Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

This week on nybooks.com: Helen Epstein on the suspicious death of a young Ugandan reformer, Steven Mithen on the search for the Neanderthal genome, Darryl Pinckney on changing Harlem, and Joyce Carol Oates on Lorrie Moore’s new stories. David Coleexamines at the CIA’s desperate efforts to hide evidence of its torture, Yasmine El Rashidi looks at Shirin Neshat’s Egyptian portraits, and Christopher Benfey greets the arrival of spring. THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY KAROLINUM PRESS, CHARLES UNIVERSITY

Murder in Uganda Helen Epstein Politics in Uganda is not for the faint-hearted. For years, opposition supporters have been beaten, robbed, murdered, imprisoned in secret police cells, tortured, and charged with treason. In December 2012, the young politician Cerinah Nebanda died of mysterious causes.   ADVERTISEMENT   Most of Us Are Part Neanderthal Steven Mithen The Swedish biologist Svante Pääbo has provided us with a fabulous account of three decades of research into ancient DNA, culminating in 2010 with the publication of the Neanderthal genome. A constant theme of his book is the battle to detect and avoid contamination of ancient DNA by that of modern humans.   The Real Harlem Darryl Pinckney Old heads in Harlem will tell you that in the 1960s, particularly after the riot of 1964, white policemen were afraid of walking an uptown beat. They were reluctant to come through even in patrol cars. Those who did were often on the take. White landlords would try to collect the rent, guns at their hips.   ADVERTISEMENT   Shocks of Recognition Joyce Carol Oates Of the eight stories in Lorrie Moore’s new collection, Bark, the longest, aptly titled “Wings,” takes us on a rare flight of self-transcendence; the others are rueful journeys of self-discovery in which moments of recognition bring jolts like electric shocks.   The CIA’s Poisonous Tree David Cole The revelations that the Central Intelligence Agency interfered with a Senate torture investigation should not make us lose sight of the conduct that led to the investigation in the first place. The CIA subjected human beings to brutal treatment to which no human being should ever be subjected.   Spring Is Far Behind Christopher Benfey In The Waste Land, Madame Sosotris, a “famous clairvoyante,” is equipped with “a wicked pack” of Tarot cards. “Here, said she, / Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor.” Her advice: “Fear death by water.” But wait a second. There is no Phoenician Sailor in the Tarot deck...   Egypt: Face to Face Yasmine El Rashidi The challenge of everyday life amid the tensions and lawlessness of post-revolutionary Egypt is a main theme of Iranian artist Shirin Neshat’s new work.