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 Contents 5

Editor’s letter
A century ago, economists believed that you could predict how
poor someone was by how much he or she worked. The whole
point of earning wealth, they argued, was that it afforded you less
toil and more downtime. But somewhere in the annals of Ameri-
ca’s workaholic culture, putting in inhuman hours at your job be-
came a status symbol, especially for the elite. Today’s high-flying
executives are some of the worst offenders. Apple CEO Tim Cook
gets up at 3:45 a.m. each day to fire off work emails, and is often
the first one in the office and the last one to leave. Yahoo CEO
Marissa Mayer has bragged about pulling all-nighters at her desk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban once didn’t take a vacation
for seven years. These executives continue to put in grueling 100-
hour workweeks long after they’ve made more money than they
could hope to spend in a lifetime. Why? Because in our work-
obsessed society, busyness has become something that we aspire
to. It signals that we are in demand, and that our time has value.
You could argue these executives are doing what they love, and
that meaningful work provides a real sense of fulfillment. But all
that industriousness probably isn’t making them more creative or
productive. Some of history’s most accomplished figures across
science, math, and literature—people like Charles Darwin, Henri
Poincaré, and Charles Dickens—insisted on working just four or
five hours a day. (See Last Word.) The rest of their mornings and
afternoons were filled with long walks and other leisurely pur-
suits that recharged their mental batteries and gave rise to cre-
ative ideas. Studies of exceptional performers and athletes reveal
similar work/rest patterns, with just a few hours a day of serious,
focused effort. No one expects corporate America to suddenly
start breaking for afternoon naps. But the next time your col-
league sends an urgent 10 p.m. email, you might tell him, quite
literally, to go take a hike. Carolyn O’Hara
Managing editor

NEWS
6 Main stories
Congress makes a deal
on spending; Trump
praises a strongman; the
GOP looks to try again
on healthcare
8 Controversy of the week
Who would benefit most
from Trump’s tax plan?
9 The U.S. at a glance
Hillary Clinton slams
Comey; pool party
shooting in San Diego
10 The world at a glance
A power grab in
Venezuela; U.S. Marines
return to Afghanistan’s
Helmand province
12 People
Sienna Miller on the joys
and struggles of single
parenthood; the world’s
Editor-in-chief: William Falk
Managing editors: Theunis Bates,
Carolyn O’Hara
Deputy editor/International: Susan Caskie
Deputy editor/Arts: Chris Mitchell
Senior editors: Harry Byford, Alex
Dalenberg, Richard Jerome, Dale Obbie,
Hallie Stiller, Frances Weaver
Art director: Dan Josephs
Photo editor: Loren Talbot
Copy editors: Jane A. Halsey, Jay Wilkins
Chief researcher: Christina Colizza
Contributing editors: Ryan Devlin,
Bruno Maddox
VP, publisher: John Guehl
VP, marketing: Tara Mitchell
Sales development director:
Samuel Homburger
Account director: Steve Mumford
Account managers: Shelley Adler,
Alison Fernandez
Detroit director: Lisa Budnick
Midwest director: Lauren Ross
Congress agreed to a $1 trillion spending package to avoid a shutdown. (p.6) Southeast director: Jana Robinson
West Coast directors: James Horan,
Rebecca Treadwell
ARTS LEISURE Integrated marketing director: Nikki Ettore
Integrated associate marketing director:
24 Books 30 Food & Drink
Betsy Connors
Integrated marketing managers:
How Harvard Business Culture clashes that click Matthew Flynn, Caila Litman
Research and insights manager:
School shapes our CEOs in the kitchen Joan Cheung
Marketing designer: Triona Moynihan

first intersex model
13 Briefing
Will Great Britain emerge
from Brexit in one piece?
14 Best U.S. columns
The foolishness of ending
the war on drugs; the
cruelty of jailing women
for abortions
17 Best international
26 Author of the week 31 Travel Marketing coordinator: Reisa Feigenbaum
Digital director: Garrett Markley
Valerie Luiselli on the An escape to Ischia, Senior digital account manager:
lives of child migrants inspired by Elena Ferrante Yuliya Spektorsky
Digital planner: Jennifer Riddell
27 Art & Music 32 Consumer Chief operating & financial officer:
Kevin E. Morgan
Photographer The best photo gifts for Director of financial reporting:
Mother’s Day Arielle Starkman
Irving Penn’s EVP, consumer marketing & products:
Sara O’Connor
revolutionary
Consumer marketing director:
eye BUSINESS Leslie Guarnieri
Production manager: Kyle Christine Darnell
HR/operations manager: Joy Hart
28 Film 36 News at a glance
Adviser: Ian Leggett
Tom Hanks Tech giants extend a profit Chairman: John M. Lagana

columns and Emma streak; Saudis take over U.K. founding editor: Jolyon Connell

South Korea stunned by Watson explore biggest U.S. refinery Company founder: Felix Dennis

Trump’s demands for cash the perils of 37 Making money

18 Talking points
Obama cashes in; Trump
marvels at his tough new
job; Ivanka’s precedent-
AP, Getty
social media in The pitfalls of Parent Plus
The Circle Visit us at TheWeek.com.
student loans For customer service go to www
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Looking for a “Trump Renew a subscription at www

shattering role; why Sienna bump”; where full .RenewTheWeek.com or give a gift
at www.GiveTheWeek.com.
ESPN is struggling Miller (p.12) employment doesn’t work
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
6 NEWS The main stories...
Congress agrees on spending deal
What happened This deal is a “victory for common
Republican and Democratic congressional sense,” said The Washington Post.
leaders avoided a government shutdown by Democrats “skillfully” leveraged what
agreeing to a $1 trillion spending pack- little power they had; Republicans did
age this week that did not include most of what was necessary to prevent a “politi-
President Trump’s policy initiatives. The deal cally costly” shutdown. In an era of deep
funds the federal government through the polarization, it is heartening to see a bit
end of September, and fulfills several GOP of “good old-fashioned political horse-
demands, including an extra $12.5 billion trading” pay off. The only loser was
in military funding, and $1.5 billion more President Trump. By ignoring so many of
for border security. But because Republicans his demands—not least the funding for
only control 52 seats in the Senate, eight his precious border wall—congressional
short of the 60 required to overcome the Democrats and Republicans made it
filibuster, Democrats were able to extract perfectly clear “their priorities are not
Schumer: Winning at Trump’s expense? [his] priorities.”
a number of significant concessions. The
spending package contains no money for the president’s proposed
border wall, doesn’t defund Planned Parenthood, and leaves largely What the columnists said
intact funding for government agencies that Trump wanted to gut. The GOP leadership actually had a “surprisingly weak negotiating
The Environmental Protection Agency’s budget will be reduced by position,” said Matt Yglesias in Vox.com. To get this spending bill
only 1 percent, not 31 percent; the National Institutes of Health, an- passed, they needed the support of at least eight Senate Democrats,
other target for cuts, will receive an increase in funding of $2 billion. as well as at least some House Democrats, because hard-right
House Republicans “will defect from any deal” that Democrats
Democratic leaders immediately celebrated the deal as a victory. support. That left GOP leaders needing a bill with enough conces-
“Early on in this debate, [we] clearly laid out our principles,” said sions to win over Democrats in both chambers—and the Democrats
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “This is an agreement that are determined to deny Trump any victories.
reflects those principles.” Trump initially said he was “very happy”
with the agreement, calling it a “clear win” for the American That’s why Trump is right to call for a shutdown next time, said Jake
people. But as the Democrats’ victory lap continued, the president Novak in CNBC.com. The “conventional wisdom” in Washington is
angrily complained on Twitter that Republicans had been boxed in that temporarily bringing the government to a halt amounts to “po-
by filibuster rules, saying “a good shutdown” in September would litical suicide.” But Republicans initially took the blame for the last
“fix this mess.” shutdown, in 2013—only to retain the House and regain the Senate
the following year “in a massive midterm election landslide.” With
What the editorials said Democrats acting like obstructionists, and congressional Republi-
For Republicans, “it’s hard to chalk the bill up as anything but a cans acting like cowards, “a shutdown is likely the only way for the
loss,” said NationalReview.com. Sure, they boosted military spend- Trump team to shake the leaders of both parties” out of their inertia.
ing, and broke the damaging Obama-era precedent that all defense
funding increases must be matched by rises in nondefense spending. As usual, Trump is blaming others for “his own inept bargain-
But the $1.5 billion for border-security improvements can be spent ing,” said Jonathan Bernstein in Bloomberg.com. He could have
only on technology and repairs to existing infrastructure—not on refused any concessions this time, but didn’t. Neither Republicans
new barriers or additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor Democrats are “likely to be impressed with Trump’s threat”
agents. Granted, Republicans had their hands tied by the filibuster, of a September shutdown, because his wall and spending cuts are
and knew they’d “shoulder the blame for any shutdown—justifiably unpopular, and he “already has a reputation as a paper tiger.”
or not.” But for a party that controls all three branches of govern- Unfortunately, Trump may decide next time that he needs to force a
ment, they didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. shutdown to avoid looking weak. If he does, it will backfire.

It wasn’t all bad
QThe members of Metallica tribute
act Blistered Earth have a new rea-
son to love their heavy-metal heroes. has seen nearly all the great moments in the team’s history,
After the Washington-based cover
band played a gig in Portland, Ore.,
last month, their van was broken into
and $20,000 worth of gear—their gui-
QPhil Coyne is a familiar face to generations of Pittsburgh
Pirates fans. Coyne was 18 when he took a job as an usher
with the Pirates in 1936, and 81 years later, he’s still showing
Bucs fans to their seats. Over those eight decades, Coyne
like Bill Mazeroski’s walk-
off home run that won
the Pirates the World Se-
ries in 1960. To celebrate
QA terminally ill Springfield, Mass.,
man is making the time he has left
count. After Bob Charland, 44, was
diagnosed with a neurodegenera-
tive brain disease earlier this year,
the mechanic decided he wanted to
give something back to his commu-
nity. So Charland began fixing up
old bicycles for Springfield children
Getty, Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

tars, amps, and drums—was stolen.
Blistered Earth wrote about the theft
on Facebook and were stunned when
Metallica’s management got in touch
to say that the metal legends wanted
to pay for all the missing gear to be
replaced. “It’s pretty awesome that
they would do that,” says Blistered
Earth drummer Shawn Murphy.
Coyne’s 99th birthday
last week, team president
Frank Coonelly presented
Coyne with a No. 99 Pi-
rates jersey in a pregame
ceremony on the field.
“It’s the people that keep
bringing me back,” Coyne
Coonelly and Coyne says of his job.
in need. Last month, he handed
over 35 finished bikes to local
elementary school students, many
of whom come from poor families
and have never owned a set of
wheels. “It’s really exciting to see
all these kids so happy,” Charland
says. “I’m going to keep doing this
as long as I physically can.”

Illustration by Howard McWilliam.

THE WEEK May 12, 2017 Cover photos from Getty (3)
 ... and how they were covered
Trump’s hand of friendship to Philippine strongman
What happened
President Trump stunned human rights advocates
and some members of his administration this
week by inviting Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte—who is accused of orchestrating the
extrajudicial killings of more than 7,000 drug
suspects—to the White House. Trump made the
offer in “a very friendly” phone conversation, the
White House said, during which he and Duterte
discussed the North Korean nuclear threat,
among other issues. “The Philippines is very
important to me strategically and militarily,” Duterte: Invited to the White House
Trump told an interviewer, adding that Duterte
had been “very, very tough on that drug problem.” Two senior
administration officials said the State Department and the National
Security Council were caught off guard by Trump’s invite. Duterte,
who called former President Obama a “son of a whore” and has
claimed to have personally killed criminals while mayor of his home- stand up to China’s territory grab, by defending the Philippines’
town of Davao, said he may be too “tied up” to visit the U.S.
Trump also told interviewers that he “would be honored” to meet
with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, calling him “a pretty
smart cookie” who has clung to power despite the efforts of “a lot
of people.” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Trump’s warm words
for Kim and Duterte, as well his past praise for other strongmen,
including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian
President Vladimir Putin, were “very disturbing.”
What the columnists said
U.S. presidents from both parties have always maintained warm
relations with brutal rulers of countries like Saudi Arabia and
GOP scrambles for health-care votes
What happened
House Republicans struggled this week to secure enough votes to
pass their latest attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act, amid
a fierce debate over how the new legislation would affect people
with pre-existing medical conditions. Under the latest version of
the bill, states would be able to opt out of Obamacare’s “com-
munity rating” rule, which requires insurers to charge custom-
ers the same amount, regardless of pre-existing conditions. The
change was designed to appeal to the House Freedom Caucus,
a group of hard-line conservative lawmakers who refused to
endorse the GOP’s original replacement plan in March. But the
amendment initially alienated influential moderate Rep. Fred
Upton (R-Mich.), who said he would never vote for a bill that
“torpedoes” protections for people with cancer and other ill-
nesses. “They need to be covered,” said Upton. “Period.”
As a compromise, House Republican leaders proposed spending
an additional $8 billion to help fund high-risk pools or other
mechanisms that would help states lower costs for people with
pre-existing conditions. After meeting with President Trump at
the White House to discuss the proposal, Upton said he was on
board—adding new momentum for a floor vote before a week-
long recess. The votes of many lawmakers remained uncertain,
though, and the GOP could afford to lose only 22 lawmakers for
the legislation to pass the House. The bill faces an even steeper
climb in the Senate, where many moderate Republicans have
already expressed strong reservations.
Reuters
NEWS 7
Pakistan, said Yochi Dreazen in Vox.com. The
difference with Trump is that he seems to admire
dictators and would-be dictators more than he
does “democratically elected leaders with liberal
values.” His meeting with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel was frosty, his phone call with
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
downright hostile. This is “good news for the
world’s autocrats; it’s terrible news for those
who care about human rights.”
Duterte “might well be mentally ill,” said Tom
Rogan in NationalReview.com, “but America
needs him on its side.” Beijing is building a series of artificial islands
in the East and South China Seas, with the aim of controlling the
vast trade flows through those waters and pushing out U.S. military
forces. Duterte is now deciding whether to join with the U.S. and
claim to part of the crucial Spratly Islands, or accept Chinese
control in return for a favorable trade deal. Do Duterte’s domestic
atrocities “override all other American concerns?” I don’t believe
so, and “Trump is right to engage him.”
If Duterte “crosses the threshold of the White House,” said Noah
Rothman in CommentaryMagazine.com, “it will forever taint
Trump’s presidency.” The images that have emerged from his drug
war are horrifying. Victims of death squads lie bloody in the streets,
tossed on garbage piles, or in morgues, “stacked on top of one
another like cordwood.” Of course, the U.S. must occasionally suffer
unsavory allies for the sake of larger objectives. “But expressing ad-
miration for and rehabilitating butchers like Duterte is indefensible.”
What the columnists said
The GOP’s attempt to replace Obamacare is beginning to seem
like Groundhog Day, said David Leonhardt in The New York
Times. Each time Republicans get close to a vote, the process
becomes mired in chaos, potential rebellions, and overpromises by
Trump. This week, the president almost undercut his own party’s
repeal attempt by blithely promising that people with pre-existing
conditions would be covered “beautifully.” The opposite is true.
Republicans have no choice but to rethink protections for pre-
existing conditions, said Chris Pope in NationalReview.com. By
preventing insurers from “pricing plans in proportion to indi-
viduals’ expected costs of care,” Obamacare has forced healthy
people to cover the costs of the chronically ill, sending premiums
soaring. Still, high-risk pools aren’t the answer, said Jennifer
Rubin in WashingtonPost.com. “States using pools in the past
had to restrict coverage, create waiting lists,” and charge high
premiums. Offsetting those problems nationwide would cost up
to $50 billion each year—“a sum the GOP will never guarantee.”
The reason Republicans have struggled to repeal Obamacare is
because many Republicans “do not want to repeal Obamacare,”
said Byron York in WashingtonExaminer.com. Millions of Ameri-
cans have gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion and
the community-rating provision. Wherever this chaotic repeal ef-
fort takes us, one thing seems increasingly probable: “Large parts
of Barack Obama’s legacy legislation will remain standing.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
8 NEWS Controversy of the week
Trump’s tax plan: Who would benefit?
During his campaign for president, Donald Trump prom- income brackets—10, 25, and 35 percent—will provide tax
ised that if elected he’d raise taxes on the rich, him- relief for millions of lower- and middle-income families. And
self most definitely included. “It’s going to cost me a the plan won’t explode the deficit, said John Steele Gordon
fortune—which is actually true,” Trump told reporters in CommentaryMagazine.com. These cuts, if enacted, will
in late 2015. Well, guess what? said Jonathan Chait in “supercharge the economy, offsetting much of the revenue
NYMag.com. It was “not actually true.” Last week, in a lost through lower rates.”
scramble for achievements ahead of the symbolic 100-day
milestone, the Trump White House released a single-page, Some myths never die, said Steven Rattner in NYTimes
bullet-pointed tax plan that is effectively just a “mas- .com. Since the days of Ronald Reagan, the GOP
sive tax cut for the rich,” himself in particular. has been in thrall to this “alchemistic belief
The tax rate on corporations and so-called that huge tax cuts can pay for themselves
pass-through businesses (such as Trump’s by unleashing faster economic growth.”
own) would be slashed from 35 percent to There’s little empirical evidence for this
Mnuchin: Trump’s plan will ‘pay for itself.’
15 percent, saving Trump tens of millions “magical thinking”—at most, studies show,
each year. He would also scrap the Alternative Minimum Tax, about 30 percent of revenue lost in a tax cut will ever be recouped
which cost Trump $31 million in 2005, and the Estate Tax, which through resulting growth—but there was Treasury Secretary Steven
by itself would save the Trump family up to $4 billion, if the Mnuchin last week again nonsensically assuring reporters that
patriarch is really worth the $10 billion he claims. If all of his pro- Trump’s plan will “pay for itself.” Even for Trump, the deception
posed tax cuts are passed, Trump will add an incredible $7 trillion and delusion is mind-boggling, said Paul Krugman in The New
to the deficit over a decade. Even more shocking than the naked York Times. Trump “plans to blow up the deficit, bigly, largely to
self-interest, said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post, is that his own personal benefit.”
Trump campaigned as a champion of the working poor. In reality,
Trump’s views on taxation are “about as ‘populist’ as the member- Republicans “should ignore the debt consequences and pass the
ship list at Mar-a-Lago.” Trump tax cuts,” said Ed Rogers in WashingtonPost.com. After
“eight years of Obama-era stagnation” we badly need a surge in
When liberals howl this way, said Kimberley Strassel in WSJ growth to restore “our nation’s vitality.” Reform of our sprawling,
.com, that’s when you “know a Republican president has scored antiquated tax code is long overdue, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin
big on a proposed tax reform.” What Trump has laid out in in The Washington Post, and Trump is right to look for ways to
this succinct document is a “swashbuckling vision for enacting jump-start our “anemic” economic recovery. But a “responsible
pro-growth principles.” A steep cut to the U.S. corporate tax tax plan” would accomplish these goals without ballooning our
rate—currently the highest in the developed world—will open already unsustainable national debt. If Trump wants to make
the floodgates to foreign investment. His proposal to double the America great again, he needs to come up with a tax-reform plan
standard deduction and simplify the personal tax code into three “built on realistic growth assumptions, not economic fairy tales.”

