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[Report] The Ghosts in the Machine

Spotify’s plot against musicians

by Liz Pelly,

Current Issue January 2025

[Letter from Kansas] The Forever Cure

Is civil commitment rehabilitating sex offenders—or punishing them?

by Jordan Michael Smith,

[Essay] Voices from the Dead Letter Office

On the epistolary life

by Cynthia Ozick,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say that the election was one of the most stressful events of 2024 : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that they didn’t care who won and “just wanted it to be over” : 3/10

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the average wait for the Senate to confirm a political appointee has increased since 1981 : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of positions requiring Senate confirmation that were vacant as of March 2024 : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Of such positions at the Department of Homeland Security : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of corporate spending in the 2024 election that came from the cryptocurrency industry : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who own cryptocurrency : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 1982 in the portion of profits that U.S. corporations spend on philanthropy : −37

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of Americans with a favorable opinion of Elon Musk : +25

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage change since 2022 in preorders of new iPhones : −27

[Harper’s Index]

In sales of flip phones : +76

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 18–30 on social media who describe themselves as influencers : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of self-described influencers who have never been paid for this work : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Israelis who say that social-media posts criticizing their government should be censored : 50

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that expressions of sympathy for civilians in Gaza should be : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Jewish U.S. college students who say that accusing Israel of human-rights violations is anti-Semitic : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which enrollment in the largest Jewish conversion program in the United States increased in the past year : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of scientists who stop publishing research within five years of their first paper : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Within ten years : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of academic articles on mathematics published last year that were partially written by AI : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Of academic articles on computer science : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of energy, in kilowatt-hours, that was used to discover a new prime number last year : 3,100,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of U.S. households this amount of energy could power for a year : 287,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of FEMA’s 2025 disaster-relief budget that was spent in the first eight days of the fiscal year : 48

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the rise in the average cost of day care in the United States outpaced the rate of inflation last year : 160

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American men who are interested in taking birth control : 4/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who would be willing to try birth control this year if it went on the market today : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Who would be willing to try it if it involved an invasive procedure : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated portion of global steel demand that the Saudi megacity Neom will account for by 2045 : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of workers who have died since 2016 constructing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 megaprojects : 21,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change over the past year in the portion of Americans who see Saudi Arabia as a U.S. ally : +73

[Harper’s Index]

Number of people executed in the United States between September 20 and 26 last year : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Most recent year in which this many Americans were executed in a single week : 2003

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of mental illness among the strongest demographic predictors of an American plotting an act of terrorism : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Rachel Cusk and Ben Lerner: Live in Conversation

Presented by Harper’s Magazine and the John Templeton Foundation.

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Harper’s Art Desk

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Faith As Small as a Mustard Seed, by Hopie Hill, whose work is on view through February 1 at Charles Moffett in New York City. Photo by Jeff McLane. Courtesy the artist, Jeff McLane, and Charles Moffett, New York City

“Bridesmaids, Brooklyn, NY,” a photograph by Kathy Shorr from her book Limousine, which was published in November by Lazy Dog Press. © The artist

A photograph by Jeff Dworksy from his monograph Sealskin, which was published last month by Charcoal Press. Courtesy the author and Charcoal Press

Desire Path, a painting by John Hee Taek Chae, whose work was on view last weekend with D. D. D. D. at NADA Art Fair, in Miami. Courtesy the artist and D. D. D. D., New York City and Singapore

“Off Maehama Beach, Wagu, 1980,” by Kusukazu Uraguchi, from his book Shima no Ama, which was published in July by Atelier EXB. © Kusukazu Uraguchi. Courtesy Atelier EXB

Knees, a painting by Henni Alftan, whose work is on view through January 11, 2025, at Karma, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Karma

In the News

Portion of Americans who say that the election was one of the most stressful events of 2024 : 3/5

Who say that they didn’t care who won and “just wanted it to be over” : 3/10

Factor by which the average wait for the Senate to confirm a political appointee has increased since 1981 : 4

Portion of positions requiring Senate confirmation that were vacant as of March 2024 : 1/5

Of such positions at the Department of Homeland Security : 1/3

Estimated percentage of corporate spending in the 2024 election that came from the cryptocurrency industry : 44

