February 2021

Life After Trump

by Charles Yu, Mike Jaccarino, A. S. Hamrah, Eileen Myles, Judith Martin, Olivia Laing, Yinka Elujoba, Lauren Oyler, Jane Hu, Liane Carlson, David Owen, Christian Lorentzen, Christopher Beha,

[Letter from Washington]

Hard Times

Will America recover under Biden?

by Andrew Cockburn,

[Annotation]

Signs of the Covenant

The old media of the ultra-Orthodox

by Jamie Levin, Sarah Treleaven,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of Amazon employees worldwide exceeds the population of Wyoming : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount spent on 2020 campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and White House : $14,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which this exceeds the previous record for an election year : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of global tax revenue lost each year to companies that incorporate in tax havens : $245,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

To individuals who store their assets in tax havens : $182,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American travelers who do not support opening their own communities to visitors : 37

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the smoke plumes from those fires decreased the amount of sunlight reaching Australia : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Area, in square kilometers, of the hole in the ozone layer produced by the Australian wildfires last year : 800,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of greenhouse-gas emissions that were covered by a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system last year : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who plan to use their cars more often after the pandemic ends than they did before it began : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Who hesitate to travel for fear that they would not be welcome at their destinations : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum percentage by which the U.S. birth rate is expected to fall this year : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American knew someone who died of COVID-19 last year : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Of countries where activists have reported police violence as a component of the pandemic response : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of countries that have placed restrictions on news organizations during the pandemic : 91

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated total value of federal COVID-19 loans that were paid out to fraudulent or ineligible applicants : $71,400,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Average amount of money those Americans keep secret : $2,006

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans in a relationship who keep some of their money secret from their partner : 37

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of carbon, in metric tons, produced each year by the sending and receiving of emails : 12,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

By the sending and receiving of text messages : 7,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of greenhouse-gas emissions that are caused by the health care industry : 4.6

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those emissions for which the United States is responsible : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. health care facilities that regularly test their employees for COVID-19 : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. health care workers have requested leave more often since the onset of the pandemic : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. doctors who have closed their practices since then : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. doctors and nurse clinicians who have retired early or plan to do so because of the pandemic : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. workers over 55 who plan to delay their retirement because of the pandemic : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of senior White House jobs that turned over during the Trump presidency : 91

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of those jobs that did so more than once : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an outgoing senior White House employee was fired or pressured into resigning : 1 in 4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. remote employees who say they have been working harder than ever : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they have not felt as appreciated by their employer since they began working remotely : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease, in the first half of 2020, in direct foreign investment in the United States : 61

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the American economy is expected to contract this year : 4.3

[Harper’s Index]

By which the Chinese economy is expected to expand : 1.9

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of documentaries that the Chinese government has produced about Wuhan’s response to the coronavirus : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of Amazon employees worldwide exceeds the population of Wyoming : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount spent on 2020 campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and White House : $14,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which this exceeds the previous record for an election year : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of global tax revenue lost each year to companies that incorporate in tax havens : $245,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

To individuals who store their assets in tax havens : $182,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American travelers who do not support opening their own communities to visitors : 37

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the smoke plumes from those fires decreased the amount of sunlight reaching Australia : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Area, in square kilometers, of the hole in the ozone layer produced by the Australian wildfires last year : 800,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of greenhouse-gas emissions that were covered by a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system last year : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who plan to use their cars more often after the pandemic ends than they did before it began : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Who hesitate to travel for fear that they would not be welcome at their destinations : 25

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum percentage by which the U.S. birth rate is expected to fall this year : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American knew someone who died of COVID-19 last year : 1 in 2

[Harper’s Index]

Of countries where activists have reported police violence as a component of the pandemic response : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of countries that have placed restrictions on news organizations during the pandemic : 91

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated total value of federal COVID-19 loans that were paid out to fraudulent or ineligible applicants : $71,400,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Average amount of money those Americans keep secret : $2,006

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans in a relationship who keep some of their money secret from their partner : 37

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of carbon, in metric tons, produced each year by the sending and receiving of emails : 12,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

By the sending and receiving of text messages : 7,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of greenhouse-gas emissions that are caused by the health care industry : 4.6

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of those emissions for which the United States is responsible : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. health care facilities that regularly test their employees for COVID-19 : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. health care workers have requested leave more often since the onset of the pandemic : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. doctors who have closed their practices since then : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. doctors and nurse clinicians who have retired early or plan to do so because of the pandemic : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. workers over 55 who plan to delay their retirement because of the pandemic : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of senior White House jobs that turned over during the Trump presidency : 91

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of those jobs that did so more than once : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an outgoing senior White House employee was fired or pressured into resigning : 1 in 4

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. remote employees who say they have been working harder than ever : 7/10

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they have not felt as appreciated by their employer since they began working remotely : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease, in the first half of 2020, in direct foreign investment in the United States : 61

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the American economy is expected to contract this year : 4.3

[Harper’s Index]

By which the Chinese economy is expected to expand : 1.9

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of documentaries that the Chinese government has produced about Wuhan’s response to the coronavirus : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of Amazon employees worldwide exceeds the population of Wyoming : 2

Readings

[Essay]

The Left Behind

by Rachel Kushner,

[Harassment]

My Scummy Valentine

[Screenplay]

The Rival

by Terry Southern,

[Press Release]

Grand Slam

[Poem]

Red Wall

by Yi Lei,Translated by Tracy K. Smith, Changtai Bi,

[Personal Ads]

American Dreamers

[Letter]

A Unified Theory

by Thomas Brennan,

[Negotiation]

MAGA Carta

[Memoir]

An Honest Living

by Billy Wilder,Edited by Noah Isenberg,Translated by Shelley Frisch,

[Responses]

Immodest Proposal

[Methodology]

Head Over Heels

[Author’s Note]

The Double Role

by Maria Stepanova, Sasha Dugdale,

[Fiction]

Last Cigarette

by Roberto Bolaño,Translated by Natasha Wimmer,

[Rules]

New World Orders

[Evaluation]

Infertility Clinic

by Dawn Wooten,

Departure (After El Lissitzky), a mixed-media artwork by Mernet Larsen, whose work was on view last month at James Cohan, in New York City.

Pharaoh’s Dance, a painting by Sanam Khatibi, whose work was on view last month at Rodolphe Janssen, in Brussels.

Courtesy the artist and Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels

Photograph by Carolyn Drake from her monograph Knit Club, which was published last year by TBW Books.

Photograph by Carolyn Drake from her monograph Knit Club, which was published last year by TBW Books.

La Casa del Mar Menor, a mixed-media artwork by Mar Hernández, whose work was on view in September at White Noise, in Rome.

Tom, His Family, and His Friends, a painting by Liu Xiaodong, whose work is on view through May at Dallas Contemporary.

“A New Life,” a photograph by Diana Markosian from her monograph Santa Barbara, which was published last year by Aperture. Markosian’s work is on view through June at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.