1.
“New York Touch,” August 16–August 29
New York’s latest cover story, by Andrew Rice and Laura Nahmias, chronicled how Andrew Cuomo lost the governorship and included his first interview since announcing his resignation. “This is an exceptionally good and illuminating story on Andrew Cuomo, but the headline should have been simply ‘He’s a Dick,’ ” tweeted Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post. Andrew Donovan, a TV news reporter in Syracuse, called the piece a “career obituary” that was “a combination of fascinating, unforgiving, uncomfortable and sarcastic.” David Sirota, a former adviser to Bernie Sanders, wrote, “Just a psychopathic level of narcissism and nihilism on display here — hiding thousands of nursing home deaths, shielding health care donors from liability, raking in $5 mil for a book ghostwritten by public employees, sex pesting all over Albany, and yet still preening to media.” In the New York interview, Cuomo claimed he would have won an impeachment trial. New Deal Strategies founder Rebecca Kirszner Katz responded, “Fact check: if Cuomo thought he could’ve survived impeachment, he wouldn’t be resigning. Keep an eye on this spin. He’s going to use it for his comeback.”
2.
“The Spine Collector,” August 16–August 29
Reeves Wiedeman, with Lila Shapiro, reported on how a digital manuscript thief has the book world feeling afraid, distrustful, and, most of all, perplexed. “First of all, A+ title,” wrote Apple’s Hannah Wood. “Also, this is the juiciest account of the mystery so far — yet one that takes it, and the consequences for victims, seriously.” Journalist Cathleen Cusachs said it was “wild, compelling, creepy and also hilarious.” The hacker’s identity is still not known, and many readers were disappointed by Wiedeman’s disclosure that “two of this magazine’s editors sat me down and said that I couldn’t spend all year investigating a crime with no real victims.” Commenter alpepple replied, “get bent editors this is the best thing i have read in 17 months.”
3.
“90 minutes with… Cindy Adams,” (August 16–August 29)
Olivia Nuzzi visited tabloid stalwart Cindy Adams’s Park Avenue apartment to discuss the Showtime documentary series Gossip. Taffy Brodesser-Akner of the New York Times tweeted, “I can’t even pick a favorite line here. I ate this delicious dessert and it only made me leaner and stronger.” Adams took to the pages of the New York Post to respond, under the headline “Not So Write”: “The writer’s insecurities were apparent. Those insecurities were paraded further. A snarky article I understand. It helps anyone not famous get yet another assignment … Note to a magazine editor: Pick a writer whose insecurities are less obvious.” Politico’s Daniel Lippman noted, “What’s funny about this is that Olivia would probably win the prize for being the least insecure person in DC.”
4.
“TV’s White Guys Are In Crisis,” August 16–August 29
“The white guys who used to be default protagonists on TV and in American life … are no longer the main characters. So what happens to that guy now?” Kathryn VanArendonk asked in “The Culture Pages.” Karen Tongson wrote that the essay “captures what I’ve been feeling about white guys dealing w/ their relegation (to use a term everyone in the U.S. has learned from Ted Lasso).” The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum wrote, “Fantastic analysis … It also reminded me of one of my favorite 30 Rock turns, which is that Liz, inside a show about her and a white male boss, ended up making … a sitcom with no white male main characters. Then [Tina] Fey made Kimmy Schmidt, which has the same structure.” Coriana Hunt Swartz added, “This article is about television, but its central points are also very relevant to theatre and the decisions many companies make/have made/are making about programming seasons.” Noah Mittman pushed back, “This kind of hand-wringing really bugs the hell out of me. When faced with not being the main character, the reaction usually is ‘well, what’s going to happen to them?’ It’s emblematic of the white anxiety around the idea of not being a majority.” Content strategist Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh joked, “I am married to a white man and can confirm they are in shambles over no longer being the main character. All I can ever say to him is, ‘Oh well, babe.’ ”
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