CRITICS THE THEATRE Hilton Als 66 “When We Were Young and Unafraid,” “Much Ado About Nothing.” BOOKS Caleb Crain 70 A new biography of Stephen Crane. 75 Briefly Noted THE CURRENT CINEMA Anthony lane 76 “Jersey Boys,” “Venus in Fur.” POEMS timothy donnelly 38 “Malamute” jean gallagher 60 “To Noah, from Wife” bruce M cCall COVER “Cap’n Ahab’s” DRAWINGS Zachary Kanin, Edward Steed, Farley Katz, Joe Dator, William Haefeli, Tom Cheney, Ken Krimstein, Danny Shanahan, Christopher Weyant, Frank Cotham, Paul Noth, Robert Mankoff, Drew Dernavich, P. C. Vey SPOTS Tibor Kárpáti 2 THE NEW YORKER, JUNE 30, 2014 CONTRIBUTORS dexter FIlkins (comment, p. 19) , the author of “The Forever War,” has reported from Iraq since 2003. He joined the magazine as a sta' writer in 2011. ELIzabeth kolbert (the talk of the town, p. 22) is the author of, most re- cently, “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.” john colapinto (“shy and mighty,” p. 24) , a sta' writer, will publish “An Up- right Man,” his second novel, early next year. david sedaris (“stepping out,” p. 30) has been contributing to the magazine since 1995. His book “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” is just out in paperback. jeFFrey toobin (“The absolutist,” p. 34) is a sta' writer and the author of six books, including “The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court” and “The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson.” Timothy Donnelly (poem, p. 38) , a recent Guggenheim Fellow, won the 2012 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for “The Cloud Corporation.” charles barsotti (Drawings, pp. 40-41) , who died on June 16th, contributed more than thirteen hundred cartoons to the magazine beginning in 1962. nathan heller (“moment to moment,” p. 46) , a sta' writer, is also a film and television critic for Vogue . rebecca curtis (fiction, p. 56) is the author of the story collection “Twenty Grand and Other Tales of Love and Money.” caleb crain (books, p. 70) published his first novel, “Necessary Errors,” last year. bruce m ccall (cover) , a longtime New Yorker contributor, is working on a book about creativity, which is due out next year. THE"NEW"YORKER"DIGITAL WWW!NEWYORKER!COM DIGITAL"EDITION NEWS"DESK COMMENT FICTION MUSIC Commentary Daily news Rebecca Curtis A performance by on events in analysis from reads her new the indie rock band Washington and George Packer and story. the xx. abroad. others. PAGE#TURNER PODCASTS POETRY On books and Nathan Heller and Richard Brody talk Readings by the writing life. with Sasha Weiss about Richard Timothy Donnelly Linklater’s career in movies, and about and Jean Gallagher . his new film. Plus, the Political Scene. ARCHIVE HUMOR FILM HUMOR Our complete A Daily Cartoon Richard Brody on his A gallery of bonus collection of issues, drawn by Movie of the Week cartoons from the back to 1925. Farley Katz , and pick, “Faust,” archive. Shouts & Murmurs. from 1926. Access our digital edition for tablets and phones at the App Store, Amazon.com, Google Play, or Next Issue Media. 4 THE NEW YORKER, JUNE 30, 2014 THE MAIL LITERARY WARNINGS often subtle, and are easily explained away as “sleeping wrong” and waking Rebecca Mead, in her piece on trig- up with a sore neck, straining the voice ger warnings, the shootings at the from speaking too much, or eye aller - University of California, Santa Bar- gies. Individuals with dystonia may bara, and the #YesAllWomen cam- go years without a proper diagnosis, paign, o&ers a thoughtful and histori- but prompt diagnosis is critical, be - cally informed approach (Comment, cause research suggests that treatment June 9th & 16th). The purpose of trig- outcomes may improve with early ger warnings is not, as some have ar- intervention. gued, to make participants in a class Art Kessler discussion feel that they’re in a “safe President, Dystonia Medical Research space.” Trigger warnings serve to pre - Foundation vent panic attacks or flashbacks that Chicago, Ill. impede one’s ability to engage in dis- cussion. (I speak as a college professor When I read Owen’s article concern- with P.T.S.D.) They are intended to ing neuromuscular hand spasms that enable everyone to remain present occur in golfers, musicians, and others, and alert enough to be challenged and I was reminded of how ahead of its discomfited. time the Alexander Technique was Margaret Price and still is, more than a hundred years Atlanta, Ga. since Frederick Matthias Alexander made his discoveries. I am a pianist I studied in the great-books program and a singer as well