From the Magazine: The A.C.L.U.'s War on Trump

The law v. the administration, a wolf scientist, Bhad Bhabie and more. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, July 6, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Can the A.C.L.U. Become the N.R.A. for the Left?]( By THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE [Joel Lovell writes about a suit filed on behalf of families separated at the border that was just the latest action against the administration by the civil liberties group.]( Joel Lovell writes about a suit filed on behalf of families separated at the border that was just the latest action against the administration by the civil liberties group. Katy Grannan for The New York Times Dear Reader, I hope you’ve had a good week and enjoyed the Fourth of July. Our cover story this week is [a portrait of the American Civil Liberties Union]( which, since its inception, has focused on protecting the very liberties enshrined in the United States Constitution. But since the election of President Trump, the A.C.L.U. has become a far more political organization. In the past year and a half, the A.C.L.U. has taken 170 “Trump-related legal actions,” the latest of which is a suit filed on behalf of families separated at the border. Joel Lovell embedded with the organization for months, and writes vividly about how it went from a collective of well-intentioned defenders of the Constitution to fighters mounting legal warfare against the administration. I also want to welcome the one and only Rita Dove as our new poetry editor. She replaces the incomparable Terrance Hayes, and in a brilliant move, selects one of his poems, “My Past and Future Assassin,” for her first column. “Hayes’s word plays, from homonyms to the transmogrification of Sturm und Drang into ‘storm and drum,’ are less linguistic jokes than wry descriptions of an Anglo-America that has taken the historical discourse of Western civilization to its own brash level,” Dove writes. There’s lots more to read from this week’s issue. I’ve noted some highlights below.  A gray wolf in northeastern Washington State. David Moskowitz [Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Scientist?]( No conservation issue in the West today is more polarizing than wolves. Christopher Solomon brings us the strange story of Rob Wielgus, a former researcher at Washington State University who ran afoul of powerful forces. The story starts with Wielgus’s lifting an untucked shirt to show Solomon the black handle of a .357 handgun poking from the front pocket of his jeans. “Too many death threats,” he said. “I never started carrying this till I started studying wolves.” Danielle Bregoli, a.k.a. Bhad Bhabie. Emily Shur for The New York Times [The Business of Being Bhad Bhabie]( Danielle Bregoli became an internet meme after her appearance on an episode of “Dr. Phil” titled “I Want to Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried to Frame Me for a Crime!” Her challenge to the audience “Cash me outside, howbowdah?” became a catchphrase that could have easily fizzled into obscurity like so many other moments of internet fascination. Instead, the Florida teenager was transformed into a rapper called Bhad Bhabie. Jamie Lauren Keiles provides a fascinating look into how modern stardom is manufactured. Recipes for Summer Something about a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce with bacon and blue cheese is deeply satisfying in a way that doesn’t need to be complicated. Sam Sifton brings us a recipe for a well-prepared [wedge salad]( that doesn’t need gussying. And Dorie Greenspan tries to capture a highlight of her holiday in Italy: [a lemony Roman breakfast cake.]( [What’s in a “National Mood”?]( We like to think of our feelings as unique to ourselves. Our various fears, hopes, perspectives, etc., are in many ways deeply personal. Some psychologists, however, see our individual moods as part of a dynamic system. Steven Hyden writes about the early measuring of our collective mood, starting with the correct prediction of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s election, as well as the modern barometers of our emotional contagions online. [The Art of Drawing ‘The Art of War’]( When C.C. Tsai decided to adapt Sunzi’s “The Art of War” into a more contemporary format more than 30 years ago, his ambition was to breathe new life into the 2,500-year-old text. His adaptation revitalized the millenniums-old treatise by trimming away the repetitive elements, tightening the narrative until the ancient lessons of warfare leapt off the page. But the defining element of Tsai’s work is the illustrations. His Disney-influenced style brings humor and immediacy to the text, with Sunzi himself popping into the story as both the wise and fearless commander of blank-eyed, childlike soldiers and the conniving nemesis to the enemy who tries to cross him. Tsai’s characters are drawn to entertain, whether you’re a comic-book enthusiast or a military strategist. In June, Princeton University Press released a new edition of Tsai’s adaptation, which Tsai spoke to us about, along with his own time in the military and what readers often misunderstand about “The Art of War.” Onward, Jake Silverstein Editor in Chief [E-Waste Offers an Economic Opportunity as Well as Toxicity]( By BROOK LARMER Can the world’s fastest growing trash stream help realize the utopian vision of a circular economy? [Thandie Newton Wants to See More Diversity in Sci-Fi]( Interview by AUDIE CORNISH The actress on “Westworld,” the “Star Wars” franchise and the Time’s Up movement. ADVERTISEMENT [What Do I Owe My Sociopathic Sibling?]( By KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH The magazine’s Ethicist columnist what is due a sibling with a criminal past, what to say to a prospective partner about a grave illness and more. [Letter of Recommendation: ‘The Totally Football Show With James Richardson’]( By GILES HARVEY Richardson is a soccer pundit-satirist whose charm lies in recognizing the inherent absurdity of what he does for a living. If you enjoy our newsletter forward this email to a friend and help the magazine grow. Getting this from a friend? [Sign up to get the magazine newsletter](. 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