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[Letter from Tennessee] The Demon Slayers

The new age of American exorcisms

by Sam Kestenbaum,

Current Issue August 2024

[Memento Mori] Lewis H. Lapham
(1935–2024)

Mourning our editor emeritus

by Harper’s Magazine,

[Folio] Korean Hearts

At the DMZ

by William T. Vollmann,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. voters who believe that unemployment is at a fifty-year high : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they don’t know which sources of information about the economy are trustworthy : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. HR officers who strongly believe that their performance-management system leads to improvement : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. millennial employees who say they have adopted slang to fit in with their younger co-workers : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. Gen Z employees who say they struggle to understand their older co-workers : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults planning to retire who intend to do so before the age of 50 : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they would not stop to pick up a coin of any value off the street : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they would stop to pick up a penny : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Number of households set to be added to the New York City Housing Authority’s Section 8 voucher wait list this month : 200,000

[Harper’s Index]

Number of years it would take NYCHA to issue this number of vouchers at its expected rate : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of New York City residents who are millionaires : 1/24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in the number of millionaires in New York City over the past decade : +48

[Harper’s Index]

In the number of billionaires in New York City in that time span : +25

[Harper’s Index]

In the number of billionaires in London : –26

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum estimated amount spent by the NYPD on overtime for officers responding to protests since October 7, 2023 : $65,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that the United States is spending too much on aid to Israel : 47

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that the United States is not spending enough : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that the United States is spending too much on aid to Ukraine : 50

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that the United States is not spending enough : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Russians who say they felt angered by the news of Alexei Navalny’s death : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they felt indifferent : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Russians who approve of President Vladimir Putin’s handling of foreign policy : 67

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they feel comfortable criticizing Putin both online and offline : 62

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of people in India who say that social media has been a good thing for their democracy : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of people in Sweden who say so : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion in the United States who do : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Anguilla’s nominal GDP in 2023 that came from “.ai” web-domain registration fees : 6

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of Johns Hopkins University’s funding in the past decade that came from tuition and fees : 17

[Harper’s Index]

That came from the U.S. Department of Defense : 19

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. college students who have considered dropping out in the past six months : 35

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which those considering dropping out are more likely to cite emotional stress than financial reasons : 74

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. parents who say their children prefer online shopping to any other form of entertainment : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who say their children have an online-shopping addiction : 16

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease in OB-GYN residency applicants in the United States since 2022 : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease in OB-GYN residency applicants in states that have enacted abortion bans : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. women and girls aged 15–49 who live in states where abortion is banned or severely restricted : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of organ-transplant recipients who report changes in their personality after their operation : 89

[Harper’s Index]

Who report changes in their religious or spiritual beliefs : 13

[Harper’s Index]

In their political views : 2

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Monday Gallery

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“Untitled,” 1968-1971, a photograph by Ernest Cole, from his book Ernest Cole: The True America, which was published in January by Aperture.

Landline, a painting by Nancy Friedland, whose work is on view through August 4 at smoke the moon, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Courtesy the artist and smoke the moon, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Vistas 34, a hand-painted photograph by Brea Souders, whose work is on view as part of the exhibition Reach out for that hand through August 17 at EUQINOM, in San Francisco.

Courtesy of the artist and EUQINOM Gallery

Without A Sound, a painting by Loren Erdrich, whose work is on view through July 13 at SHRINE, in Los Angeles.

Courtesy the artist and SHRINE

Ars Gratia Artis, a painting by Walton Ford, whose work is on view through October 20 at the Morgan Library & Museum, in New York City, and through September 22 at Ateneo Veneto, in Venice, Italy.

Portion of U.S. voters who believe that unemployment is at a fifty-year high : 1/2

Who say they don’t know which sources of information about the economy are trustworthy : 2/3

Percentage of U.S. HR officers who strongly believe that their performance-management system leads to improvement : 2

Percentage of U.S. millennial employees who say they have adopted slang to fit in with their younger co-workers : 28

Percentage of U.S. Gen Z employees who say they struggle to understand their older co-workers : 24

Portion of U.S. adults planning to retire who intend to do so before the age of 50 : 1/4

Portion of Americans who say they would not stop to pick up a coin of any value off the street : 1/10

Who say they would stop to pick up a penny : 1/2

Number of households set to be added to the New York City Housing Authority’s Section 8 voucher wait list this month : 200,000

Number of years it would take NYCHA to issue this number of vouchers at its expected rate : 17

Portion of New York City residents who are millionaires : 1/24

Percentage change in the number of millionaires in New York City over the past decade : +48

In the number of billionaires in New York City in that time span : +25

In the number of billionaires in London : –26

Minimum estimated amount spent by the NYPD on overtime for officers responding to protests since October 7, 2023 : $65,000,000

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that the United States is spending too much on aid to Israel : 47

Who say that the United States is not spending enough : 11

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that the United States is spending too much on aid to Ukraine : 50

Who say that the United States is not spending enough : 11

Percentage of Russians who say they felt angered by the news of Alexei Navalny’s death : 3

Who say they felt indifferent : 69

Percentage of Russians who approve of President Vladimir Putin’s handling of foreign policy : 67

Who say they feel comfortable criticizing Putin both online and offline : 62

Portion of people in India who say that social media has been a good thing for their democracy : 3/4

Portion of people in Sweden who say so : 2/3

Portion in the United States who do : 1/3

Percentage of Anguilla’s nominal GDP in 2023 that came from “.ai” web-domain registration fees : 6

Estimated percentage of Johns Hopkins University’s funding in the past decade that came from tuition and fees : 17

That came from the U.S. Department of Defense : 19

Percentage of U.S. college students who have considered dropping out in the past six months : 35

Percentage by which those considering dropping out are more likely to cite emotional stress than financial reasons : 74

Percentage of U.S. parents who say their children prefer online shopping to any other form of entertainment : 22

Percentage who say their children have an online-shopping addiction : 16

Percentage decrease in OB-GYN residency applicants in the United States since 2022 : 5

Percentage decrease in OB-GYN residency applicants in states that have enacted abortion bans : 18

Portion of U.S. women and girls aged 15–49 who live in states where abortion is banned or severely restricted : 1/3

Percentage of organ-transplant recipients who report changes in their personality after their operation : 89

Who report changes in their religious or spiritual beliefs : 13

In their political views : 2

July 23, 2024

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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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