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[Miscellany] The Undiscovered Country

Can suicide be predicted?

By Will Stephenson,

Current Issue August 2021

[Letter from Washington] The Enemy Within

Why the Democrats don’t need Joe Manchin

By Andrew Cockburn,

[Letter from the United States] Home Country

What does it mean to be Latino?

By Héctor Tobar,

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which a U.S. conservative is more likely to want to travel to the past than to the future : 7

[Harper’s Index]

By which a U.S. liberal is more likely to want to travel to the future : 70

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say their personality has changed over the course of the pandemic : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Who think they have become smarter : 70

[Harper’s Index]

Number of new words that Larousse is adding to its French dictionary this year : 170

[Harper’s Index]

Number of these words that are related to COVID-19 : 50

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which the COVID-19 death toll in the United States exceeds the reported figures : 55

[Harper’s Index]

By which the worldwide death toll does : 122

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American has a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in the CDC : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Number of individuals responsible for three quarters of the anti-vaccine content on Facebook : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. employers requiring that their workers get the COVID-19 vaccine : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of countries in which China’s image has improved since the beginning of the pandemic : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of adults worldwide who believe the United States is a “threat to democracy” in their country : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe China is : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the frequency of power failures in the United States has increased since 2015 : 146

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of stimulus money that went to fossil-fuel companies under the CARES Act : $8,240,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Projected rank of 2021 among the years with the largest spikes in U.S. carbon emissions : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated area, in square miles, of lost natural forest that has been regrown around the world since 2000 : 227,414

[Harper’s Index]

Of permanent tree-cover loss over that same period : 583,014

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it trapped between 2010 and 2019 : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Number of the 100 cities most vulnerable to climate change worldwide that are in Asia : 99

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of cities worldwide that report lacking the financial resources to adapt to climate change : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of major cities that have appointed chief heat officers to address rising temperatures : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in the number of divorces in China after it imposed a mandatory thirty-day “cooling-off period” : –72

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of fathers working from home who say that doing so improved their mental health : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Of mothers : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of charter schools that have opened up in vacant retail properties this year : 200

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of new chain stores in the United States that are either a Dollar General, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change last year in the employment rate for new college graduates : –12

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. gig workers who say that the money they earn is an “essential” or “important” part of their finances : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Who have performed work for which they did not receive payment : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum amount spent by U.S. businesses on corporate swag last year : $18,630,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of registered cryptocurrency lobbyists : 264

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount U.S. consumers reported losing in cryptocurrency scams between October 2020 and March 2021 : $80,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

In scams that involved people impersonating Elon Musk : $2,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of people of Asian descent in British Columbia who were the victim of a hate crime in the past year : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who cannot name a single prominent Asian American : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019 that featured an Asian or Pacific Islander in a leading role : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those roles filled by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson : 1/3

Weekly Review

Harper’s Podcast

Home Country

False cognates: on the diversity and shared experiences within the Latino community

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Monday Gallery

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A photograph by Fumi Ishino from the monograph Tinted Lines, which was published in April by torch press. Ishino’s work is on view through August 31 with Assembly.

“Spring, Madrid, Spain”

“Spring, Madrid, Spain,” a photograph by Bambi, from the book Women Street Photographers, which was published in March by Prestel.

Courtesy the artist

A photograph by Paul Rousteau from the monograph Seascapes, which was published last month by Loose Joints.

Fourth of July

Fourth of July, a painting by Bo Bartlett, whose work was on view last month at Miles McEnery Gallery, in New York City.

Courtesy the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York City

“Windowsill”

“Windowsill,” a photograph by Kelli Connell, whose work is on view through August 31 at the Alice Austen House, in Staten Island, New York.

Courtesy the artist and Alice Austen House

Percentage by which a U.S. conservative is more likely to want to travel to the past than to the future : 7

By which a U.S. liberal is more likely to want to travel to the future : 70

Percentage of Americans who say their personality has changed over the course of the pandemic : 86

Who think they have become smarter : 70

Number of new words that Larousse is adding to its French dictionary this year : 170

Number of these words that are related to COVID-19 : 50

Estimated percentage by which the COVID-19 death toll in the United States exceeds the reported figures : 55

By which the worldwide death toll does : 122

Chance that an American has a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in the CDC : 1 in 2

Number of individuals responsible for three quarters of the anti-vaccine content on Facebook : 12

Percentage of U.S. employers requiring that their workers get the COVID-19 vaccine : 4

Percentage of countries in which China’s image has improved since the beginning of the pandemic : 56

Percentage of adults worldwide who believe the United States is a “threat to democracy” in their country : 44

Who believe China is : 38

Percentage by which the frequency of power failures in the United States has increased since 2015 : 146

Estimated amount of stimulus money that went to fossil-fuel companies under the CARES Act : $8,240,000,000

Projected rank of 2021 among the years with the largest spikes in U.S. carbon emissions : 1

Estimated area, in square miles, of lost natural forest that has been regrown around the world since 2000 : 227,414

Of permanent tree-cover loss over that same period : 583,014

Percentage by which the Brazilian Amazon rainforest released more carbon than it trapped between 2010 and 2019 : 18

Number of the 100 cities most vulnerable to climate change worldwide that are in Asia : 99

Portion of cities worldwide that report lacking the financial resources to adapt to climate change : 1/4

Minimum number of major cities that have appointed chief heat officers to address rising temperatures : 3

Percentage change in the number of divorces in China after it imposed a mandatory thirty-day “cooling-off period” : –72

Percentage of fathers working from home who say that doing so improved their mental health : 71

Of mothers : 41

Estimated number of charter schools that have opened up in vacant retail properties this year : 200

Percentage of new chain stores in the United States that are either a Dollar General, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree : 39

Percentage change last year in the employment rate for new college graduates : –12

Percentage of U.S. gig workers who say that the money they earn is an “essential” or “important” part of their finances : 56

Who have performed work for which they did not receive payment : 29

Minimum amount spent by U.S. businesses on corporate swag last year : $18,630,000,000

Estimated number of registered cryptocurrency lobbyists : 264

Estimated amount U.S. consumers reported losing in cryptocurrency scams between October 2020 and March 2021 : $80,000,000

In scams that involved people impersonating Elon Musk : $2,000,000

Percentage of people of Asian descent in British Columbia who were the victim of a hate crime in the past year : 43

Percentage of Americans who cannot name a single prominent Asian American : 42

Percentage of top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019 that featured an Asian or Pacific Islander in a leading role : 3

Portion of those roles filled by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson : 1/3

July 27, 2021

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Home Country

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Men in Dark Times

Place of Safety

Writ in Water

“Spring, Madrid, Spain”

Fourth of July

“Windowsill”

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.