How do you watch luge in the shadow of nuclear apocalypse?
FOUR YEARS AGO, my then-five-months-pregnant wife, in the family room of the new home we had just poured much of our life savings into buying, changed the diaper of a screaming toddler and watched a man on television tell her that her husband, half the planet away, was probably about to get blown up.
The Texas Republican House representative Michael McCaul, merely the Homeland Security Committee chairman, was talking about Sochi, Russia, where I, along with thousands of other journalists, was covering the 2014 Winter Olympics. “I’ve never seen a greater threat, certainly in my lifetime,” he said on Fox News Sunday. “I think there’s a high degree of probability that something will detonate, something will go off, but I do think it’s probably most likely to happen outside of the ring of steel”—the protective perimeter Putin had promised to thwart any terrorism. I remember getting a text from my wife as I was taking a bus home from a ski-jumping event. “Are you in the ring of steel right now?” it said. “Just left!” I texted. She fired back: “Well get back in! You’re gonna blow up!”
This story is from the January 8–21, 2018 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 8–21, 2018 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Our Campus.Our Crisis.
Inside the encampments and crackdowns that shook American politics.
Middle Management
A 40-something woman undergoes asexual awakening in Miranda July’s thrilling new work.
Return to Guantánamo
Serial dusts off American terror's old machinery.
Chekhov, Misfiring
An Uncle Vanya that’s all talk.
The Art World's Pot Stirrer Returns
Maurizio Cattelan’s first solo gallery show in more than 20 years is a provocative commentary on America’s ills.
On Normani's Time
Five years into her solo career, the pop star's debut album is finally imminent. She's not sorry for the wait.
French Quarter Seafood in Fort Greene
Lots of oysters and fillets of fish inspired by Nobu at Strange Delight.
Where Does the Wine Bar End and the Restaurant Begin?
Pét-nats, pan roasts, and a lobster on the loose at Penny and Demo.
Trial-and-Error Arcadia
Kitty Hawks and Larry Lederman's Chappaqua gardens have been a three-decade-long journey.
The Trash and Treasures of Temu
How are these headphones 4.98? And everything else you've wondered about the chaotic new Everything Store.