Harper’s Magazine

[Essay] Why Are We in Ukraine?

On the dangers of American hubris

by Benjamin Schwarz, Christopher Layne,

Current Issue June 2023

[Letter from Utah] Take the Medicine to the White Man

A “Native American Church” without Native Americans

by Sierra Crane Murdoch,

[Letter from South Africa] Lions and Daughters

The underrated art of not getting gored

by Nancy Lemann,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Democrats who consider China an enemy of the United States : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Of Republicans who do : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who believe that China poses a greater threat to national security than Russia : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe that China and Russia pose equally great threats : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Number by which the U.S. Army fell short of its active-duty recruitment goals last year : 15,000

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the rate of China’s GDP growth exceeded that of the United States between 2020 and 2022 : 1.6

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who say there is too little government spending on education : 65

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of U.S. adults caring for an aging friend or family member has increased since 1989 : 6

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum monthly amount by which federal funding for food per household will decrease this year : $95

[Harper’s Index]

Amount the CEO of Domino’s personally spent on pizza last year : $7,322

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of the average U.S. household’s total at-home food spending this represents : 139

[Harper’s Index]

Chances an American has worried about his or her financial security in the past week : 3 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2020 in the amount of work employees are doing outside of the nine-to-five workday : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. hiring managers who report leaving job postings up for more than two months : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of online job postings that are for positions that have already been filled : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the cost of homeownership has increased since 2020 : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2000 in the cost of household fuel and utilities in the average U.S. city : 137

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in U.S. shortages of antibiotics : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of people in the United States currently on waiting lists for organ transplants : 104,000

[Harper’s Index]

Number of organs that have been discarded since 2013 : 59,255

[Harper’s Index]

Chance an American has not filled a medication prescription because of its cost : 1 in 3

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of states that have passed laws since the start of the pandemic limiting public health powers : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2008 in the value of assets held by financial institutions without banking licenses : 141

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults who own at least one AR-15 : 1/20

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which more children are shot in domestic violence incidents than in school shootings : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. five-year-olds who do not live to the age of forty : 1/25

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which remote-working women are more likely than other working women to plan to have children : 22

[Harper’s Index]

By which they are more likely to plan to marry in the next year : 40

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. fathers who took on more childcare obligations during pandemic lockdowns : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those who continued to do so after lockdowns ended : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which U.S. fourth graders are projected to catch up to pre-pandemic math performance levels : 2036

[Harper’s Index]

In which U.S. eighth graders are projected to catch up to pre-pandemic math performance levels : 2050

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2012 in the number of times per week that high school seniors go out with friends : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of college students who report having used TikTok for help studying : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those students who report learning more on TikTok than they do in class : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes per day users spend on TikTok : 93

[Harper’s Index]

Average age at which brain transmission speed plateaus : 35

Weekly Review

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Nancy Lemann

There and back: the author of Lives of the Saints discusses her career, religion, and influences

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Monday Gallery

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“Sienne,” 1979, a photograph by Hervé Guibert whose work is on view as part of the exhibition Love Songs: Photography and Intimacy through September 11 at the International Center of Photography, in New York City.

“Untitled (Garvey Day, Deedee in Car),” circa 1965, a photograph by Kwame Brathwaite, whose work is on view through July 24 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Initiation, a painting by Kyle Dunn, whose work is on view through May 13 at PPOW Gallery, in New York City.

Courtesy Kyle Dunn and PPOW Gallery, New York City

Portion of Democrats who consider China an enemy of the United States : 1/3

Of Republicans who do : 3/5

Percentage of Americans who believe that China poses a greater threat to national security than Russia : 24

Who believe that China and Russia pose equally great threats : 43

Number by which the U.S. Army fell short of its active-duty recruitment goals last year : 15,000

Factor by which the rate of China’s GDP growth exceeded that of the United States between 2020 and 2022 : 1.6

Percentage of U.S. adults who say there is too little government spending on education : 65

On health care : 63

On infrastructure : 62

Who say there is too much government spending overall : 60

Factor by which the number of U.S. adults caring for an aging friend or family member has increased since 1989 : 6

Minimum monthly amount by which federal funding for food per household will decrease this year : $95

Amount the CEO of Domino’s personally spent on pizza last year : $7,322

Percentage of the average U.S. household’s total at-home food spending this represents : 139

Chances an American has worried about his or her financial security in the past week : 3 in 5

Percentage increase since 2020 in the amount of work employees are doing outside of the nine-to-five workday : 28

Portion of U.S. hiring managers who report leaving job postings up for more than two months : 2/5

Portion of online job postings that are for positions that have already been filled : 2/5

Percentage by which the cost of homeownership has increased since 2020 : 71

Percentage increase since 2000 in the cost of household fuel and utilities in the average U.S. city : 137

Percentage increase last year in U.S. shortages of antibiotics : 42

Minimum number of people in the United States currently on waiting lists for organ transplants : 104,000

Number of organs that have been discarded since 2013 : 59,255

Chance an American has not filled a medication prescription because of its cost : 1 in 3

Minimum number of states that have passed laws since the start of the pandemic limiting public health powers : 25

Percentage increase since 2008 in the value of assets held by financial institutions without banking licenses : 141

Portion of U.S. adults who own at least one AR-15 : 1/20

Factor by which more children are shot in domestic violence incidents than in school shootings : 3

Portion of U.S. five-year-olds who do not live to the age of forty : 1/25

Percentage by which remote-working women are more likely than other working women to plan to have children : 22

By which they are more likely to plan to marry in the next year : 40

Portion of U.S. fathers who took on more childcare obligations during pandemic lockdowns : 1/3

Portion of those who continued to do so after lockdowns ended : 1/5

Year in which U.S. fourth graders are projected to catch up to pre-pandemic math performance levels : 2036

In which U.S. eighth graders are projected to catch up to pre-pandemic math performance levels : 2050

Percentage decrease since 2012 in the number of times per week that high school seniors go out with friends : 25

Portion of college students who report having used TikTok for help studying : 1/2

Portion of those students who report learning more on TikTok than they do in class : 1/2

Average number of minutes per day users spend on TikTok : 93

Average age at which brain transmission speed plateaus : 35

June 6, 2023

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Seeing Through Maps

An Anthropologist of Filth

Findings

Past Issues

Harper’s Finest

From the Archive

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SARS was found in tears.

A psycholinguistic analysis of posts on Twitter and Weibo during COVID-19 lockdowns found that residents of Lombardy grew increasingly focused on leisure and residents of Wuhan grew increasingly focused on religion.

Convalescent plasma helps Syrian hamsters fight SARS-CoV-2.

Falling levels of tourist trash during pandemic lockdowns was found to have caused rat infighting, and macaques were reported to have attacked a lab assistant in Delhi and stolen vials of COVID-­19-­infected blood, which at least one monkey then tried to eat.

The World Health Organization warned that SARS will probably return this winter.

Falling levels of tourist trash during pandemic lockdowns was found to have caused rat infighting, and macaques were reported to have attacked a lab assistant in Delhi and stolen vials of COVID-19-infected blood, which at least one monkey then tried to eat.