Browsing the headlines this week, I was worried this issue would be a letdown from last week. But I agree the Oscar Streaker piece in particular was great. Not exactly a "TV surprise" but the piece itself had the fascinating surprise of Opel's later role in the Harvey Milk saga.
Interesting that you chose Farewell Symphony over The First Composer. I really enjoyed the latter and had the time of dense details I love from a great New Yorker piece. The former didn't stand out to me, although I guess the link to Mahler made it a little more artful than your typical classical music review.
Was less of a fan of The Collaborators and Stopping the Violence which both felt like I knew where they were going by the headline and opening paragraph.
Yes I agree, the Milk stuff was surprising! To be honest, the pieces are always from most-to-least "worthy," not just randomly placed within their categories, and this week the First Composer was very nearly a Must-Read while the two you cite as letdowns, especially the MacGillis, are barely in the middle group. I agree they were both predictably structured on the macro level, although both had interesting details beat-by-beat.
Browsing the headlines this week, I was worried this issue would be a letdown from last week. But I agree the Oscar Streaker piece in particular was great. Not exactly a "TV surprise" but the piece itself had the fascinating surprise of Opel's later role in the Harvey Milk saga.
Interesting that you chose Farewell Symphony over The First Composer. I really enjoyed the latter and had the time of dense details I love from a great New Yorker piece. The former didn't stand out to me, although I guess the link to Mahler made it a little more artful than your typical classical music review.
Was less of a fan of The Collaborators and Stopping the Violence which both felt like I knew where they were going by the headline and opening paragraph.
Yes I agree, the Milk stuff was surprising! To be honest, the pieces are always from most-to-least "worthy," not just randomly placed within their categories, and this week the First Composer was very nearly a Must-Read while the two you cite as letdowns, especially the MacGillis, are barely in the middle group. I agree they were both predictably structured on the macro level, although both had interesting details beat-by-beat.