6 new york | august 5–18, 2019
LSend^ correspondence^ to^ [email protected].^
Or go to nymag.com to respond to individual stories.36 Photograph by Jeff Brown july 22–august 4, 2019 | new york 37(^) March 7, 2015, Harvard Law professor Bruce Hay, then 52, was in Tags have been aquick Saturday-morning errandt was just to buy picture hookssupposed to. On
Hardware in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near his home, when a young woman with long reddishcould find batteries. It was still very much winter, and, once the woman -brown hair approached him to ask where she
typical weekendfectly tied scargot his attention, he saw that underneath her dark woolen coat and perf she was wearing a dress and a chic pair of boots-errand attire in the New England college town. When he—hardly -
directed her to another part of the store, she changed the subjectway, you’re very attractive,” he remembers her saying.. “By the
The Most
Gullible Man
in Cambridge
professor who teaches A Harvard Law
wouldn’t seem like an a class on judgment
obvious mark, would he? By Kera Bolonik
Lyme MWhy Neets Identityew Televisions Politics Are Terrible FischerByMolly^ p.^16 / The ByEbiri Bilge. (^) p 64 Professor (^) / The Look and Book the Paternity Goes Sur (^) fingTrap p (^). 49 BolonikByKer^ ap 36. outsin CambridgeiBruce Hay de his home (^).
July 22–August 4, 2019
®
JeffreyThe high societ Epstein’sy that surrounded the People sex offender
Comments
1 New^ York’s^ latest^ cover^ story—“Who^
Was Jeffrey Epstein Calling?” (July
22–August 4)—took a detailed look at the
celebrities, CEOs, and presidents who or-
bited the sex offender. Many readers were
furious at the elite’s perceived complicity in
Epstein’s crimes, with @AndBrent calling
the report an “infuriating rundown of the
gilded class’s insidious connections.” Eliza-
beth Bruenig wrote, “This is the kind of
wide-branching scandal somebody would
invent to foment class rage, and it comes
at a moment when class politics is closer
to the surface of American discourse than
it has been in a while.” Many noted the
relationships between Epstein and other
prominent men who have been accused of
sexual misconduct, including Woody Allen
and Charlie Rose: @CStrait2 tweeted,
“Let’s hope this lays to rest any hopes for
Charlie Rose to stage a comeback.” Bette
Midler wrote, “You may need oxygen when
you’re done reading.”
2 Molly^ Fischer^ charted^ Lyme^ disease’s^
development from a tick-borne illness
to a full-fledged movement (“Maybe It’s
Lyme,” July 22–August 4 ). Matt Zeitlin
wrote, “The conflict between chronic Lyme
awareness and advocacy and the huge ad-
vances we’ve made in recognizing the real-
ity and legitimacy of mental illness is fasci-
nating.” Porochista Khakpour, whose
struggle with Lyme was discussed in
Fischer’s story, tweeted that she “wish[es]
there would be a moratorium on Lyme
pieces until they could figure out why
people with Lyme disease are so hated
and ridiculed.” Todd Murray, whose
mother, Polly, was instrumental in bring-
ing Lyme disease to public consciousness,
wrote, “I had a classic case of Lyme that
went untreated for about 14 years and did
not notice any change to symptoms with
an extended course of IV and antibiotics by
mouth. While I did wonder for years if
I needed more treatment, I eventually just
let it go. I am now an emergency physician
in an area with a high prevalence of tick-
borne illness, and at this time of year we
see cases of Lyme on a daily basis and re-
move a lot of ticks from understandably
anxious members of the community. But
I have also seen people who are clearly suf-
fering from psychiatric distress with com-
plaints of chronic Lyme. This article accu-
rately portrays that segment of patients.
The circular logic, treatment without any
end point, and use of therapies that have
not been established to be beneficial are
disturbing to me as a clinician. These pa-
tients and those who treat them are no
longer in the realm of medical science.”
