Harper’s Magazine

[Letter from Las Vegas] Ghosting the Machine

Humans, robots, and the new sexual frontier

by Sam Lipsyte,

Current Issue May 2022

[Revision] Operation Overshare

How the White House misled Ukraine

by James Harkin,

[Photo Essay] Days at War

Photographs from Ukraine

by Nicole Tung,

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Americans are more likely to view the opposing political party as stupid rather than evil : 23

[Harper’s Index]

By which more Democrats aged 25 to 54 watch Tucker Carlson Tonight than The Rachel Maddow Show : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which more Russians than average read BBC News in the week Ukraine was invaded : 245

[Harper’s Index]

Date on which Russia restricted access to BBC News : 3/4/2022

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who think Russia is a Communist or Socialist country : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of people who are not confident using numbers in their everyday lives : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of U.S. states that require or plan to require high school courses in financial literacy : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. educators who plan to retire earlier than they had expected : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of Americans who believed the key tenets of QAnon last year : 16

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans in 1970 who thought the moon landing was worth the use of national resources : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Number of U.S. cities beneath which Elon Musk’s Boring Company has proposed constructing subterranean tunnels : 6

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of monkeys implanted with Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chips between 2017 and 2020 that have died : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of likely U.S. voters who think microchip implants would improve human lives : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who think they would lead to unprecedented totalitarian control : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say it is sometimes permissible to use violence against the government : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who say it is justified “right now” : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. workers who received raises in the past year that kept pace with inflation : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Average value this year, to the tooth fairy, of a lost tooth in the United States : $5.36

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which this value has increased since the start of the pandemic : 33

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated miles of toilet paper used in the United States each year : 2,650,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of trees this represents : 31,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they are unable to use the bathroom without their cell phone : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who have texted a nude photo of themselves while in the bathroom : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which AI-generated faces are regarded as more trustworthy than real ones : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Hinge users who say they are more likely to go on a second date with someone who is in therapy : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which men with a dog in their dating-app profiles are more likely to want a long-term relationship : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of single Americans who are interested in casual dating : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Increase, in years, of the average age of marriage for U.S. adults since 1970 : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change between 2010 and 2020 in the number of marriages in China : –38

[Harper’s Index]

In the number of divorces : +38

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. men who are stalked at some point in their lives : 1/6

[Harper’s Index]

Of U.S. women : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount lost by Americans to romance scammers last year : $1,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which this has increased since 2015 : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Average factor by which elderly victims lose more to romance scams than young adult victims : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 55 to 64 who have no children : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of non-parents aged 18 to 49 who say they’re unlikely to ever have children : 44

Weekly Review

Harper’s Podcast

Ghosting the Machine

In the uncanny valley of the dolls: Sam Lipsyte investigates digisexuality in Las Vegas

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Monday Gallery

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Daddy Sam Don’t Care

Daddy Sam Don’t Care, a painting by Alex Gardner, whose work is on view through May 1 at the Long Beach Museum of Art, in California.

A photograph by Issei Suda, from his book Family Diary, which was published last year by Chose Commune. For this series, Suda used a Minox camera, which was commonly used for intelligence activities during World War II.

When Things Feel Apart

When Things Feel Apart, a painting by Jules de Balincourt, whose work is on view through April 28 at Pace Gallery, in Hong Kong.

“Falcon (wings)”

“Falcon (wings),” 2022, duratrans on lightbox (60 13/16 x 49 5/16 inches), by Awol Erizku, whose work is on view through April 16 at Gagosian, in New York City.

Percentage by which Americans are more likely to view the opposing political party as stupid rather than evil : 23

By which more Democrats aged 25 to 54 watch Tucker Carlson Tonight than The Rachel Maddow Show : 15

Percentage by which more Russians than average read BBC News in the week Ukraine was invaded : 245

Date on which Russia restricted access to BBC News : 3/4/2022

Percentage of U.S. adults who think Russia is a Communist or Socialist country : 55

Portion of people who are not confident using numbers in their everyday lives : 2/5

Minimum number of U.S. states that require or plan to require high school courses in financial literacy : 10

Percentage of U.S. educators who plan to retire earlier than they had expected : 55

Estimated percentage of Americans who believed the key tenets of QAnon last year : 16

Percentage of Americans in 1970 who thought the moon landing was worth the use of national resources : 39

Who did not : 56

Percentage of Americans who support sending astronauts to Mars : 53

Who do not : 19

Number of U.S. cities beneath which Elon Musk’s Boring Company has proposed constructing subterranean tunnels : 6

Portion of monkeys implanted with Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chips between 2017 and 2020 that have died : 7/10

Portion of likely U.S. voters who think microchip implants would improve human lives : 1/10

Who think they would lead to unprecedented totalitarian control : 3/4

Portion of Americans who say it is sometimes permissible to use violence against the government : 1/4

Who say it is justified “right now” : 1/10

Percentage of U.S. workers who received raises in the past year that kept pace with inflation : 17

Average value this year, to the tooth fairy, of a lost tooth in the United States : $5.36

Percentage by which this value has increased since the start of the pandemic : 33

Estimated miles of toilet paper used in the United States each year : 2,650,000,000

Estimated number of trees this represents : 31,000,000

Portion of Americans who say they are unable to use the bathroom without their cell phone : 1/4

Who have texted a nude photo of themselves while in the bathroom : 1/10

Percentage by which AI-generated faces are regarded as more trustworthy than real ones : 8

Percentage of Hinge users who say they are more likely to go on a second date with someone who is in therapy : 86

Percentage by which men with a dog in their dating-app profiles are more likely to want a long-term relationship : 90

Portion of single Americans who are interested in casual dating : 1/10

Increase, in years, of the average age of marriage for U.S. adults since 1970 : 7

Percentage change between 2010 and 2020 in the number of marriages in China : –38

In the number of divorces : +38

Portion of U.S. men who are stalked at some point in their lives : 1/6

Of U.S. women : 1/3

Estimated amount lost by Americans to romance scammers last year : $1,000,000,000

Factor by which this has increased since 2015 : 5

Average factor by which elderly victims lose more to romance scams than young adult victims : 12

Portion of Americans aged 55 to 64 who have no children : 1/5

Percentage of non-parents aged 18 to 49 who say they’re unlikely to ever have children : 44

April 12, 2022

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Ghosting the Machine

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In the Land of Living Skies

Down the Hatch

Power Failure

Daddy Sam Don’t Care

When Things Feel Apart

“Falcon (wings)”

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.