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[Forum] Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media?

Anatomy of a credibility crisis

by Jelani Cobb, Taylor Lorenz, Jack Shafer, Max Tani,

Current Issue November 2025

[Report] The Goon Squad

Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation

by Daniel Kolitz,

[Miscellany] One Four Two Five Old Sunset Trail

On the last days of Gene Hackman

by Joy Williams,

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of internet traffic last year that was generated by humans : 49

[Harper’s Index]

That was generated by bots : 51

[Harper’s Index]

Number of previous years on record in which traffic generated by bots has exceeded that by humans : 0

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Google searches are less likely to result in clicks if they feature an AI Overview : 47

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in unpaid search traffic to U.S. news websites since Google debuted these overviews in May 2024 : –26

[Harper’s Index]

In news-related ChatGPT queries since January 2024 : +212

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of companies that report using AI in their business : 4/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those using AI for which it has not resulted in any “tangible bottom-line impact” : 5/6

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2023 in total U.S. investment in constructing housing : +5

[Harper’s Index]

In total U.S. investment in constructing data centers : +115

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans with household incomes above $200,000 who expect AI to do them more harm than good : 3/10

[Harper’s Index]

Of those with household incomes below $50,000 : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of teenage drivers in the United States who say they often take “long glances” at their phones while driving : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that the average teenage driver is looking at their phone at any given time while driving : 1 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say they would feel safe in a driverless car : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum value of cryptocurrency reported stolen in the first half of this year : $2,840,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of reported cryptocurrency thefts in this period that involved physical violence : 31

[Harper’s Index]

That involved the severing of a finger : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since last year in ransomware attacks worldwide : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of annual U.S. deaths that would not occur if the nation’s mortality rate matched that of comparably wealthy countries : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of annual deaths among Americans aged 25–44 that would not occur : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of people worldwide who die each year as a result of sanctions : 777,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of these people who are under the age of 5 : 36

[Harper’s Index]

Average estimated life expectancy, in years, of a Palestinian in Gaza before October 7, 2023 : 75.5

[Harper’s Index]

In the year following October 7 : 40.6

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who favor arresting Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes if he visits the United States : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Who oppose this : 32

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of ICE detainees who are held in private, for-profit facilities : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Republicans who say that the president should be able to revoke the citizenship of a native-born American : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum percentage by which the U.S. immigrant population has decreased since January : 2.6

[Harper’s Index]

Last year in which this population declined : 1964

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the portion of U.S. domestic flights that are delayed by more than an hour has increased since 1990 : 2

[Harper’s Index]

By more than three hours : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Average time at which a San Francisco office worker left the office in 2019 : 5:17 PM

[Harper’s Index]

In 2025 : 4:51 PM

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes by which songbirds start vocalizing earlier in the morning in light-polluted areas : 18

[Harper’s Index]

By which they stop vocalizing later in the evening : 32

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans over the age of 65 who say they can tell the time on an analog clock “instantly” : 95

[Harper’s Index]

Of those aged 18–30 : 43

Weekly Review

October 21, 2025

Fishermen in Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago reported being afraid to return to work after the Trump Administration conducted the seventh of its lethal air strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats since September, eighty-three year-old senator Mitch McConnell fell to the floor while answering a question from two volunteers about whether he supported ICE’s practice of abducting people off the streets, and a team of four thieves dropped a Napoleonic empress’s crown as they fled the scene of a seven-minute daytime heist wherein they made off with eight items of “inestimable” value from the Louvre Museum. Read More

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Presented by Harper’s Magazine and the John Templeton Foundation.

