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Weekend reading on nybooks.com: The success of Fox News and its future, four weeks on board a container ship, the continued repression of Russian activists, and the “new normal” weather. Plus Lahore’s literary festival, a history of operatic staging, and an interview with human rights blogger Huang Qi.
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Steve Coll
At one point, while lobbying a local politician in his office, Roger Ailes tossed down printed charts on a desk. “What do you think of that?… Fox is outperforming any other cable news network!”
“Well, there are a lot of stupid people out there,” the politician replied.
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Maya Jasanoff
Often, living between sea and sky was simply magnificent. Standing at the prow of an Empire State Building–sized ship, racing toward the horizon in almost pure silence, I saw flying fish leap up and outpace us, skimming dozens of feet across the sea.
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Christian Caryl
You’ve probably never heard of Roman Khabarov—which is a pity, because he’s potentially one of the most important opposition activists in Russia today and he was arrested during the recent Olympics, when few would notice.
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Zadie Smith
There is the scientific and ideological language for what is happening to the weather, but there are hardly any intimate words. Is that surprising? People in mourning tend to use euphemism; likewise the guilty and ashamed.
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Hugh Eakin
In an age in which international literary festivals have become commonplace, there is very little ordinary about the Lahore LitFest, starting with the location.
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Philip Gossett
To write the history of opera production, one needs to understand the extraordinary work of the many people involved backstage who make an operatic spectacle function.
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Ian Johnson and Huang Qi
Huang Qi, the creator of China’s first human rights website, was detained in Chengdu this week. Ian Johnson interviewed him last year.
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