How are your nerves? Just under three weeks remain until what could be the most consequential US presidential vote in history. The polls are pointing to an election balanced on a knife-edge, with the outcome on 5 November likely to boil down to the tiniest of voting margins in a handful of key swing states.
The Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is running for the White House in competition with a Republican rival, Donald Trump, about whom little mystery remains. The polls also suggest, though, that Harris – despite four years as Joe Biden’s vice-president – still has a story to tell to voters. One reason for that could be because opening up about herself seems to cut sharply against her instincts.
Does she still have time to swing the narrative in her favour? As she embarked on an intensive spell of blitzing the national media last week, the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief David Smith joined Harris for a rare and insightful glimpse into life on the campaign trail.
Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home address
***
Five essential reads in this week’s edition
1
Spotlight | How the Kremlin is trying to hijack an EU referendum
Pjotr Sauer visits Chișinău to find out how Russia has been plotting to use dirty money to influence the outcome of Moldova’s forthcoming vote on European Union membership
2
Sport | Checking in with Magnus Carlsen
The king of chess was in London to take part in the game’s new global league. Chief sports reporter Sean Ingle caught up with him
3
Feature | Hanif Kureishi, after the fall
He was known for taboo-busting, transgressive stories about identity, sexuality and belonging. Then Hanif Kureishi broke his neck. Despite a life-changing injury, he’s still every bit as provocative, finds Simon Hattenstone
4
Opinion | Hurricanes exist in our world. But in Elon Musk’s version, who can say?
Climate crisis-fuelled weather catastrophes have done nothing to dampen the fervour of America’s reality-denying rightwingers, argues Marina Hyde
5
Culture | Nordic blue, the hit fiction genre mixing noir with knitting
Nordic correspondent Miranda Bryant grabs her needles and ventures deep into Iceland to meet one of the prime suspects behind a distinctly Scandi new strand of literature
***
What else we’ve been reading
Documentary photographer Owen Harvey’s picture essay on escaramuza – a highly skilled and intricate all-female sport inspired by the Mexican revolution – beautifully captures the colour, movement and joy of the tradition.
Clare Horton, Assistant editor
***
Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | What Milton and Helene reveal about the future of hurricanes – podcast
• Video | The hunt for Europe’s great white shark
• Gallery | Pipe dreams: Pau Buscató’s surreal streets
***
Get in touch
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email weekly.letters@theguardian.com. For anything else, it’s editorial.feedback@theguardian.com
***
Follow us
• X
Get the Guardian Weekly magazine delivered to your home address
