August 2022

by Andrew Cockburn,

[Essay]

Tree Sleuths

How DNA is transforming the fight against illegal logging

by Lauren Markham,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Cost, per week, to stay at a Swiss center that offers treatment for cryptocurrency addiction : $98,691

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which bestsellers about Donald Trump outsold those about Joe Biden in the first two years of their terms : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Number of copies of Jill Biden’s memoir sold in the United States in its first week of publication : 250

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which Americans are more likely to believe that Republicans are better at controlling inflation than Democrats : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to carry a lucky charm at all times : 75

[Harper’s Index]

To include political language in their Twitter bios : 250

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. Twitter users who think no one else has ever seen their tweets : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in Google searches for “vasectomy” in the 36 hours after the leaked draft opinion about Roe v. Wade : 340

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which women are more likely than men to be interrupted in Senate committee hearings : 10

[Harper’s Index]

By which such interruptions are more likely when they are discussing women’s issues : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of baby boomers who trust the U.S. electoral process : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think their lives would make for good reality TV : 32

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in U.S. prescriptions for amphetamine-based ADHD medications : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of the global supply of these drugs that is used in the United States : 57

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. counties that lack a psychiatrist specializing in children or adolescents : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2015 in the number of prescriptions for antidepressants given to U.S. teenagers : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in the use of “buy now, pay later” services by Gen Z-ers since January 2020 : 925

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Gen Z users who have missed at least one payment : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2019 in the average price of a U.S. Uber car ride : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2010 in the average cost of an electric vehicle battery : –89

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which U.S. flights to the European Union have returned to their 2019 levels : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. men are more likely than U.S. women to claim they have had sex on a plane : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in reports of U.S. planes being struck by the beam of a laser pointer : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Cost of a trip to space in a capsule lifted by a helium balloon : $50,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of aspiring first-time home buyers who will be unable to purchase one this year : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2020 in the portion of U.S. home purchases accounted for by real estate investment firms : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they would feel “disgusted” if a homeless person lived in their community : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a Democrat has at some point experienced homelessness : 1 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. employers with remote workers that use some form of monitoring software : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of those employers that terminated employees after implementing this software : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Average salary U.S. college students expect to make in their first job after graduation : $103,880

[Harper’s Index]

Average starting salary for a U.S. college graduate : $55,260

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults aged 18 to 35 who don’t see any point in saving money until the pandemic ends : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which people with minor psychopathic tendencies are more likely to want to invest in cryptocurrency : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Cost, per week, to stay at a Swiss center that offers treatment for cryptocurrency addiction : $98,691

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which bestsellers about Donald Trump outsold those about Joe Biden in the first two years of their terms : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Number of copies of Jill Biden’s memoir sold in the United States in its first week of publication : 250

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which Americans are more likely to believe that Republicans are better at controlling inflation than Democrats : 2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to carry a lucky charm at all times : 75

[Harper’s Index]

To include political language in their Twitter bios : 250

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. Twitter users who think no one else has ever seen their tweets : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in Google searches for “vasectomy” in the 36 hours after the leaked draft opinion about Roe v. Wade : 340

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which women are more likely than men to be interrupted in Senate committee hearings : 10

[Harper’s Index]

By which such interruptions are more likely when they are discussing women’s issues : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of baby boomers who trust the U.S. electoral process : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think their lives would make for good reality TV : 32

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in U.S. prescriptions for amphetamine-based ADHD medications : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of the global supply of these drugs that is used in the United States : 57

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. counties that lack a psychiatrist specializing in children or adolescents : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2015 in the number of prescriptions for antidepressants given to U.S. teenagers : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in the use of “buy now, pay later” services by Gen Z-ers since January 2020 : 925

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Gen Z users who have missed at least one payment : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2019 in the average price of a U.S. Uber car ride : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2010 in the average cost of an electric vehicle battery : –89

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which U.S. flights to the European Union have returned to their 2019 levels : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which U.S. men are more likely than U.S. women to claim they have had sex on a plane : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in reports of U.S. planes being struck by the beam of a laser pointer : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Cost of a trip to space in a capsule lifted by a helium balloon : $50,000

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of aspiring first-time home buyers who will be unable to purchase one this year : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2020 in the portion of U.S. home purchases accounted for by real estate investment firms : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they would feel “disgusted” if a homeless person lived in their community : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a Democrat has at some point experienced homelessness : 1 in 5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. employers with remote workers that use some form of monitoring software : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of those employers that terminated employees after implementing this software : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Average salary U.S. college students expect to make in their first job after graduation : $103,880

[Harper’s Index]

Average starting salary for a U.S. college graduate : $55,260

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. adults aged 18 to 35 who don’t see any point in saving money until the pandemic ends : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which people with minor psychopathic tendencies are more likely to want to invest in cryptocurrency : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Cost, per week, to stay at a Swiss center that offers treatment for cryptocurrency addiction : $98,691

Readings

[Remarks]

PEN vs. Sword

by Ayad Akhtar, Andrey Kurkov, Patrice Nganang, Salman Rushdie, Yiyun Li,

[Marketing]

Streets Paved with Golden Arches

by Bela Shayevich,

[Fiction]

Bicycle Jenny

by Kathryn Scanlan,

[Official Business]

If I Had as Many Hands as Vishnu

by Stephen Ackerman,

Insomnia, a painting by Jill Mulleady, whose work will be on view next month at Gladstone Gallery, in New York City.

Melody, a painting by Gideon Appah, whose work is on view through December at the Ghana Pavilion of the Triennale di Milano, in Italy

Medicine Crow—Apsaroke and Wet—Apsaroke, mixed-media artworks by Wendy Red Star, whose book Delegation was published in June by Aperture. Red Star’s work is on view this month at the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, in California.

“Compost,” a photograph by Aimée Hoving from the series L’Être Aimée. Hoving’s work is included in Flora Photographica: The Flower in Contemporary Photography, which is being published this month by Thames & Hudson.