Good week for:

Only in America
QA political activist is facing a
year in jail for laughing during
Attorney General Jeff Ses-
sions’ confirmation hearings.
Desiree Fairooz, 61, burst into
loud laughter when one sena-
tor testified that Sessions treat-
ed “all people equally under
the law.” Pointing to Sessions’
anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant
positions and “jokes” about
the Ku Klux Klan, “I felt it was
my responsibility as a citizen
to dissent,” Fairooz said. She
was convicted of “disorderly
and disruptive conduct.”
QWorkers at a North Carolina
fast-food restaurant sparked
outrage by singing the rap
song “F--- Tha Police” while
cops ate. One of the officers
described the incident on
Facebook, facetiously thanking
the employees of Smithfield’s
Chicken ’N Bar-B-Q in Raleigh
for their “class and profession-
alism.” The franchise owner
said he would investigate.
Boring but important
Just desserts, after a Brooklyn bakery began decorating cakes
Comey defends Clinton
with the nasty comments cyberbullies and trolls sent to its cus-
email revelations
tomers. Troll Cakes founder Kat Thek said she finds it satisfying
to take an online insult from “some idiot,” put it on a cake, and FBI Director James Comey this
week offered the first public
“make them see how it looks.”
explanation of his controver-
Herd words, after Merriam-Webster announced it is adding sial decision to inform Con-
“sheeple” to its official dictionary. A combination of “sheep” and gress about a reopened inves-
“people,” the derogatory term is used to describe “people who are tigation into Hillary Clinton’s
docile, compliant, or easily influenced.” emails less than two weeks
before Election Day. Testifying
Resistance training, after a San Francisco bookstore began
before the Senate Judiciary
hosting an “Anti-Trump Aerobics” workout session. Participants
were led through a series of exercises accompanied by chants such Committee, Comey said that
failing to notify Congress
as “Don’t read his tweets,” and “F--- Mar-a-Lago.”
would have been “an act of
Bad week for: concealment” that would have
“been catastrophic” to the
Revisionist history, after President Trump said in an interview that
bureau’s integrity. Democratic
a strong leader like his hero Andrew Jackson, or perhaps himself,
senators castigated Comey for
could have prevented the Civil War. “Why was there the Civil War?” going public with the Clinton
Trump said. “Why could that one not have been worked out?” probe but saying nothing
Public outreach, after a federal hotline asking citizens to report about the FBI’s investigation
crimes committed by “criminal aliens” was overwhelmed with into Russian meddling in the
prank calls about UFO sightings, abductions by extraterrestrials, election until March. “It makes
and visits by Bigfoot, Superman, and “Muggle-borns.” me mildly nauseous to think
Fond farewells, after baseball fan Tom McDonald began flushing we might have had some im-
pact on the election,” Comey
the cremated remains of his friend Roy Riegel down toilets at stadi- said. But in hindsight, “I would
ums around the country. “He was the best plumber you ever saw,” make the same decision.”
McDonald said, “and as big a Mets fan as I know.”
AP

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

 The U.S. at a glance ...
San Diego
Pool party shooting spree: One person
was killed and six injured this week
when a San Diego man, holding a beer
in one hand
and a gun
in the other,
opened
fire at a
poolside
birthday
party at his
Police at the crime scene apartment
complex.
Authorities said Peter Selis, 49, was “dis-
traught” after breaking up with his girl-
friend when he carried out his rampage.
Selis allegedly began firing shots and then
sat down on a lounge chair and called
the woman—keeping her on the phone
as he continued shooting. Selis was killed
when police arrived and opened fire.
Though the gunman was white and five
of his seven shooting victims were
black, authorities said there was
“zero information” to indicate
race had played a role. But
witnesses at the party disputed
that conclusion, saying Selis
had waved away a white man
rather than shooting him dur-
ing the attack.
Arkansas, Mississippi,
Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas
Storms wreak havoc: At least 20 people
were killed and dozens more were injured
when deadly
storms
swept
through the
South and
Midwest
this week,
unleashing
tornadoes
Flooding in Missouri
and tor-
rential flooding. At least four fatalities
occurred in East Texas, where tornadoes
split trees in half, downed power lines,
and sent cars flying through the air. In
Canton, Texas, one twister touched down
near an outdoor market. “We saw the
Newscom, Getty, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS, Newscom
Washington, D.C.
Trump and Putin chat: In their first pub-
licly acknowledged conversation since
the U.S. launched a missile strike in Syria
in April, President Trump and Russian
President Vladimir Putin this week agreed
to work together to establish a cease-fire
in the war-torn country’s six-year con-
flict. The White House characterized the
phone call as “a very good one”—though
Russian and American officials diverged
on whether the discussion involved a plan
to establish safe zones in Syria, as the
White House claimed in its readout of
the call. The two leaders also agreed to
try to organize a personal meeting at the
G-20 summit in Germany in July. Trump
has repeatedly vowed to forge a new,
constructive relationship with Russia,
but relations became frosty following
last month’s strike. Trump ordered the
strike in response to a chemical attack by
the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-
Assad, a key Russian ally.
Dallas
Black teen shot dead: A Dallas-area police
officer was fired this week after using an
AR-15 rifle to shoot into a moving vehicle
full of black teenagers, killing 15-year-old
Jordan Edwards. Balch Springs Officer
Roy Oliver, who is white, had arrived on
the scene to investigate a report of under-
age drinking at a house party. According
to the police department’s initial state-
ment, Oliver and other officers heard
gunshots and saw a vehicle “backing
down the street toward the officers in an
aggressive manner”—prompting Oliver
to shoot at the car. But after reviewing
NEWS 9
New York City
Clinton lets rip: In her
most forceful comments
since her November
defeat, Hillary Clinton
this week blamed
FBI Director
James Comey
for her loss in
the 2016 elec- ‘I’d be your president.’
tion, and ripped
President Trump for his conduct in
office. Speaking at a Women for Women
International event in New York City,
Clinton said that while she took “abso-
lute personal responsibility” for her
defeat, she had been “on the way to
winning” until Comey released a let-
ter on Oct. 28 announcing his agency
was conducting a review of Clinton’s
emails. “If the election were on Oct. 27,”
said Clinton, “I’d be your president.”
The former Democratic candidate also
denounced Trump for firing off
tweets on sensitive foreign pol-
icy issues, and for his obses-
sion with her 3 million–vote
majority in the popular vote.
Trump hit back on Twitter, say-
ing that Comey “was the best
thing that ever happened to Hillary”
because he gave her a “free pass,” and
that his own team had run “a great
campaign.”
Charleston, S.C.
Walter Scott shooting: Former South
Carolina police
officer Michael
Slager pleaded
guilty in federal
court this week
to violating the
civil rights of
Walter Scott,
an unarmed Slager testifying last year
black motor-
ist who was shot dead by Slager as he
tried to flee a routine traffic stop. In
cellphone footage of the 2015 incident,
Slager, 35, is seen firing upon Scott, 50,
as the motorist ran away—striking Scott
five times in the back. Slager, who was

tornado drop out of the sky,” said one
witness. “It looked like a can opener
opened this truck right in front of me.”
Another seven people were killed by
flooding and high winds in Arkansas, and
a 7-year-old Mississippi boy died after
being electrocuted in floodwaters. Three
deaths were reported in Missouri, and in
Tennessee, a 2-year-old was killed after
being struck by a soccer goalpost that was
blown over by high winds.
body-camera footage, Balch Springs Police
Chief Jonathan Haber said the vehicle
was actually driving away when Oliver
opened fire. An attorney for Edwards’
family said that the teenagers in the car
hadn’t been drinking, and that they fled
after being fired upon—only stopping
when they noticed Edwards, a straight-A
student and standout athlete, wasn’t talk-
ing. Authorities said evidence would be
presented to a grand jury.
fired and charged with murder follow-
ing the shooting, said he had acted in
self defense and feared for his life. His
state murder trial ended in a hung jury
in December. As part of Scott’s plea
bargain, prosecutors agreed to drop his
retrial if the former officer pleaded guilty
to a single federal count of using exces-
sive force to deprive Scott of his civil
rights. That charge carries a maximum
of life in prison.
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
10 NEWS The world at a glance ...
Ankara London
Another purge: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Brexit clash: British Prime Minister Theresa
Erdogan cracked down further on dissent last May held a disastrous Brexit meeting with EU
week, firing nearly 4,000 public officials, shut- Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker,
ting down dozens of civic groups and health German media reported this week. Juncker report-
clinics, and blocking access to Wikipedia. edly emerged from the summit saying he was
An estimated 140,000 journalists, teachers, “10 times more skeptical than I was before” that
police, judges, bureaucrats, and soldiers have negotiations on Britain’s exit from the EU would
Erdogan: Autocrat now been purged since last summer’s failed produce a deal within the two-year deadline. May
coup attempt—which Erdogan blamed on insisted that exit talks and trade deal talks proceed
U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. The president accused May: ‘Difficult’
simultaneously, which the EU rules out, and the
the latest batch of fired officials of being linked to Gulen, who two leaders disagreed over Britain’s outstanding liabilities to the bloc
was once allied to Erdogan. Also this week, Erdogan said he and how quickly they could settle the rights of U.K. citizens living
would say “goodbye” to the European Union if it did not speed in the EU and EU citizens in the U.K. May downplayed the squab-
up talks on Turkey’s membership in the bloc, which the EU is all ble but said she intended to be a “bloody difficult woman” in talks.
but certain to decline to do.
Skopje, Macedonia
Mob storms parliament: Macedonia is in a political standoff
after a mob of 200 nationalists stormed the legislature, beat-
ing up Social Democratic party leader Zoran Zaev. The country
has had no government since December, when elections resulted
in a near tie between the Social Democrats and the conservative
VMRO-DPMNE party. Even though the conservatives—who won
a narrow majority—failed for months to form a governing coali-
tion, President Gjorge Ivanov refused to let Zaev try. So last week
the Social Democrats and parties representing the country’s ethnic
Albanian minority got together and elected an ethnic Albanian
as parliament speaker, who can petition the president on Zaev’s
behalf. That prompted the nationalist mob to rush the building,
railing about a plot to make Macedonia part of Albania. The EU
and U.S. are pressing Ivanov to allow Zaev’s coalition to proceed.

Mexico City
Underage brides: Child marriage is still common in
Mexico, even though the practice was outlawed in
2014, a new report has found. More than 10 percent
of Mexican girls are married before age 15, mostly to
men at least a decade older. Tens of thousands more
are cohabiting with older men, intending to marry
legally once they turn 18, according to the Mexico
City–based Investigación en Salud y Demografía. A young wife
These girls are more likely than their single peers to
experience domestic violence and early pregnancy and to drop
out of school. “Regionally, there is a strong perception that if you
have a younger woman you are more masculine,” said Heather
Hamilton of the charity Girls Not Brides. “But it’s also about
control—the younger the girl, the more you can control her.”

Great Exuma Island, Bahamas Caracas

Festival fiasco: The luxury Fyre Festival was canceled last week Power grab: As hundreds of
after music lovers who had paid up to $50,000 for opulent thousands of hungry Venezuelans
accommodations and celebrity-chef meals in the Bahamas showed protested against President Nicolás
up to find a tent city on a trash-strewn beach, with no amenities Maduro this week, the leftist leader
and no musical acts. In a $100 million lawsuit against organizers decreed that a citizens’ assembly be
Billy McFarland and rapper Ja convened to write a new constitu-
Rule, plaintiff Daniel Jung says tion that will wrest power from the
Maduro: Defying protesters
he and hundreds of partygoers opposition-controlled national legis-
were stranded on the island with lature. The document would be composed by representatives of
AP, Getty, Newscom, Reuters, AP

The not-so-luxurious lodgings
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
little food or water. The event,
his suit says, “was closer to The
Hunger Games or Lord of the
Flies than Coachella.” Ja Rule
said on social media that the
debacle was “NOT MY FAULT”
and “NOT A SCAM.”
pro-Maduro community groups, and would likely transfer political
power to local communal councils. Maduro argued the new consti-
tution was needed to stop his opponents from carrying out a “fas-
cist coup.” Critics said the plan would replace democratic institu-
tions with a patronage system. Maduro is struggling to retain power
amid his oil-rich country’s economic collapse. Food and medicine
are in short supply, and the local currency is all but worthless.
 The world at a glance ...
Moscow
Acid attack: Russian opposition leader Alexei
Navalny may lose sight in one eye after a man hurled
a green liquid at him, burning his face. A video of
the attack was broadcast by Kremlin-friendly
REN-TV, which blurred out the face of the
assailant as if to protect his identity. Navalny
accused the Russian intelligence services of tip-
ping off the attackers as to his whereabouts.
Navalny: Dyed
“The presidential administration organized
this attack,” he wrote on his blog. Navalny, an anti-corruption
crusader, was jailed for two weeks in March after he helped orga-
nize nationwide protests against the Kremlin. He plans to run for
president next year; election officials say he’s ineligible because of
his February embezzlement conviction—a case that international
observers said was politically motivated.
Lagos, Nigeria
Piracy soars: Pirate attacks off the
coast of West Africa have nearly
doubled in the past year, a watchdog
group says. Incidents of piracy rose
from 54 in 2015 to 95 in 2016,
according to the U.S.-based Oceans
Beyond Piracy. Unlike in East Africa,
Arrested Nigerian pirates
where pirates tend to stay aboard
the ship they’ve commandeered, West African attackers have been
snatching crew members and holding them on land for ransom.
There were 18 incidents of kidnap for ransom off Nigeria last
year, and only one incident of cargo-theft hijacking off all of West
AP, Getty, Newscom, AP (2)
Africa. “Most of these attacks are linked to Nigerian criminal
groups operating in the Niger Delta,” Oceans Beyond Piracy’s
Dirk Siebels told Newsweek. Those groups previously focused on
attacking oil facilities in the delta, but last year Nigeria deployed
troops to protect pipelines, and the gangs turned to piracy.
NEWS 11
Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan
Back to Helmand: The U.S. Marines
have returned to Helmand, the
Afghan province where the Corps
spent years battling the Taliban.
Some 350 Marines were killed and
thousands wounded as they fought
to secure the province from 2001 to
2014, when Helmand was handed
over to Afghan government forces.
Since then, the Taliban have surged The Marines will face a familiar foe.
back, killing entire Afghan units. Last week, 300 Marines arrived
in Helmand to train Afghan forces and assist in clearing the area.
“It’s kind of disheartening, the sacrifices you and your Marines
made, and to see it go back to where it was,” Gunnery Sgt. Ronnie
Mills told The New York Times. ISIS has also gained ground in the
country, carrying out a suicide attack this week on a NATO convoy
near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul that killed eight civilians.
Beijing
China’s own Wikipedia: China is building a state-sanctioned,
online version of its national encyclopedia as an alternative
to Wikipedia. More than 20,000 scholars, selected from state
universities and research institutes, are working on the Chinese
Encyclopaedia project. Unlike Wikipedia, the site will not be open
to editing by the public. Access to most of Wikipedia is blocked
in China, because Beijing disagrees with its presentation of topics
like the Tibetan independence movement and the 1989 massacre
of protesters at Tiananmen Square. The site, which will go live
next year, will be “a Great Wall of culture,” said the project’s
editor-in-chief, Yang Muzhi.
Bhopal, India
Wives get bats: A top official in the
Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is
handing out thousands of paddles to
newlywed brides so they can beat their
husbands if they drink. The 15-inch
bats are usually used to beat dirt out of
clothes or rugs, but Gopal Bhargava,
Husbands, watch out!
the state’s minister for rural develop-
ment, instructed the women to use them to punish their husbands
should the men become drunk and abusive. Inscriptions on the
paddles include “This bat is given to reform alcoholics” and
“Police will not say anything.” Alcohol abuse is an increasing
problem in rural parts of India, where, civic groups say, many
men spend most of the family’s wages on booze. Five Indian states
have banned liquor sales, and at least four more plan to do so.
Gaza
Hamas rebrands: The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas
attempted to project a more moderate image this week, unveil-
ing a new document of principles that waters down its charter’s
anti-Semitic language, drops references to the group’s Muslim
Brotherhood roots, and accepts the idea of a provisional
Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. But Hamas, which con-
trols the Gaza Strip, said it still rejects Israel’s right to exist and
supports “armed struggle” against it.
The group’s outgoing leader, Khaled
Mashaal, said the new focus could
allow overtures to Egypt and Saudi
Arabia. Israel was unimpressed. When
Hamas “stops educating children
to hate Israelis, that would be real
change,” said Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s office. Mashaal: Makeover attempt
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
12 NEWS People
Odiele’s gender odyssey
Hanne Gaby Odiele is the world’s only known
intersex model, said Will Pavia in The Times
(U.K.). Odiele, 29, was born with androgen
insensitivity syndrome, which gave her the
genetic traits of a man—XY chromosomes and
undescended testes—and the outward physical
traits of a female. As a child, Odiele identified
as a female and underwent surgeries to remove
her internal testicles and make her more feminine, an ordeal she
now resents. “I feel like something was taken away from me,” she
says. She thought she was unique until she read an article about
a Dutch intersex teen. Odiele contacted the girl, who hooked her
up with a self-help group of intersex people. “That changed my
whole life, knowing that I was not alone.” Odiele took up model-
ing after being told she was beautiful, but remained worried that
people would find out her secret. Last year Odiele married fellow
model John Swiatek—one of a select few aware of her condition.
This year, Odiele went public with a video, staring squarely into
the camera to proclaim, “Hi, I’m Hanne and I was born intersex.
That means my body isn’t clearly male or female.” Now she’s an
advocate, hoping to spare intersex kids the surgical traumas she
endured. “I’m very happy and comfortable being the sex I am, not
wanting to change it for anything, actually, in the world.”
The boy ISIS couldn’t break
Ahmed al-Hardani was captured and tortured by ISIS—but sur- Miller’s maternal instinct
vived, said Josie Ensor in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). Two years Sienna Miller is neck-deep in single motherhood, said Devin
ago, the slight, freckle-faced boy, then 14, was seized along with Friedman in Allure. The actress shares a brownstone in New York
thousands of other Yazidis by ISIS militants in northern Iraq. Most City’s West Village with 4-year-old daughter Marlowe, and while
of the men were killed—Ahmed hasn’t seen his father since—but the girl’s father, Miller’s ex-fiancé Tom Sturridge, lives nearby and
he was taken to the city of Tal Afar and interrogated for two visits often, she’s essentially on her own for most of Marlowe’s
weeks. One day an informant told Ahmed’s captors that the boy ups—and downs. “I had an amazing moment the other day where
I just heard this ‘Mama!’ from upstairs,” recalls Miller, 35. Her
had broken the rules by keeping his cellphone and secretly texting
daughter, it seems, had projectile-vomited off the top of her bunk
his mother. He was tortured but refused to reveal where he’d hid-
bed. “The splatters were like: Pow! Like all four walls.” Racing to the
den the phone. “They whipped me around 250 times over a few scene, Miller “skidded on the sick and fell. Whacked my head. Then
days, until the skin began to fall off my back,” Ahmed recalls. “I I get her out of the bunk; she’s crying, covered in sick. I take her to
would rather have died than have no way to communicate with the bathroom, take all her clothes off, and then the dog comes up
[his mother] to tell her I was still OK.” He was sent to an ISIS and starts eating the sick. And I get her in the bath and in my bed,
training camp, where he was shown graphic videos of beheadings and I’m just, like, literally naked, mopping, and crying at midnight.
and trained to use suicide vests. Ahmed escaped, walking 75 miles You know, and that’s parenthood.” The responsibility seems “crip-
to safety. Now he lives in a refugee camp with his mother, grand- pling” at times, Miller says, but she’d love more children and envi-
mother, and siblings, and copes with the physical and psychic scars sions living out her days as a “matriarch” with many grandchildren.
left by his captors. “I still hear their voices in my head,” he says. “I want to be that wise, happy granny, with a sort of wrap around
“But I am strong and I think they would never have broken me.” my head and a few beads, cooking and looking after little babies.”

QRyan Seacrest this week
joined Kelly Ripa as co-
host of Live With Kelly,
ending more than a
year of turmoil on
ABC’s morning
show. “The next chapter of
the Live story is about to be
written,” Ripa proclaimed on
the broadcast, unveiling the
new Live With Kelly and Ryan
marquee. Calling Ripa “a very
dear friend,” Seacrest, 42, said
year, when former co-host Michael Strahan
reportedly blindsided Ripa, 46, by jumping
to Good Morning America. She has since
appeared with rotating guest co-hosts. This
fall Ripa and Seacrest will begin a ratings
duel with Megyn Kelly, who launches an
NBC show in their 9 a.m. time slot.
QAfter months of denials, Val Kilmer this
week confirmed that he had cancer, the
New York Post reports. Rumors about the
actor’s health have swirled since 2015,
when he was spotted entering UCLA Medi-
cal Center and began covering up his neck
with scarves. Then last November his friend
Michael Douglas—who was successfully
love.” During a Reddit.com “Ask Me Any-
thing” session this week he revealed, “I did
have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is
still swollen although healing all the time.’’
QBrian Williams received a reprimand from
MSNBC for “patronizing” liberal host Ra-
chel Maddow, the network’s top-rated star.
Last month Williams interrupted Maddow’s
prime-time show to break news of the
U.S. missile strike against Syria. After his
segment, he turned to Maddow and said,
“Thanks for visiting tonight. Glad you were
a part of our coverage.” A source tells the
New York Post that MSNBC chief Phil Griffin
gave Williams “a very stern rebuke” over
Getty (2), Pawel Kaminski

whenever they work together—
hosting Disney’s Christmas Day parade, for
example—“we have a blast.” Best known
as the longtime host of American Idol,
Seacrest ends a search that began last
treated for oral cancer—said the Tombstone
star was “dealing with exactly what I had.”
Kilmer, 57, a Christian Scientist, acknowl-
edged last year he was dealing with “a
physical challenge” through “prayer and
the Maddow incident, warning, “Don’t you
ever do that again.” Williams lost his job
as NBC Nightly News anchor in 2015 after
admitting he invented heroic details of his
coverage of the Iraq War and other stories.

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

 Briefing NEWS 13

The great British crack-up

Could Brexit spell the end of the United Kingdom—leaving ‘Little England’ to go it alone?

