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[Essay] My Generation

Anthem for a forgotten cohort

by Justin E. H. Smith ,

Current Issue September 2023

[Prose] Man Called Fran

Plumbing, the depths

by John Jeremiah Sullivan ,

[Report] Waiting for the Lights

The life of an Iranian exile

by Amir Ahmadi Arian ,

[Harper’s Index]

Number of years by which the median American’s age has increased since 1980 : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2000 in the average global fertility rate : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans 65 and older who believe their life advice should be compiled into a book : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans 65 and older who have used a dating app : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who use social media every day : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which people who are frequently lonely are at greater risk of premature death : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Europeans report less engagement at work than Americans : 62

[Harper’s Index]

By which Europeans report less stress than Americans : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American adults who claim they have no secrets : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which those 65 and older are more likely than those under 30 to claim this : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Gen Z-ers who support the government installation of surveillance cameras in households to prevent crime : 3/10

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of children newly exposed to guns at home since the start of the pandemic : 3,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who apologize for something out of their control at least once a day : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which those who attend religious services weekly are more likely to do so : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage decrease this year in U.S. sales of engagement rings : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Of wedding dresses : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of physicians and surgeons who marry partners with the same profession : 19

[Harper’s Index]

Of lawyers who do : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Of janitors : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of firefighters who are married to registered nurses : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of Americans who donate their bodies to science each year : 11,045

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who die in a manner that allows for organ donation : 0.3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which women are more likely than men to be registered as organ donors : 22

[Harper’s Index]

By which Republicans are more likely than Democrats : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of patient advocacy groups that receive funding from pharmaceutical companies : 83

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of patient advocacy groups that have a pharmaceutical executive on their board : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Date on which the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the production and sale of lab-grown poultry : 6/21/23

[Harper’s Index]

Number of other countries worldwide that have approved the sale of lab-grown meat : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated value of the lab-grown meat industry in the United States : $247,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which full-service restaurants are operating with fewer hourly employees than in 2019 : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of consumers who say they are frustrated by the lack of staff : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who are comfortable with AI helping restaurants take orders : 60

[Harper’s Index]

With AI writing scripts for movies or TV shows : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Writing news articles : 34

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in net income at the largest U.S. entertainment companies since 2013 : −89

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Monday Gallery

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Nuestra Historia Series, a lithograph by Juana Estrada Hernández, whose work is on view as part of the exhibition New Voices: On Transformation through August 25 at Print Center New York.

Candidate, a painting by Henry Gunderson, whose work is on view as part of the exhibition Storage Wars through August 19, at The Hole, in Los Angeles.

A photograph by Jamel Shabazz, from his book Albums, which was published in March by Steidl and The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Cavalry, a collage with Japanese paper and watercolor on linen, by María Berrío, whose work is on view through August 6 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, in Boston.

Wali’s Farm, a painting by Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson, whose work is on view through August 25 at Derek Eller Gallery, in New York City.

Courtesy the artist and Derek Eller Gallery, New York City

Number of years by which the median American’s age has increased since 1980 : 9

Percentage decrease since 2000 in the average global fertility rate : 15

Percentage of Americans 65 and older who believe their life advice should be compiled into a book : 41

Portion of Americans 65 and older who have used a dating app : 1/4

Who use social media every day : 2/3

Percentage by which people who are frequently lonely are at greater risk of premature death : 60

Percentage by which Europeans report less engagement at work than Americans : 62

By which Europeans report less stress than Americans : 26

Percentage of American adults who claim they have no secrets : 11

Factor by which those 65 and older are more likely than those under 30 to claim this : 3

Portion of Gen Z-ers who support the government installation of surveillance cameras in households to prevent crime : 3/10

Percentage change since 1995 in support for the FBI among Republicans : −65

Among Democrats : +40

Portion of first-time U.S. gun buyers during the pandemic who were women : 1/2

Who were people of color : 1/2

Minimum number of children newly exposed to guns at home since the start of the pandemic : 3,000,000

Portion of Americans who apologize for something out of their control at least once a day : 1/4

Percentage by which those who attend religious services weekly are more likely to do so : 72

Estimated percentage decrease this year in U.S. sales of engagement rings : 9

Of wedding dresses : 4

Percentage of physicians and surgeons who marry partners with the same profession : 19

Of lawyers who do : 13

Of janitors : 8

Portion of firefighters who are married to registered nurses : 1/10

Minimum number of Americans who donate their bodies to science each year : 11,045

Percentage of Americans who die in a manner that allows for organ donation : 0.3

Percentage by which women are more likely than men to be registered as organ donors : 22

By which Republicans are more likely than Democrats : 24

Percentage of patient advocacy groups that receive funding from pharmaceutical companies : 83

Portion of patient advocacy groups that have a pharmaceutical executive on their board : 1/3

Date on which the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the production and sale of lab-grown poultry : 6/21/23

Number of other countries worldwide that have approved the sale of lab-grown meat : 1

Estimated value of the lab-grown meat industry in the United States : $247,000,000

Percentage by which full-service restaurants are operating with fewer hourly employees than in 2019 : 7

Percentage of consumers who say they are frustrated by the lack of staff : 42

Percentage of Americans who are comfortable with AI helping restaurants take orders : 60

With AI writing scripts for movies or TV shows : 45

Writing news articles : 34

Percentage change in net income at the largest U.S. entertainment companies since 2013 : −89

August 22, 2023

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The Impossible

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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.

Debug

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.