Editing for Lisa Lerer and 'The Daily,' a Gray’s Papaya Adventure, and Seeing 'All My Sons'

Wow, I did some pretty prestigious editing today. As in, Lisa Lerer’s “On Politics” newsletter and content for “The Daily.”

Those were some of the most well known of the dozen or so stories I worked through today, but one of my favorites was a Retro Indy-style piece by Jeff Giles, the deputy managing editor of Entertainment Weekly, about a New York beach.

Side note: I’m constantly looking up the editors and reporters who message me on Slack to see what they look like in real life. This is actually fascinating.

I also worked on a few Wordplay columns about the how the Times crossword puzzles are put together. Those are fun because I always come away spewing random linguistic knowledge.

And, of course, the big news today was that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is leaving the White House. It was neat to be in the middle of the newsroom when Trump tweeted the news out, and to see the reactions and coverage plan unfold in real time.

OK, NYC-exploring time: Today’s food adventure took me to Gray’s Papaya, which is mere feet from the Times building.

Of course I had to try one of the 24-hour chain’s famously inexpensive, high-quality hot dogs — I went the onions, sauerkraut, and relish route.

But I was underwhelmed, and I’m confused why they’re considered the best hot dogs in New York City. I’ve had better stadium hot dogs, and my bun was slightly hard. I mean, the dog was cheap, but still, these things have a reputation to uphold! I can’t understand the cult following.

After work, I had a fun evening seeing the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” at the American Airlines Theatre. I snagged a student rush ticket half an hour before curtain in the mezzanine (balcony).

Fortunately, the theater is pretty small (it seats 740 people), so there aren’t any bad seats. The setup reminds me of the IRT in Indianapolis.

Annette Bening gets top billing, but the standouts for me were Tracy Letts as Joe Keller and Hampton Fluker as George Deever. Plot-wise, the play is like a sandwich: The first act can be pretty slow as it executes the setup for the explosive second act, which becomes a whirlwind after George’s arrival.

There’s an intermission between the first and second acts, and a short pause before the third. So, basically: First act=bread; second=mountain of juicy, delicious pastrami, piled high; third=more bread. No idea why this play is making me think in terms of sandwiches.

Quick overview if you haven't seen or read the play: “All My Sons” is set in an Ohio backyard after World War II, and tells the story of an airplane parts manufacturer (Joe Keller) who shipped out parts he knew were defective, which then led to the deaths of 21 pilots in missions over Australia. Keller blamed one of his employees for making the decision to ship the parts, and thus escaped jail time. But now the daughter of the guy he imprisoned wants to marry his son. Uh-oh.

I knew the gunshot was coming, but I still jumped about three feet out of my seat. It was the loudest, most jarring shot I’ve heard in any show to date.

This was a quality production, but it didn’t blow my mind or make me immediately clamor for a return visit. But it was definitely worth seeing.

It’s supposed to dump rain in NYC next week, so it looks like I’ll be seeking out some indoor adventures (hello, all the museums!!).