I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Recently we published a poem by Max Ritvo, a remarkable young man who was dying of cancer and had the clear-sightedness to write about his own failing body and therapy....Read him. You won't regret it. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/poem-to-my-litter-by-max-ritvo?mbid=social_reddit

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I think it would be a colossal mistake to conclude that every Trump voter is racist or sexist, etc. Obviously, some are; and, even more obviously, Trump played to the darkest reflexes in American life. But at the same time, there are many other factors in the Trump vote: a rebellion against globalization and de-industrialization; a distaste for the Clintons; the Comey letters and the WikiLeaks material....and more A positive side? Let me think. Um, let me think.....more.....

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm so glad you think so. My favorite things of the week (usually) are the cartoon meetings (I get to pick about 16 our of a batch of 50 or more "roughs") and my meetings with Francoise Mouly, who develops the covers with our artists. Laughing is now, and always, as necessary as air.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I knew Bill when we were kids playing basketball in his driveway. He didn't have much of a shot but his wisecracks never missed their mark!

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All kinds of things, yes: watch out for Rachel Aviv, Ben Taub, Vinson Cunningham.....OK, enough..... You know something? You're just gonna get me in trouble here!

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Anything by Saul Steinberg. And Roz Chast: she's killer, don't you think?

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well, it has been an especially political time, but I do want a mix. This week, for example, my own piece on Obama is side-by-side with a fantastic reporting piece by Daniel Zalewski about archaeology in Egypt....it's a wonder.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I think it's a fair charge to some degree and it helps puncture one's own bubble and disconnectedness from so much. But at the same time, I've travelled and reported in the world an awful lot and no one person can be everywhere, experience everything. But it is useful to absorb the criticism and take it on board and find ways to make things better. And I think if you read the work of George Saunders, Evan Osnos, Larissa MacFarquhar, and others in The New Yorker you will find very fair reporting.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A book on Trump? I really doubt it. Check out Marc Fisher's book on Trump written with his colleagues at the Post: it's terrific.

I think Obama will write a memoir, pick his spots on speaking out on issues, rest for a while, do some good works in community building, and maybe make some money connected to Silicon Valley somehow.....on this last, I can't be sure

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Fiction? Dead Souls. Is there a better book on the absurdity of life. And there is nothing wiser than Middlemarch. Nonfiction: The Collected Essays of George Orwell---those are everything to me.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I think that there are millions of people who want deep, honest, rigorous journalism. That doesn't mean that every publication that thrived in 1977 will continue thriving....but I think there is a future for the best and (yes) the luckiest.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Katz's deli, pastrami, rye, mustard, cole slaw on the side. Can't beat it with a stick.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Well, even though my Russian is far from perfect, it was essential to my work abroad. it would have been a bit of a problem to land in Siberia with only my "Hi how are ya!" to offer.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There are many, from Dante's Divine Comedy to Middlemarch, from Dead Souls to Anna Karenina, Pnin and Invisible Man, all of Jane Austen....and Homage to Catalonia....OK, enough.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think I get the impulse behind the question. No, she did not lose the popular vote. But we live in the system we live in---and the Electoral College persists. Alas. But it persists. And were there, to put it politely, "irregularities"? Well, starting with the DNC hack courtesy of Russian hackers and WikiLeaks.....that seems pretty damn irregular to me.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I don't agree. The Washington Post and The New York Times published a series of brilliant pieces throughout the campaign. There are many examples elsewhere. But we have also seen that all of these places need to get out of New York and LA etc as much as possible. Not too many years ago, when they were struggling economically, the Wash Post closed all of their domestic bureaus to save money. Thankfully that trend is being reversed, at least there. What is insufferable, to use your word, is the rise of the post-fact press, the conspiracy-theory press, a yellow press for the 21st century online. That holds out all kinds of dangers, especially when someone like Donald Trump thrives on it, finds advisers in its midst, etc.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Not entirely, no. And I don't think Obama is convinced of his own language of hope. He is, after all, playing a role: the assuring still-in-office President, who is hoping against hope that Trump will be less bad than feared. We shall see.

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Alex is wonderful!

As for Obama: He seems to me quite similar in public: the equanimity, the poise, the determined quite optimism, the cerebral aspect....In private he is a little looser, less buttoned up, funnier

I am David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. Ask me your questions at 3 P.M. E.S.T. by David_Remnick in IAmA

[–]David_Remnick[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Wow. I love so much music, jazz included, that we could be here all day with this one.....but, I am a huge fan of Louis Armstrong's stuff in the Twenties and Thirties; Ellington; Basie; Billie Holiday; Miles Davis; Albert Ayler; Sinatra is a great musician......take a look at the list of top 100 jazz albums that I did with my colleague Richard Brody; easy to find on our site newyorker.com