Why might the U.K. break up? been completed in 2019. But momentum for
Britain’s decision to leave the European independence is growing.
Union has left the kingdom’s four countries  
deeply divided. While England and Wales Why is that?
voted for Brexit last June, both Scotland and The unionists’ most powerful argument for
Scotland
Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, staying in the U.K.—that independence threat-
by majorities of 62 percent and 56 percent, ened Scotland’s EU membership—has been
respectively. Now faced with being dragged flipped on its head by Brexit. Independence,
out of Europe, both are seriously reconsider- though, would have its own economic costs:
ing their historic position within the U.K. Northern It would mean establishing a real border
In March, the Scottish Parliament voted Ireland
between Scotland and England, from the
for the right to hold a second independence Solway to the Tweed, cutting the Scots off
Republic
referendum, which could lead to Scotland of from their biggest market—and at a time
seceding from the U.K. and rejoining the EU. Ireland when the country’s income from dwindling
Irish nationalists are demanding their own England North Sea oil has plunged 97 percent. During
border poll on unification with the Republic Wales the first referendum campaign, says Aberdeen
of Ireland. If the Scots and Irish choose University’s Michael Keating, Scots were told
independence, England and Wales will stand independence would be a leap in the dark,
alone. Ironically, the vote for Brexit was sup- while staying in the U.K. would mean eco-
posedly a vote for a resurgent Britain—one nomic stability. “This time,” says Keating,
that would wrest back power and national “they’ll be offered two leaps in the dark.”
A union of four countries, forged in 1801
pride from Brussels. Instead, says Richard  
Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, it may have What about Northern Ireland?
triggered “the beginning of the end of the United Kingdom.” While Westminster frets about Scotland, Northern Ireland is qui-
  etly undergoing its own constitutional turmoil. Northern Ireland
When was the U.K. formed? doesn’t want to lose billions in regional development and farm-
The British Isles have a complicated history, filled with conquests, ing funds from the EU—though it depends on billions in U.K.
rebellions, and reconquests. But the loose origins of the U.K. subsidies too. But Brexit poses another disturbing consequence
date back to the early 10th century, when the Anglo-Saxon King for the Irish: the prospect of a hard, 300-mile land border between
Athelstan unified England’s disparate kingdoms and secured the the North and independent South, which remains a member of
reluctant allegiance of the Scots and the Welsh. But the relation- the EU. That border wouldn’t just disrupt trade and the jobs
ship between England, Scotland, and Wales only became official in of the 30,000 people who commute between the two countries
1707, when the Acts of Union formally created “One Kingdom by every day, but could also jeopardize the 1998 Good Friday
the Name of Great Britain.” That kingdom merged with Ireland in Agreement, which ended the region’s three-decade Troubles. The
1801 to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. hope was that the divisions between North and South “would
When most of Ireland seceded in 1922, with just six Ulster coun- eventually become redundant and float away like a sticking plaster
ties in the north remaining under British control, that left the U.K. from a wound that has healed,” says Irish historian Roy Foster.
as we know it—stretching from Land’s End in the south to John “All this has been destroyed by Brexit.”
o’Groat’s at the tip of Scotland.
  The future of ‘Little England’ Will the U.K. break up?
Could a ‘Scoxit’ be next? The breakup of the U.K. would raise some immedi- British politics are too volatile now
If Scotland’s First Minister Nicola ate questions for the English. Would the former for anyone to make reliable predic-
Sturgeon has her way, yes. The country world power retain its permanent seat—officially tions. But before 2011, national-
held its first independence referendum held by the U.K.—on the United Nations Security ists were just a noisy minority in
in 2014, when 55 percent of Scots Council, and its influential positions within NATO Scotland. Today, they are a power-
voted to stay in the U.K. Sturgeon said and the World Bank? With the political and financial ful force, and are on the cusp of
she would hold another only if there hub of London still in English hands, the nation’s a second historic independence
was a “material change” in Scotland’s GDP would likely remain in the world’s top 10. The referendum in just three years.
circumstances—such as Scotland being English would also keep their military capabilities— Brits seem pessimistic about staying
removed from the EU against its demo- though they would face troubling questions over together: More than half think the
cratic will. Scotland currently receives their nuclear weapons, which are currently based U.K. will no longer exist in a decade
more than $260 million a year in EU in Scotland with no viable location to re-house in its current form, according to a
funding, and sends about $16 billion in them in England. After all of that, “Little England” BBC poll. “Historical change is like
exports to the Eurozone; in addition, would face its own identity crisis. Would people in an avalanche,” says British historian
Manchester or Bristol consider themselves English,
many Scots resent the ruling conserva- Norman Davies. “The starting point
or British? Would they continue to sing the U.K.
Map by FreeVectorMaps.com

tives in London far more than they do is a snow-covered mountainside

the bureaucrats in Brussels. To hold
another plebiscite, though, Sturgeon
needs the permission of British Prime
Minister Theresa May, who refuses to
give it before Brexit negotiations have
national anthem at England’s football games, or
sing the English anthem, “Land of Hope and Glory,”
that looks solid. All the changes
instead? In the post-Brexit era, says British historian take place under the surface and
Norman Davies, the English “are appallingly con- are rather invisible. But something
fused about who they are.”  is coming. What is impossible is to
say when.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
14 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
“As the opioid crisis takes lives on a historic scale, it’s time to kill a bad
Forget about idea,” said David French. “Just say no to legalizing hard drugs.” Since It must be true...
legalizing the war on drugs took off in the 1980s, many thoughtful conservatives,
libertarians, and liberals have argued for legalization. Their rationale is
I read it in the tabloids
all drugs that the drug war’s costs—“in lives lost, lives squandered in prison, and
civil liberties curtailed”—outweigh any potential harm from the drugs
QA South Dakota man was
arrested after he pushed past
David French themselves. The opioid epidemic proves them wrong: The consequences police and firefighters and
NationalReview.com of hard-drug use are indeed “more horrific than prohibition.” The ran into his burning home to
scourge began when the federal government approved and pharma- rescue his beer. While emer-
ceutical companies aggressively marketed addictive prescription opioid gency workers were helping
painkillers such as Percocet and OxyContin. It was, in essence, the people, police said, Michael
legalization of heroin in pill form. “Communities were suddenly awash Casteel, 56, barged his way
in narcotics,” and when prescriptions became more tightly restricted, into the apartment building.
He emerged clutching two
already-addicted people simply turned to cheaper street heroin. In 2015,
cans of Bud Ice Premium,
52,404 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses, more than the but officers quickly cuffed
number who died from car crashes or guns. People don’t choose to use Casteel and charged him with
opioids—they become slaves to them. While we may never win the war obstruction. A police spokes-
on drugs, “there is no choice but to continue the fight.” man said Casteel had dem-
onstrated “poor judgment.”
If abortion becomes totally illegal or strictly limited in half the coun-
When women try, said Irin Carmon, women won’t need to get the back-alley or coat
QTeenage girls and young
women in Finland are going

are jailed hanger abortions of the 1950s. They’ll be likely to turn to the easily
available drugs mifepristone and misoprostol to “end a pregnancy by
wild for a strange new sport:
competitive hobbyhorse rid-

for abortions their own hands.” That means ambitious local prosecutors in red states
could hold only one person—the woman—legally accountable, and
ing. Some 10,000 Finns now
compete in traditional
equestrian events like
Irin Carmon “there is little doubt that states would delight in prosecuting her.” For dressage and show
The Washington Post public relations purposes, the anti-abortion movement has long insisted jumping, but sitting on
on a logical inconsistency: “Abortion is murder, but women shouldn’t sticks
be held accountable.” Yet at least 17 women have been arrested since topped
2005 and accused of self-inducing abortions. If Roe v. Wade is over- with
turned, or states restrict abortion to the point where it’s unavailable, stuffed
tens of thousands of desperate women will obtain abortion pills from horses’
pro-choice activists or online pharmacies. (That phenomenon is already heads rather
occurring.) The women most likely to be caught and prosecuted, of than on real
course, will be poor women of color. “Supporters of abortion rights animals. The sport isn’t
should get ready for what illegal abortion in America will look like.” cheap—aspiring jockeys can
Abortion will go underground, and women will be sent to prison. pay up to $200 for a fine
hobbyhorse, most of which
are homemade. “Hobby hors-
One of the strangest aspects of the Trump era is that “nearly everyone ing has a strong therapeutic
Why everyone seems convinced their side is losing,” said Will Rahn. Liberals, of course, side to it,” says Alisa Aarnio-
maki, 20. “It has helped me a
thinks are morose because a man they view as “a racist, a sexist, a crook, and
perhaps even a traitor” occupies the White House, while his fellow great deal that I can occasion-
ally just go galloping into the
they’re losing Republicans control Congress and a majority of state legislatures. Tradi-
tional conservatives are unhappy that the GOP has become “unmoored” woods with my friends.”
Will Rahn from their small-government, respectable ideology, that “a charlatan” of QA Silicon Valley man ended
CBSNews.com incoherent views now rules the party. Even the right-wing populists feel up in handcuffs after he al-
like they’re losing, because “a clique of elite Manhattan Democrats,” legedly assaulted a robot se-
including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, have pushed aside fire- curity guard. Jason Sylvain,
breathing nationalist Steve Bannon. Besides, Trump can’t get any legisla- 41, allegedly pushed over the
300-pound K5 bot—a five-
tion passed because of a hopelessly fractured congressional GOP. The
foot cylinder on wheels—as
widespread sense of panic and loss is probably responsible for the fact it patrolled a Mountain View,
that the militant left and Trumpists both now justify censoring opposing Calif., parking lot. But the
views. “It’s a remarkable, and perhaps unprecedented, moment in our robot automatically called the
history.” Everyone—regardless of ideology—has a sinking feeling that in police as it hit the ground,
the battle for the nation’s soul, “we’ve already lost.” and Sylvain was soon ar-
rested and charged with
prowling and being drunk in
Viewpoint “As his supporters like to point out, Trump makes the right enemies, and that’s
public. “He claimed to be an
enough for them. Journalists, scientists, policy wonks—as long as ‘the elites’
are upset, Trump’s voters assume that the administration is doing something right. There is a seri- engineer that wanted to ‘test’
ous danger to American democracy in all this. When voters choose ill-informed grudges and diffuse the security robot,” said Stacy
resentment over the public good, a republic becomes unsustainable. The temperance and prudent Dean Stephens, a vice presi-
reasoning required of representative government gets pushed aside. The Washington Post recently dent at the K5’s manufac-
changed its motto to ‘Democracy dies in darkness,’ a phrase that is not only pretentious but inaccu- turer, Knightscope. “I guess
rate. More likely, American democracy will die in dumbness.” Tom Nichols in USA Today he now has his answer.”
AP

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

16 NEWS Best columns: Europe
The nation that perpetrated the Holocaust will
GERMANY never be in a position to lecture Israel on human
rights, said Jan Fleischhauer. Foreign Minister
Let others Sigmar Gabriel was inundated with praise last
week after he refused to cancel meetings with
criticize pro-Palestinian groups in Israel that Prime Min-
ister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed were actively
Israel working to undermine Israeli security. Gabriel’s
intransigence prompted Netanyahu to cancel his
Jan Fleischhauer
own planned meeting with the foreign minister,
Der Spiegel
and Gabriel’s visit ended with “mutual recrimina-
tions and a badly damaged relationship.” Yet Ger-
man pundits feted Gabriel as if he had stood up
to a tyrant, rather than spurned one of Germany’s
most important allies. I get it: It’s frustrating when
Israel doesn’t listen to us, even though they are
clearly harming Palestinian civil rights. But you
know what? “There are plenty of other countries
that also know what Israel should do, and that
don’t have 6 million Jews on their consciences.”
Sure, it’s a “heavy burden” for Germans to bear,
and the temptation is strong to throw it back at
Israelis, to say that they, too, have sinned, so we’re
off the hook. That old saying “The Germans will
never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz” still holds
true. Gabriel, who has spoken of his shame at
having a “committed Nazi for a father,” is its liv-
ing embodiment.

UNITED KINGDOM Britain is supposed to be a meritocratic society,
said Ian Jack. But whether you wind up rich or
Inheritance: poor will increasingly depend on a single factor:
inheritance. Today, the average inheritance is worth
the enemy just 3 percent of all the other income the inheritor
can expect to get in a lifetime. But that percent-
of equality age is set to shoot up, thanks to the soaring rise in
real estate prices in recent decades. The housing
Ian Jack
bubble means the older generation now sits on a
The Guardian vast stock of wealth. Britons 65 to 85 years old
today own some $517 billion worth of property,
according to a new study. Most of them will pass
the proceeds on to their children or grandchildren,
who will invest in more property. That’s great for
those who inherit, but it will have a dire impact on
inequality, deepening the gulf between the proper-
tied classes and those for whom owner-occupation
is an ever more distant dream. Renters accounted
for 9 percent of the housing market in 1985—now
they account for more than 20 percent. “We are re-
entering the world of the Victorian novel, in which
suitable marriages, contested wills, and misplaced
legacies drive the plot.” The poor, meanwhile,
“press their faces against the window.”

Hungary: Will the EU stand up for its values?

European lawmakers pulled no punches on Hungarian soil. Fortunately, Orban
last week in their dressing-down of Hun- “remained steadfast, led astray neither
gary’s increasingly authoritarian leader, by intimidations nor by blackmail.”
said Andrew Byrne in the Financial
Times (U.K.). Prime Minister Viktor This whole flap is an election stunt
Orban went to the European Parliament staged by the prime minister, said
in Brussels to defend Hungary’s draco- Tamas Torba in Magyar Nemzet (Hun-
nian new education law, which would gary). Orban is simply trying to make
effectively shut down Budapest’s Central sure his Fidesz party doesn’t lose votes
European University—the nation’s last to the even-further-right-wing Jobbik
bastion of academic freedom. CEU was party in the 2018 national election. His
founded by Hungarian-born U.S. finan- attempts to block the flood of migrants
cier and philanthropist George Soros, passing through Hungary with walls,
whose promotion of open societies and Orban addresses the European Parliament detention centers, and nationalist rheto-
civic activism make him Orban’s favorite ric boosted his support among far-right
enemy. Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian leader of the parliament’s lib- voters. But now that the refugee influx has slowed to a trickle,
eral faction, accused Orban of acting like Stalin, asking “What’s the prime minister needs a new threat to Hungary and Christian
next, book burning?” Socialist leader Gianni Pittella of Italy called Europe, so he’s settled on CEU and Soros. And by giving him an
Orban a liar bent on suppressing “science, research, schools, and international stage on which to promote his nationalist agenda,
culture,” claims Orban dismissed as “absurd.” Yet despite all the the EU did exactly “as Orban wanted.”
harsh rhetoric, “Orban emerged relatively unscathed.” The Eu-
ropean Commission demanded changes to the education law, but Worse, they appeased a would-be dictator, said Rudolf Ungvary
it stopped short of triggering the EU’s “Article 7” mechanism— in Nepszava (Hungary). Just as Europeans in 1938 thought
which would find Hungary in breach of the rule of law and sus- they could deal with Hitler “through democratic means,” so
pend the country’s EU voting rights—because it knows Poland’s the EU has met Orban’s fascistic actions with nothing but the
ruling conservative party “would veto the sanction.” threat of legal action. Of course, this is “not a similar tragedy,”
as the lives of millions of Jews are not at stake—just “the hopes
What a ridiculous spectacle, said Tamas Lanczi in Hungary’s of Hungarian democrats.” The EU is wrong to treat Hungary
Mozgasterblog.hu. The Brussels elite resorted to “highly dis- as just another democratic member state. Orban rode a wave
torted and extremely slanderous” statements to denounce of nationalism to power in 2010, and used his two-thirds leg-
Orban. They are using the CEU as an excuse to criticize the islative majority to rewrite the constitution, gutting judicial
prime minister, when what they’re really angry about is his re- oversight and eviscerating the free press. We’ve had only “the
fusal to allow the mass resettlement of illegal Muslim migrants appearance of democracy” for years.
AP

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

 Best columns: International NEWS 17

How they see us: Trump diplomacy rattles South Korea

President Trump seems determined to Korean cosmetics brands. We’ll suffer
squeeze money out of South Korea, more economic damage if Trump tears
said The Korea Times in an edito- up the U.S. free trade agreement with
rial. When the U.S. began installing its South Korea, said Korea JoongAng
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Daily. The president recently called
(THAAD) anti-missile system in the the pact—struck during the George W.
southern Seongju County last month, Bush administration—“horrible” and
“anti-American sentiment” started to threatened to terminate it. We clearly
rise among locals who believe the equip- face “unprecedented security risks
ment could make their region a target from Trump’s America First policy.”
of North Korea. Now Trump has exac-
erbated that anger by demanding Seoul If Trump insists on “degrading the
pay the system’s $1 billion cost because, blood-forged Korea-U.S. alliance to
he says, it’s “meant to protect South THAAD arrives in South Korea to protests. a mere interest-driven partnership,”
Korea.” Yes, THAAD could save South said Heo Mun-myeong in Dong-a
Korean lives in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack, but Ilbo, then let’s tally it up. “South Korea is not enjoying the U.S.
it will also protect the 28,500 U.S. troops deployed here. Trump’s military umbrella for free.” Seoul already pays some $807 mil-
national security adviser, Gen. H.R. McMaster, tried to reassure lion of the annual cost of keeping U.S. troops here, and it doesn’t
South Korea by saying that the existing THAAD agreement— charge the U.S. for utilities, communications, or infrastructure
under which we provide the site and the U.S. pays to install and costs. South Korea also plays “a pivotal role” in supporting U.S.
maintain the system—would hold. But he then suggested that strategy in Asia. Trump should “re-examine the true values of
this deal might be renegotiated. Sixty percent of South Koreans the bilateral alliance” and “think twice before speaking.”
supported THAAD in an April poll, but at this point, many must
“doubt whether it is really worth all this trouble.” Pity our next president, said Dong-a Ilbo. THAAD was ne-
gotiated under President Park Geun-hye, who has since been
South Korea has already incurred the wrath of China for host- impeached for corruption. Park’s successor, to be elected next
ing THAAD, said Kim Hyun-ki in Korea JoongAng Daily. week, will have to be the one to make it clear that Seoul will not
Although the system is primarily intended to shoot down North foot the bill for U.S. weaponry. Front-runner Moon Jae-in has
Korean nukes midflight, its radar will also detect Chinese missile supported reopening dialogue with North Korea and rethinking
launches. Beijing says that undermines its nuclear deterrent and THAAD altogether, while Ahn Cheol-soo favors the deployment
has taken “economic retaliation against South Korea,” denying but says it should not be rushed and needs input from locals.
visas to our pop stars, blocking our hit TV shows, and rejecting Whoever wins will face some “tricky negotiations with Trump.”

Everyone wants to come live in gorgeous, verdant
NEW ZEALAND New Zealand—and we’ve been letting them, said
Vernon Small. This nation of fewer than 5 mil-
No longer lion people now welcomes 130,000 immigrants a
year, a record high. At the same time, we’ve got
so welcoming 139,000 unemployed people, raising the ques-
tion, “Why are we bringing in so many foreigners
to immigrants when there are so many out of work here?” The
influx has strained our infrastructure and caused a
Vernon Small
housing shortage, particularly in Auckland, where
Stuff.co.nz
many new arrivals settle. An “ugly casserole of
prejudice, resentment, economic envy, and xeno-
phobia” is beginning to stew. Our own populist
nationalist, Winston Peters of the New Zealand
First party, has been ranting about immigration
rates for decades, but now mainstream parties are
also addressing the issue. With an election looming
in September, the ruling center-right National Party
has announced a new policy to encourage higher-
paid, better-skilled applicants and deter migrants
who might take low-skilled jobs from Kiwis. But
these tweaks “look to be more sizzle than sau-
sage.” The opposition Labor Party, meanwhile,
promises to simply slash immigration by tens of
thousands of people. If the government doesn’t do
more to address unbridled immigration or at least
clearly explain why foreigners are needed to do
jobs we won’t, we could see a populist surge.

