The New York Times Magazine: Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age

Being overweight in a culture that likes to pretend it only cares about health, not size. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, August 4, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( ‘‘By the time Oprah announced that she was signing on with Weight Watchers, I was celebrating my 25th anniversary of my first diet,’’ writes Taffy Brodesser-Akner in this week’s cover story about [dieting in the post-diet age.]( Brodesser-Akner tracks the company from its tough-love beginnings to its current rebranding as a lifestyle, now that weight loss has landed on the wrong side of political correctness. Brodesser-Akner writes movingly about her own personal and complicated experiences and even Oprah, Weight Watchers’ new spiritual leader, confesses to Brodesser-Akner she found that she couldn’t just ‘‘accept myself as I am’’ in a health-obsessed society that also proclaims it wrong to shame anyone, let alone yourself, for being fat. Elsewhere in the magazine, Kim Tingley writes about [NASA’s Voyager probes]( as their mission is winding down, along with the careers of the devoted and aging engineers who steer them across the universe. Emily Bazelon reports on the case of Noura Jackson, who spent nine years in jail until [evidence withheld by prosecutors was revealed]( and the larger problem of prosecutors and trial practices that have sent innocent people to prison. Happy reading, Jake Silverstein Editor in Chief Photo Illustration by Todd McLellan [Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age]( By TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER The agonies of being overweight — or running a diet company — in a culture that likes to pretend it only cares about health, not size. [Larry Zottarelli, who recently retired from the Voyager flight crew.]( Graeme Mitchell for The New York Times [The Loyal Engineers Steering NASA’s Voyager Probes Across the Universe]( By KIM TINGLEY As the Voyager mission is winding down, so, too, are the careers of the aging explorers who expanded our sense of home in the galaxy. [Noura Jackson]( Harris Mizrahi for The New York Times [She Was Convicted of Killing Her Mother. Prosecutors Withheld the Evidence That Would Have Freed Her.]( By EMILY BAZELON By the time Noura Jackson’s conviction was overturned, she had spent nine years in prison. This type of prosecutorial error is almost never punished. [He Thought He Had Caught His Co-Worker’s Stomach Bug. Why Were His Symptoms So Different?]( By LISA SANDERS, M.D. Instead of intense pain and diarrhea, he just felt a little sore and developed a blazing fever. [Can I Keep a Baby My Boyfriend Doesn’t Want?]( By KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on staying pregnant against a boyfriend’s wishes and whether a rape survivor can do research on sexual violence. ADVERTISEMENT Illustration by Jon Han [If SoundCloud Disappears, What Happens to Its Music Culture?]( By JENNA WORTHAM The platform offered a public space with monetization as an afterthought. Now it could simply be deleted. Photo illustration by Derek Brahney [What Does It Take to ‘Assimilate’ in America?]( By LAILA LALAMI Americans often worry whether newcomers will adapt to our way of life. But we’ve never quite decided just what it is we demand of them. Photo illustration by Mike McQuade [Letter of Recommendation: Ghosting]( By MAYA BINYAM A seed of indifference that leads to a disappearing act. [For the New Far Right, YouTube Has Become the New Talk Radio]( By JOHN HERRMAN The video platform now plays host to a thriving community of hard-right commentators and their fans — all with little rejoinder from the other side. [Why You Should Burn Your Vegetables]( By SAM SIFTON For this Mexican-style slaw, use the power of fire and smoke. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Twitter] [@nytmag]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's The New York Times Magazine newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018