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TRUMP’S LAST BEST HOPE

Cable-news pundits have been talking about whether President Trump will punish the new White House chief of staff John Kelly for being the subject of our Aug. 21 cover. “Remember when Steve Bannon was on the cover? He was in the doghouse for a while,” Gloria Borger said on CNN. (The image of Kelly reminded Madison, Wis., reader Tim Heinrich of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.) After reading Michael Duffy’s feature, John Bossard of San Francisco hoped Kelly would be here to stay, arguing that, given the threat posed by North Korea, he feels “much more at ease” with so many generals advising the President. Kurt Wolf of Sarasota, Fla., also “thoroughly loved” the profile, but preferred to see “Cancer’s Newest Miracle Cure” on the cover because he thinks the subject is more relatable.

RACISM IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Sarah Begley’s Aug. 7 report on English professor Philip Nel’s latest book about hidden and not-so-hidden racism in children’s literature sparked a lot of discussion. Bob Conklin of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., argued that today’s standards shouldn’t be used to judge books, but rather the standards of the time period in which they were published. Likewise Joyce Beckner, of Rushville, Ind., added that any politically incorrect parts of Little House on the Prairie are a reflection more of “ignorance than racism.” Donald Oas of Naples, N.Y., wrote, “I guess an adult can read anything into any book but a child I doubt.” For example, 14-year-old Madi Stapleton of Raleigh, N.C., disagreed with Nel’s argument that the Cat in the Hat’s outfit harked back to the minstrelsy, arguing that its top hat and gloves are merely “a clever way to more obviously show that the Cat is a tuxedo cat.”

CHARLOTTESVILLE

The true story behind this viral photo

The officer stands calmly with a group of white supremacists behind him. The image made at a KKK rally in Charlottesville, Va., went viral during the Aug. 12 unrest there. “This picture hurts,” one commenter tweeted. “Incredible,” wrote another, who prefaced the remark with a query: “Who took this photo?” As the retweets piled up, so did the doubts it was shot this month. In the blitz of breaking news, it became the latest image to be shared online without credit or context. So began a search for the backstory. Did the photographer know the power of her image? Was the officer aware he’d become an icon? Read the full story, and meet them both, at time.com/cville-photo

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