Front Dispatches Culture & Critics Back
76
OMNIVORE
The Reigning Master
of Family Drama
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest
film, his first set outside of
Japan, showcases the great
director’s signature theme.
By Terrence Rafferty
78
A Sight
A poem by Billy Collins
80
BOOKS
Hilary Mantel Takes
Thomas Cromwell Down
As the author’s remarkable
trilogy ends, her epic hero’s
self-mastery is newly in doubt.
By Judith Shulevitz
84
BOOKS
The World’s Favorite Drug
The dark history of how coffee
took over
By Michael Pollan
88
ESSAY
Reiki Can’t Possibly
Work. So Why Does It?
What the ascendance of the
20th-century Japanese healing
therapy says about shifts in
thinking about health care
By Jordan Kisner
100
Ode to Fallibility
By James Parker
6
The Commons
Discussion & Debate
PHOTO
RENDERING
BY
PATRICK
WHITE
On the Cover
APRIL 2020
9
OPENING ARGUMENT
Capitalism’s Addiction
Problem
The biggest companies in the
digital economy are getting
their users hooked—and
undermining the pillars of
America’s market economy.
By Maya MacGuineas
14
SKETCH
Tight With a Dollar
Mitch Daniels has kept Pur-
due’s tuition under $10,
for seven straight years. How?
By Andrew Ferguson
17
MATERIAL WORLD
It’s All So ... Premiocre
A guide to the new age of
Potemkin luxury
By Amanda Mull
20
HUMAN NATURE
The Perks of Being
a Weirdo
How not fitting in can lead to
creative thinking
By Olga Khazan
24
VIEWFINDER
Fine Motor Skills
Photographs by
Christopher Payne
4 APRIL 2020