January 2020

by Brian Merchant,

[Essay]

Vicious Cycles

by Greg Jackson,

[Letter from the Comoro Islands]

Oceans Apart

by Tommy Trenchard,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Number of states expected to lose the majority of their summer state-bird populations by 2050 : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Number of different forms of torture the Syrian government is suspected of having used during the country’s civil war : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which women are more likely than men to develop P.T.S.D. over the course of their lives : 2.5

[Harper’s Index]

Average penalty, in lost vacation days, for N.Y.P.D. officers the department finds to have committed domestic violence : 30

[Harper’s Index]

For officers the department finds to have been discourteous to a supervisor : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of 2018 among the deadliest years since 1990 for cyclists in the United States : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which male riders give higher tips to female drivers than to male drivers : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Value of the personal possessions that the average American lost while drinking alcohol last year : $192

[Harper’s Index]

That the average North Dakotan lost : $380

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which new plastic was more expensive than recycled plastic in 2018 : 20

[Harper’s Index]

By which recycled plastic is now more expensive : 19

[Harper’s Index]

Number of grams of plastic that the average person ingests per week : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. gamers who say they have skipped a meal to continue playing video games : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they have skipped a shower : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes that teens in households making $100,000 or more per year spend on screens for leisure each day : 409

[Harper’s Index]

That teens in households making $35,000 or less per year do : 512

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a millennial has voluntarily left a job for mental-health reasons : 1 in 3

[Harper’s Index]

That a Gen Z-er has : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. schools that have at least one police officer stationed inside a school building : 40

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. public school districts’ spending on email-monitoring services has increased since 2013 : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of U.S. colleges and universities that track prospective students’ web activity : 33

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of states that use artificial intelligence to grade student essays : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of people who could go unaccounted for in the 2020 census because of an “increased climate of fear” : 4,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of polling places that states in the South have closed since 2012 : 1,327

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those that were in Texas : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who regard the Democratic party as “too extreme” : 76

[Harper’s Index]

Of Democrats who regard the Republican party as such : 76

[Harper’s Index]

Average effective tax rate, as a percentage of income, paid by the richest 400 households in the United States in 2018 : 23

[Harper’s Index]

By the poorest half of American households : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of all public tweets from U.S. adults that come from people 50 and older : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of public political tweets that do : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of white Americans who say they follow local news very closely : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Of black Americans : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of new digital New York Times subscriptions in 2018 that were for its cooking or crossword app : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which owning a dog lowers one’s risk of death : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Number of states expected to lose the majority of their summer state-bird populations by 2050 : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Number of different forms of torture the Syrian government is suspected of having used during the country’s civil war : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which women are more likely than men to develop P.T.S.D. over the course of their lives : 2.5

[Harper’s Index]

Average penalty, in lost vacation days, for N.Y.P.D. officers the department finds to have committed domestic violence : 30

[Harper’s Index]

For officers the department finds to have been discourteous to a supervisor : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of 2018 among the deadliest years since 1990 for cyclists in the United States : 1

[Harper’s Index]

For pedestrians : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Uber riders who never tip : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Who always tip : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which male riders give higher tips to female drivers than to male drivers : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Value of the personal possessions that the average American lost while drinking alcohol last year : $192

[Harper’s Index]

That the average North Dakotan lost : $380

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which new plastic was more expensive than recycled plastic in 2018 : 20

[Harper’s Index]

By which recycled plastic is now more expensive : 19

[Harper’s Index]

Number of grams of plastic that the average person ingests per week : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. gamers who say they have skipped a meal to continue playing video games : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they have skipped a shower : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes that teens in households making $100,000 or more per year spend on screens for leisure each day : 409

[Harper’s Index]

That teens in households making $35,000 or less per year do : 512

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a millennial has voluntarily left a job for mental-health reasons : 1 in 3

[Harper’s Index]

That a Gen Z-er has : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. schools that have at least one police officer stationed inside a school building : 40

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. public school districts’ spending on email-monitoring services has increased since 2013 : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of U.S. colleges and universities that track prospective students’ web activity : 33

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of states that use artificial intelligence to grade student essays : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of people who could go unaccounted for in the 2020 census because of an “increased climate of fear” : 4,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of polling places that states in the South have closed since 2012 : 1,327

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those that were in Texas : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who regard the Democratic party as “too extreme” : 76

[Harper’s Index]

Of Democrats who regard the Republican party as such : 76

[Harper’s Index]

Average effective tax rate, as a percentage of income, paid by the richest 400 households in the United States in 2018 : 23

[Harper’s Index]

By the poorest half of American households : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of all public tweets from U.S. adults that come from people 50 and older : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of public political tweets that do : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of white Americans who say they follow local news very closely : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Of black Americans : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of new digital New York Times subscriptions in 2018 that were for its cooking or crossword app : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which owning a dog lowers one’s risk of death : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Number of states expected to lose the majority of their summer state-bird populations by 2050 : 7

Readings

[Essay]

Minor Threats

by Jean Genet,Translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman,

[Abuses]

Leftovers

by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo,

[Fiction]

“Untitled (Forest 2),” a photograph by Sandra Kantanen, whose work was on view in November at Elizabeth Houston Gallery, in New York City. Kantanen’s monograph, More Landscapes, was published last year by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

Courtesy the artist

Nurses with Wine, a painting by Alex Kanevsky, whose work was on view in September at Hollis Taggart, in New York City.

Dantor a Anais and Sanité Bélair, mixed-media artworks by Didier William, whose work is on view this month at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Courtesy the artist; James Fuentes, New York City; and Anna Zorina Gallery, New York City

La Güera, a mixed-media artwork by Hugo Crosthwaite, whose work was on view in December at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.

Courtesy the artist and Luis de Jesus Los Angeles

Courtesy the artist

Nurses with Wine, a painting by Alex Kanevsky, whose work was on view in September at Hollis Taggart, in New York City.

Dantor a Anais and Sanité Bélair, mixed-media artworks by Didier William, whose work is on view this month at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Courtesy the artist; James Fuentes, New York City; and Anna Zorina Gallery, New York City