PRICE $8.99 OCT. 31, 2016 THE POLITICS ISSUE OCTOBER 31, 2016 12 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN 31 THE TALK OF THE TOWN The choice for President. LIFE AND LETTERS Thomas Mallon 36 Presumptive The 2016 campaign, as a novel. SHOUTS & MURMURS Ian Frazier 41 Unburied ANNALS OF MEDIA Andrew Marantz 42 Trolls for Trump How the alt-right infiltrates the mainstream. A R E P O RT E R AT L A RG E George Packer 48 The Unconnected Hillary Clinton and the white working class. PORTFOLIO Katy Grannan 62 The Vote Selecting a President for the first time. FICTION Anne Carson 80 “Back the Way You Went” THE CRITICS BOOKS Kelefa Sanneh 84 What are immigrants owed? 89 Briefly Noted Joan Acocella 90 The rise and fall of Esperanto. MUSICAL EVENTS Alex Ross 96 The music of Kaija Saariaho and Gérard Grisey. POEMS Maria Nazos 38 “Cape Cod Pantoum” Charles Rafferty 55 “Attraction” COVER Barry Blitt “Significant Others” DRAWINGS Seth Fleishman, Jack Ziegler, Avi Steinberg, Bob Eckstein, Liam Francis Walsh, Trevor Spaulding, John McNamee, Will McPhail, Roz Chast SPOTS Richard McGuire CONTRIBUTORS George Packer (“The Unconnected,” Anne Carson (Fiction, p. 80) is a profes- p. 48) is a 2016-17 fellow at the Doro- sor of classics, as well as a poet, an essay- thy and Lewis B. Cullman Center of ist, and a translator. Her new collection, the New York Public Library, and at “Float,” has just been published. New America. “The Unwinding” is his latest book. Thomas Mallon (“Presumptive,” p. 36) is a novelist, an essayist, and a critic. Andrew Marantz (“Trolls for Trump,” “Finale: A Novel of the Reagan Years” p. 42) has been contributing to the mag- came out in paperback in August. azine since 2011. Charles Rafferty (Poem, p. 55) directs Maria Nazos (Poem, p. 38) is the author the M.F.A. program at Albertus Mag- of “A Hymn That Meanders,” a book nus College. His collection of prose of poems, and, most recently, “Still Life,” poems, “The Smoke of Horses,” is due a chapbook. out next year. Ian Frazier (Shouts & Murmurs, p. 41) Katy Grannan (Portfolio, p. 62) is a pho- published “Hogs Wild: Selected Re- tographer and a flmmaker, whose first porting Pieces” in June, and is working feature flm, “The Nine,” will be shown on a book about the Bronx. at DOC NYC on November 14th. Kelefa Sanneh (Books, p. 84), a staf Joan Acocella (Books, p. 90), who has writer, previously wrote about the pol- written for The New Yorker since 1992, itics of immigration in 2012. is working on a book about Mikhail Baryshnikov. Barry Blitt (Cover) is working on a ret- rospective book of his work, to be pub- Alex Ross (Musical Events, p. 96), a lished next year. This is his hundredth staff writer, is the author of “The Rest cover for the magazine. Is Noise” and “Listen to This.” NEWYORKER.COM Everything in the magazine, and more. GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN VIDEO Tour a house of political horrors, The photographer and flmmaker inspired by climate change, gun Katy Grannan travels around the U.S. control, and Donald Trump. to capture the nation’s mood in 2016. SUBSCRIBERS: Get access to our magazine app for tablets and smartphones at the App Store, Amazon.com, or Google Play. (Access varies by location and device.) GRANNAN KATY RHYNE; EMILY 6 THE NEW YO R K E R , OCTOBER 31, 2016 THE MAIL THE TRUTH ABOUT TRIPPING seriously by the scientific community. But focussing on a few people who can Ariel Levy’s piece on ayahuasca pres- be portrayed as cartoonish cliché-spout- ents two theories explaining how Am- ers out of a Wayne Dyer-inspired night- azonians might have discovered the plant mare only serves to hinder serious study combination that created the hallucino- of the benefits of what is undisputably gen ayahuasca: “the spirit of the plants a potent medicinal concoction. led indigenous people to brew the two Angela Dawe together” or “one day someone happened 1East Lansing, Mich. to drop a chacruna leaf into his B. caapi tea” (“The Secret Life of Plants,” Sep- WEIGHING THE ALTERNATIVES tember 12th). It’s also possible that the combination arose through the con- Rivka Galchen’s article on bariatric sur- certed eforts of experienced herbalists. gery mentioned some of the factors that One of the consequences of European make weight loss nearly impossible for conquest has been the dismissal of in- obese patients, but before we all rush digenous botany and agriculture. Colo- of to get bariatric surgery it would be nizers often depended upon indigenous wise to take a closer look at exactly why people for food, but, in order to justify diets and exercise don’t work (“Keep- their occupation, they portrayed native ing It Of,” September 26th). First, there peoples as poor custodians of the land. is a systemic problem with medical ed- When people sentimentalize pre-con- ucation: many doctors are trained to tact Indians as