Percentage of Americans who own cryptocurrency : 7

Percentage change since 1982 in the portion of profits that U.S. corporations spend on philanthropy : −37

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of Americans with a favorable opinion of Elon Musk : +25

Estimated percentage change since 2022 in preorders of new iPhones : −27

In sales of flip phones : +76

Portion of Americans aged 18–30 on social media who describe themselves as influencers : 1/4

Portion of self-described influencers who have never been paid for this work : 1/2

Percentage of Israelis who say that social-media posts criticizing their government should be censored : 50

Who say that expressions of sympathy for civilians in Gaza should be : 59

Percentage of Jewish U.S. college students who say that accusing Israel of human-rights violations is anti-Semitic : 45

Factor by which enrollment in the largest Jewish conversion program in the United States increased in the past year : 3

Portion of scientists who stop publishing research within five years of their first paper : 1/3

Within ten years : 1/2

Estimated percentage of academic articles on mathematics published last year that were partially written by AI : 5

Of academic articles on computer science : 18

Estimated amount of energy, in kilowatt-hours, that was used to discover a new prime number last year : 3,100,000

Estimated number of U.S. households this amount of energy could power for a year : 287,000

Percentage of FEMA’s 2025 disaster-relief budget that was spent in the first eight days of the fiscal year : 48

Percentage by which the rise in the average cost of day care in the United States outpaced the rate of inflation last year : 160

Portion of American men who are interested in taking birth control : 4/5

Who would be willing to try birth control this year if it went on the market today : 1/2

Who would be willing to try it if it involved an invasive procedure : 1/10

Estimated portion of global steel demand that the Saudi megacity Neom will account for by 2045 : 1/5

Estimated number of workers who have died since 2016 constructing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 megaprojects : 21,000

Percentage change over the past year in the portion of Americans who see Saudi Arabia as a U.S. ally : +73

Number of people executed in the United States between September 20 and 26 last year : 5

Most recent year in which this many Americans were executed in a single week : 2003

Rank of mental illness among the strongest demographic predictors of an American plotting an act of terrorism : 2

Rank of serving in the military : 1

Portion of Americans who say they go to great lengths to avoid conflict : 7/10

Who believe that World War III is imminent : 4/5

Percentage change since 2013 in U.S. box-office revenue for comedy movies : −31

For horror movies : +70

December 24, 2024

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Heliopolis

Mother-Daughter Story

A Man Out of Time

Past Issues

Harper’s Finest

From the Archive

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Microplastics were found in sixty-two of sixty-two human placentas from a biobank in Texas.

Toxicity has remained a consistent feature of online interactions since 1989.

Humans are losing their ability to digest cellulose.

A metal scar on the surface of the white dwarf WD 0816-310 indicated that it has cannibalized other bodies in its orbit.

An orca acting alone killed a great white shark and ate its liver.

Genomic analysis indicated that psychedelic mushrooms emerged around the time of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic mass extinction.

The playing speed of a metal guitarist directly correlates with his intrasexual competitiveness but not his mating success.

Depression in humans is correlated with higher body temperature, and cold-water swimming mitigates menopause symptoms.

Researchers warned that, as temperatures rise, humans should prepare for more diarrhea.

Off the Five Finger Islands, a team of cetologists aboard the Glacier Seal conducted an extended conversation with a female humpback named Twain.

Astrophysicists argued that the development of advanced alien technology requires an atmosphere composed of at least 18 percent oxygen.

Onshore wind turbines severely deter German bats from foraging.

An AI that was fed the employment and health data of six million Danes turned out to be more accurate than existing sociological methods at predicting if a given person was about to die.

A mother is 4.6 percent more likely to give birth in the same month she was born, and adjacent siblings are 12.1 percent more likely to be born in the same month as one another.

Electric eel discharge transforms the DNA of zebrafish larvae.

True crabs independently evolved to live out of the ocean up to seventeen times.

The average American girl born in 2019 will take prescription drugs for more than half her life.

Scientists were not certain whether the globally synchronized waves observed in the brains of wakeful rats on ketamine or LSD were a cause or a symptom of hallucinations.

Geoscientists were confident that, given access to the oldest barnacles on the flaperon of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, they could help pinpoint its crash site.

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