MEXICO Another allegation of a suspicious cash payment,
another denial, said Héctor de Mauleón. We’re get-
Decades ting used to hearing this story about leftist populist
leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador. A video has
of shady surfaced of Veracruz state lawmaker Eva Cadena,
a member of López Obrador’s Morena party, at a
dealings hotel accepting $26,500 allegedly intended for the
party boss. It was a setup! cries López Obrador. He
Héctor de Mauleón
claims the main Mexican parties want to tarnish
El Universal him because “Morena is growing a lot” and they
are “scared to death” that he might win the 2018
Newscom
to “take the bait.” She could have “acted outraged,
stood up, and left,” but instead she asked for a bag
for the cash. It’s not the first time an associate of
López Obrador’s has been caught in a bribery scan-
dal: His former personal secretary, René Bejarano,
served time in prison after being filmed taking
stacks of cash from a businessman. In 2012, his
former strategist, Luis Costa Bonino, was recorded
asking businessmen to donate $6 million to his
campaign—López Obrador denied any involvement
in the matter. “The shadow of dirty money has pur-

presidential election. López Obrador may be right: sued” him for years. Soliciting such cash appears to
Perhaps it was a setup. But nobody forced Cadena be his “constant method of doing politics.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
18 NEWS
Noted
QAbout half of the 675
immigrants rounded up
in deportation raids by
the Trump administration
in February had either
no criminal convictions
or only traffic offenses.
Deportation arrests from
January to mid-March
have surged 32 percent
compared with the same
time last year.
The Washington Post
QPresident Trump has
installed a “Coke button”
in the Oval Office. The red
button, contained within
a wooden box on the
Resolute desk, summons
a butler with an ice-cold
can of soda whenever the
president presses it.
Associated Press
QSales of nuclear shelters
and radiation-blocking air
purifiers have surged in
Japan in response to the
threat of a military conflict
between North Korea and
the U.S. and its regional
allies. One Japanese
company has received
eight orders for $225,000
nuclear shelters, and has
sold out of $15,440 Swiss-
made air purifiers.
Reuters.com
QAmid nationwide food
shortages and political
chaos, the average Vene-
zuelan adult lost 19 pounds
in weight last year.
Bloomberg.com
QMore than 373,000
Americans worked in
solar energy last year,
compared with 160,000 in
the coal industry, includ-
ing 54,000 coal miners.
The New York Times
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
Talking points
Obama: Cashing in on Wall Street
Oh, how the mighty have fallen, said Kristin
Tate in TheHill.com. During the 2008 presi-
dential campaign, Barack Obama found it
politically useful to demonize Wall Street.
“I did not run for office,” the haughty
then candidate claimed, “to be helping
out a bunch of fat-cat bankers.” But just
months after leaving the White House,
the Left’s beloved hero has agreed to
take a $400,000 check from invest-
ment bank Cantor Fitzgerald for a
one-hour speech this fall—the first
of many such paid speeches, his
aides indicate. Is this the same man
who crusaded against inequality? said Jill
Abramson in TheGuardian.com. Since leav-
ing office, he’s been vacationing with the
“Billionaires’ Club” in the British Virgin
Islands and French Polynesia. Now he’s
decided to supplement his mind-blowing
$65 million book deal by “buckraking
on Wall Street.” We expected better
from you, Barack.
So the former president wants to
Ka-ching!
make a little money, said Issac
Bailey in The Charlotte Observer. Don’t forget,
Obama “bypassed riches as the first black edi-
tor of the Harvard Law Review” and chose to
devote himself to years of public service instead.
Now, as a private citizen, he has every right to
earn income from his considerable talents. Nor
Trump: ‘I thought it would be easier’
President Trump has made a jaw-dropping
admission, said Tara Golshan in Vox.com. In an
interview with Reuters last week, the former busi-
nessman confessed he hadn’t appreciated just how
tough his new job would be. “This is more work
than in my previous life,” he said. “I thought it
would be easier.” No kidding. Aside from the
Senate’s confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to
the Supreme Court, Trump’s first 100 days were
marked mostly by failure and frustration, includ-
ing the disastrous attempt to repeal Obamacare,
and the blocking of his controversial travel bans
in court. He reversed his simplistic positions on
several major foreign policy issues—including
China, NATO, and Syria—and his border wall
remains a fantasy. “No president is ever, really,
ready for the job,” said Chris Cillizza in CNN
.com. But Trump came into office with a “minus-
cule” understanding of government and the legis-
lative process, and has been shocked to discover
that a president “can’t just snap his fingers” and
have his whims carried out.
Underestimate Trump at your peril, said Chris
Stirewalt in FoxNews.com. As a political neo-
phyte, he initially had no idea how to run a politi-
cal campaign, “but he was quick to learn and
does accepting a speaking fee from Wall Street
“inherently compromise your integrity,” said
Daniel Gross in Slate.com. Unlike Hillary
Clinton—who made lucrative Gold-
man Sachs speeches before running
for president—Obama is “done with
electoral politics” and can’t bestow
favors on Cantor Fitzgerald. And as
president, Obama was hardly too cozy
with Wall Street, signing “the most
far-reaching financial reform legisla-
tion since the New Deal.” A paid
speech or two shouldn’t “irreparably
poison” that admirable legacy.
This isn’t just about Obama’s legacy, said
Josh Barro in BusinessInsider.com. The
political movement he’s championed
is in big trouble. A new Washington
Post-ABC News poll has found that
67 percent of Americans believe
the Democratic Party “is out of
touch with the concerns of most
Americans.” Donald Trump is president
largely because of the perception
that the Democrats have become a
self-dealing party of wealthy coastal elites. So if
Obama truly does care about progressive values,
he should make a personal sacrifice and abstain
from buckraking, especially on Wall Street. As the
man himself once said, “I do think at a certain
point you’ve made enough money.”
quick to adapt”—and eventually won both the
nomination and the election. Rather than mock
Trump, Democrats better worry he’ll “learn on
the job” again. He’s already doing exactly that,
said Annie Linskey in The Boston Globe. To avoid
a repeat of the chaos that marred the early days
of the administration, the White House has imple-
mented processes for “vetting policy ideas,” and
begun involving members of Congress in crafting
legislation. Trump will never be “a conventional
president,” but his inexperienced administration is
starting to figure things out.
You’re in denial, said Kevin Williamson in National
Review.com. It’s already clear Trump has no clue
how to translate his extravagant campaign prom-
ises into action, and like the reality-TV star he is,
has instead relied on “a flurry of shallow symbolic
gestures that create the illusion that he is doing
something meaningful,” such as signing vague
executive orders. He’s installed political amateurs
in the White House, including his own family,
and can’t figure out what he thinks about Russia,
North Korea, health care, or taxes, issuing threats
Getty, Reuters
and pronouncements he reverses the next day.
“Conservatives had better start facing the fact that
the president is a man overmatched by his job.”
 Talking points NEWS 19

Ivanka: Is the first daughter a feminist? Wit &

Ivanka Trump can’t have
it both ways, said Lizzie
wouldn’t have received the
same impolite boos for
Wisdom
Crocker in TheDailyBeast defending her own father’s “The eternal mystery of the
.com. Last week, the fash- “history of mean-spirited world is its comprehensibil-
ion executive and senior treatment of women.” ity. The fact that it is com-
prehensible is a miracle.”
White House adviser Ivanka, meanwhile, “has Albert Einstein, quoted in
learned that represent- actual real-world experi- BusinessInsider.com
ing her father comes at a ence in manufacturing, “The Earth laughs
cost, during an appear- she’s launched retail lines in flowers.”
ance at the W20 Summit that bear her name, and Ralph Waldo Emerson,
on female empowerment she has taken real risks quoted in Bustle.com
Trump with Lagarde, Merkel: A chorus of boos
in Berlin. Flanked by true in the unforgiving retail “To innovate you need more
heavyweights, including German Chancellor marketplace.” That résumé, along with her White than rote knowledge. You
Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund House role, made her eminently qualified to speak need a trained imagination.”
Philosopher Martha
director Christine Lagarde, the first daughter about women succeeding in business and politics. Nussbaum, quoted in
served up an “empty-calorie word soup” about Humanities magazine
feminism, before defending President Trump as Please—let’s not pretend Ivanka was invited to “The more we see
a “tremendous champion” of women’s rights. Berlin because of her business acumen, said Anne our parents fully, see
Ivanka was met with an embarrassing chorus of Applebaum, also in The Washington Post. Merkel them as the world does,
groans, boos, and hisses. Good, said Arwa Mah- knows Ivanka serves as a vital conduit to her iras- the better our chances to
dawi in TheGuardian.com. America’s princess cible, powerful father, which is perhaps also why see the world as it is.”
has some nerve talking about “women’s empow- China granted her company valuable trademarks Richard Ford, quoted in the
Portland, Maine, Press Herald
erment.” Unlike the impressive women on stage the same day she dined with President Xi Jinping
with her, Trump owes her entire success to her at Mar-a-Lago. “There is a sinister precedent “Changes are not only
possible and predictable,
daddy, who has been accused of sexual harass- here.” Of all the things that distinguish “rule-of-
but to deny them is to be
ment and assault by at least 15 women. “Really, law democracies from personalized dictatorships,” an accomplice to one’s own
it’s time that she was booed off the world stage.” the most important is the reliance on experienced, unnecessary vegetation.”
accountable public servants—“not the unsackable Journalist Gail Sheehy, quoted
Liberals are such hypocrites, said Ed Rogers in relatives of the leader.” Ivanka may enjoy playing in Hyperallergic.com
The Washington Post. Imagine if the “overhyped the role of a public official “as if she were trying “Acting is telling the
and underaccomplished” Chelsea Clinton had on a new hat,” but the power she now wields is truth under imaginary
been at the Berlin conference instead. She certainly another “glaring symbol of democratic decline.” circumstances.”
Emma Watson,
quoted in Interview

ESPN: Why a media giant is struggling “It takes courage to

ESPN once sat atop the cable-TV world as its
most popular and profitable network, said Kevin
Draper in Deadspin.com. But now it’s in big trou-
ble. Last week the sports juggernaut laid off 100
staffers, including high-priced anchors “practically
synonymous with the network.” The bloodbath
set off shock waves, but actually shouldn’t be sur-
prising. ESPN cut hundreds of behind-the-scenes
people in 2015, and “it was only a matter of time
before the axe swung down” on talking heads.
Why? Until the early 2010s ESPN practically
printed money and “spent flagrantly,” building a
massive new SportsCenter studio, hiring hundreds
of online writers, and forking over billions for
live sports rights. But now ratings have declined
16 percent in a year, as the network bleeds sub-
scribers. Americans are increasingly “cutting the
cord” on cable packages—and with Twitter and
YouTube delivering instantaneous game highlights,
who needs SportsCenter? With $8 billion in sub-
scriber revenues, “ESPN is still wildly profitable,”
but it’s in a steep decline.
You can also blame ESPN’s “retreat into the fever
swamp of leftist politics,” said Sean Davis in The
Federalist.com. Viewers seeking NFL and NBA
highlights have been forced to endure “know-
AP
say that the good were
nothing loudmouths doing their best to make defeated not because they
were good, but because
Rachel Maddow proud”—say, praising quarter-
they were weak.”
back Colin Kaepernick’s boycott of the national Bertolt Brecht, quoted in
anthem, or discussing how “North Carolina is The New Republic
run by racist, homophobic bigots.” The point is,
“people watch sports as an escape,” said Dan
McLaughlin in NationalReview.com. The more Poll watch
you insert polarizing political debates “into the QIn a survey of 432 Dart-
spaces people reserve to crack open a beer at the mouth University students
end of the day and enjoy a ballgame,” the more by the college’s newspaper,
likely they’ll find something else to watch. 69% of Republicans and
61% of independents said
“It’s mostly silly to blame politics for ESPN’s they would be comfort-
financial decline,” said Derek Thompson in The able living with a room-
Atlantic.com. People who pay hundreds of dollars mate with opposing
for a cable package of dozens of stations don’t can- political views. Only 39% of
cel it purely because of irritating commentary on Democrats said they’d be
one. ESPN’s loss of 10 million subscribers mostly comfortable.
The Dartmouth
reflects how viewers consume media: 23 percent of
U.S. households have opted out of cable bundles Q48% of Americans be-
in favor of “à la carte” internet TV, or streaming lieve in the existence of the
services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Sling TV. To “deep state,” or a group of
compete, ESPN will probably have to create its “military, intelligence, and
government officials who
own streaming product and downsize. But the net-
try to secretly manipulate
work isn’t doomed. Americans are moving away
government policy.”
from cable, but not “toward a future where they ABC News
stop watching sports on television.”

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

20 NEWS Technology

Privacy: The downside of ‘free’ apps

It’s “a Silicon Valley tale as old as time,” said
Brian Feldman in NYMag.com. A technology
company comes along offering a handy service
that just so happens to be free. Users sign up in
droves. Then it’s revealed that the company has
been harvesting and selling their data, and those
same users revolt. This time, the pitchforks are
out for Unroll.me, an app that scans users’ email
accounts to unsubscribe them from junk mail. The
New York Times recently reported that Unroll.me
scanned its users’ email for Lyft receipts and sold
the anonymized data to Uber to help that firm
keep tabs on its ride-hailing rival. The revelation
was a minor detail in a bigger profile on Uber
CEO Travis Kalanick, but it sparked the predict-
able firestorm on social media, with users angrily
denouncing Unroll.me. The company’s response
was just as typical: Don’t blame us. “It was in the
terms of service.”
What exactly is the big deal? said Stephen Bron- Unroll.me comes with a ‘price.’ plans to gather “non-personal information” to
ner in Entrepreneur.com. Internet users “should
be savvy enough by now to know that there is no such thing as
free.” Unroll.me warned users in its privacy policy that it might
sell their data, but there’s also nothing wrong with asking for
something in return for providing a useful service. Unroll.me
employees “need their paychecks, and I need a less cluttered
inbox.” Still, Unroll.me didn’t do itself any favors with its tone- free, you’re the product.”
deaf response, said Ashley Carman in TheVerge
.com. One co-founder even wrote an angry blog
post asserting that if Unroll.me’s critics were
shocked by the company’s data collection, “they
have clearly been living under a rock.” The post
was “insensitive,” but it “has a point.” Nearly
every major tech company makes money from
user data. Why do you think your Gmail account
is free?
But just “how open was Unroll.me about what
it does?” asked Kashmir Hill in Gizmodo.com.
As with most tech companies, its privacy policy is
buried in pages of impenetrable legalese nobody
can realistically bother to read. By one estimate,
internet users would have to take an entire
month off work to read through the terms of ser-
vice agreements for all the apps and websites they
use. Unroll.me’s agreement is particularly egre-
gious, warning users in fine gray print of its vague
“build anonymous market research products
and services.” Whatever that is, it’s not a clear explanation of
Unroll.me’s business model. Take this uproar as a reminder to
check the permissions you’ve given various apps to access your
email and social media accounts, said Brian Barrett in Wired
.com. Once again, the tech industry adage holds true: “If it’s

Innovation of the week Bytes: What’s new in tech

Researchers at the University of
California, Berkeley and MIT have
built a
device
that can
harvest
water
from
even
the dri-
est desert air, said Adele Peters in
FastCompany.com. The small, solar-
powered box contains a sponge-like
material called a metal-organic
framework. That material grabs and
holds water molecules from the
cool desert night air when the box
is left open overnight. Closed during
the day, the box uses the sun’s heat
to release the water molecules as
vapor, which is then condensed into
clean drinking water. The latest ver-
sion of the device can harvest a little
more than half a gallon of water per
day, though larger versions could
potentially supply enough water “for
showers, laundry, and other uses
beyond drinking water.” Researchers
say the next step is to figure out how
Google buries the (fake) lede machine learning and advice from fashion
Google isn’t planning to rid its search results specialists to help users decide which outfit to
of fake news, “but it’s trying to purge it from wear. Ask Alexa to take photos or videos of
the top,” said Mark Bergen in Bloomberg you wearing different clothing combinations
.com. The company is “making a rare, sweep- and Style Check will show side-by-side results
ing change” to the algorithm that powers its to help you choose the ideal outfit. The device
ubiquitous search engine. Google’s 10,000- could help Amazon, which is already the top
plus staff of “raters,” who are responsible for online clothing retailer, further cement its hold
assessing search results, will now flag web on the fashion industry.
pages hosting hoaxes, conspiracy theories,
and other items the company has dubbed Arizonans test self-driving cars
“low-quality content.” Articles that are found “Waymo’s self-driving minivans are now of-
to be “misleading, false, or offensive” will be fering rides to real people,” said Andrew
demoted in search results, so they won’t be Hawkins in TheVerge.com. The autonomous
among the first a user sees. Last month, for vehicle startup, which spun off from Google
example, searches for “is Obama planning a last year, recently launched its “early rider
coup” returned “a blatantly wrong article” program” in Arizona. Residents living in the
as the top result; that item will now be buried Phoenix area can apply on Waymo’s website
further down. for free rides, with the company using their
feedback to improve the technology. A backup
Alexa’s eye for style driver will be behind the wheel of Waymo’s
“If a computer tells you with 64 percent cer- Chrysler Pacific minivans “at all times, but
tainty that what you’re wearing isn’t your best, the company insists that the vehicle will drive
without human intervention as much as pos-
would you change?” asked Mike Murphy in
Qz.com. Amazon’s artificially intelligent per- sible.” It’s a “major milestone” for Google’s
sonal assistant Alexa will now dish out fash- parent company, Alphabet, “which has been
Unroll.me, MIT

to mass-produce the box’s sponge- ion advice though the company’s Echo Look, operating self-driving cars on public roads for
like material. a camera-equipped version of its Echo home years without allowing real people to experi-
speaker. A new feature called Style Check uses ence the technology first-hand.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017

Early human arrivals in North America?
A group of scientists has claimed that
ancient humans may have settled in
North America as long as 130,000 years
ago—some 115,000 years earlier than
previously thought. The controversial
assertion, which is viewed with skepti-
cism by most other paleontologists,
is based on analysis of the fossilized
remains of a mastodon, a long-extinct
mammoth-like animal. Discovered beside
a freeway near San Diego in 1992, the
mastodon bones were scratched and
broken into many pieces, surrounded by
several large rocks that may have served
as hammers and anvils. Researchers
at the University of Michigan and else-
Our plastic refuse travels far and wide.
Trash in the Arctic Ocean
The world’s seas have long been littered
with trillions of tiny pieces of plastic—and
a lot of it is ending up in the Arctic Ocean.
The first major survey of the region’s icy
waters found that the planet’s northernmost
ocean is clogged with about 300 billion
pieces of debris from things like plastic bot-
tles, bags, and fishing lines. Carried there
from the North Atlantic by a major ocean
current, this seaborne junk has few ways to
escape the “dead-end” ocean, reports The
New York Times. The pollution is different
from the “trash patches” that have accu-
mulated in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans;
rather than collecting in certain areas,
the debris in the Arctic is spreading more
evenly throughout the sea. “We don’t fully
understand the consequences the plastic is
having or will have in our oceans,” says
Tom Deméré/San Diego Natural History Museum, Getty (2)
study leader Andrés Cózar Cabañas. “What
we do know is that these consequences
will be felt at greater scale in an ecosystem
like this.” Cabañas says further research
is needed to determine whether ocean cur-
rents could eventually enable the plastic to
work its way out of the region.
Plastic-eating caterpillars
Scientists may have found an unlikely
candidate to clean up the mounds of non-
biodegradable plastic trash in the world’s
Health & Science
where have concluded that the bones
are 130,000 years old, and that they were
opened when fresh by a Neanderthal or
other ancient human relative using rocks
to try to extract bone marrow. It’s widely
accepted that Homo sapiens arrived in
North America about 15,000 years ago,
across a land bridge connecting Siberia
and Alaska; the mastodon findings, if
confirmed, would indicate that another
hominin species somehow reached this
continent much earlier. If that hypoth-
esis is true, it would rewrite the story of
human migration. Skeptics argue that
there are more-plausible explanations for
the bone fractures and markings, such as
landfills: the humble wax worm.
Federica Bertocchini, a developmen-
tal biologist and amateur beekeeper
in Spain, first came up with the idea
after finding her beehives infested
with the beeswax-loving caterpillar
larvae of wax moths. She put the
grubs in a plastic bag—whereupon
they immediately ate their way out.
Plastic and wax have similar chemi-
cal structures. Bertocchini posited
that in evolving to digest wax, wax
worms may have also gained the
ability to break down polyethylene,
the world’s most common plastic. She took
her theory to biochemists at the University
of Cambridge, who found that 100 wax
worms could gulp down 92 milligrams of
polyethylene in about 12 hours and degrade
plastic bags much faster than any known
method. “If a single enzyme is responsible
for this chemical process,” study co-author
Paolo Bombelli tells CNN.com, “its repro-
duction on a large scale using biotechno-
logical methods should be achievable.”
Diet soda and dementia
Sugar-free versions of soda may increase
people’s risk of suffering
a stroke or develop-
ing dementia, reports
The Washington Post.
Scientists at Boston
University studied more
than 4,000 people over
a 10-year period. They
found that those who
consumed at least one
artificially sweetened drink
a day were almost three
times more likely to have
a stroke or be diagnosed
with dementia than those
who had one or fewer a
week. To the researchers’
NEWS 21
Scratches and dents on the mastodon bones
pressure from the sediment on top of it.
Paleontologist Thomas A. Deméré, a co-
author of the study, acknowledged that
the findings seem “impossible,’’ but said,
“People have to be open to the possibility
that humans were here this long ago.’’
surprise, a parallel study of sugary drinks
did not find a similar association. Matthew
Pase, the study’s lead author, offered sev-
eral caveats on the findings, most notably
that the actual number of diagnoses was
very low and that the results showed only
correlation, not causation. He also urged
people not to see the study as an incentive
to switch to regular soda, noting that sug-
ary drinks have been linked to obesity, poor
memory, and accelerated brain aging. But
Pase did say the findings suggested consum-
ers should be “cautious” about their diet
soda intake and switch to water or other
unsweetened drinks.
Health scare of the week
Pollution reaches bloodstream
Tiny airborne pollutants from power
plants, cars, and trucks may be able to
get through the lungs’ filter system and
work their way into the bloodstream,
new research suggests. Scientists at the
University of Edinburgh in the U.K. asked
14 healthy volunteers to inhale air filled
with harmless gold nanoparticles. They
found that these nanoparticles were detect-
able in the participants’ blood within
15 minutes and were still in their blood
and urine three months later. When
the researchers then tested 12 people
who were due to undergo surgery to
clear blocked arteries, they found that
the gold nanoparticles accumulated
in the fatty plaques that grew inside
the patients’ blood vessels. If the reactive
compounds found in air pollution act in
the same way, they could increase the risk
for heart disease, stroke, and other health
issues. “There is no doubt that air pollution
is a killer,” Jeremy Pearson from the British
Heart Foundation charity tells Reuters.com.
“This study brings us a step closer to solving
the mystery of how air pollution damages
our cardiovascular health.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
22 NEWS Pick of the week’s cartoons

