April 2024

by Ras Baraka, Rosa Brooks, Barry Friedman, Christy E. Lopez, Tracey L. Meares, Brian O’Hara, Patrick Sharkey,

[Report]

The Eviction Experts

Can a city stop a housing crisis?

by Mya Frazier,

[Letter from Phoenix]

Jacob’s Dream

MAGA meets the Age of Aquarius

by Frederick Kaufman,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Biden voters are more likely than Trump voters to have read a history book in 2023 : 5

[Harper’s Index]

By which they are more likely to have read a young-adult novel : 350

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. voters who would be more likely to vote for a 2024 presidential candidate if Taylor Swift endorsed them : 18

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that immigrants illegally entering the United States “poison the blood” of the country : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which cases of children poisoned by marijuana edibles in the United States have increased since 2017 : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of cocaine users worldwide who live in the United States : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Americans working in the food-service industry are more likely than average to die of a drug overdose : 180

[Harper’s Index]

By which Americans who work in construction or mining are more likely to do so : 286

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who have died by medically assisted suicide who attended college : 72

[Harper’s Index]

Who were white : 96

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans over the age of 50 who have set aside money for long-term care : 37

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the U.S. centenarian population is expected to increase over the next 30 years : 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of plastic-surgery procedures in the United States : 19

[Harper’s Index]

In Botox and other neuromodulator injections : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes it takes for an American to drive to the nearest emergency room : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who live within a 10-minute drive of a firearms dealer : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Average annual starting salary for a new police officer in San Jose, California : $111,000

[Harper’s Index]

In New York City : $58,000

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which Americans are more likely to oppose defunding the police than to support doing so : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American adults who say their interactions with police officers in the past year were positive experiences overall : 77

[Harper’s Index]

Of black American adults who say so : 68

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American adults who believe that black people experience a great deal of discrimination today : 34

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of LGBT American men who say that discrimination is a major barrier to their adopting a child from foster care : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American women who say getting married and having children makes women’s lives happier and more fulfilling : 32

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American women under 30 who say this : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of women worldwide who experience physical pain on a daily basis : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of women worldwide who have been unable to afford shelter at times during the past year : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of years until the world’s first trillionaire emerges : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. wealth inequality that is accounted for by inheritances : 61

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which American adults under 35 are more likely to say their parents’ role in their lives is too small than too large : 144

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American boys and men aged 13–39 who say that sports are interesting only if gambling is involved : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of internet users who believe they are living in a simulation : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American adults under 30 who believe the Holocaust did not happen : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who are waiting for an apology from someone in their life : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which participants in workplace mental-wellness programs are more likely to report greater well-being : 0

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2019 in the number of Americans who say that psychiatrists have high ethical standards : 16

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the rate of retraction of academic papers has increased in the past decade : 3.5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who know their blood type : 51

[Harper’s Index]

Who know their credit score : 58

[Harper’s Index]

Who know their zodiac sign : 66

Readings

[Essay]

Village of Dolls

by Catherine Barnett,

A photograph by Richard Billingham from his book Ray’s a Laugh, which was published last month by MACK.

To Leave a Place/Memory, a painting by Dominique Fung, whose work was on view in December at Massimo De Carlo, in London.

Courtesy the artist and Massimo De Carlo

The Wait of the World, a drawing by Michael Andrew Booker, whose work is on view this month at Art Galleries at Black Studies (AGBS) at the University of Texas at Austin.

Courtesy the artist and Morton Fine Art, Washington

“Hounds at the tree, Lochsa River valley, 1992,” by Barbara Bosworth, from her monograph One Star and a Dark Voyage, which was published in 2021 by TIS Books. Bosworth’s work is on view this month at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Piscando Espárragos Tres and Piscando Espárragos Uno, mixed-media artworks (acrylic, charcoal, simple leaf, and matte gel on produce box) by Narsiso Martinez, whose work is on view this month at Buffalo AKG Art Museum, in New York, and was on view in February with Charlie James Gallery at Material Art Fair, in Mexico City.

