In this week’s issue, Ben McGrath writes about the New York/New Jersey Comets, one of the metro area’s newest professional sports teams. The Comets are one of four teams in National Pro Fastpitch, a women’s professional softball league, and while their début season hasn’t always been marked by success on the field, the players bring a real sense of purpose to their daily rituals on the diamond. Brittany McKinney, a Comets catcher, notes, “We’re role models for the younger girls who want to go pro; doing what we do on the field is just so much bigger than ourselves.”
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Our Local Correspondents
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
By Adam Iscoe
The New Yorker Interview
Jonathan Haidt Wants You to Take Away Your Kid’s Phone
The social psychologist discusses the “great rewiring” of children’s brains, why social-media companies are to blame, and how to reverse course.
By David Remnick
Pop Music
The Tortured Poetry of Taylor Swift’s New Album
“The Tortured Poets Department” has moments of tenderness. But it suffers from being too long and too familiar.
By Amanda Petrusich
Dept. of Medicine
How to Die in Good Health
The average American celebrates just one healthy birthday after the age of sixty-five. Peter Attia argues that it doesn’t have to be this way.
By Dhruv Khullar