THE WEEK May 12, 2017 For more political cartoons, visit: www.theweek.com/cartoons.
Pick of the week’s cartoons NEWS 23

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

24
Review of reviews: Books
Book of the week
The Golden Passport: Harvard
Business School, the Limits
of Capitalism, and the Moral
Failure of the MBA Elite
by Duff McDonald
(HarperBusiness, $35)
Harvard Business School is undeniably the
elite brand in its field, said James Stewart
in The New York Times. But being top dog
can’t shield the 109-year-old institution
from being blamed for “pretty much every
bad thing that has happened in American
business in the last century.” That’s what
author Duff McDonald has done with his
600-page history of the school—a valuable
book that would have been even better
if it’d been more balanced. McDonald’s
“scathing” brief charges that the busi-
ness school was founded to create socially
responsible corporate leaders but has pur-
sued easy money at every turn. “Agree with
him or not” on each point of his indictment,
he’s at least right that in the mid-1980s, the
school began teaching a profits-first mindset
that did real damage in the wider world.
Novel of the week
A Line Made by Walking
by Sara Baume
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25)
With her second novel, the author of
2015’s breathtaking Spill Simmer Falter
Wither has retreated into her own head,
said Melissa Harrison in the Financial
Times. That’s not a terrible thing,
though, because her writing is “near
faultless: instinctively balanced, precise,
and often surprising.” Those qualities
even hold when her protagonist is a
young would-be artist who has holed
up in a rural home in Ireland to nurse
her doubts. “If you’ve ever looked inside
yourself and disliked what you saw,”
said Dwight Garner in The New York
Times, “you will respond to Frankie.”
She’s a dark cloud around whom little
happens, but even when this book
about her becomes a dull wallow, it oc-
casionally spits out another prickly and
profound line. “It’s time to accept that I
am average,” Frankie thinks at one point,
“and to stop making this acceptance of
my averageness into a bereavement.” At
times, she will “make you want to send
her to her room without supper,” said
Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal.
But you’ll still be glad to have met her.
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
ARTS
economics professor Michael Jensen was
hired and began spreading the gospel that
the sole duty of business managers is to
maximize shareholder value. McDonald’s
“deliciously iconoclastic” account doesn’t
pin all the blame on Harvard, but it traces
how Jensen’s creed laid the groundwork for
the leveraged-buyout boom, runaway CEO
pay, and the global financial crisis.
McDonald isn’t wrong, but “he falls vic-
tim to admiring the problem,” said Claire
Preisser in AspenInstitute.org. At one point,
Tomorrow’s CEOs, ready for launch he cites an Aspen Institute survey that he
says shows how business schools poison the
“This is serious history, broad in its sweep minds of their students—because they enter
and meticulous in the detail,” said Matthew talking about social responsibilities and
Stewart in The Wall Street Journal. Long leave saying only shareholder value mat-
before McDonald reaches the ’80s, he piles ters. But that survey was published in 2002.
up evidence that none of the various man- Since then, “there has been a sea change”
agement theories Harvard has espoused in the aspirations of b-school students,
should ever have been taken seriously, espe- at least according to anecdotal evidence.
cially because the theories always served to Has a more socially conscious generation
enrich the school and its graduates before reshaped these graduate schools’ values?
anyone else. Often, professors have lauded McDonald doesn’t say, though he acknowl-
the practices of the very corporations that edges that Jensen’s influence has waned.
were paying them as consultants. But the McDonald is too busy criticizing Harvard
school at least gave lip service to the idea of Business School for its past. Meanwhile,
social responsibility until about 1984, when “business schools have moved on.”
Shattered: Inside Hillary refused to buy yard signs, TV advertising
Clinton’s Doomed Campaign in the Midwest, or even a single poll in the
by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes race’s crucial final three weeks. Campaign
chairman John Podesta filled the Scarecrow
(Crown, $28)
role, proving in his embarrassing leaked
Forget James Comey; emails to have been a man without a brain.
forget Russia, said And Bill Clinton played the Cowardly Lion,
John Podhoretz in all big ideas and bluster until aides reminded
the New York Post. him he helped blow Hillary’s 2008 race.
The first big post- But the inside-baseball gossip—as fun as it
mortem on how is—is also “the least meaningful part of the
Hillary Clinton book,” said Jeff Stein in Vox.com. Allen and
managed to lose Parnes are even better at proving that the
the 2016 election candidate failed her team more than they
“makes indisputably failed her. From the announcement of her
clear that she was the candidacy on, each time she was called upon
worst major presi- to articulate where she hoped to take the
dential candidate in country, she came up empty.
our lifetime.” Co-authors Jonathan Allen
and Amie Parnes interviewed more than But Clinton is hardly alone in her lack of
100 members of the Clinton campaign, and vision, said Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone.
by granting most of them anonymity, piled “The real protagonist of this book is a
up “headshaking detail after headshaking Washington political establishment that has
detail” about the political incompetence of lost the ability to explain itself or its motives
to people outside the Beltway.” If the end-
the candidate and her top aides.
ing to this story weren’t so consequential,
The plot of Shattered reads like “pure L. Frank “Shattered would be an awesome comedy.”
Baum,” said Joseph Bottum in the Wash- But it gave us President Trump, and the
ington Free Beacon. Chief strategist Robby only party that can unseat him appears
Mook made the perfect Tin Man: A geek to be mired in a profound identity crisis.
guided by computer analytics instead of his “Trump or no Trump, the Democrats need
Getty
heart, he was so tight with money that he therapy—and soon.”
 Writing Great Fiction:
Storytelling Tips
and Techniques
Taught by Professor James Hynes
TIME O NOVELIST AND WRITING INSTRUCTOR
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7. The Mechanics of Writing Dialogue
8. Integrating Dialogue into a Narrative
9. And Then—Turning a Story into a Plot
10. Plotting with the Freytag Pyramid
11. Adding Complexity to Plots
12. Structuring a Narrative without a Plot
13. In the Beginning—How to Start a Plot
14. Happily Ever After—How to End a Plot
15. Seeing through Other Eyes—Point of View
16. I, Me, Mine—First-Person Point of View
17. He, She, It—Third-Person Point of View
18. Evoking Setting and Place in Fiction
19. Pacing in Scenes and Narratives
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21. Should I Write in Drafts?
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26 ARTS
Author of the week
Valeria Luiselli
Valeria Luiselli views current
immigration debates from a
unique perch, said Rahawa
Haile in RollingStone.com.
The Mexico City–born novel-
ist, essayist, and academic
lived in many countries
before settling in New York
City. Then,
in 2015, her
green card
got lost in the
mail, forcing
her to tem-
porarily step
away from
teaching and
inspiring her to volunteer as a
pro bono translator for a fed-
eral immigration court. For
the next year, she interviewed
immigrant children who had
fled Guatemala, Honduras,
or El Salvador on their own,
mostly to escape drug vio-
lence. Many had traveled
alone on freight trains and
become victims of rape, and
their stories opened Luiselli’s
eyes. “Truth be told,” she
says, “what I was seeing in
court every day made it clear
that my situation was very
privileged.”
In her new book, Tell Me How
It Ends, Luiselli uses the
40 questions on the govern-
ment’s immigration intake
form to structure the stories
she shares. She also weaves
in an account of the larger
North American migrant cri-
sis, and her directness may
surprise those who know
her for subtle, surreal nov-
els like 2015’s prizewinning
The Story of My Teeth, said
Wendy Smith in Newsday.
Luiselli doesn’t hector read-
ers, though—in part because
she thinks Mexico has been
more brutal in its treatment
of Central American migrants
than the U.S. has. “There’s
no use pointing fingers,” she
says. “The idea is to show
how deeply we all are con-
nected in the hemisphere,
so that the children’s exodus
does not seem like a foreign
problem we have nothing to
do with, but a problem that
is ours.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
The Book List
Best books...chosen by Fredrik Backman
Swedish novelist Fredrik Backman is the author of A Man Called Ove, the interna-
tional best-seller that inspired an Oscar-nominated film. In his new novel, Beartown,
a fading rural community pins its hopes on a youth hockey team’s run at a title.
The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren
(Oxford, $12.50). My mother read this to me
when my grandfather died, when I was 6, to
find a way to talk to me about death. It was
during that reading that I discovered I could
actually read for myself. So Lindgren taught me
how to read and how not to be afraid of dying,
all at the same time. I still read The Brothers
Lionheart at least once a year, and it’s still my
all-time favorite novel.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by
Douglas Adams (Del Rey, $8). This was one of
the first books that made me understand it was
OK for literature to be silly and funny and stu-
pid and hilarious. I assume that this life-altering
experience at age 10 or 11 still shows in my
writing today.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
(Mariner, $20). Over a summer when I was
about 9, Tolkien consumed me. The adventure,
the storytelling, the magical lands and terrify-
ing creatures inhabiting them were all I thought
about. When I was done, I started all over again.
Also of interest...working lives in fiction
Startup
by Doree Shafrir (Little, Brown, $26)
There’s “giddy fun” to be had in sepa-
rating fiction from reality in this tech-
industry satire, said Marion Winik in
Newsday. As author Doree Shafrir
follows various young Brooklynites
trying to make good, she freely mixes
truth with invention. An Uber-like app for stroller
service? That’s Shafrir. Morning dance parties to
get workers energized? Those happened. Though
the spine of Startup is a sexual harassment scandal
that resolves predictably, “the cleverness of every-
thing else is such that you almost don’t notice.”
The Exploded View
by Ivan Vladislavic (Archipelago, $18)
This provocative quartet of stories by
one of South Africa’s most celebrated
writers captures a city in disorient-
ing transition, said Sam Sacks in The
Wall Street Journal. In one tale, a
census worker becomes infatuated
with a TV star he interviews. In another, a black
artist exhibits kitsch takes on African masks. In
all four, boundaries are unstable, and the post-
apartheid Johannesburg we glimpse is “a place
where the authentic and the ersatz become hope-
lessly confused.”
This was my first experience of absolute binge
reading, and maybe my first love.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
(Bantam, $4). I don’t remember the first time I
heard it read, but I do remember that the first
time I read it for myself I was blown away by
how clever the language was, and how playful.
I still write with the hope that I will always love
words as much as I do every time I read Dickens.
Harry Potter: The Complete Series by J.K.
Rowling (Scholastic, $87). I’ve never really
longed to relive my childhood. Except for this:
I wish I could be 7 years old again, just to be
able to read Harry Potter for the very first time.
There are certain things in a story like that one
that an adult can never fully understand. We get
old; we forget how to be that smart.
Shogun by James Clavell (Dell, $10). It’s not
life-changing; it’s not the greatest piece of lit-
erature ever written; it’s definitely not flawless.
But it’s good. Fun. Entertaining. An adventure.
Sometimes that’s quite enough.
Temporary People
by Deepak Unnikrishnan (Restless, $18)
Deepak Unnikrishnan’s “thought-
provoking” debut is set in a real-life
shadow world, said Ilana Masad in
The Washington Post. The United
Arab Emirates, where Unnikrishnan
grew up, is largely populated by for-
eign guest workers, and the author evocatively
conveys their provisional status through 28 linked
stories, fragments, and poems. One memorable
piece is “simply a list of dozens of occupations
that become slowly more political.” The last
entries: “Place builder. Laborer. Cog.”
The Devil and Webster
by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Grand Central, $27)
The college-president protagonist
of this semi-satirical campus novel
“couldn’t be more likable,” said
Maureen Corrigan in NPR.org.
A former student radical herself,
Linnéa Jonasson, Alfredo Pelcastre
Naomi Roth responds with compas-
sion when student demonstrators—including her
daughter—start a protest movement with few dis-
cernible demands. But as the conflict keeps esca-
lating anyway, this daring book from the author
of Admission proves “wittily on target” about
the current state of campus identity politics.
 Review of reviews: Art & Stage
Exhibit of the week
Irving Penn Centennial
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
City, through July 30
Irving Penn (1917–2009) was so much more
than a fashion photographer, said Michael
Agovino in The Village Voice. Whatever the
subject at hand, the New Jersey–born son of
a clockmaker “approached his work with
a classical rigor and playful curiosity that
chipped away at the walls between fine art
and commerce and helped define the visual
vernacular of contemporary America.”
Hired into the New York magazine industry
in 1938, Penn became widely known ini-
tially for the images of models and celebri-
ties he created for Vogue. But his first Vogue
cover was an early still life, and when he
trained his camera on subjects in the field,
“Penn invested tradesmen and artisans with
the same grace and nobility as foreign digni-
taries and Hollywood icons.” As the Met’s
centennial celebration of Penn makes plain,
he mixed modes because that’s what the
times called for, and “he did it all, basically,
with style.”
More than 220 prints are on display, and
“nearly every gallery exhales its own deli-
cious breeze,” said Roberta Smith in The
New York Times. Visitors are greeted by
two “slightly crazed” but “insuperably
elegant” still lifes of food—1947 photo-
John Golden Theatre, New York City, (212) 239-6200 ++++
“Welcome back, Mrs. Helmer,” said Ben
Brantley in The New York Times. When
an insistent knocking opens Lucas Hnath’s
“smart, funny, and utterly engrossing”
sequel to A Doll’s House, anyone familiar
with Henrik Ibsen’s original will guess who’s
waiting to enter. Nora Helmer shocked the
world in 1879 when she slammed that door,
walking out on her husband, her children,
and her comfortable upper-middle-class
Norwegian domestic life. Now she’s back,
15 years later, to find out why Torvald, her
jilted husband, never finalized their divorce.
As played by Laurie Metcalf in a perfor-
mance “exquisitely poised between high
comedy and visceral angst,” Nora seems
both nervous to be returning and rightfully
pleased with herself. She’s transformed her-
self into a successful novelist who, writing
under a pseudonym, has become a promi-
nent critic of marriage.
Continuities aside, “this is not your grand-
Brigitte Lacombe
mother’s Ibsen,” said Maya Stanton in
Entertainment Weekly. To begin with,
Hnath’s follow-up is consistently funny,
Penn’s Cigarette No. 37 (1972)
graphs that draw inspiration from European
painting traditions but add of-the-moment
slovenliness, including a housefly and spilled
peppercorns. The first gallery presents a
collection of Penn’s 1947–48 portraits—
“some of art’s greatest”—all created when
Vogue’s art director decided to find out how
young Penn would handle shooting a series
of older cultural icons. Penn responded by
A Doll’s House, Part 2
Metcalf’s Nora Helmer: A trailblazer returns.
and from the moment the Helmers’ long-
time nanny, Anne Marie, lets loose her first
F-word, the characters demonstrate convinc-
ing fluency in 21st-century vernacular. Even
so, Part 2 is respectful of the source mate-
rial, taking its characters’ stories seriously
even as it piles on punch lines. Because Nora
and Torvald are still legally married, Nora is
in danger of losing everything she’s created
on her own because of a law prohibiting a
married woman from conducting any busi-
ness without her husband’s consent. Metcalf
strikes up a pleasingly tetchy rapport with
co-star Chris Cooper, who plays Torvald’s
ARTS 27
devising challenging sets—most famously a
sharp corner whose walls boxed in Marcel
Duchamp, Marlene Dietrich, and other
individual subjects. He would continue to
expose photography’s artifices, toting around
the same backdrop of painted clouds for
shoot after shoot. But the thread connecting
all his work was his respect for every subject.
His was a vision “fixed on form and beauty
in their many guises.”
To Penn, even litter deserved close attention,
said William Meyers in The Wall Street
Journal. Shortly after the 1971 death of his
chain-smoking mentor, Alexey Brodovitch,
Penn began collecting, arranging, and pho-
tographing cigarette butts. The resulting 17
platinum-palladium prints turned out to be
“exquisite mug shots of deadly assassins,”
with every flake of ash and shred of tobacco
calling attention to the barbarism of the cul-
ture that abetted smoking’s crimes. The ciga-
rette series is the type of work that sets Penn
apart from his closest peer, Richard Avedon,
said Mark Feeney in The Boston Globe.
Where Avedon was a romantic, Penn was a
fatalist, aware at all times that nothing lives
forever. Two paired portraits of Truman
Capote, one taken in 1948 and one in 1965,
after Capote had been diminished by too
many pills and too much liquor, function as
a memento mori. “Look closely, selfie tak-
ers: Irving Penn has left you a reminder of
what awaits us all.”
stoicism for laughs. Though Hnath indulges
in a few too many “wink-wink” references to
the still-unrealized future of women’s rights,
he’s given Broadway audiences “an imagina-
tive postscript to a well-loved standard.”
At least that’s how the average theatergoer
will greet Hnath’s “thuddingly predictable”
tale, said Terry Teachout in The Wall Street
Journal. Hnath knows his left-leaning audi-
ence walks in wanting to support Nora’s
decision to abandon her family to seek
fulfillment, and he doesn’t challenge that
impulse at all. But we’re not meant to side
blindly with Nora, said Alexis Soloski in
TheGuardian.com. Nora’s 19-year-old
daughter, Emmy, was clearly scarred by her
mother’s disappearance, and even mounts a
strong case for marriage. Far from being a
pat endorsement of Nora’s decision, the play
“can even be read as a forceful critique of
self-actualization.” Though you might prefer
more suspense in any show you step out for,
“the play’s sophisticated arguments about
what we owe to ourselves and to each other
are welcome mat enough.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
28 ARTS Review of reviews: Film & Music
Risk You may think you know all
there is to know about Julian
Directed by Laura Poitras Assange, said Adam Clark Estes
(Not rated) in Gizmodo.com. But you’ve
++++ never really seen Assange “up
A portrait of close and ugly” like this, and
WikiLeaks’ founder “that’s exactly why you must
see Risk.” For five years, docu-
mentarian Laura Poitras enjoyed
unprecedented access to the Assange: The mirror doesn’t lie.
embattled WikiLeaks founder,
taking a break only to make Citizenfour, her Oscar-
winning documentary on Edward Snowden. The
Assange we get to know seems “evil and deranged,
to be honest,” a man more interested in power than
in serving the public by exposing government over-
reach. Shot mostly inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in the bloodstream of the Assange story.”
London, where Assange has lived
since 2012 to avoid extradition,
Risk “doesn’t deliver the engross-
ing thrills of Citizenfour,” said
Eric Kohn in IndieWire.com.
But it radiates “the same degree
of urgency,” and the close-
quarters footage of Assange’s
team discussing how to release
its first document cache creates
“the tense, elegant atmosphere
of a John le Carré spy novel.” Poitras appears to be
sympathetic to Assange’s whistleblower mission, but
Risk “doesn’t feel like a hagiography,” said Robbie
Collin in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). Rather than
burnishing his public image, Risk “injects you into

The Circle The new Tom Hanks–Emma

Watson thriller about the
she agrees to play guinea pig,
which is a big mistake: For view-
Directed by James Ponsoldt internet’s intrusions on privacy ers, “it’s hard to believe that this
(PG-13) “raises plenty of ideas that we clearly bright young woman
++++ should all be deeply concerned could also be such a gullible
Silicon Valley about,” said Stephanie Zacharek idiot.” The movie is part satire,
swallows a newbie. in Time. The movie, unfortu- part moralistic melodrama,
nately, “has no idea what to do and “a tonal mess,” said David
with them,” even though it’s Edelstein in NYMag.com. “It has
adapted from a four-year-old Watson: Too smart to play dumb great moments, though,” mostly
Dave Eggers novel. Watson involving Hanks or the late Bill
plays Mae Holland, a new hire at a Silicon Valley Paxton, playing Mae’s ailing father. In the end, said
tech firm that has begun promoting the idea that Robert Abele in the Los Angeles Times, The Circle
the world would be a better place if we all started is “like a buggy app—something you want to work”
wearing cameras 24 hours a day. When Mae hears a but that’s “doomed to be remembered more as a
personal pitch from Hanks’ Steve Jobs–like honcho, missed opportunity.”