3 In “The Most Gullible Man in Cam-
bridge” (July 22–August 4), Kera
Bolonik unspooled the tale of how Bruce
Hay, a Harvard Law professor, nearly lost
his job and his home after a woman con-
vinced him he’d fathered her child. The
article elicited a wide variety of responses,
from pity for Hay (@dearsarah tweeted,
“Lordy, this is harrowing & heartbreak-
ing”) to concern for his partner (“The line
between Hay’s victimhood and his be-
trayal of his family is blurry,” wrote
@ Heide Jaklin). @meghan_koushik
tweeted, “Law school friends, the next time
you’re sad about your grades or dearth of
clerkships, just remember Bruce Hay was
smart enough to clerk on SCOTUS yet
not smart enough to get conned out of
his whole home and worldly assets by
grifters.” But @WorthlessProf was more
sympathetic: “Sure, the entrapment ap-
proach didn’t seem particularly skillful,
but he was also lonely and depressed. You
know what lonely and depressed people
often do?! Things they later regret.”
@ SentinelJust added, “When I did fraud
work, most of the victims were well-
educated folks who were ashamed to ad-
mit that they were taken in in spite of
their intellect.” The story ricocheted
around right-leaning news outlets. In the
Washington Examiner, Madeline Fry
wrote, “In one sense, Hay’s story has no
moral; it’s a T. S. Eliot–esque tragedy about
a lonely man grappling with modernity. In
another, it’s a deeply political cautionary
tale about what happens when political
correctness overtakes common sense.” The
New York Times’ Ross Douthat devoted a
column to the bifurcated reaction the story
provoked, writing, “The leftward-leaners
were more likely to focus on Hay as a
uniquely gullible or lust-addled individual
and to draw strictly personal lessons from
his disastrous arc ... The rightward-
leaners, on the other hand, read the story
politically, as a vivid allegory for the rela-
tionship between the old liberalism and
the new—between a well-meaning liberal
establishment that’s desperate to act en-
lightened and a woke progressivism that
ruthlessly exploits the establishment’s
ideological subservience.” Douthat’s ar-
gument for tempering polarization was
promoted by none other than Barack
Obama, who called it “a worthwhile Sun-
day read.”
TRANSMITTED
____ COPY DD AD PD EIC
1619FOB_comments_lay [Print]_35541574.indd 6 8/1/19 4:40 PM
6 newyork| august5–18, 2019
[email protected].
Orgotonymag.comtorespondtoindividualstories.
36 Photograph by Jeff Brown
March 7, 2015, Harvard Law professor Bruce Hay, then 52, was in Tags havebeena quickSaturdaymorningerrandt was just to buy picture hookssupposed to On^
Hardware in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near his home, when a young woman with long reddishcould find batteries It was still very much winter, and, once the woman brown hair approached him to ask where she
got his attention, he saw that underneath her dark woolen coat and perfectly tied scartypical weekendf she was wearing a dress and a chic pair of bootserrand attire in the New England college town When hehardly
directed her to another part of the store, she changed the subjectway, you’re very attractive,” he remembers her saying “By the
The Most
Gullible Man
in Cambridge
professor who teaches A Harvard Law
wouldn’t seem like an a class on judgment
obvious mark, would he? By Kera Bolonik
Lyme MWhy Neets Identityew TelevisionsPoliticsAreTerribleFischerByMollyp 16/TheEbiriByBilgep 64Professor/TheLookandBookthePaternityGoesSurTrapfingp 49BolonikByKerap 36 outsin Cambridgede his homeBruce Hay
July 22August 4 019
®
JeffreyThehighsocietEpstein’sy thatsurroundedthePeoplesexoffender
Comments
1 NewYork’s latestcoverstory—“Who
WasJeffreyEpsteinCalling?”(July
22–August 4)—tooka detailedlookat the
celebrities,CEOs,andpresidentswhoor-
bitedthesexoffender.Manyreaderswere
furiousattheelite’s perceivedcomplicity in
Epstein’s crimes,with@AndBrentcalling
thereport an“infuriatingrundownofthe
gildedclass’sinsidiousconnections.”Eliza-
bethBruenigwrote,“Thisisthekindof
wide-branchingscandalsomebodywould
inventtofomentclassrage,anditcomes
ata momentwhenclasspoliticsiscloser
tothesurfaceofAmericandiscoursethan
ithasbeenina while.”Many notedthe
relationshipsbetweenEpsteinandother
prominentmenwhohavebeenaccusedof
sexualmisconduct, includingWoodyAllen
andCharlieRose:@CStrait2tweeted,
“Let’shopethislaystorestany hopesfor
CharlieRosetostagea comeback.” Bette
Midlerwrote,“Youmay needoxygenwhen
you’re donereading.”
