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The sense of an ending

by Michael Robbins,

The next frontier in the war on terror

by Caitlin L. Chandler,

Audiophilia and its discontents

by Sasha Frere-Jones,

Weekly Review

The thoughtful prick: the man, the myth, and the mythmaking

A photograph by Vivian Maier, whose monograph Vivian Maier was published in August by Thames & Hudson. © Estate of Vivian Maier.

Courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York City

Portion of congresspeople who are older than 70 : 1/4

Who traded stocks between 2019 and 2021 : 1/3

Minimum number who say that they or a relative traded stocks associated with a committee they served on : 97

Ratio of Americans who gambled online to those who traded cryptocurrency last year : 1:1

Portion of adults aged 18 to 44 who have gambled more since the start of the pandemic : 1/4

Number of slot machines on American military bases overseas : 3,141

Estimated revenue these generate annually for the Department of Defense : $100,000,000

Minimum number of active-duty U.S. soldiers who have a gambling problem : 56,000

Amount for which Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s gavel was sold at an auction this year : $20,400

For which a birthday card from Elon Musk was sold : $17,000

Minimum number of Leonard Cohen songs owned by a private equity firm as collateral against debt : 278

Portion of American adults who say they have gone viral : 3/10

Factor by which more American women than men name true crime as their favorite genre : 2

Portion of Americans who say they consume true crime content at least once a week : 1/3

Who think the genre helps solve crimes that wouldn’t otherwise be solved : 3/5

Percentage of Republicans who say they are in a militia or know someone who is : 25

Of Democrats who say this : 32

Portion of Republicans who say it would be unconstitutional to declare the United States a Christian nation : 3/5

Who are in favor of doing so : 3/5

Percentage of U.S. adults who believe God learns and adapts to different circumstances : 51

Who do not : 32

Percentage of American evangelicals who deny original sin : 65

Who deny the divinity of Jesus Christ : 43

Percentage by which religious people are more likely than non-believers to be satisfied with their sex lives : 35

Estimated year by which Christians will no longer constitute a majority of the American population : 2050

Minimum percentage of grocery store employees who left their jobs last year : 48

Portion of shoppers who say they have stolen something while using a self-checkout machine : 1/3

Percentage of retailers that have invested in additional security equipment this year : 52

That are using or planning to use facial recognition software to deter theft : 12

That are using or planning to use license plate recognition software : 19

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of “actively disengaged” U.S. workers under the age of 35 : 50

Portion of remote workers under the age of 35 who don’t know what their employers expect of them : 3/5

Portion of HR professionals who have discovered employees working outside of their home state or country : 2/5

Who are “very confident” that they know where most of their workers are : 1/2

Portion of Americans who say they have traveled less or canceled a vacation because of inflation : 1/6

Portion of U.S. workers who remain concerned about COVID-19 exposure at work : 1/3

Who expect infections to increase : 2/3

Portion of U.S. dating app users who say it’s important to put one’s COVID-19 vaccination status in one’s profile : 1/2

Estimated portion of COVID-19 patients who report “brain fog” six months after the initial infection : 2/5

Projected portion of the global population that will be myopic by 2050 : 1/2

November 29, 2022

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