Feist Willie Nelson Gorillaz

Pleasure
++++
Leslie Feist clearly
believes that an artist
must change to grow,
said Jim Fusilli in The
Wall Street Journal.
The Canadian singer-
songwriter, who records
under her last name,
scored a big hit 10 years ago with her chip-
per pop tune “1234,” then flipped the script,
more than once. Her “dark, despondent”
fifth album is “a journey through abject
pain,” a series of songs that brood over a
failed romance while pondering the pass-
ing of time. Feist has pared down her band,
often using just her own guitar and a touch
of percussion to accompany her breathy,
evocative soprano. She plays tricks with
her voice, too, bending words and attacking
certain lyrics “with a rawness that recalls PJ
Harvey and Patti Smith.” Many of Pleasure’s
most intriguing qualities have a dual edge,
God’s Problem Child
++++
Willie Nelson has
released half a dozen
albums since 2013, and
while they’ve all been
great, his latest “reaches
another level,” said Peter
Blackstock in the Austin
American-Statesman.
The outlaw country legend turned 84 last
week, and with God’s Problem Child, “argu-
ably Nelson’s best album since the 1990s,” he
confronts mortality. Not all of it is somber:
Willie’s wry smile shines through on “Still
Not Dead,” for example, as he addresses
internet rumors of his demise. As usual, he
shows “razor-sharp” taste in his covers, like
the title track, a Jamey Johnson–Tony Joe
White tune that here features vocals by the
since-deceased Leon Russell. “What’s most
remarkable, though, is just how strong the
entire album is from start to finish.” Another
collection of country blues and honky-tonk
Humanz
++++
Gorillaz has evolved
into “a surprising little
institution,” said Jayson
Greene in Pitchfork.com.
Nearly 20 years after
British singer-songwriter
Damon Albarn and
illustrator Jamie Hewlett
launched the cartoon band on a lark, the fran-
chise continues to pull in musical guests and
put out hit records that sound like the playlist
for a doomsday mood of the moment. “As
usual, the guest list on Humanz promises
untold riches on which the music doesn’t
deliver”: Mavis Staples, Vince Staples, Grace
Jones, and 13 other visitors contribute undis-
tinguished vocal cameos that mostly get lost
amid Albarn’s fat drums and “gloomy” synth
patches. This fifth Gorillaz album is also “a
little light on hooks,” said Alexis Petridis in
TheGuardian.com. “When Albarn remem-
bers to come up with melodies, his trade-
Business Wire, Frank Masi

said Erik Adams in AVClub.com. Atmospher-
ics are favored over traditional song struc-
tures, to the point that the loosest tracks are
nearly indistinct. In the end, though, all the
musical risks Feist has taken “contribute to
the record’s capacity for surprise.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
ballads couldn’t be called a major artistic
statement, said Stephen Thomas Erlewine in
AllMusic.com. “It’s simply an uncommonly
strong latter-day record from Willie Nel-
son,” one whose understated performances
“seem richer with repeated spins.”
mark languid melancholy is as affecting as
ever,” but he almost seems to have too many
ideas about guests to work with and subjects
to cover in his lyrics. Twenty years in, “there
are substantially worse problems for an artist
to have than that.”

Movies on TV
Monday, May 8
Ordinary People
Robert Redford’s Oscar-
winning directorial debut
zooms in on a family griev-
ing the loss of a son. Donald
Sutherland, Mary Tyler
Moore, and Timothy Hutton
co-star. (1980) 5:55 p.m., the
Movie Channel
Tuesday, May 9
Gandhi
Richard Attenborough’s
biopic garnered eight
Oscars, including the one
Ben Kingsley earned for his
turn as the leader of India’s
independence movement.
(1982) 9:50 p.m., Movieplex
Wednesday, May 10
Cover Girl
Rita Hayworth smolders
and Gene Kelly nails the
dance numbers in a musi-
cal about a chorus girl who
leaves her beau behind for
a chance to be a star. (1944)
8 p.m., TCM
Thursday, May 11
28 Days Later
A London bike courier
wakes from a coma to dis-
cover the human race has
succumbed to a zombie
virus. From director Danny
Boyle. (2003) 9:45 p.m.,
Cinemax
Friday, May 12
Slumdog Millionaire
In another memorable
Danny Boyle drama, a
kid from Mumbai’s slums
becomes a game-show
phenom forced to share his
remarkable life story. With
Dev Patel and Freida Pinto.
(2008) 8 p.m., HBO
Saturday, May 13
Easy Rider
Two hippie bikers complete
a big drug deal and head
out on a cross-country road
trip. With Peter Fonda and
Dennis Hopper, plus a live-
wire Jack Nicholson. (1969)
7:20 p.m., Encore
Caitlin Cronenberg/Netflix, Patrick Wymore
Sunday, May 14
I Remember Mama
Spend Mother’s Day with
your mom, and then with
Irene Dunne, as she plays
the saintly matron of a
Norwegian immigrant fam-
ily. (1948) 8 p.m., TCM
• All listings are Eastern Time.
Television
The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching
Independent Lens: The Prison in
Twelve Landscapes
The U.S. prison system has grown to massive
size, housing seven times more inmates than it did
40 years ago. Filmmaker Brett Story’s impression-
istic documentary looks at the ways the growth
has affected individual lives and communities. In
one impoverished Kentucky coal-mining town,
a new federal prison offers hope of economic
recovery. In Missouri’s St. Louis County, empty
prison beds encourage the use of incarceration to
battle the pettiest misdemeanors. Monday, May 8,
at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Anne With an E
Fans of Anne of Green Gables have reason
to cheer. After a long string of staid TV adap-
tations, the spirited orphan of Lucy Maud
Montgomery’s classic 1908 novel finally has
been given a spirited series-long interpretation.
Amybeth McNulty delivers a true star turn as
young Anne Shirley, a girl who lights up all of
Prince Edward Island when two elderly siblings
bring her into their home as a helping hand.
Breaking Bad writer Moira Walley-Beckett
has found ways to add edge to the story that
even Montgomery would probably approve of.
Available for streaming Friday, May 12, Netflix
Motherboard
Vice Media’s science-and-technology website is
rolling out fresh episodes of its acclaimed video
news series, beginning with a look at smart guns.
Advocates love that these weapons can only be
fired by the owner or authorized users. So why
aren’t they the only kind of guns sold in this
country? Friday, May 12, at 9 p.m., Viceland
Master of None
More Aziz, please. In one short season that
ended almost 18 months ago, Aziz Ansari
proved he was, at the very least, master of his
own streaming comedy series. Master of None
now returns, and it’s as wryly funny and deeply
personal as ever. Season 2 opens in Italy, where
Ansari’s Dev fled to attend pasta-making school
in the aftermath of breaking up with Rachel.
Available for streaming Friday, May 12, Netflix
Bacon and Hahn: Deconstructing chemistry
ARTS 29
Green Gables–bound: McNulty’s impish Anne
Masterpiece: King Charles III
With his mother still spry at 91, Great Britain’s
Prince Charles may never become his country’s
monarch. But this heady 90-minute drama,
adapted from a Tony-nominated play, imagines
what might happen if he did, bringing to life
a reign marked by power struggles, first with
Parliament and then between Charles and Prince
William, his more charismatic son. Tim Pigott-
Smith, who died last month, shines as Charles,
a role he also played on Broadway and in
London’s West End. Sunday, May 14, at 9 p.m.,
PBS; check local listings
Other highlights
Dear Mama: An Event to Honor Moms
La La Anthony and Blackish’s Anthony Ander-
son co-host a celebrity tribute to mothers, with
guests Kelly Rowland, DJ Khaled, and Robin
Thicke. Monday, May 8, at 10 p.m., VH1
American Race
Outspoken NBA legend Charles Barkley travels
the country to engage in dialogues on race, in
a four-episode, two-night special. Thursday,
May 11, at 9 p.m., TNT
Inside Buckingham Palace
A series about the home of British royalty
focuses its latest episode on the six-decade reign
of the current queen, Elizabeth II. Saturday,
May 13, at 7 p.m., Smithsonian Channel
Show of the week
I Love Dick
When Jill Soloway creates TV, it’s wise to tune
in. The provocatively titled second Amazon
series from the Transparent mastermind adapts
a 1997 cult novel by Chris Kraus. Kathryn Hahn
stars as Chris, a New Yorker who follows her
husband to Marfa, Texas, and becomes ob-
sessed with a postmodern cowboy professor
played by Kevin Bacon. The female gaze is
Soloway’s subject, and she wrings both laughs
and shocks from the way Chris objectifies Dick.
There’s more, too, like the messy relationships
that Soloway handles better than anyone else.
Available for streaming Friday, May 12, Amazon
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
30
Critics’ choice: Culture clashes that somehow click
Young Joni Minneapolis
Ann Kim and Conrad Leifur are doing so
many things right at their latest venture
that its formula “will be studied and rep-
licated for years,” said Rick Nelson in the
Minneapolis Star Tribune. While still oper-
ating their nationally acclaimed Pizzeria
Lola across town, the husband-wife team
decided to go big in northern Minneapolis,
creating a full-service restaurant in a one-
of-a-kind space. Gorgeous but casual, cav-
ernous but cozy, the setting, in fact, “might
be mistaken for a tech billionaire’s idea of
a tree house.” Then comes the food: pizzas,
of course, but also several dishes, rooted in
Korean family traditions, that have been
ingeniously reimagined by Kim and are pre-
pared over an oak-fired open hearth. You
could be happy ordering the daily whole-
fish special every night, but then you’d miss
out on the “delectable” Asian-style spare
ribs and grilled prawns dressed in chiles
and lime juice. With vegetable plates, too,
Kim again and again “demonstrates how
the marriage of imagination and craftsman-
ship can heighten a taken-for-granted expe-
rience into a revelation.” 165 13th Ave.
N.E., (612) 345-5719
Kemuri Tatsu-ya Austin
Texas barbecue meets a Japanese pub at
this “transcendent mashup” from the two
friends who ignited a Texas ramen craze
five years ago, said Matthew Odam in the
LEISURE
Food & Drink
The bar at Young Joni: A ‘tree house’ vibe
Austin American-Statesman. When you
walk in for the first time, “it’s hard to tell
where the vintage Lone Star signs and
assorted Texana end and Japanese art and
artifacts begin”—or why Sly Stone pro-
vides apt background music. But “leave it
to two hip-hop DJs to find a way to layer
seemingly disparate threads into a tight,
electric groove.” Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya
Matsumoto both grew up in Austin, so it
shouldn’t be a surprise that their brisket is
near world-class. The brisket provides the
foundation for two great ramen bowls. Still,
“the best of the Texas-Japan hybrid dishes”
is chili-cheese takoyaki, a Frito pie–like
mingling of beef chili and crispy octopus
fritters. If you’re feeling adventurous, con-
sult the chinmi menu, where the offerings
include sweet-and-sour jellyfish and each
item gets a funkiness rating, ranging from
Kenny G (zero funk) to James Brown.
2713 E. 2nd St., (512) 893-5561
Manuela Los Angeles
You might think collards and grits wouldn’t
fly at the on-site restaurant at Hauser &
Wirth’s museum-size contemporary art gal-
lery, said Jonathan Gold in the Los Angeles
Times. But injecting rural homeyness into
one of SoCal’s most urbane spaces is “avant-
garde in its own way,” and Wes Whitsell’s
brilliant cooking is making it all work.
Whitsell shows his hand with an appetizer
platter called the Redneck: butter biscuits,
pimento cheese, thin-sliced country ham,
and deviled eggs so good they’d “not be out
of place at a proper Georgia funeral.” It’s
“easy to snap into a reverie here,” sitting
beneath a large Mark Bradford painting as
you bite into a juicy venison cheeseburger.
There are live chickens out back and a
Raymond Pettibon mural in the next room,
which could be disorienting if Whitsell had
less control. But then dessert is offered, and
one option is a plate of just-picked local
Kishu mandarins. It takes “a particular kind
of genius in the kitchen to know when to let
perfection speak for itself.” 907 E. 3rd St.,
(323) 849-0480

Brandy: Just getting serious Recipe of the week

Brandy, “the quiet giant of the liquor
industry,” is being made over, said Clay
Risen in The New York Times. A recent
growth spurt has the fruit-based spirit
outselling gin and scotch in the U.S.,
and distillers are using the upswing to
redefine what American brandy can be.
Some aspire to the elegance of French
cognac; another camp stresses powerful
flavors—anything but syrupiness.
Osocalis Rare Alambic Brandy ($45).
“Citrus and spice notes dominate” in
this California brandy, made from a
Tapioca pearls are tasteless on their own, but in sabudana khichdi they “take on a
new life,” said Arthi Subramaniam in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In this traditional
dish from western India, they absorb the flavors of cumin seeds, chiles, lime, and
grated coconut, then are tossed with potato and peanuts. The result is “akin to
spiced-up Israeli couscous,” and wonderful at breakfast or any other time of day.
Sabudana khichdi
2 cups tapioca pearls • salt to taste • 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed • 2 tbsp veg-
etable oil • 1 tsp cumin seeds • 2 serrano chiles, chopped • 2 tbsp grated coconut • juice
from 2 limes • ¾ cup lightly salted roasted peanuts • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Wash tapioca pearls well, covering about 1 minute. Then add potatoes,
them with water and swirling them with chiles, and salt to taste. Reduce heat to
your fingers to get rid of the excess medium and cook for about 10 minutes,
Eliesa Johnson, Lake Fong/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

blend of red and white grapes using
traditional French methods.
Copper & Kings Butchertown
Brandy ($55). Kentucky-distilled,
this “punk rock” retort to tradition is
“redolent of dark fruits and caramel.”
Catoctin Creek 1757 Virginia Brandy
($50). This “whiskey-like” spirit, also
made from a blend of grapes, is
aged two years, and offers “notes of
vanilla, spice, and stewed cherries.”
starch, then drain and repeat process stirring occasionally.
twice more. Add salt and • Add coconut and cook,
mix well. Add water to stirring, for 2 minutes.
just cover tapioca, and Add softened tapioca.
let sit overnight, or at Add lime juice; mix well.
least 4 hours. Stir in peanuts; turn off
• Microwave the potato heat when all is well
cubes for 5 minutes; combined. Taste and
set aside. Heat oil over add more salt if needed.
medium-high and add Garnish with chopped
cumin seeds. Stir for cilantro. Serves 6.

THE WEEK May 12, 2017


This week’s dream: Elena Ferrante’s island escape
A captivating tale of friendship is luring
a new generation of visitors to the Italian
island of Ischia, said Joy Wang in the Los
Angeles Times. This “vibrant, accessible
paradise” in the Gulf of Naples “received
its first dose of glamour in the 1960s
when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard
Burton were photographed kissing here.”
Interest in Ischia has been revived by
Elena Ferrante’s best-selling novel My
Brilliant Friend—the first volume of her
Neapolitan quartet—because the book’s
narrator, Elena, visits Ischia the first time
she leaves her hardscrabble Naples neigh-
borhood. Inspired by Ferrante, five friends
and I recently rented an apartment hidden
off a winding sidewalk in Ischia Porto, the
island’s main town. We followed no itiner-
ary during our four-day stay. When we
weren’t dining out or relaxing at the many
hot springs, we swam at a small white-sand
beach outside our rental.
Using our broken Italian, we arranged a
taxi ride from Ischio Porto to the thermal
Travel
Enjoying the slow life in Ischia
springs at Sorgeto, on the island’s south-
west side. In My Brilliant Friend, Elena
says that Ischia revealed to her “the joy of
the new,” and I felt that joy as I descended
the 214 steps to join Italian tourists “soak-
ing in the springs amid sharp, slippery
rocks” and smearing themselves with gray
mud. At spa complexes like Negombo
Thermal Gardens, “a more lavish way to
experience Ischia’s heated water” can be
found. More than a dozen pools and show-
LEISURE 31
ers are scattered about Negombo’s lush
grounds, and from its long, shallow pri-
vate beach adults and kids can wade far
out into the sea. “A visit there can easily
take an entire day.”
From Sorgeto, we hopped on a boat
to the hip beach town of Sant’Angelo.
Wandering the streets, we sipped Aperol
Spritzes as the sun sank lazily into the
Mediterranean. Our nights in Ischia
Porto were similarly relaxed affairs. We
perused the stores along Via Roma, or
strolled the waterfront along Via Porto.
Then, like true Italians, we’d enjoy a late
meal of fresh seafood—maybe octopus,
fried whole small fish, or spaghetti with
clams. We lingered over wine, our conver-
sation “punctuated by the occasional blast
of a ship’s horn or the heavy rumble of a
ferry drawing anchor.”
At Hotel della Baia (baiahotel.com/en),
located at Negombo Thermal Gardens,
doubles start at $165 per person.

Hotel of the week Getting the flavor of...

A room with a bluff-top view
Timber Cove
Jenner, Calif.
This 46-room getaway is
the perfect place to sip fine
wine and gaze out at the
ocean, said Elaine Glusac
in The New York Times.
Built in 1963 on a rocky
bluff in Sonoma County, a
spot beloved by landscape
photographer Ansel Adams,
Timber Cove underwent
an eight-month renovation
last year. The pine-paneled
rooms were updated, and
eight new ocean-facing
suites and a farm-to-table
restaurant were added. After
a day spent exploring the
many local wineries or hik-
ing the area’s redwood-lined
trails, guests are welcomed
Alamy, Timber Cove
Dinosaur hunting in Wyoming Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail
When I asked my two young sons if they You’ve probably heard of the Appalachian and
wanted to drive eight hours to dig for dinosaur Pacific Crest trails, said Beth Harpaz in the
bones, “the answer came quick and unani- Associated Press. But what about the Ice Age
mous: Absolutely!” said Rachel Walker in The Trail? Winding through a dramatic landscape of
Washington Post. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center woods, hills, and wetlands sculpted by retreating
in Thermopolis sits on top of a sedimentary rock glacial ice 12,000 years ago, the 1,100-mile trail
formation that’s “among the most fertile sources zigzags east to west across northern Wisconsin,
of dinosaur fossils in North America.” And from from St. Croix Falls to Potawatomi State Park.
mid-May through mid-September, the center runs Just over half the trail is complete, so some
a Dig for a Day program, letting amateur paleon- stretches can be hard going, and GPS reception
tologists hunt for the remains of sauropods, the is patchy, which means maps and compasses are
long-necked behemoths that roamed the earth essential. Fewer than 150 people have walked the
roughly 65 million to 150 million years ago. Just route in its entirety, but Melanie McManus hopes
an hour into our dig, my 6-year-old discovered a her new book, Thousand-Miler, will encourage
black fossil so massive that the on-site geologist more to take up the challenge. Those willing to
said a team would have to excavate it. Later, in make the trek can expect plenty of breathtaking
the center’s lab, our guide gave the kids a power scenery, says McManus, who has completed the
drill to remove sediment from some smaller, prac- route twice. One descent into a grassy field, she
tice fossils. A laboratory full of dino bones and writes, produced “a stunning effect, like a carpet
power tools? For my boys, it was “pure bliss.” being unrolled for royalty.”
Last-minute travel deals
Nevada spring skiing Graduate rewards Sail the Caribbean
With heavy winter snow still on The Rancha La Puerta spa resort Save $732 on a seven-night
the ground, Nevada’s Mount in Tecate, Mexico, is giving 2016 Caribbean cruise departing
Rose ski resort plans to stay and 2017 middle school, high from Miami on May 27, with
open until Memorial Day. To school, and college graduates a stops in St. Maarten, Puerto
celebrate, the resort is heavily 25 percent discount. Weeklong Rico, and the Bahamas.

discounting ski lift tickets, which stays through June 16 start at Staterooms with balconies
back with nightly campfires. now cost $60 a day for adults $2,812 per graduate, double start at $889 per person, based
timbercoveresort.com; and $30 for kids ages 6 to 15. occupancy—a saving of $938. on double occupancy.
doubles from $250 skirose.com rancholapuerta.com msccruiseusa.com

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

32 LEISURE
The Mini Cooper Countryman: What the critics say
Jalopnik.com
“Mini is going big, and you’re just going to
have to sit there and like it.” The four-door
Countryman has been the British marque’s
second-best-selling car since shortly after its
2010 launch, and the fully redesigned new
edition ups the ante. The 2017 Countryman
is Mini’s largest car yet, measuring 8 inches
longer than the model it replaces. “This
thing comes crazy loaded,” too, with the
heated leather seats and panoramic sunroof
both standard.
Autoblog.com
“It’s still quite mini for a compact SUV”—
shorter, for example, than rivals like the
Consumer
Audi Q3 or the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class.
Somehow, though, it has a “considerably
more spacious interior than either of them.”
In our testing, the base model “struggled to
get up to speed,” so we highly recommend
moving up to the Cooper S, which generates
189 hp. Whatever Countryman you choose,
“the driving experience remains Mini sharp,”
though “more comfortable and refined.”
Automobile The least mini Mini, from $26,100
The Countryman is priced lower than its
luxury German peers, but its larger size puts to differentiate the Countryman is style and
it in a segment crowded with affordable price.” Given that, “we’ll have to see if buy-
alternatives. Unless a buyer cares about the ers think the Countryman offers enough of
finer points of performance, “all that’s left the former to justify the latter.”

