Harper’s Magazine

[Memoir] Her Kind

On losing and finding my mind

by Naomi Jackson,

Current Issue December 2021

[Essay] A Posthumous Shock

How everything became trauma

by Will Self,

[Miscellany] The Odor of Things

Solving the mysteries of scent

by Scott Sayare,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who considered the summer of 2020 to be average or above average : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Who considered the summer of 2021 to be bad or the “worst summer ever” : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American planning to move in the next year blames natural disasters or extreme temperatures : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of The Villages, a Florida retirement community, among the fastest-growing U.S. metropolitan areas : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Amount West Virginia will pay prospective residents to move to the state : $12,000

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of New Mexico among states whose residents googled the phrase “is Santa real” most often this year : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Average weight, in pounds, of a professional Santa : 245

[Harper’s Index]

Number of pounds by which the average weight of an adult male in the United States has increased since 1988 : 18.5

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the rate of body mass index growth for U.S. children has increased during the pandemic : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of teen girls who say that Instagram has aggravated their body image issues : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Number of TikTok videos removed from the platform last year for violating its “minor safety” policies : 55,401,107

[Harper’s Index]

Ratio of school psychologists to K–12 students in the United States : 1 : 1,211

[Harper’s Index]

Number by which U.S. college enrollment has declined over the past five years : 1,500,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of this decline that can be attributed to male students : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of adults worldwide who have experienced increased stress in the past year : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who describe themselves as “emotionally exhausted” : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. executives who think their workplace culture has improved since the start of the pandemic : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Of U.S. human resources professionals who think so : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. adults who have not participated in a video call since the pandemic began : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Who say digital interactions are just as good as in-person ones : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults taking virtual exercise classes who plan to continue as gyms reopen : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. prisoners released in 2008 who were arrested again in the following decade : 82

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those arrests that were for drug-related offenses : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Amount, in grams, of marijuana the Drug Enforcement Administration plans to produce this year : 2,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in the amount of psilocybin the agency plans to produce : 4,900

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who have been invited to join intradepartmental gangs : 254

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in the number of deaths by overdose in the United States : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of 2020 among years with the highest number of recorded deaths by overdose : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change over the past two decades in the number of U.S. estates paying estate taxes : -96

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of millionaires who worry about leaving “too much” money to their heirs : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Average amount of outstanding student debt owed by U.S. public school teachers : $56,900

[Harper’s Index]

Average cost of a fake COVID-19 vaccination card on the messaging app Telegram : $250

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been made available to U.S. zoo animals : 11,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2016 in the wild reindeer population : -13

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated year by which the woolly mammoth could become de-extinct : 2026

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Odyssey and oracle: reassessing the iconic German author’s work

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No.1

No.1, mixed-media artworks from the Tree of Knowledge series by Hilma af Klint, whose work is on view through February 5 at David Zwirner, in New York City.

Portion of Americans who considered the summer of 2020 to be average or above average : 1/2

Who considered the summer of 2021 to be bad or the “worst summer ever” : 1/4

Chance that an American planning to move in the next year blames natural disasters or extreme temperatures : 1 in 2

Rank of The Villages, a Florida retirement community, among the fastest-growing U.S. metropolitan areas : 1

Amount West Virginia will pay prospective residents to move to the state : $12,000

Rank of New Mexico among states whose residents googled the phrase “is Santa real” most often this year : 1

Average weight, in pounds, of a professional Santa : 245

Number of pounds by which the average weight of an adult male in the United States has increased since 1988 : 18.5

Factor by which the rate of body mass index growth for U.S. children has increased during the pandemic : 2

Portion of teen girls who say that Instagram has aggravated their body image issues : 1/3

Number of TikTok videos removed from the platform last year for violating its “minor safety” policies : 55,401,107

Ratio of school psychologists to K–12 students in the United States : 1 : 1,211

Number by which U.S. college enrollment has declined over the past five years : 1,500,000

Percentage of this decline that can be attributed to male students : 71

Portion of adults worldwide who have experienced increased stress in the past year : 7/10

Who describe themselves as “emotionally exhausted” : 1/2

Percentage of U.S. executives who think their workplace culture has improved since the start of the pandemic : 72

Of U.S. human resources professionals who think so : 21

Portion of U.S. adults who have not participated in a video call since the pandemic began : 1/5

Who say digital interactions are just as good as in-person ones : 1/5

Percentage of U.S. adults taking virtual exercise classes who plan to continue as gyms reopen : 86

Percentage of U.S. prisoners released in 2008 who were arrested again in the following decade : 82

Portion of those arrests that were for drug-related offenses : 1/2

Amount, in grams, of marijuana the Drug Enforcement Administration plans to produce this year : 2,000,000

Percentage increase in the amount of psilocybin the agency plans to produce : 4,900

Minimum number of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who have been invited to join intradepartmental gangs : 254

Percentage increase last year in the number of deaths by overdose in the United States : 30

Rank of 2020 among years with the highest number of recorded deaths by overdose : 1

Percentage change over the past two decades in the number of U.S. estates paying estate taxes : -96

Portion of millionaires who worry about leaving “too much” money to their heirs : 2/3

Average amount of outstanding student debt owed by U.S. public school teachers : $56,900

Average salary of a U.S. public school teacher : $65,090

Percentage of U.S. families with health insurance that have medical debt : 16

Median amount of debt held by those families : $2,000

Average cost of a fake COVID-19 vaccination card on the messaging app Telegram : $250

Minimum number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been made available to U.S. zoo animals : 11,000

Percentage change since 2016 in the wild reindeer population : -13

Estimated year by which the woolly mammoth could become de-extinct : 2026

November 30, 2021

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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.