The New York Times Magazine: Maya Rudolph, Cary Fukunaga, and Matthew Desmond on Poverty.

The New York Times Magazine: Maya Rudolph, Cary Fukunaga, Matthew Desmond on Poverty, and more. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, September 14, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [From the Magazine: Maya Rudolph, the Master of Impressions]( By THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE [Maya Rudolph on the cover for this week's issue.]( Maya Rudolph on the cover for this week's issue. Alex Prager for The New York Times. Painting by Vanessa Prager. Stylist: Rebecca Grice. Hair: Bobby Eliot. Makeup: Molly R. Stern. Dear Reader, I hope you’ve had a good week. This morning we published our cover story for this issue, [an intimate profile of Maya Rudolph]( the great actress, comedian and master of impressions. From a childhood in Gainesville, Fla., with famous parents, the soul soprano Minnie Riperton and the songwriter and producer Richard Rudolph, to comedy on “Saturday Night Live,” Rudolph has, over the years, become someone Americans love to love. Caity Weaver, a writer at large for the magazine, writes that Rudolph has always possessed a virtuosic talent for becoming other people: On “Saturday Night Live,” she played an ever-diversifying portfolio of esteemed, wealthy black women like Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Maya Angelou, and later she starred in the hit movie “Bridesmaids.” Now, after almost 20 years, her career appears to be entering a platinum era. In the process, “Rudolph has become a canvas — for herself, in her impressions, but more exceptionally, for others as well,” writes Weaver. It’s an attempt to look at someone who is impossible to pin down behind the fun-house reflections; [for the cover]( we wanted to capture this in a witty, [surreal portrait]( that makes one question what’s real and what’s fiction. There’s a lot more to enjoy in this issue, some of which I’ve highlighted below. Onward, Jake Silverstein Editor in chief [Jobs Are Not the Solution to Poverty]( We’re told the American economy is strong and unemployment is down. But according to Matthew Desmond, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for his book, “Evicted,” the question that really needs to be asked is, “What kinds of jobs are available to people without much education?” In this compelling feature, Desmond writes that for many Americans, jobs do not pay enough to live on, with workers being shut out of the profits they help to generate. We need to have a new language to talk about poverty: “Nobody in America should be poor, period.” [Director Cary Fukunaga Is Bringing His Obsessions to Netflix]( I watched and loved the entire first season of HBO’s metaphysical crime series, “True Detective.” If you, too, were a fan of the show, you might want to read about its director, Cary Fukunaga. The critic Willa Paskin writes how Fukunaga has managed to be at the forefront of a new directorial approach to TV, in which directors are intimately involved with every aspect of a series’s many episodes. In his next show, “Maniac,” coming to Netflix, Fukunaga continues bringing an auteur’s sensibility — and a fanatical attention to detail — to the small screen. [Daniel Mason’s Latest Novel, 14 years in the Making]( The 42-year-old physician Daniel Mason has been negotiating two worlds throughout his professional life: serving on a team of clinicians to treat people admitted for acute mental illnesses or crises, and writing fiction. Nearly two decades ago, at 26, he published his first novel, the international best seller and opera, “The Piano Tuner.” The contributing writer Wyatt Mason sat down with him late this spring to talk about his third novel, “The Winter Soldier,” arriving this month — his first to appear since he began practicing psychiatry. From the Archives: [‘Lost In The Storm’]( As another major hurricane approaches the United States, revisit Sheri Fink’s story on how flooding overwhelmed Houston’s emergency systems during Hurricane Harvey, and how one family found out they were on their own. Join us: ‘At War’ Events Join C. J. Chivers, a Times journalist and Marine Corps infantry veteran, and Lauren Katzenberg, editor of the Magazine's ‘At War’ special section, in [Washington]( [San Diego]( and [Colorado Springs]( for discussions among former Marines and artists — some who are both — about the creative lens on veterans, a generation into the war on terrorism. [Google Knows Where You’ve Been, but Does It Know Who You Are?]( By JOHN HERRMAN How looking at the location data that the company collects about you lets you see yourself in a whole new way. [Spoil Them a Little With Homemade French Fries]( By GABRIELLE HAMILTON For special occasions, or just because your kids are home with you. [John Kerry Says the World Is Worried About America]( Interview by AUDIE CORNISH The former politician on John McCain, the senatorial virtues of a military background and the absurdity of withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. [Traveling in Vietnam, His Leg Swelled Terribly. Had He Caught Something?]( By LISA SANDERS, M.D. It started with vomiting after a day of sightseeing and ended with edema that just wouldn’t go away. 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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