The best of…photo gifts for Mother’s Day

Casetify iPhone Case Burlap and Blue

Pinhole Press
Photo Puzzle
Have a special photo
turned into a jigsaw
puzzle and Mom will
have a gift she can
enjoy on a rainy day
with the whole family.
Puzzles are available in
12-piece, 60-piece, and
252-piece sizes.
$25, pinholepress.com
Source: CountryLiving.com
Mosaic Mixbook
Mosaic’s adorable keep-
sake books are “exceed-
ingly easy” to create.
Select 20 smartphone
photos and they’ll each
be “expertly” printed,
then bound and deliv-
ered, all in four days. And
you can order copies for
aunts and grandmas.
$20, mixbook.com
Source: NYMag.com
Turn your favorite
Instagram or Facebook
photos into a custom-
ized iPhone case using
simple online design
tools. The custom result
will be perfect for “the
mom who likes to show
off her photos without
having to go into her
phone first.”
$40, casetify.com
Source: CountryLiving.com
Custom Notecards
A great gift from a
baby to the new mom:
notecards adorned with
a custom watercolor
derived from a photo.
Because there are eight
cards in a set, she can
share the keepsake
image with other family
members and friends.
$28, burlapandblue.com
Source: Romper.com
Artifact Uprising
Wood Calendar
In a world crowded
with photo calendars,
the clean lines of this
clever clipboard-style
calendar “elevate
the form.” It can be
refreshed with 12 new
images every year.
$30, artifactuprising.com
Source: RealSimple.com

Tip of the week...
When to buy refurbished—and not
QLaptops: Desktop computers and laptops
sold as refurbished undergo thorough
inspections, and any needed repair renders
them as good as new or close to it. And
remember: Most “refurbished” products are
simply customer returns, and only 5 percent
of returns are due to defects.
QiPhones: Apple’s own refurbished phones
and other products are so reliable, there’s
virtually no reason to buy new.
QOther phones: The worry with most refur-
bished phones is that they might come with
an old battery. The bigger batteries in tablets
suffer slightly less from age.
QHard drives: Don’t take the risk: “There is
no reconditioning process that can restore a
hard drive to a factory-new condition.”
QTVs: Again, no—because warranties on
refurbs typically last 90 days, and “TVs
these days are too unreliable for that short a
protection plan.”
Source: CNET.com
And for those who have Best apps...
everything... For gardening
Have you ever QGrowSquared is a planning tool that lets
wanted to feel you set the dimensions of a virtual garden
the force of bed, then drag and drop different plants into
an explosion? it. The app also helps with scheduling plant-
The sting of a ing and harvesting. (Free, iOS only)
pirate’s cutlass? QGarden Plan Pro is another garden design
An elf’s gentle app, and it “does a little bit of everything.”
caress? If you’re One useful feature: lessons on how to rotate
already spend- crops. ($8, iOS only)
ing a lot of free QGrowIt! offers information on thousands
time in virtual reality goggles, you’ll love the of species. There’s also a social-networking
Hardlight VR Suit, whose 16 haptic feedback aspect, letting you show off your garden and
zones direct vibrations to individual muscle rate others’. (Free, iOS and Android)
groups. Due to ship in September, the suit QePlant helps you track everything happen-
connects to VR goggles and a PC. Though it ing in a garden: plant sizes, costs, the fertil-
isn’t the first haptic suit, it’s an advance, and izers you’ve used, and more. (Free, iOS only)
“it’s cool to know soon we’ll all be encased QLandscaper’s Companion resembles a
in what looks like dirt bike armor as we flail coffee table book, with 21,000 pictures of
around our living rooms dodging war ham- trees, shrubs, perennials, and more. Its
mers and drone fire.” library of information offers more than you’ll
$549, hardlightvr.com ever need. ($10, iPad)
Source: TechCrunch.com Source: PasteMagazine.com

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

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34 Best properties on the market
This week: Homes by notable architects
1 X Sag Harbor, N.Y. Built
in 1963 by modernist
architect Andrew Geller,
this three-bedroom house
underwent a renovation
by designer John Bjornen.
The home has updated
plumbing and electrical
systems, floor-to-ceiling
windows that let in ample
light, and a fireplace. The
5.1-acre property includes
a gunite pool, a pool
house, and landscaped
grounds. $1,995,000.
Angela Boyer-Stump,
Sotheby’s International
Realty, (917) 207-7777

2 W Ridgefield, Conn. Yale-

trained architect Grosvenor
Atterbury designed this English-
style stone manor in 1911.
The recently renovated four-
bedroom home has eight fire-
places, hardwood floors, vaulted
ceilings, and built-ins. The
gardens were featured in the
1927 Garden Club of America
tour, and many of the original
specimens remain. $2,395,000.
Laura Freed Ancona, William
Pitt/Sotheby’s International
Realty, (203) 733-7053

3 X Venice, Calif. Mario Romano built the Wave

House, a six-bedroom home with an aluminum
façade. The interior includes organic forms,
new environmentally sensitive materials, wood
details, and a large great room. The property
boasts an outdoor cinema with a fireplace, a
heated pool with a spa, and five large palm trees.
$5,445,000. Justin Alexander, Halton Pardee +
Partners, (310) 907-6517

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

 Best properties on the market 35
4 W Fountain Hills, Ariz.
Kamal Amin, a student
of Frank Lloyd Wright’s
Taliesin West School, de-
signed this three-bedroom
house. Details include four
fireplaces, an elevator,
a library, two wet bars,
and a master suite with a
private patio, dual baths,
and a changing room. The
property has a pool and a
spa and offers city views.
$1,395,000. Richard
Barker, Keller Williams
Realty, (602) 882-9404

7
5 S Willoughby Hills, Ohio Frank Lloyd
6
5 2
Wright created this three-bedroom home in
1953 on 30 acres along the Chagrin River.
1
The house has 12-foot glass walls in the living
room, a central fireplace, and spruce wood
3 throughout. The sale includes architectural
4
plans and the building plot for Wright’s last
residential commission. $1,700,000. For sale
by owner, (440) 942-9996

6 W Highland Park, Ill. This seven-bedroom Victorian was designed by

William Boyington, the architect for the Illinois State Capitol and Chicago’s
Water Tower. The 1892 house features a gourmet kitchen, a wine room, a
wood-paneled library, a theater, an elevator, and smart-home technology.
The 1.4-acre property has a three-car garage and landscaping. $3,650,000.
Noah Levy, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, (312) 203-2416

Steal of the week

7 X Clarksville, Mo. Charles Nagel
and Frederick Dunn built this
Georgian-style former church in
1940. The one-bedroom home
features an Aeolian-Skinner pipe
organ, walnut cabinets, original
walnut wainscoting, and a large
master bedroom with a marble
bath. The brick exterior has dentil
moldings, dual staircases, and
a barrel roof above the lower
entrance. $249,000. Ted Wight,
Dielmann/Sotheby’s International
Realty, (314) 725-0009

THE WEEK May 12, 2017

36
The bottom line
QApple has more than $250
billion in cash, an amount
greater than the market value
of Walmart and more than
the foreign currency reserves
of the United Kingdom and
Canada combined. More than
90 percent of Apple’s cash is
held outside the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal
QThe price of cobalt, which
is used to make lithium-ion
batteries that are in every-
thing from smartphones to
electric cars, has soared by
almost 70 percent this year.
The Democratic Republic
of Congo holds more than
60 percent of the world’s
cobalt reserves.
Qz.com
QThere were more than
850,000 new homeowners
in the first three months
of 2017, compared with
365,000 new renters.
Although the U.S.
homeownership rate
of 63.6 percent is still
near a historic low,
the first quarter
was the first time
the number of
homeowners has
grown faster than
renters since 2006.
Bloomberg.com
QThe 25 U.S. companies
with the best-paying sum-
mer internships each pay
their interns at least $4,500
a month, equivalent to a
$54,000 annual salary. By
comparison, the median pay
for a U.S. worker is $44,460 a
year. Sixteen of those firms
are in technology, including
list-leader Facebook, where
interns make a median of
$8,000 a month. The next
three on the list are Microsoft
(which pays a median $7,100 a
month), ExxonMobil ($6,507),
and Salesforce ($6,450).
The Washington Post
QGlobal revenue from
streaming-music services
like Spotify and Apple Music
surged 60 percent last year,
propelling the music industry
to its fastest growth in nearly
20 years. Digital revenue now
makes up 50 percent of global
music sales.
Financial Times
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
BUSINESS
The news at a glance
Earnings: Tech companies’ profits surge
Amazon and Alphabet both Those booming profits are help-
extended their winning streaks last ing a new generation of tech
week, reporting impressive quar- tycoons “gain ground on the old
terly sales and profits, said Rolfe guard,” said Carleton English in
Winkler and Laura Stevens in The the New York Post. Amazon’s
Wall Street Journal. Alphabet, the monster earnings briefly propelled
parent company of Google, saw its CEO Jeff Bezos’ personal fortune
net profit grow 29 percent in the to more than $80 billion. That
first quarter, dampening fears that puts him within striking range of
an advertiser backlash on YouTube Microsoft founder Bill Gates, cur-
Amazon: A ‘growth machine’
would eat into profits. Amazon rently the world’s richest person
reported a 41 percent profit surge, “marking with a net worth of $87 billion. Bezos, who is
its eighth straight quarter in the black,” even as roughly tied with Zara founder Amancio Ortega
it spends heavily on new ventures. The results for the No. 2 richest spot, has seen his net worth
served to reassure investors that the e-commerce surge $14.2 billion this year. Google founders
giant “has turned into a profit machine as well as Larry Page and Sergey Brin, worth $44.7 billion
a growth machine.” The results drove both com- and $43.7 billion respectively, saw their fortunes
panies’ shares to new heights. increase roughly $1.5 billion each this week.
Robot shoemakers’
Washington: House votes to change overtime rules Achilles’ heel
The House of Representatives passed an overtime bill this week “that
Republicans have promoted since the Newt Gingrich era,” said Jena There’s one thing pre-
McGregor in The Washington Post. The legislation would allow venting robots from
taking over footwear
private-sector employees to opt for an hour and a half of paid time off manufacturing—
instead of time-and-a-half pay when working extra hours. The bill’s fate
shoelaces—said Marc
in the Senate is unclear—similar bills have passed the House before— Bain in Qz.com. Creating
but the White House says it supports the legislation. Supporters say a pair of Adidas sneak-
it gives hourly workers more flexibility, but opponents say employers ers requires about 120
could pressure workers into accepting time off in lieu of extra pay. separate steps, and
Energy: Saudi Arabia takes over largest U.S. refinery many of them have
long been performed by
“America’s largest oil refinery is now fully owned by Saudi Arabia,” machines in Asia-based
said Matt Egan in CNN.com. Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state- factories. But there is
owned oil company, took 100 percent control of Texas’ sprawling Port one “seemingly simple
Arthur refinery this week, completing a deal announced last year. Port task” shoemaking
Arthur, “considered the crown jewel of the U.S. refinery system,” can robots haven’t yet been
process 600,000 barrels of oil per day, allowing Saudi Aramco to send able to master. “The big-
more crude to the U.S. Aramco is preparing for an initial public offer- gest challenge the shoe
ing next year that could be worth as much as $2 trillion. industry has is how to
create a robot that puts
Outsourcing: India’s Infosys to hire 10,000 Americans the lace into the shoe,”
India’s second-largest outsourcing firm is expanding in the U.S. amid Adidas CEO Kasper
fierce criticism from the Trump administration, said Saritha Rai in Rorsted said last month.
Bloomberg.com. Infosys, which employs about 200,000 people globally, “That’s a completely
announced this week that it will hire 10,000 Americans in the next two manual process today.
years and open four U.S. research hubs to develop technologies like arti- There is no technology
ficial intelligence. The moves come after Infosys and other outsourcing for that.” Adidas has
firms “have come under attack for allegedly displacing American work- been investing heav-
ily in automation, with
ers with employees from overseas.” President Trump signed an executive
plans to open a robot-
order last month to tighten restrictions on visas for foreign workers.
run “Speedfactory” in
Media: Screenwriters, producers avoid a strike Atlanta this year. But
Hollywood screenwriters and producers reached a tentative deal this executives don’t expect
week to avoid a strike “that could have crippled TV and film produc- robots to make a pair
tion,” said Lynn Elber in the Associated Press. The three-year agree- of sneakers from start
ment, which must be ratified by the Writers Guild of America, was to finish anytime in the
next decade, in part
announced just after the current contract expired early Tuesday. Guild
members were poised for an “immediate walkout” after they voted because “human hands
are still essential” in cer-
overwhelmingly last month to authorize a strike. The union says the
tain parts of the produc-
AP, Getty
new deal includes $130 million more in pay than expected, including
tion process.
for residuals, and increased contributions for health benefits.
 Making money BUSINESS 37

College tuition: The pitfalls of Parent Plus loans

It’s easy for parents to get federal loans an expected family contribution of
to help their children pay for college, but zero—the amount the government
“repaying them is another story,” said has calculated that the family is able
Josh Mitchell in The Wall Street Journal. to afford for college—“can be ap-
Roughly 11 percent of the more than proved for tens of thousands of dol-
3 million Americans with outstanding lars” in loans. To determine if you
Parent Plus loans have gone at least a can manage the loan payments, “as-
year without making a payment, exceed- sume about $120 a month for every
ing the default rate on U.S. mortgages $10,000 borrowed” each school
during the housing crisis. The govern- year. Then multiply by the number of
ment program allows parents to borrow years it takes to finish school and the
as much money as needed to cover their number of children attending college.
child’s tuition and living expenses after That’s your likely monthly payment
they max out other financial aid options. Ensure you can afford payments before offering to help. for the next 10 years.
“The problem is that the government asks almost nothing about
its borrowers’ incomes, existing debts, savings, credit scores, or Better yet, save as much as you can before you have to go
ability to repay.” And, like other student loans, Parent Plus loans into debt, said Tom Anderson in CNBC.com. Fidelity suggests
are “nearly impossible” to discharge in bankruptcy. As a result, this rule of thumb to figure out where your savings should be
many distressed borrowers “have delayed retirement, put off each year: “multiply your child’s age by $2,000.” That should
health expenses, and lost portions of Social Security checks and keep you on track to cover half the average cost of a four-year,
tax refunds to their lender—the federal government.” public university. By the time your kid is 18 years old, “your
$36,000 fund could reduce the cost of school by 50 percent
“Parent Plus loans can be a smart option for some families,” but with the rest coming from financial aid, student loans, and
only if they can truly afford it, said Betsy Mayotte in USNews family earnings.” The plan also assumes you’re using a tax-
.com. Many people erroneously assume that because they’ve been advantaged 529 college savings plan. In general, parents should
approved for a loan, they must be able to make the payments. be skeptical about taking on debt of their own to finance a
“Not necessarily.” With Parent Plus, only people “with some child’s education, said John Wasik in CBSNews.com. “At the
fairly large dings on their credit will be denied in the first place.” very least, educate yourself about what taking on this debt will
And with no debt-to-income requirement, even households with mean to your financial future and retirement.”

What the experts say Charity of the week

A kinder credit score
“Your credit score is about to become more
forgiving,” said Jonnelle Marte in The Wash-
ington Post. The VantageScore, a scoring
model developed by the three major credit bu-
reaus, is rolling out changes this fall that will
reward consumers who are diligently paying
off their debts. Under the current model, two
people who are both using 50 percent of the
spending limit on their credit cards are treated
about the same because of the high card utili-
zation. But under the new model, “one person
might look better if his report shows that he
has been paying down debt.” The changes
should help protect consumers with a proven
track record of keeping their balances low
from taking a credit score hit if they temporar-
ily assume more debt with a big purchase.
Affordable summer vacations
In need of a getaway but feeling a little light
in the wallet? “You can save a great deal of
money and have an amazing summer holiday
on a very tight budget,” said Trent Hamm in
USNews.com. Start by looking into the top
10 or 20 tourist sights in your area to see how
many you’ve actually visited. “Almost every re-
gion of the U.S. offers some amazing getaways
Getty
the cost of plane tickets.” Or offer to house-sit
for a faraway friend going on a trip of his or
her own. You can “enjoy a vacation in a new
city with free housing and an easy place to pre-
pare cheap meals.” Also, stay on the lookout
for last-minute deals on cheap flights and ho-
tels, “then travel somewhere unexpected.”
The ‘salary history’ question
A potential employer asking for your salary
history “is arguably the most fraught mo-
ment in a job interview,” said Lynda Spiegel
in The Wall Street Journal. Hiring managers
tend to offer 10 to 15 percent above a candi-
date’s most recent compensation, but that can
disadvantage people who were underpaid to
begin with. “Rather than refusing outright to
answer, candidates should deflect the question
by suggesting that both they and the company
first evaluate what value they can add in this
role.” If an interviewer pushes back, “candi-
dates should simply state that their salary his-
tory and future requirements are in line with
market value.” To build their case, job seekers
should always come prepared with industry-
specific salary data from online resources like
Salary.com. But never admit to being open to
accepting a lower salary, which can leave you
Founded in 1951,
the Washington,
D.C.–based
Animal Welfare
Institute works
internationally to
alleviate the pain
and suffering
of animals—in
the lab, in the
wild, and on the farm. The organization’s
original focus was educating scientists
on how to better handle and house ani-
mals used in medical experiments. Since
then, the group’s work has expanded to
include advocacy for the 9 billion farm
animals killed for food consumption
each year, especially those raised on
large-scale factory farms. The group also
works to hold governments accountable
to various animal-protection laws, includ-
ing the Animal Welfare and Endangered
Species Acts in the U.S. Last month, AWI
co-published a graphic novel about the
harm of the global ivory trade and dis-
tributed it to schools across China.
Each charity we feature has earned a
four-star overall rating from Charity
Navigator, which rates not-for-profit
organizations on the strength of their
finances, their governance practices,
and the transparency of their operations.
Four stars is the group’s highest rating.

nearby, and taking advantage of that eliminates vulnerable to “lowball offers.”

THE WEEK May 12, 2017
38 Best columns: Business

Issue of the week: Looking for a ‘Trump bump’

Campaign promises aside, “the U.S. econ- White House,” many economists expect
omy was not great again in the first quarter to see growth speed up to 3 percent or
of Donald Trump’s presidency,” said Ben more in the second quarter.
White in Politico.com. Economic growth
slowed to an anemic 0.7 percent in the “First-quarter slowdowns have become
first three months of 2017, the Commerce such a regular feature of the U.S. econ-
Department said last week, down from omy” that it’s tempting to ignore this one,
2.1 percent during the final quarter of said Justin Lahart in The Wall Street
last year. The disappointing figures, “the Journal. We shouldn’t. There’s a big red
economy’s worst performance since the first flag buried in the data: Consumer spend-
quarter of 2014,” pose a political dilemma ing, which accounts for about two-thirds
for President Trump. Republicans have al- of the economy, is slowing down. Ameri-
ready blamed the weak data on the Obama Disappointing data complicate Trump’s agenda. cans cut back sharply on big-ticket pur-
administration, and argue the report demon- chases like cars and appliances, causing
strates the need for Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation. overall spending to grow at just 0.3 percent, the worst showing
But they also understand that the optics for the White House since 2009. This slowdown is troubling because consumer spend-
aren’t good. Since taking office, Trump has been quick to take ing wasn’t the culprit behind other weak first quarters, which were
credit for any positive economic news, like a strong jobs report in generally thrown off by seasonal quirks like unusual weather.
February. “By touting every good number, Trump now owns the
dismal first-quarter GDP figure.” “Perhaps now pundits will cease to believe that Trump has awo-
ken some ‘animal spirits’ in the economy,” said Jennifer Rubin
That’s ridiculous, said Investor’s Business Daily in an editorial. in The Washington Post. The president’s cheerleaders point to a
Trump “hasn’t been in office long enough to take credit or blame recent surge in consumer confidence and the soaring stock market
for the GDP number.” What we’re seeing is the continuation of as evidence that the economy is on the edge of a boom. But these
the weak growth that prevailed under President Obama, who GDP numbers just provided a sobering “wake-up call.” Rarely
presided over the “slowest economic expansion for any president have “soft” and “hard” economic data been so out of whack,
since the Great Depression.” What’s more, there’s no real reason said Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Consumers report
for concern, said Jeffry Bartash in MarketWatch.com. “Over the feeling “super-confident” in the economy, but so far “they’re not
past several years, the U.S. has usually started out slowly in the acting on those feelings.” Likewise, the stock market keeps tick-
first quarter, only to see a frantic burst of growth in the spring.” ing skyward, with no real evidence that business fundamentals
With a strong jobs market, high consumer confidence, and corpo- are improving. The disconnect can’t continue forever. If Trump’s
rate America “thrilled by the pro-business policies of the Trump economy doesn’t start delivering, “this levee is going to break.”

