New from The New Yorker Radio Hour: The power of police unions.

Annals of Gastronomy
Selection of cheeses

How a Cheese Goes Extinct

When you talk with aficionados, it usually doesn’t take long for the conversation to veer away from curds, whey, and mold, and toward matters of life and death.

Persons of Interest
Forward Nneka Ogwumike.

Nneka Ogwumike and the W.N.B.A.’s Big, Complicated Moment

Amid a global pandemic and nationwide protests, the W.N.B.A. is playing basketball in a bubble. Ogwumike is trying to make sure it succeeds.

Culture Desk

Beyoncé’s Knowing Ethnic Splendor in “Black Is King”

The “visual album” does not attempt to provide cultural lessons but, rather, invitations to awesome delights.

Cultural Comment
A burst of social media posts as political signs.

The Second Act of Social-Media Activism

Has the Internet become better at mediating change?

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Spotlight
Watch
Sally Fields and Barbara Baxley in the film Norma Rae standing in the factory

The Ongoing Relevance of “Norma Rae”

Viewed today, the 1979 movie, starring Sally Field, is most striking in its suggestion that no struggle can take place alone.

Letter from the U.K.
Two laughing gas canisters in greenery at a park

The Laughing-Gas Wars of London

Whatever the reason—ostentatious littering, the mad desire for a furtive lockdown high—nitrous-oxide cannisters are ubiquitous in London this summer.

Medical Dispatch
Scott Aberegg in scrubs.

Fighting the Coronavirus, from New York to Utah

They volunteered during the New York City surge—then returned home to watch the virus come to them.

Annals of Infrastructure
Image may contain: Banister, and Handrail

Urgent Care from the Army Corps of Engineers

While Trump flails in the pandemic, the military’s builders are getting it done.

Books
Buttocks and arm.

Rethinking the Science of Skin

What is all the scrubbing, soaping, moisturizing, and deodorizing really doing for the body’s largest organ?

Crossword
Eustace with a crossword puzzle

A Challenging Puzzle

Early-two-thousands drama with the theme song “California”: five letters.

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The Latest

More Precise Names for the “Personal Life” Section on Wikipedia

Illustration of man surrounded by six illustrations of his wives.

The Six Marriages I Don’t Already Know About; D.U.I.s, Ranked; and more.

1:11 P.M.

Americans Insanely Jealous of Spain After Corrupt Head of State Flees Country

Former Spanish King Juan Carlos leaves Spain.

Americans expressed frustration that multiple criminal investigations were “all it took” for the former Spanish ruler to voluntarily leave Spain forever.

11:25 A.M.

New Kinds of Surprise Health-Care Billing

A hand holding a stethoscope to a dollar bill against a blue background

A hospital administrator drives by your house and throws a brick with a medical bill wrapped around it through your window, and more.

7:00 A.M.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Federal Forces in Chicago

Lori Lightfoot speaks into a microphone.

President Trump is deploying two hundred federal agents to “drive down violent crime” in Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot gives David Remnick her take on the situation.

August 3, 2020
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From This Week’s Issue
Movies
Drive in movie theatre.

The Return of the Drive-In

With New York movie theatres closed, drive-ins, including the Warwick, upstate, and the Skyline, in Greenpoint, are thriving, offering familiar films and such new releases as “Relic” and “She Dies Tomorrow.”

Onstage
Image may contain: Face, Human, Person, Head, Advertisement, Collage, Poster, and Sarbjit Cheema

American Tragedy and Comedy, Streaming on YouTube

“The Line,” a play of communal horror, follows health-care workers battling COVID-19, and Hannibal Buress’s new special turns a police encounter into comedy and catharsis.

Dept. of Protesting

Summer School for Protest Writing

With a reading list ranging from W. E. B. Du Bois to Kendrick Lamar, a remote class teaches Philadelphia teens how to express their frustration with society—including, in some cases, their schools.

Fiction
Image may contain: Human, Person, Nature, and Outdoors

“Heirlooms”

“So, Mitsuko says, how long have you been sleeping with my son? Or is it casual? Not really, I say.”

Video

A Film Recounts the Imbalances of Obsession

In “The Song Is You,” the rarefied air of the art world serves as a backdrop for the complicated relationship between a would-be stalker and the couple she is following.

Daily Cartoon

Podcasts

The Power of Police Unions

Rows of police officers with their backs turned against a politician.

William Finnegan on what the repeal of an arcane law reveals about the conflict among police, protesters, and politicians. Plus, an interview with the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot.

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