Martin Schneider writes:
Just yesterday I asked for new Senator Al Franken to appear at the New Yorker Festival. Instead, we get the next best thing, a long article about his path to the Senate. Plus Hertzberg on Palin! Joy, joy!
A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. A preview of its contents, adapted from the magazine’s press release:
In “Enter Laughing,” John Colapinto visits Al Franken on his second day as the junior senator from Minnesota, and examines the long, disputed electoral process that finally ended in victory for him on June 30.
In “Sheriff Joe,” William Finnegan profiles Joe Arpaio, the controversial, publicity-loving sheriff of Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix, Arizona), who is known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” Arpaio, who worked as a federal narcotics agent before running for sheriff, in the early 1990s, won national notoriety and the support of conservative voters for his harsh treatment of prisoners.
In “The Forbidden Zone,” Evan Osnos writes about Hu Shuli, the founding editor of the Chinese magazine Caijing, who is often described as “the most dangerous woman in China.”
In Comment, Hendrik Hertzberg analyzes Sarah Palin’s resignation speech.
In Shouts & Murmurs, Ian Frazier describes a climate-change summit in Hell.
Paul Rudnick recalls working on the screenplay for the film Sister Act.
Anthony Lane reviews Brüno.
Elizabeth Kolbert examines the obesity epidemic.
John Lahr attends the National Theatre production of Racine’s Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren.
Nancy Franklin watches Michael Jackson’s memorial service on TV.
There is an excerpt from an unpublished work by William Styron.

Martin Schneider writes:
A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. It’s a double issue. A preview of its contents, adapted from the magazine’s press release:
In “The Kill Company,” Raffi Khatchadourian chronicles a military mission in Iraq that led to the deaths of eight Iraqis, and examines the role that violent rhetoric may have had in encouraging the soldiers’ deadly use of force. The killings, which occurred during Operation Iron Triangle, in May, 2006, suggest “a grave problem within the chain of command,” Khatchadourian writes.
In “The Contrarian,” Ryan Lizza talks to Sheila Bair, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, about her recent debates with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner over the Obama Administration’s reform proposals for regulating the banking industry.
In Comment, Hendrik Hertzberg explores the Obama Administration’s stance on gay rights.
In The Financial Page, James Surowiecki looks at how a Consumer Financial Protection Agency could affect consumers.
In Shouts & Murmurs, Yoni Brenner imagines Justice Clarence Thomas’s dreams as he dozes on the bench.
Ariel Levy profiles writer-director Nora Ephron.
Malcolm Gladwell reviews Chris Anderson’s new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price.
Alex Ross takes in a day of performances during the Make Music festival.
Nancy Franklin watches the new HBO series Hung.
Peter Schjeldahl visits the James Ensor retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
David Denby reviews Public Enemies and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
There is a short story by Lorrie Moore.

Martin Schneider writes:
Its connection to The New Yorker is tenuous, but Julie Kavanagh’s reminiscence in More Intelligent Life of being Martin Amis’s “moll” in the 1970s is so entertaining and so redolent of youthful literary swagger, it would be criminal not to pass it on.
And be sure to dig the pics!

Martin Schneider writes:
A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. A preview of its contents, adapted from the magazine’s press release:
In “With the Marchers,” a resident of Tehran reflects on the recent demonstrations and the situation on the ground after the country’s controversial Presidential election. The resident, who decided to write this piece without a byline because of the Iranian authorities’ attempts to curtail the actions of the Western media, writes, “On the afternoon of June 15th, I bumped into my old friend Reza at the huge demonstration on Azadi Street—the march nobody will ever forget.”
In Comment, Laura Secor looks at the difficult situation that Iran finds itself in now that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has demanded an end to the street protests mounted in favor of the reformist Presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
In “Angelo’s Ashes,” Connie Bruck offers a behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of Countrywide Financial Corporation, once the largest home-mortgage provider in the United States, and chronicles the ambitions of Angelo Mozilo, its “self-regarding chairman and C.E.O.”
In “The Catastrophist,” Elizabeth Kolbert profiles James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who is sometimes called “the father of global warming,” and examines his recent efforts to warn the public about the increasing threats to our climate.
Rebecca Mead examines the recently discovered early letters from Edith Wharton to her governess.
Alex Ross visits Marlboro Music, the famed summer institute for aspiring and established musicians.
James Wood reads Censoring an Iranian Love Story, by Shahriar Mandanipour.
Jill Lepore looks at the parenting-advice industry.
Peter Schjeldahl attends the Judith Leyster exhibit at the National Gallery.
David Denby reviews The Hurt Locker and Food, Inc.
Hilton Als reviews David Adjmi’s Stunning.
There is a short story by Stephen O’Connor.

Martin Schneider writes:
A new issue of The New Yorker comes out tomorrow. A preview of its contents, adapted from the magazine’s press release:
In “The Secret History,” Jane Mayer speaks with Leon Panetta, the C.I.A.’s new director, in an exclusive interview about the agency’s legacy of torture, and examines the Obama Administration’s “attempts to restore the rule of law in America’s fight against terrorism without sacrificing safety or losing the support of conservative Democratic and independent voters.”
In “Don’t Shoot,” John Seabrook looks at the innovative strategies that David Kennedy, a professor in the anthropology department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in New York City, has developed to reduce gang-related violent crimes. Employed to great success in Cincinnati, Providence, and several other communities in the U.S., Kennedy’s program, widely known as Ceasefire, imparts a moral component to crime deterrence.
Hendrik Hertzberg, in Comment, examines the impact of President Obama’s recent speech in Cairo on elections in the Middle East.
In the Financial Page, James Surowiecki looks at the effects of rising gas prices on consumer confidence.
In Shouts & Murmurs, Paul Rudnick describes a Utah Mormon’s experience with same-sex marriage on a family trip to Massachusetts.
Jon Lee Anderson explores Spain’s efforts to confront its civil-war past, including a pending exhumation of poet Federico García Lorca’s remains.
Lauren Collins profiles romance writer Nora Roberts.
Sasha Frere-Jones listens to Sonic Youth’s latest release, The Eternal.
Kelefa Sanneh examines the recent movement away from the corporate work world and back to small business.
Hilton Als reviews the musical Coraline.
Anthony Lane reviews The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Whatever Works.
There is a short story by Tim Gautreaux.

Martin Schneider writes:
In 2007 I reviewed Atul Gawande’s book Better for Publishers Weekly. I ended the review with this sentence: “Indeed, one suspects that once we cure the ills of the health care system, we’ll look back and see that Gawande’s writings were part of the story.”
How quickly predictions come to pass. It turns out Gawande does have a well-positioned fan in the White House. According to The New York Times:

President Obama recently summoned aides to the Oval Office to discuss a magazine article investigating why the border town of McAllen, Tex., was the country’s most expensive place for health care. The article became required reading in the White House, with Mr. Obama even citing it at a meeting last week with two dozen Democratic senators.
“He came into the meeting with that article having affected his thinking dramatically,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. “He, in effect, took that article and put it in front of a big group of senators and said, ‘This is what we’ve got to fix.'”

Furthermore, America’s hippest health care wonk, Ezra Klein, called Gawande’s piece possibly “the best article on health care you’ll ever read,” which is even more impressive.
Update: Enjoy Gawande’s University of Chicago commencement speech, delivered this morning.