American Airlines just “did something that’s good
Wall Street’s for its workforce and good for its passengers.” Nat-
misguided urally, Wall Street is apoplectic, said Michael Hiltzik.
When the nation’s largest airline announced raises
obsession for its pilots and flight attendants last week, inves-
tors responded by sending the carrier’s stock down
Michael Hiltzik 8 percent within 48 hours, wiping out $1.9 billion
Los Angeles Times of market value. “Labor is being paid first again,”
one analyst complained in a memo to clients.
“Shareholders get leftovers.” Perhaps investors are
forgetting that American authorized $9 billion in
share buybacks between 2014 and 2016, “money
that went directly into shareholders’ pockets.” By
comparison, last week’s raises will cost the airline
just $1 billion over the next three years. American
is also smart to try to keep its employees happy at
a time when customer service disasters “are turn-
ing the industry into a national joke.” Nevertheless,
Wall Street adheres to a “cult of shareholder value”
that insists a company’s only responsibility is to in-
crease profits, at the expense of workers and all else.
It’s that very attitude that “has placed American
business and the economy in a bad way,” driving
up inequality and stifling growth. But if American’s
stock slide is any indication, Wall Street hasn’t got-
ten the message.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had strong labor
Where full markets in the U.S. that we’ve forgotten what kind
employment of pain they can cause,” said Conor Sen. We’re see-
ing now how low unemployment can be great for
doesn’t work rural Americans, “but bad for rural America.” Take
northern New England—Maine, New Hampshire,
Conor Sen and Vermont—where jobless rates are 3 percent or
Bloomberg.com lower. For these states’ economies “to grow at all,”
they will need an influx of workers, or for residents
who aren’t currently looking for a job to rejoin the
workforce. That will be tough, because migration to
the region isn’t growing, and the population tends
to skew older. Companies there also can’t afford to
dramatically raise wages to attract new workers, be-
cause rural firms’ profit margins tend to be smaller.
So when local companies run into staffing issues,
“their choices are shutting down or leaving for an-
other place with deeper labor pools.” At the same
time, rural workers are increasingly being lured to
urban areas by higher wages in the growing service
economy, and they’ll have less competition from new
migrants because of President Trump’s immigration
crackdown. That ongoing exodus of talent will leave
rural communities “even worse off than they are
now.” Increasingly, we’ll end up with two Americas:
“the withering America [and] the thriving America.”
AP

THE WEEK May 12, 2017


The director who made The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Jonathan Demme
Demme had one of the most
1944–2017 eclectic résumés in
Hollywood. He was
most famous for directing 1991’s
The Silence of the Lambs—the hit
thriller that made Hannibal Lecter
a household name and which won
five Oscars, including Best Director
for Demme. But he also directed the
screwball comedy Something Wild
(1986), the Tom Hanks AIDS drama Philadelphia
(1993), and Rachel Getting Married (2008),
a dysfunctional-family drama starring Anne
Hathaway. Yet cinema wasn’t Demme’s great-
est passion—that was rock ’n’ roll. He oversaw
Talking Heads’ mesmeric 1984 concert film Stop
Making Sense, as well as three documentaries on
Neil Young and one on British singer-songwriter
Robyn Hitchcock. “Music was my first love,” he
said. “Movies came second.”
Born on Long Island, N.Y., and raised in Miami,
Demme attended the University of Florida with
the aim of becoming a veterinarian, said The
Miami Herald. But he flunked science classes,
“dropped out after a year, and returned to
Miami, where he reviewed films for the Coral
Gables Times Guide.” A succession of film indus-
try jobs followed, and in 1971 he was hired as a
scriptwriter and publicist by the B-movie maestro
The Marine who filmed the war in the Pacific
When U.S. Marines
Norman
Hatch stormed the Pacific
1921–2017 island of Tarawa in
November 1943,
Norman Hatch was right in the thick
of it, armed with a .45 and a hand-
cranked, 35-millimeter camera. Hatch,
then 22, was a cinematographer with
the Marines’ Photographic Services
Branch, tasked with documenting the
heroism and horrors of World War II.
Hatch braved gunfire, grenades, and
artillery to capture frontline foot-
age of the 76-hour Battle of Tarawa, which cost
the lives of 1,000 Marines and 4,000 Japanese.
His work formed the basis of the 20-minute
film With the Marines at Tarawa, the winner of
Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 1945
Academy Awards. “It showed what combat was
AP, USMC Combat Correspondents Association
really like,” Hatch explained. “It showed it up
close and dirty.”
Born in Boston, Hatch was the son of an auto
dealer and his wife, said The New York Times.
A camera buff, he’d join friends “on expeditions
to a downtown burlesque theater to secretly pho-
tograph the dancers.” Hatch joined the Marines
at 18 in 1939, “because I needed a job,” he said.
Assigned to the Corps’ photographic unit, he
Obituaries 39
The daredevil
mountaineer who
Roger Corman. Demme’s first
raced up peaks
directing credit was for the 1974
“women-in-prison” thriller Caged Ueli Steck was the world’s
Heat, said the Los Angeles Times, greatest speed climber. In
but he soon “graduated to more 2007, the agile, bowlegged
elevated fare.” The 1980 comic mountaineer clambered up
drama Melvin and Howard— the north face of the Eiger
in his native
about a life-altering encounter
Ueli Switzerland
between a Utah trucker and the Steck in 3 hours,
billionaire Howard Hughes— 1976–2017 54 minutes—
earned “critical raves.” A decade taking nearly
later came The Silence of the Lambs, with an hour off the record. The
Jodie Foster as a young FBI agent and Anthony following year, he climbed
Hopkins as an “icy sociopathic killer.” The film’s the peak without a rope in
box-office success took Demme by surprise. “I 2 hours, 47 minutes. Steck
had just done what I always did,” he said. “Only conquered many other chal-
lenges. He completed the
this time it worked.”
first-ever solo ascent of the
south face of Annapurna
Demme’s next big release was Philadelphia, “one
in Nepal, without oxygen,
of the first major Hollywood films to address the
in 2013. He was training in
AIDS crisis,” said The Washington Post. Many of
the Himalayas last week
his later movies, including 1998’s Beloved—a ver-
when he fell 3,000 feet to
sion of the Toni Morrison novel starring Oprah his death. “To walk through
Winfrey—were technically competent but “exhib- life in a comfortable way,” he
ited a certain joylessness.” Yet they allowed him once said, “is not my goal.”
to fund passion projects, including his music
documentaries and 2007’s Jimmy Carter: Man Born in Switzerland’s
From Plains, about Carter’s post-presidential Emmental valley, Steck
“began climbing at age 12,”
years. “Now I’ve got creative control,” he said.
said The Times (U.K.). He
“And you should see how easy it is to get a table first scaled the Eiger at age
in restaurants.” 18, and “over the next few
years set himself ever harder
challenges, many of them
solo, without ropes and,
ultimately, oxygen.” Steck
trained with the documentary film- took his physical training
seriously, said The Daily
makers behind the March of Time
Telegraph (U.K.). Known as
newsreels and was soon deployed to the Swiss Machine—a nick-
the Pacific. His footage on Tarawa name he hated—he spent
broke new ground in war reportage, “up to 30 hours a week run-
said The Washington Post. In one ning, climbing, cross-country
scene, he captured Marines shooting skiing, and strength training.”
at fleeing Japanese—“perhaps the The preparation paid off. He
only time in the Pacific Theater when climbed six of the world’s
troops from both sides could be seen 14 mountains over 8,000
meters (26,246 feet), includ-
in the same frame.” Hatch also filmed
ing Everest, without oxygen.
the bodies of dead Marines floating In 2015, he scaled all 82 of
in the waters off Tarawa, footage that the Alps’ peaks over 4,000
President Franklin D. Roosevelt initially thought meters (13,123 feet) in just
was too horrifying to release. “But he became con- 62 days, “traveling between
vinced that people would give more support to the them by bicycle.”
country’s war effort if they could see its grisly toll.”
Steck “attracted some con-
Hatch was also “with the Marines for their assault troversy along with the
acclaim,” said The New York
on Iwo Jima,” said the Associated Press, and
Times. He had to abandon a
contributed footage to the Oscar-nominated film
2013 expedition on Everest
To the Shores of Iwo Jima. After World War II,
after getting into a mountain-
he worked as a civilian audiovisual adviser at the
top brawl with Sherpas. But
Pentagon and later ran a photo agency. Often he didn’t stay off the slopes
asked why he put his life at risk to film combat, for long. “Mountaineering is
Hatch described it as a sacred duty. “Guys on a transient experience,” he
the front line [said] I didn’t have to be there,” he said. “I need to continuously
recalled. “I would quietly tell them that I did. The repeat it to live it.”
public had to know what we were doing.”
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
40 The last word
A better way to work
Darwin, Dickens, and some of the most accomplished people in history have one thing in common,
said researcher Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. They worked with intense focus—but for only four hours a day.
and memorable, his work was prodigious,

W
HEN YOU EXAMINE the lives of
history’s most creative figures, you and yet his days were filled with downtime.
are immediately confronted with a

D
ARWIN IS NOT the only famous sci-
paradox: They organized their lives around entist who combined a lifelong dedi-
their work, but not their days. cation to science with apparently
Figures as different as Charles Dickens, short working hours. We can see similar
Henri Poincaré, and Ingmar Bergman, patterns in many others’ careers, and it’s
working in disparate fields in different worth starting with the lives of scientists
times, all shared a passion for their work, a for several reasons. Science is a competi-
terrific ambition to succeed, and an almost tive, all-consuming enterprise. Scientists’
superhuman capacity to focus. Yet when accomplishments—the number of articles
you look closely at their daily lives, they and books they write, the awards they win,
only spent a few hours a day doing what the rate at which their works are cited—
we would recognize as their most important are well-documented and easy to measure
work. The rest of the time, they were hik- and compare. As a result, their legacies are
ing mountains, taking naps, going on walks often easier to determine than those of busi-
with friends, or just sitting and thinking. ness leaders or other famous figures.
How did they manage to be so accom- One example is Poincaré, the French
plished? If some of history’s greatest figures mathematician whose public eminence and
didn’t put in immensely long hours, maybe accomplishments placed him on a level
the key to unlocking the secret of their cre- similar to Darwin’s. Poincaré’s 30 books
ativity lies in understanding not just how and 500 papers spanned number theory,
they labored but how they rested. topology, astronomy and celestial mechan- Darwin did ‘a good day’s work’ by noon.
ics, theoretical and applied physics, and
After his morning walk and breakfast, cian could work “four hours a day or at
philosophy; he was involved in efforts to
Charles Darwin was in his study by 8 a.m. most five, with breaks about every hour
standardize time zones, supervised railway
and worked a steady hour and a half. At (for walks perhaps).”
development in northern France, and was a
9:30 he would read the morning mail and
professor at the Sorbonne. A survey of scientists’ working lives
write letters. At 10:30, Darwin returned to
more serious work, sometimes moving to Poincaré wasn’t just famous among his fel- conducted in the early 1950s yielded
his aviary or greenhouse to conduct experi- low scientists: In 1895 he was, along with results in a similar range. Illinois Institute
ments. By noon, he would declare, “I’ve the novelist Émile Zola, sculptors Auguste of Technology psychology professors
done a good day’s work,” and set out on a Rodin and Jules Dalou, and composer Raymond Van Zelst and Willard Kerr
long walk. When he returned after an hour Camille Saint-Saëns, the subject of a study surveyed their colleagues about their work
or more, Darwin had lunch and answered by French psychiatrist Édouard Toulouse on habits and schedules, then graphed the
more letters. At 3 p.m. he would retire for the psychology of genius. Toulouse noted number of hours spent in the office against
a nap; an hour later he would arise, take that Poincaré kept very regular hours. He the number of articles they produced. You
another walk, then return to his study until did his hardest thinking between 10 a.m. might expect that the result would be a
5:30, when he would join his wife and fam- and noon, and again between 5 and 7 in straight line showing that the more hours
ily for dinner. the afternoon. The 19th century’s most scientists worked, the more articles they
published. But it wasn’t.
On this schedule he wrote 19 books, includ- towering mathematical genius worked just
ing technical volumes on climbing plants, enough to get his mind around a problem— The data revealed an M-shaped curve.
barnacles, and other subjects; the contro- about four hours a day. The curve rose steeply at first and peaked
versial Descent of Man; and The Origin of We see the same pattern among other at between 10 to 20 hours per week. The
Species, probably the single most famous noted mathematicians. G.H. Hardy, one of curve then turned downward. Scientists
book in the history of science. Britain’s leading mathematicians in the first who spent 25 hours in the workplace were
half of the 20th century, would start his day no more productive than those who spent
But at the same time, his days don’t seem five. Scientists working 35 hours a week
very busy to us. If he had been a university with a leisurely breakfast and close read-
were half as productive as their 20-hours-a-
professor today, he would have been denied ing of the cricket scores, then from 9 to 1 week colleagues.
tenure. If he’d been working in a company, would be immersed in mathematics. After
he would have been fired within a week. lunch he would be out again, walking and From there, the curve rose again, but more
playing tennis. “Four hours’ creative work modestly. Researchers who buckled down
It’s not that Darwin was careless or lacked a day is about the limit for a mathemati- and spent 50 hours per week in the lab were
ambition. He was intensely conscious of cian,” he told his friend and fellow Oxford able to pull themselves out of the 35-hour
time and, despite being a gentleman of professor C.P. Snow. Hardy’s longtime col- valley: They became as productive as col-
means, felt that he had none to waste. laborator John Edensor Littlewood believed leagues who spent five hours a week in the
Newscom

But he managed something that seems that the “close concentration” required to lab. Van Zelst and Kerr speculated that
increasingly alien today. His life was full do serious work meant that a mathemati- this 50-hour bump was concentrated in
THE WEEK May 12, 2017

G.H. Hardy (top) worked from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“physical research,” and that most of those
10-hour days were spent tending machines
and occasionally taking measurements.
After that, it was all downhill: The 60-plus-
hour-a-week researchers were the least pro-
ductive of all.
K
ARL ANDERS ERICSSON, Ralf Krampe,
and Clemens Tesch-Römer saw a
similar pattern in a study of violin
students at a conservatory in Berlin in the
1980s. Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer
were interested in what sets outstanding
students apart from merely good ones. After
interviewing music students and their teach-
ers and having students keep track of their
time, they found that several things sepa-
rated the best students from the rest.
First, the great students didn’t just practice
more than the average, they practiced more
deliberately. During deliberate practice,
Ericsson explained, you’re “engaging with
full concentration in a special activity to
improve [your] performance.” You’re not
just doing reps, lobbing balls, or playing
scales. Deliberate practice is focused, struc-
tured, and offers clear goals and feedback;
Oxford University, Getty
it requires paying attention to what you’re
doing and observing how you can improve.
Second, you need a reason to keep at it,
day after day. Deliberate practice isn’t a lot
The last word
of fun, and it’s not immediately profitable.
It means being in the pool before sunrise,
working on your swing or stride when you
could be hanging out with friends, spend-
ing hours perfecting details that only a few
other people will ever notice. There’s little
that’s inherently or immediately pleasurable
in deliberate practice, so you need a strong
sense that these long hours will pay off, and
that you’re not just improving your career
prospects but also crafting a professional
and personal identity. You don’t just do it
for the fat stacks.
Ericsson’s study is a foundation for
Malcolm Gladwell’s argument (laid out
most fully in his book Outliers) that 10,000
hours of practice are necessary to become
world-class in anything, and that every-
one from chess legend Bobby Fischer to
Microsoft founder Bill Gates to the Beatles
put in their 10,000 hours before anyone
heard of them. For coaches, music teachers,
and ambitious parents, the number prom-
ises a golden road to the NFL or Juilliard
or MIT: Just start them young, keep them
busy, and don’t let them give up.
But there was something else that Ericsson
and his colleagues noted in their study,
something that almost everyone has
overlooked. “Deliberate practice,” they
observed, “is an effortful activity that can be
sustained only for a limited time each day.”
Practice too little and you never become
world-class. Practice too much, though, and
you increase the odds of being struck down
by injury, draining yourself mentally, or
burning out.
How do students marked for greatness
make the most of limited practice time? The
rhythm of their practice follows a distinctive
pattern. They put in more hours per week,
but they don’t do it by making each practice
longer. Instead, they have more frequent,
shorter sessions, each lasting about 80 to 90
minutes, with half-hour breaks in between.
Add these several practices up, and what do
you get? About four hours a day. About the
same amount of time Darwin spent every
day doing his hardest work and Hardy and
Littlewood spent doing math.
This upper limit, Ericsson concluded, is
defined “not by available time, but by avail-
able [mental and physical] resources for
effortful practice.” The students weren’t
just practicing four hours and calling it a
day; lectures, rehearsals, homework, and
other things kept them busy the rest of the
day. In interviews, the students said “it was
primarily their ability to sustain the concen-
tration necessary for deliberate practice that
limited their hours of practice.” This is why
it takes a decade to get Gladwell’s 10,000
hours: if you can only sustain that level of
41
concentrated practice for four hours a day,
that works out to 20 hours a week (assum-
ing weekends off), or 1,000 hours a year
(assuming a two-week vacation).
Ericsson and his colleagues observed
another thing, in addition to practicing
more, that separated the great students
at the Berlin conservatory from the good,
something that has been almost completely
ignored since: how they rested.
The top performers actually slept about an
hour a day more than the average perform-
ers. They didn’t sleep late. They got more
sleep because they napped during the day.
Of course there was lots of variability, but
the best students generally followed a pat-
tern of practicing hardest and longest in the
morning, taking a nap in the afternoon, and
then having a second practice in the late
afternoon or evening.
For all the attention the Berlin conserva-
tory study has received, this part of the top
students’ experiences—their sleep patterns,
their attention to leisure, their cultivation of
deliberate rest as a necessary complement
of demanding, deliberate practice—goes
unmentioned. In Outliers, Gladwell focuses
on the number of hours exceptional per-
formers practice and says nothing about the
fact that those students also slept an hour
more, on average, than their less accom-
plished peers, or that they took naps and
long breaks.
This is not to say that Gladwell misread
Ericsson’s study; he just glossed over
that part. And he has lots of company.
Everybody speed-reads through the discus-
sion of sleep and leisure and argues about
the 10,000 hours.
This illustrates a blind spot that scientists,
scholars, and almost all of us share: a ten-
dency to fixate on focused work, to assume
that the road to greater creativity is paved
by life hacks, propped up by eccentric hab-
its, or smoothed by Adderall or LSD. Those
who research world-class performance look
only at what students do in the gym or prac-
tice room. Everybody concentrates on the
most obvious, measurable forms of work
and tries to make those more productive.
They don’t ask whether there are other ways
to improve performance and your life.
This is how we’ve come to believe that
world-class performance comes after
10,000 hours of practice. But that’s wrong.
It comes after 10,000 hours of deliberate
practice, 12,500 hours of deliberate rest,
and 30,000 hours of sleep.
Excerpted from an article that originally
appeared in Nautil.us. Reprinted with
permission.
THE WEEK May 12, 2017
42 The Puzzle Page
Crossword No. 407: C Is for ‘Century’ by Matt Gaffney The Week Contest
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
This week’s question: The high-end retailer Nordstrom
was widely ridiculed after it started selling $425 jeans that
14 15 16
come caked with fake mud, to make it look like the wearer
was prepared “to get down and dirty.” If Nordstrom were
17 18 19
to launch a new line of pre-dirtied workwear for lazy fash-
ionistas, what name should it give the brand?
20 21 22 23
Last week’s contest: A new study has found that the
24 25 26 more hours Facebook users log on the social network,
the more their sense of happiness, well-being, and actual
27 28 29 30 31 32 physical health decline, partly because seeing other
people’s glorified versions of their lives makes users
33 34 35 36 37
feel depressed. Please come up with a medical term to
describe this social media–induced malady.
38 39 40 THE WINNER: Traumatic post disorder
David Stoner, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
41 42 43 SECOND PLACE: Instagrim —John Hall, Milton, Fla.

44 45 46 THIRD PLACE: Dislikesia —Elinor Elphick, Bonita, Calif.

For runners-up and complete contest rules, please go
47 48 49 50 to theweek.com/contest.
How to enter: Submissions should be emailed to
51 52 53 54 55 56 57
contest@theweek.com. Please include your name,
address, and daytime telephone number for verifica-
58 59 60 61
tion; this week, type “Dirty fashion” in the subject
line. Entries are due by noon, Eastern Time, Tuesday,
62 63 64 May 9. Winners will appear on the Puzzle Page next
issue and at theweek.com/puzzles on
65 66 67 Friday, May 12. In the case of identical
or similar entries, the first one received
gets credit.
ACROSS 48 Anecdote 13 Hockey fake-out
1 Recent White House kid 51 Ukraine’s capital 18 Up to now WThe winner gets a one-year
6 “And there you have 53 “Mind taking care of it 22 Soft drink with a
it!” for me?” Spanish name subscription to The Week.
9 Chopped into cubes 55 Got under the bed, say 24 Coop occupant
14 ___ of God (1985 Jane 58 Take care of, as 26 Opposite of
Fonda movie) expenses “aweather”
15 Govt. branch headed 60 Sheltered open space 27 Summarize Sudoku
by Scott Pruitt similar to a portico, 28 One of Donald’s exes
16 Better than such as at Boston’s 29 Protruding part of a
17 Space enclosed by a Christian Science building supported Fill in all the
building, such as at Center only at one end, such boxes so that
Qatar’s Museum of 62 Fetal positions? as in Dallas City Hall each row, column,
Islamic Art 63 Outrage 30 Part of a crossword and outlined
19 Nobel Prize–winning 64 Some noblemen puzzle square includes
poet Walcott 65 Prepared apples for 31 Mirror ___ all the numbers
20 Old foe of the CIA a pie 32 Enrique’s “enough!” from 1 through 9.
21 Reason to exhale 66 ___ Spiegel (German 34 Hennessy or
loudly newsmagazine) Courvoisier
23 Get higher 67 Architect who turned 35 Treat with Christina Difficulty:
24 Many a business in the 100 years old last Aguilera in recent ads hard
Caribbean week—C to the ancient 36 Paternal grandmother
25 Drops from a great Romans—and five of of 1-Across
height? whose buildings are 39 Best Supporting Actor
27 Basmati and brown featured in the theme nominee for The
30 Flavorless food put in clues Godfather
molds 43 ___ latte
33 2016 candidate DOWN 45 Adjective for some
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39 Decorative horizontal 4 “Tell Laura I Love ___” 49 Perry who plays
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