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[Report] Playing Dead

Do the Democrats really want reform?

by Andrew Cockburn,

Current Issue August 2025

[Essay] Your Face Tomorrow

The puzzle of AI facial recognition

by Michael W. Clune,

[Revision] Debt Reckoning

Has the Treasury market started to crack?

by Mary Childs,

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American has been present for a mass shooting : 1 in 15

[Harper’s Index]

That an American has been injured in a mass shooting : 1 in 46

[Harper’s Index]

Number of congressional Democrats who have died in office since January 2023 : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Of congressional Republicans : 0

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who say that it would be appropriate for the pope to influence U.S. politics : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Of Democrats who do : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who said last year that white people face “some” or “a lot of” discrimination : 66

[Harper’s Index]

Who say so now : 55

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of people worldwide who say they would contribute 1 percent of their income toward combating climate change : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Of Americans who say they would do so : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American women who would support resurrecting dinosaurs through genetic engineering : 1/8

[Harper’s Index]

Of American men who would : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a stuffed animal sold in the United States last year was purchased for an adult : 1 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Americans who identify as politically moderate are likelier to believe in astrology than conservatives : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who regard religious leaders as trustworthy sources of medical information : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that masturbation can “definitely” cause blindness : 1/50

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say they would bring food to a friend or neighbor if they were sick : 67

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who believe their friends or neighbors would do the same for them : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of personal medical crowdfunding efforts that meet their fundraising goals : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who trust information about nutrition on social media : 68

[Harper’s Index]

Who trust such information from the government : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans taking paid online surveys who have used AI to write their responses : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Average percentage by which AI-generated misinformation on X receives more views than misinformation produced by humans : 8

[Harper’s Index]

By which it receives more reposts : 21

[Harper’s Index]

More likes : 50

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a recently graduated U.S. computer-engineering major is unemployed : 1 in 13

[Harper’s Index]

That an economics major is : 1 in 20

[Harper’s Index]

That an art-history major is : 1 in 33

[Harper’s Index]

Age at which the average American says it would be ideal to buy their first home : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Median age of American first-time homebuyers : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated annual amount that a U.S. household needed to earn to afford a median-priced home in 2019 : $67,000

[Harper’s Index]

Today : $114,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 18–44 hoping to have a child this year who are reconsidering it because of the economy : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage chance, according to the betting platform Polymarket, that the United States will enter a recession this year : 23

[Harper’s Index]

That there will be a nuclear detonation : 16

[Harper’s Index]

That Jesus Christ will return : 3

Weekly Review

July 15, 2025

The U.S. president criticized Brazil’s recent Supreme Court rulings that would require social media companies to actively monitor and remove harmful content from their platforms; and on X, the Sesame Street character Elmo, whose account was hacked, and xAI’s chatbot Grok posted anti-Semitic messages. “Too eager to please,” said Elon Musk of the chatbot’s praise for Adolf Hitler. Read More

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Harper’s Art Desk

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Forever, a painting by Kate Gottgens, whose work is on view through September 13 at Huxley-Parlour, Swallow Street, London © Kate Gottgens. Courtesy Huxley-Parlour

A photograph by Henry O. Head, from his book Twelve Acres, which was published this month by Twin Palms Publishers. Courtesy the artist and Twin Palms Publishers

Anacaona (destroy the beauty that has injured me), a painting by Firelei Báez, whose work is on view through September 21 as part of the exhibition Black Earth Rising at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The accompanying catalog, Black Earth Rising: Colonialism and Climate Change in Contemporary Art, was published by Thames & Hudson. © Firelei Báez. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

“Platte River (1910),” a photograph by Lora Webb Nichols from her book Heap-O-Livin’, which was published in June by Fw:Books. Courtesy Fw:Books

“Head of Colossus,” a photograph by Sally Gall, whose work is on view through July 18 at Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York City. Courtesy the artist and Winston Wächter Fine Art

Chance that an American has been present for a mass shooting : 1 in 15

That an American has been injured in a mass shooting : 1 in 46

Number of congressional Democrats who have died in office since January 2023 : 7

Of congressional Republicans : 0

Percentage of Republicans who say that it would be appropriate for the pope to influence U.S. politics : 17

Of Democrats who do : 44

Percentage of Republicans who said last year that white people face “some” or “a lot of” discrimination : 66

Who say so now : 55

Portion of people worldwide who say they would contribute 1 percent of their income toward combating climate change : 7/10

Of Americans who say they would do so : 1/2

Portion of American women who would support resurrecting dinosaurs through genetic engineering : 1/8

Of American men who would : 1/4

Chance that a stuffed animal sold in the United States last year was purchased for an adult : 1 in 5

Percentage by which Americans who identify as politically moderate are likelier to believe in astrology than conservatives : 60

By which they are likelier than liberals : 10

Percentage of Americans who said that the Bible was “true” in 2016 : 36

Who say so now : 48

Portion of Americans who regard religious leaders as trustworthy sources of medical information : 1/3

Who say that masturbation can “definitely” cause blindness : 1/50

Percentage of Americans who say they would bring food to a friend or neighbor if they were sick : 67

Percentage who believe their friends or neighbors would do the same for them : 42

Percentage of personal medical crowdfunding efforts that meet their fundraising goals : 15

Percentage of Americans who trust information about nutrition on social media : 68

Who trust such information from the government : 43

Portion of Americans taking paid online surveys who have used AI to write their responses : 1/3

Average percentage by which AI-generated misinformation on X receives more views than misinformation produced by humans : 8

By which it receives more reposts : 21

More likes : 50

Chance that a recently graduated U.S. computer-engineering major is unemployed : 1 in 13

That an economics major is : 1 in 20

That an art-history major is : 1 in 33

Age at which the average American says it would be ideal to buy their first home : 29

Median age of American first-time homebuyers : 38

Estimated annual amount that a U.S. household needed to earn to afford a median-priced home in 2019 : $67,000

Today : $114,000

Portion of Americans aged 18–44 hoping to have a child this year who are reconsidering it because of the economy : 2/3

Percentage chance, according to the betting platform Polymarket, that the United States will enter a recession this year : 23

That there will be a nuclear detonation : 16

That Jesus Christ will return : 3

July 15, 2025

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Past Issues

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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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