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[Essay] The Painted Protest

How politics destroyed contemporary art

by Dean Kissick,

Current Issue December 2024

[Folio] In the Rockets’ Red Glare

The past and future of hot-rodding in America

by Rachel Kushner,

[Letter from Connecticut] After the Deluge

A small town faces down climate disaster

by Gary Greenberg,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who have ever evacuated their homes because of severe weather : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they could definitely afford to stay elsewhere if they had to evacuate : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Number of countries whose carbon emissions exceeded those caused by Canada’s wildfires last year : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of emergency calls to U.S. fire departments that were about an actual fire in 1980 : 28

[Harper’s Index]

In 2023 : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of Florida police officers who have been fired by another Florida police department : 1,100

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say that it is safe to walk alone at night in their neighborhood : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Of Salvadorans : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who are very confident that the food in grocery stores is safe to eat : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2020 in the number of food recalls in the United States : 20

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who stockpile nonperishable foods : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Who would stockpile even more if they had space : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. public school teachers in 2018 who said that the stress and disappointment of their jobs were “worth it” : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Who say so today : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Goldman Sachs junior analysts and associates who work more than 90 hours per week : 63

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of hours that they slept per night last year : 4.9

[Harper’s Index]

Average score, on a 1–10 scale, that they gave their physical health before starting at Goldman Sachs : 8.1

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an actively managed investment fund outperformed the S&P 500 last year : 1 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum portion of the S&P 500’s market cap accounted for by companies currently under federal antitrust investigation : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Average amount that white American women are paid for selling their eggs to fertility clinics : $11,000

[Harper’s Index]

That black American women are paid : $7,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which legislation proposed by a U.S. governor in a major speech is more likely to pass if the governor is a woman : 20

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of deaths that antibiotic resistance is projected to cause globally by 2050 : 39,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of deaths by euthanasia in the Netherlands last year : 9,068

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of all deaths in the Netherlands that this represented : 1/20

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2002 in the alcohol consumption of the average person in Ireland : –30

[Harper’s Index]

Of the average American : +14

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount stored on unused gift cards in the United States : $27,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of Americans who want to receive books for the holidays : −13

[Harper’s Index]

Who want to receive personal-care and beauty products : +25

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of breast-augmentation surgeries performed in United States : 6

[Harper’s Index]

In the number of cosmetic breast-reduction surgeries : 64

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 18–27 who wish that Instagram had never been invented : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Amount spent by Meta last year on Mark Zuckerberg’s personal security : $23,400,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American women who say they would probably or definitely clone themselves if given the opportunity : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Of American men : 1/4

Weekly Review

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Harper’s Art Desk

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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

“Plate VII, 2024” a photograph by Lia Darjes, whose book Plates I–XXXI was published in June by Chose Commune. © The artist and Chose Commune

The Writing Garden, a painting by Mark Ryan Chariker, whose work is on view through December 21 at 1969 Gallery, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and 1969 Gallery, New York City

The Ship, a painting by Tracey Emin, from her book Tracey Emin: Paintings, which was published in October by Phaidon. © Tracey Emin. Courtesy Galleria Lorcan O’Neill Roma

In the News

Portion of Americans who have ever evacuated their homes because of severe weather : 1/5

Who say they could definitely afford to stay elsewhere if they had to evacuate : 1/3

Number of countries whose carbon emissions exceeded those caused by Canada’s wildfires last year : 3

Percentage of emergency calls to U.S. fire departments that were about an actual fire in 1980 : 28

In 2023 : 4

Estimated number of Florida police officers who have been fired by another Florida police department : 1,100

Percentage of Americans who say that it is safe to walk alone at night in their neighborhood : 72

Of Salvadorans : 88

Portion of Americans who are very confident that the food in grocery stores is safe to eat : 1/4

Percentage increase since 2020 in the number of food recalls in the United States : 20

Percentage of Americans who stockpile nonperishable foods : 55

Who would stockpile even more if they had space : 42

Percentage of U.S. public school teachers in 2018 who said that the stress and disappointment of their jobs were “worth it” : 72

Who say so today : 42

Percentage of Goldman Sachs junior analysts and associates who work more than 90 hours per week : 63

Average number of hours that they slept per night last year : 4.9

Average score, on a 1–10 scale, that they gave their physical health before starting at Goldman Sachs : 8.1

Average score they gave while working at the company : 4.2

Portion of U.S. households that owned mutual-fund shares in 1980 : 1/20

That owns mutual-fund shares today : 1/2

Chance that an actively managed investment fund outperformed the S&P 500 last year : 1 in 5

Minimum portion of the S&P 500’s market cap accounted for by companies currently under federal antitrust investigation : 1/3

Average amount that white American women are paid for selling their eggs to fertility clinics : $11,000

That black American women are paid : $7,000

Percentage by which legislation proposed by a U.S. governor in a major speech is more likely to pass if the governor is a woman : 20

Minimum number of deaths that antibiotic resistance is projected to cause globally by 2050 : 39,000,000

Minimum number of deaths by euthanasia in the Netherlands last year : 9,068

Portion of all deaths in the Netherlands that this represented : 1/20

Percentage change since 2002 in the alcohol consumption of the average person in Ireland : –30

Of the average American : +14

Estimated amount stored on unused gift cards in the United States : $27,000,000,000

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of Americans who want to receive books for the holidays : −13

Who want to receive personal-care and beauty products : +25

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of breast-augmentation surgeries performed in United States : 6

In the number of cosmetic breast-reduction surgeries : 64

Portion of Americans aged 18–27 who wish that Instagram had never been invented : 1/3

Amount spent by Meta last year on Mark Zuckerberg’s personal security : $23,400,000

Portion of American women who say they would probably or definitely clone themselves if given the opportunity : 1/10

Of American men : 1/4

December 10, 2024

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Completely Hazardous Experiments

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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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