2 MollyFischerchartedLymedisease’s
developmentfroma tick-borneillness
toa full-fledgedmovement(“MaybeIt’s
Lyme,”July22–August 4 ). MattZeitlin
wrote,“TheconflictbetweenchronicLyme
awarenessandadvocacy andthehuge ad-
vanceswe’vemadeinrecognizingthereal-
ityandlegitimacy ofmentalillnessis fasci-
nating.” PorochistaKhakpour, whose
struggle withLyme wasdiscussedin
Fischer’s story,tweetedthat she“wish[es]
therewouldbeamoratoriumonLyme
pieces l the ldfig
peopl Ly ease
andri ed.” Mu
mother,Polly,wasinstrumentalinbring-
ingLymediseasetopublicconsciousness,
wrote,“Ihada classiccaseofLymethat
wentuntreatedforabout14 yearsanddid
notnoticeanychange tosymptomswith
anextendedcourseofIVandantibioticsby
mouth.WhileI didwonderforyearsif
I neededmoretreatment,I eventuallyjust
letit go. I amnowanemergencyphysician
inanareawitha highprevalenceoftick-
borneillness,andatthistimeofyearwe
seecasesofLymeona dailybasisandre-
movea lotofticksfromunderstandably
anxiousmembersofthecommunity. But
I havealsoseenpeoplewhoare clearlysuf-
feringfrompsychiatricdistresswithcom-
plaintsofchronicLyme.Thisarticleaccu-
ratelyportraysthat segmentofpatients.
Thecircularlogic, treatmentwithoutany
endpoint,anduseoftherapiesthathave
notbeenestablishedtobebeneficialare
disturbingtomeasa clinician.Thesepa-
tientsandthosewhotreatthemareno
longerintherealmofmedicalscience.”
3 In “The Most Gullible Man in Cam-
bridge” (July 22–August 4), Kera
Bolonik unspooled the tale of how Bruce
Hay, a Harvard Law professor, nearly lost
his job and his home after a woman con-
vinced him he’d fathered her child. The
article elicited a wide variety of responses,
from pity for Hay (@dearsarah tweeted,
“Lordy, this is harrowing & heartbreak-
ing”) to concern for his partner (“The line
between Hay’s victimhood and his be-
trayal of his family is blurry,” wrote
@ Heide Jaklin). @meghan_koushik
friends, the next time
r grades or dearth of
mber Bruce Hay was
smart enough to clerk on SCOTUS yet
not smart enough to get conned out of
his whole home and worldly assets by
grifters.” But @WorthlessProf was more
sympathetic: “Sure, the entrapment ap-
proach didn’t seem particularly skillful,
but he was also lonely and depressed. You
know what lonely and depressed people
often do?! Things they later regret.”
@ SentinelJust added, “When I did fraud
work, most of the victims were well-
educated folks who were ashamed to ad-
mit that they were taken in in spite of
their intellect.” The story ricocheted
around right-leaning news outlets. In the
Washington Examiner, Madeline Fry
wrote, “In one sense, Hay’s story has no
moral; it’s a T. S. Eliot–esque tragedy about
a lonely man grappling with modernity. In
another, it’s a deeply political cautionary
tale about what happens when political
correctness overtakes common sense.” The
New York Times’ Ross Douthat devoted a
column to the bifurcated reaction the story
provoked, writing, “The leftward-leaners
were more likely to focus on Hay as a
uniquely gullible or lust-addled individual
and to draw strictly personal lessons from
his disastrous arc ... The rightward-
leaners, on the other hand, read the story
politically, as a vivid allegory for the rela-
tionship between the old liberalism and
the new—between a well-meaning liberal
establishment that’s desperate to act en-
lightened and a woke progressivism that
ruthlessly exploits the establishment’s
ideological subservience.” Douthat’s ar-
gument for tempering polarization was
promoted by none other than Barack
Obama, who called it “a worthwhile Sun-
day read.”