Since 2012, California has been suffering through a historically severe drought. For the farmers of the Central Valley, which is, as Dana Goodyear writes in this week's issue, “the country’s fruit basket, salad bowl, and dairy case,” the future seems especially bleak. Wells have gone dry, orchards have been left to perish, and those who came to California to work the fields stand idle. Photographers Matt Black and Ed Kashi recently spent time with the farmers and shepherds of the Central Valley, documenting their ongoing struggles. Some of Black’s photographs are also featured in this week’s issue.
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Death Valley Postcard
The Death Valley Lake That’s Gone in a Flash
Lake Manly forms in Badwater Basin only after especially heavy rains. Paddlers grab their paddles and go.
By Meg Bernhard
The Political Scene Podcast
After the World Central Kitchen Attack, How Far Will Biden Shift on Israel?
“There is a degree to which Biden has looked around and realized,” Evan Osnos says, “that he had to catch up to where the country was.”