The New York Times Magazine - USA (2020-08-23)

Copyright © 2020 The New York Times 3

Photograph by Daniele Volpe for The New York Times

August 23, 2020

7 Screenland Dead Wrong By Mattathias Schwartz / 12 The Ethicist The Plasma Plea By Kwame Anthony Appiah / 14 Studies Show Tested By Kim Tingley /

18 Letter of Recommendation Mountain Time By Kyle Paoletta / 20 Eat Sabudana Khichdi By Samin Nosrat

4 Contributors / 5 The Thread / 10 Poem / 12 Judge John Hodgman / 19 Tip / 48, 49, 50 Puzzles / 49 Puzzle Answers

Left: A framed image of Roberto

Primero Luis, whose friends called

him Rokuzzo, that is displayed in

his parents’ home in Guatemala.

He vanished during a long trek

to the United States. Page 28.

Behind the Cover Jake Silverstein, editor in chief: In this week’s cover story, James Verini examines the way that U.S. immigration policy has increasingly diverted

migrants to the vast and unforgiving environment of southern Arizona, where slightly less than half of all migrant deaths occur. Most of those fatalities happen in the

Sonoran Desert, where the cover photograph was taken. Th e image conveys the frightening vastness that individuals face when trying to make their way to the United States.

Photograph by Kevin Cooley for Th e New York Times.

22 Bite Club

By William Brennan / A father-son

dental practice has found a rabid

following online — especially

among incels — by claiming that

the orthodontic establishment

is lying about basically everything.

28 Death in the Desert

By James Verini / U.S. immigration

policy and the evolution of

the smuggling economy have

turned the Sonoran Desert

into a graveyard for migrants.

36 The Chaos Agents

By Leah Sottile / It started

as an internet meme.

Then waves of political unrest

gave adherents of the

Boogaloo a chance to test

their theories about the

collapse of American society —

with violent results.