as a teacher of the at St. John’s College, in Santa Fe, New technique, which helps people move Mexico. I cannot imagine what might more freely and relieves muscle ten - happen to the excellent curriculum sion by developing the mind-body there if trigger warnings were to be in - connection. Alexander’s book “The troduced. To concern ourselves with Use of the Self ” has a chapter called who might be o&ended could endan- “The Golfer Who Cannot Keep His ger the program and rob participants Eyes on the Ball.” If George Bernard of a singular experience. No work of Shaw and Aldous Huxley (both stu - philosophy, literature, art, mathematics, dents of Alexander) had read Owen’s or science is meant to target one group article, they might have suggested that of people—anything that has perse - the golfers mentioned would do them- vered in the Western canon is for all of selves a lot of good by taking some Al - us. To attempt to temper all that might exander lessons. be deemed threatening or insensitive is William Barto Jones to demean us. New York City Meri Hamilton Palm City, Fla. EDITORS ’ N OTE : HSBC is the sole ad- vertiser in this week’s issue. As with EYES ON THE BALL any advertiser, it has had no advance knowledge of or control over the issue’s David Owen’s article on a condition contents. that a2icts golfers deftly brought to • light emerging research on dystonia, Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, a little-known neurological disorder address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to [email protected]. Letters that manifests in surprisingly diverse and Web comments may be edited for length ways and in people of all ages and and clarity, and may be published in any medium. We regret that owing to the volume backgrounds (“The Yips,” May 26th). of correspondence we cannot reply to every The early symptoms of dystonia are letter or return letters. THE NEW YORKER, JUNE 30, 2014 5 GOI G" O ABOUT T$W JUNE/JULY WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY • FRIDAY • SATURDAY • SUNDAY • MONDAY • TUESDAY 2 0 1 4 2 5 T H 26TH 27TH 28TH 29TH 30TH 1ST When Boston Ballet arrives at Lincoln Center this week, it brings “The Afternoon of a Faun,” movies | DANCE created by the fabled Ballets Russes star Vaslav Nijinsky in 1912. The piece shows a little faun on a THE THEATRE summer afternoon, encountering a pack of nymphs and trying to detain one. When she flees, he takes FOOD & DRINK her scarf, faute de mieux, to his bed. More than a hundred years old, this dance is still astonishing, with classical music its sweet, milky haze set against its slicing steps, its demure classicism against its blunt sexuality. After “Faun,” Nijinsky choreographed three more pieces, but meanwhile he was going insane. In 1919, he was ABOVE & BEYOND hospitalized, and he never worked again. Of his ballets, only “Faun” survives. art | NIGHT LIFE photograph by Ryan Pfluger financing—$1.4 million—he had only sixteen shooting days in which !"VIES to make the movie; now that it’s completed, Lee has to shop it around for distribution. Lee is a very busy filmmaker these days, directing TV specials featuring Pharrell Williams and Jerrod Carmichael, a music video for Eminem (it currently has more than twenty-one million views on YouTube), a short tribute to the World Cup (sponsored by Pepsi), and a documentary about the history of Brazil in anticipation of the 2016 Olympics; he’s also preparing to adapt “She’s Gotta Have It” as a series for Showtime. But none of these works seems likely to add to the legacy of his grand-scale, big-screen dramatic frescoes—the films that are being celebrated in the BAM retrospective. I asked him whether he missed making movies with the range of his 1992 film, “Malcolm X.” “Yeah, but it takes epic money to do an epic,” he said. However, these days, as Lee acknowledged, studios tend not to produce director-driven movies, leaving even filmmakers with Hollywood track records, such as Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, and Wes Anderson, to seek financing from independent producers. I asked Lee why he thought that the o5-Hollywood moguls—the Megan Ellisons and the Bill Pohlads— aren’t investing in his productions. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “Perception is a lot. So if I’m perceived as the angry black man who’s, quote unquote, a racist, that’s going to color their whole thing: ‘He’s unapproachable, he’s not “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” Spike Lee’s most recent feature film, was financed through Kickstarter.