We are obsessed with motherhood, Jordan Kisner writes, and the qualities that turn a woman into a good mother — especially the willingness to put her child above anything else. Few things arouse as much anxiety in our culture as the specter of the “bad mother,” a woman who refuses to care for her children in the “right” way. Two of this spring’s most anticipated books explore what happens when a mother decides there are bigger things to worry about than her own children’s safety and comfort. In Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s memoir “Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young” and Harriet Clark’s novel “The Hill,” the children of Weather Underground activists parse the aftermath of childhoods under the care of radical mothers. Rather than condemning their mothers, Clark and Ayers Dohrn ask what we can all learn from women whose concerns extend beyond the narrow parameters of family life. Can we care for the world and our children at the same time? FEATURES THIS WEEK’S COVER
FROM THE ARCHIVES It’s One Octopus, David. What Could It Cost, $80?This week’s edition of The Interview is a wide-ranging conversation with Nicolas Cage, who David Marchese thinks is “a truly special artist and the most original actor since Marlon Brando.” As Marchese notes in his introduction, this isn’t the first time he’s talked to Cage for the magazine; he previously interviewed Cage in 2019. Here’s an excerpt: Did being a young man who was insecure about money color your attitude about buying things and what success looks like? You have good investments and bad investments. The good investments came from personal interest and my honest enjoyment of the history. For example, Action Comics No. 1: I bought that for $150,000. Then it was stolen. I got it back and sold it for $2 million. But that was a good thing to have, because I had an interest that was sincere. The funny thing is, my real estate buying spree was what the real problem was. It wasn’t these other things like shrunken heads that the media liked to talk about. Or that dinosaur skull? Or an octopus. What is an octopus, $80? You’re not going to go into dire straits buying an octopus. The dinosaur skull was an unfortunate thing, because I did spend $276,000 on that. I bought it at a legitimate auction and found out it was abducted from Mongolia illegally, and then I had to give it back. Of course it should be awarded to its country of origin. But who knew? Plus, I never got my money back. So that stank. But I went years where all I was doing was meditating three times a day and reading books on philosophy, not drinking whatsoever. That was the time when I almost went on — you might call it a grail quest. I started following mythology, and I was finding properties that aligned with that. It was almost like “National Treasure.” Of course, that didn’t sustain. On top of which, I said, “I’m going to get off philosophy,” because I became like a kite with a string but no anchor. No one could understand what I was talking about. And I thought people would rather see me as an orangutan than as an eagle meditating on the mountaintop anyway. Both interviews are well worth your time. COLUMNS
COMMENT OF THE WEEK Nock, Nock. Who’s There? The Legendary 17th Century Swordmaster Miyamoto Musashi.From Marla in Spokane on this week’s column from Sam Anderson on reading the book “As a Man Thinketh”: A guy at the archery range who is excellent at the bowhunter style recommended reading “The Book of Five Rings” as a way to become a better archer. I read it on an airplane and I am not a better archer, but I am now an archer who has read “The Book of Five Rings.” That’s all for this week. Email us at magazine@nytimes.com with your thoughts, questions and feedback. Stay in touch: Like this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.
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