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Harper’s Art Desk

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A photograph by Jennifer McClure, which is part of A Yellow Rose Project, a photographic collaboration of over one hundred women photographers across the United States. A Yellow Rose Project: Responses, Reflections, and Reactions to the Nineteenth Amendment, edited by Meg Griffiths and Frances Jakubek, was published in September by Texas A&M University Press. The traveling exhibition is on view through November 30 at the Griffin Museum of Photography, in Winchester, Massachusetts © Jennifer McClure

Tubo to Uma no heya, a painting (gouache, gofun (colours based on calcium carbonate), on Japanese hemp paper) by Tomoya Kato, whose work is on view through October 25 at Bernheim, in Zurich © The artist

A photograph by Matteo Di Giovanni, from his book True Places Never Are, which was published last year by The Ice Plant. Di Giovanni’s work is on view through January 11, 2026, at Kunsthalle Darmstadt, in Germany. Courtesy the artist and The Ice Plant

Cornish Clay Mines, 1970, a painting by Edward Burra, whose work is on view through October 19 at Tate Britain, in London © Estate of Edward Burra. Private Collection. Courtesy Lefevre Fine Art, London

A photograph by James Van Der Zee from The Harlem Book of the Dead, which will be published this month by Primary Information. Originally published in 1978 by Morgan & Morgan, the book features Van Der Zee’s funerary photographs onto which he superimposed celestial figures, poetry, biblical scenes, or portraits to compensate for lack of adornments, such as flowers, or to fulfill the requests of his subjects or their families. The accompanying poem by Owen Dodson was selected by Camille Billops, who edited the 1978 edition.

Photograph by James Van Der Zee © James Van Der Zee Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Poem © Owen Dodson. Both courtesy Primary Information

Percentage of internet traffic last year that was generated by humans : 49

That was generated by bots : 51

Number of previous years on record in which traffic generated by bots has exceeded that by humans : 0

Percentage by which Google searches are less likely to result in clicks if they feature an AI Overview : 47

Percentage change in unpaid search traffic to U.S. news websites since Google debuted these overviews in May 2024 : –26

In news-related ChatGPT queries since January 2024 : +212

Portion of companies that report using AI in their business : 4/5

Portion of those using AI for which it has not resulted in any “tangible bottom-line impact” : 5/6

Percentage change since 2023 in total U.S. investment in constructing housing : +5

In total U.S. investment in constructing data centers : +115

Portion of Americans with household incomes above $200,000 who expect AI to do them more harm than good : 3/10

Of those with household incomes below $50,000 : 3/5

Portion of teenage drivers in the United States who say they often take “long glances” at their phones while driving : 7/10

Chance that the average teenage driver is looking at their phone at any given time while driving : 1 in 5

Percentage of Americans who say they would feel safe in a driverless car : 13

Minimum value of cryptocurrency reported stolen in the first half of this year : $2,840,000,000

Minimum number of reported cryptocurrency thefts in this period that involved physical violence : 31

That involved the severing of a finger : 2

Percentage increase since last year in ransomware attacks worldwide : 28

Portion of annual U.S. deaths that would not occur if the nation’s mortality rate matched that of comparably wealthy countries : 1/4

Portion of annual deaths among Americans aged 25–44 that would not occur : 3/5

Estimated number of people worldwide who die each year as a result of sanctions : 777,000

Percentage of these people who are under the age of 5 : 36

Average estimated life expectancy, in years, of a Palestinian in Gaza before October 7, 2023 : 75.5

In the year following October 7 : 40.6

Percentage of Americans who favor arresting Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes if he visits the United States : 46

Who oppose this : 32

Estimated percentage of ICE detainees who are held in private, for-profit facilities : 86

Portion of Republicans who say that the president should be able to revoke the citizenship of a native-born American : 1/4

Minimum percentage by which the U.S. immigrant population has decreased since January : 2.6

Last year in which this population declined : 1964

Factor by which the portion of U.S. domestic flights that are delayed by more than an hour has increased since 1990 : 2

By more than three hours : 5

Average time at which a San Francisco office worker left the office in 2019 : 5:17 PM

In 2025 : 4:51 PM

Average number of minutes by which songbirds start vocalizing earlier in the morning in light-polluted areas : 18

By which they stop vocalizing later in the evening : 32

Percentage of Americans over the age of 65 who say they can tell the time on an analog clock “instantly” : 95

Of those aged 18–30 : 43

October 21, 2025

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Chasing Photons

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A Rake’s Progress

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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