How a reality show hid the reality

The New Yorker is back bashing President Trump in what for it is a familiar refrain. The cover story is television critic Emily Nussbaum’s take on his presidency.

She makes the case “The Apprentice” reality show made Trump electable by turning the mean-spirited boss into a hero. No one criticized him on the show.

But now Trump is finding he can’t control the stunts or get the final edits in real life, and he is much less likable. Plausible theory. Looking across the pond, David Remnick’s weekly provides a 11-page profile of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, letting us know he is the UK’s most popular politician. Good subject, but the feature seems far too long and without a real point.

New York magazine’s cover story on Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s stormy relationship with President Trump offers new tantalizing details. The Morning Joe host first was an adviser to Trump, and then turned on him once he became president.

For the most part, New York takes Joe and Mika’s side though it does raise the possibility Scarborough, with his own presidential aspirations, may just be a phony.

New York takes Larry David’s 23-year-old daughter, Cazzie, who seems very much like her self-conscious dad, on her first subway ride in what is an entertaining journey.

Time’s cover story, “The Secret Plan to Stop Putin’s Election Plot,” details how Russian hackers in 2016 obtained the records of 90,000 Illinois voters and attempted to alter their voter registrations. Similar Russian hacks occurred in California, Arizona and Utah.

It’s a timely story and very topical considering the House Republicans are trying to de-fund the $8 million Congress provides annually to the Election Assistance Commission.

But an article on the making of the movie “Dunkirk,” a wheelhouse rave by the granddaddy mag, thumps along for eight pages. Our advice: See the movie instead.