Dear universe: Will this do it? Please let this be enough.
Sunday preview: The town hall–style debate has a shot at actually forcing the candidates to answer questions, because “normal” people just frame things better than news anchors do, Jim Newell writes. And the setting plays up all of Donald Trump’s disadvantages in style, Seth Stevenson argues. This should be interesting.
Not so smart: Dana Goldstein asks why Donald Trump is obsessed with “genius” and IQ—two concepts that are, at best, dubious measures of intellectual worth and, at worst, the sorting tools used to reinforce racism and classism.
Don’t make me do this: Danielle Ofri entertainingly bemoans the time she’s spending on the mostly useless charade that is doctor recertification.
SJP is back: In a new HBO show, Divorce, Sarah Jessica Parker tries to bury Sex and the City—to moderate success, Willa Paskin thinks.
For fun: The 82 funniest books by living writers, as chosen by their fellow funny living writers.
So much fun,
Rebecca
