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[Essay] Doing the Work

The Protestant ethic and the spirit of wokeness

by Ian Buruma ,

Current Issue July 2023

[Letter from Amish Country] In the Glimmer

The good witches of Pennsylvania

by Rachel Yoder ,

[Criticism] Murdoch Triumphant

How we could have stopped him—twice

by Marvin Kitman ,

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to trust the Wall Street Journal : 36

[Harper’s Index]

To trust National Review : 49

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who think the media pays too much attention to guns : 36

[Harper’s Index]

To Donald Trump’s arrest and indictment : 49

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of podcast listeners who expect the news they hear on podcasts to be mostly accurate : 9/10

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount the average Gen Z or millennial wedding guest will spend attending weddings this year : $1,200

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of wedding guests who say they will take on credit card debt in order to attend them : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in the average amount of credit card debt held by Gen Z adults : 40

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Gen Z adults who say they often or always feel dissociated from their finances : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of parents of adult children who have used their emergency savings to support their kids : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults who have used “buy now, pay later” loans to purchase groceries : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase this year in cancellations of premium video-streaming services : 49

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say their biggest financial mistake last year was paying for subscriptions they never used : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of workers 75 or older among the fastest growing demographics in the U.S. workforce : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults 50 or older who play video games at least once a month : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who cite stress as a major reason for their gaming : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults who say they dislike or hate modern art : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who consider Michelangelo’s David to be pornographic : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they could probably replicate the sculpture themselves : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they could probably paint Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of authors whose mental health improved after the publication of their debut book : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Whose mental health declined : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. employees who say remote work makes it easier to get away with rude behavior : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of hours per week that employees lose because of poor communication : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who support the use of facial recognition software to track employee attendance : 45

[Harper’s Index]

To track how often workers take breaks : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who currently own an electric vehicle : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Of Americans who are seriously considering buying an electric vehicle : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they’d never buy one : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults who identify as Christian : 65

[Harper’s Index]

Of members of Congress who do : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say a person must believe in God or a higher spiritual power to be moral : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults who believe that God reveals his plans in the form of prophecies : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe that modern-day prophets exist : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of people formally charged each year with witchcraft : 1,000

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum annual number of fortune cookies produced worldwide : 3,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of fortune cookie producers who plan to use artificial intelligence to help write fortunes : 100

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An Allegory, 1964, a painting by Bob Thompson, whose work is on view through July 8 at 52 Walker, in New York City.

Overtime, a painting by Mikey Yates, whose work is on view through July 1 at Shulamit Nazarian, in Los Angeles.

The Hunter, a painting by Rune Christensen, whose work is on view through July 2 at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, in Berlin.

Courtesy the artist and Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery

“Tbilisi still life,” a photograph by Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili, whose work will be on view with galerie frank elbaz from June 15–19 at Art Basel, in Basel, Switzerland.

Courtesy of the artist; galerie frank elbaz, Paris

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to trust the Wall Street Journal : 36

To trust National Review : 49

Percentage of Americans who think the media pays too much attention to guns : 36

To Donald Trump’s arrest and indictment : 49

Portion of podcast listeners who expect the news they hear on podcasts to be mostly accurate : 9/10

Who have tried to make a lifestyle change because of a podcast : 1/3

Amount spent on the average U.S. date : $73

Amount the average American spent on dates last year : $1,412

Estimated amount the average Gen Z or millennial wedding guest will spend attending weddings this year : $1,200

Portion of wedding guests who say they will take on credit card debt in order to attend them : 1/5

Percentage increase last year in the average amount of credit card debt held by Gen Z adults : 40

Percentage of Gen Z adults who say they often or always feel dissociated from their finances : 28

Portion of parents of adult children who have used their emergency savings to support their kids : 1/2

Portion of U.S. adults who have used “buy now, pay later” loans to purchase groceries : 1/5

Percentage increase this year in cancellations of premium video-streaming services : 49

Portion of Americans who say their biggest financial mistake last year was paying for subscriptions they never used : 1/3

Rank of workers 75 or older among the fastest growing demographics in the U.S. workforce : 1

Percentage of U.S. adults 50 or older who play video games at least once a month : 45

Percentage who cite stress as a major reason for their gaming : 71

Portion of U.S. adults who say they dislike or hate modern art : 1/5

Who consider Michelangelo’s David to be pornographic : 1/5

Who say they could probably replicate the sculpture themselves : 1/10

Who say they could probably paint Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat : 1/4

Portion of authors whose mental health improved after the publication of their debut book : 1/5

Whose mental health declined : 1/2

Percentage of U.S. employees who say remote work makes it easier to get away with rude behavior : 59

Estimated number of hours per week that employees lose because of poor communication : 7

Percentage of U.S. adults who support the use of facial recognition software to track employee attendance : 45

To track how often workers take breaks : 25

Percentage of Americans who currently own an electric vehicle : 4

Of Americans who are seriously considering buying an electric vehicle : 12

Who say they’d never buy one : 41

Percentage of U.S. adults who identify as Christian : 65

Of members of Congress who do : 90

Portion of Americans who say a person must believe in God or a higher spiritual power to be moral : 1/3

Portion of U.S. adults who believe that God reveals his plans in the form of prophecies : 1/3

Who believe that modern-day prophets exist : 1/4

Minimum number of people formally charged each year with witchcraft : 1,000

Minimum annual number of fortune cookies produced worldwide : 3,000,000,000

Percentage of fortune cookie producers who plan to use artificial intelligence to help write fortunes : 100

June 27, 2023

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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.