passive recipients of na- treat symptoms rather than uncover the ture’s bounty, they perpetuate this myth. root cause of disease. Second, patients In places like the Amazon, indigenous need more support in making tough groups shaped the landscape in sophis- life-style changes. Doctors might ad- ticated ways that we are still learning vise patients to eat right and exercise, about. If Indians appeared to demand but, without any follow-up, success is little of the environment, it was precisely unlikely; obese patients may also need because they had a nuanced understand- tests that insurance doesn’t cover, since ing of plants and their uses. they are often battling dysbiosis, psy- Melissa N. Morris chological issues, food sensitivities or Philadelphia, Pa. addictions, or hormonal imbalances that make it more difcult to lose weight. As someone who has greatly benefitted Finally, people in the U.S. tend to eat from taking ayahuasca, I believe that it foods that contribute to obesity; i.e, has the potential to provide relief and those that are readily available, cheap, healing to many people, and that it tasty, and require little or no prepara- should be rigorously studied. There are tion but that are also highly caloric and some other facts about me that would addictive. Most people are also largely probably surprise those whose only misinformed about what constitutes source of information about ayahuasca healthy food. Obese patients need a ho- is Levy’s article: I go by my given name, listic, personalized program in conjunc- not some moniker like Moonbeam Wa- tion with ongoing support in order to terfall. The word “vibration” comes out make lasting behavioral changes. of my mouth only when I’m singing Emily Adams along to Marky Mark and the Funky Brooklyn, N.Y. Bunch. I have never believed myself to have psychic powers. I do not think that • ayahuasca can bring peace to the uni- Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to verse. I have a full-time job. I hate kale. [email protected]. Letters may be edited It seemed to me that Levy’s article dis- for length and clarity, and may be published in played some skepticism toward those any medium. We regret that owing to the volume who would like to see ayahuasca taken of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. THE NEW YO R K E R , OCTOBER 31, 2016 7 OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 1, 2016 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN Halloween is a feline feast, which BAM Cinématek celebrates in the series “13 Cats” (Oct. 21-Nov. 3), ofering classic and modern masterworks of horror and fantasy. It features “The Black Cat,” Edgar G. Ulmer’s Nazi-era allegory, from 1934, starring Béla Lugosi and Boris Karlof; Jacques Tourneur’s “Cat People,” from 1942, with Simone Simon as a Serbian woman fearing an ancient curse, and Paul Schrader’s 1982 remake, starring Nastassja Kinski; and two films by Hayao Miyazaki, “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL MARCELLE Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Gloria Chien. Other composers on the bill include Handel, Weber, and Frank Bridge (the CLASSICAL MUSIC String Sextet in E-Flat Major), Benjamin Brit- ten’s principal mentor. Oct. 30 at 5. (Alice Tully 1 Hall.) (212-875-5788.) début with the orchestra in 2014. He returns OPERA to conduct a program featuring Bartók’s angu- Steve Reich 80th Birthday Concert lar “Dance Suite” and two more familiar pieces, Carnegie Hall honors the New York minimalist Metropolitan Opera Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor (with master with a concert ofered by the conductor In the nineteen-nineties and aughts, Karita Mat- the Philharmonic’s concertmaster, Frank Huang) David Robertson, the International Contem- tila was one of the Met’s leading prima donnas, and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony. Oct. 27 and porary Ensemble, So Percussion, and Synergy racking up a staggering string of successes in Nov. 1 at 7:30, Oct. 28 at 11 A.M., and Oct. 29 at 8. Vocals. The program includes “Three Tales,” a some of the most challenging repertory for so- (David Gefen Hall. 212-875-5656.) controversial video opera about the perils of pranos, including the title role of Janáček’s sear- technology (with visuals by Reich’s wife, Beryl ing drama “Jenůfa.” Now she takes a stab at the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Korot); “Quartet,” a meditative work for pairs of scene-stealing role of Jenůfa’s intimidating step- The conductorless chamber orchestra’s frst foray pianos and vibraphones; and the world première mother, the Kostelnička, in a cast that also in- of the season at Carnegie Hall consists mostly of of “Pulse,” a piece co-commissioned by Carne- cludes Joseph Kaiser, Daniel Brenna, and Ok- taut and sparkling pieces in the spirit of Classi- gie Hall and ICE.