[Letters]

April 2024

Crime and Punishment

Can American policing be fixed?

The Eviction Experts

Can a city stop a housing crisis?

Jacob’s Dream

MAGA meets the Age of Aquarius

Percentage by which Biden voters are more likely than Trump voters to have read a history book in 2023 : 5

By which they are more likely to have read a young-adult novel : 350

Percentage of U.S. voters who would be more likely to vote for a 2024 presidential candidate if Taylor Swift endorsed them : 18

Who say that immigrants illegally entering the United States “poison the blood” of the country : 45

Factor by which cases of children poisoned by marijuana edibles in the United States have increased since 2017 : 13

Portion of cocaine users worldwide who live in the United States : 1/4

Percentage by which Americans working in the food-service industry are more likely than average to die of a drug overdose : 180

By which Americans who work in construction or mining are more likely to do so : 286

Percentage of Americans who have died by medically assisted suicide who attended college : 72

Who were white : 96

Percentage of Americans over the age of 50 who have set aside money for long-term care : 37

Factor by which the U.S. centenarian population is expected to increase over the next 30 years : 4

Percentage increase since 2019 in the number of plastic-surgery procedures in the United States : 19

In Botox and other neuromodulator injections : 73

Average number of minutes it takes for an American to drive to the nearest emergency room : 17

Percentage of Americans who live within a 10-minute drive of a firearms dealer : 88

Average annual starting salary for a new police officer in San Jose, California : $111,000

In New York City : $58,000

Factor by which Americans are more likely to oppose defunding the police than to support doing so : 5

Percentage of American adults who say their interactions with police officers in the past year were positive experiences overall : 77

Of black American adults who say so : 68

Percentage of American adults who believe that black people experience a great deal of discrimination today : 34

Portion of LGBT American men who say that discrimination is a major barrier to their adopting a child from foster care : 1/2

Percentage of American women who say getting married and having children makes women’s lives happier and more fulfilling : 32

Percentage of American women under 30 who say this : 24

Portion of women worldwide who experience physical pain on a daily basis : 1/3

Portion of women worldwide who have been unable to afford shelter at times during the past year : 1/3

Estimated number of years until the world’s first trillionaire emerges : 10

Percentage of U.S. wealth inequality that is accounted for by inheritances : 61

Percentage by which American adults under 35 are more likely to say their parents’ role in their lives is too small than too large : 144

Percentage of American boys and men aged 13–39 who say that sports are interesting only if gambling is involved : 39

Portion of internet users who believe they are living in a simulation : 1/2

Portion of American adults under 30 who believe the Holocaust did not happen : 1/5

Percentage of Americans who are waiting for an apology from someone in their life : 46

Estimated percentage by which participants in workplace mental-wellness programs are more likely to report greater well-being : 0

Percentage decrease since 2019 in the number of Americans who say that psychiatrists have high ethical standards : 16

Factor by which the rate of retraction of academic papers has increased in the past decade : 3.5

Percentage of Americans who know their blood type : 51

Who know their credit score : 58

Who know their zodiac sign : 66

Readings

Redeeming Time

Ethernal Damnation

The Person Who Performs

The Same Grave

The Absent Reader

Atlas Shrugged

Everything Extremely Alive

Shuck and Awe

Village of Dolls

Letters

Dance Factory

Harper’s Index

Crime and Punishment

Can American policing be fixed?

Between Tact and Force

The Eviction Experts

Can a city stop a housing crisis?

Jacob’s Dream

MAGA meets the Age of Aquarius

Heir Mail

Decrypting the correspondence of Mary, Queen of Scots

Fortune’s Prime

New Books

Children for Sale

When Guatemalan adoption became big business

April Foolishness

See the solution to last month’s puzzle.

Findings

A metal scar on the surface of the white dwarf WD 0816-310 indicated that it has cannibalized other bodies in its orbit.

An orca acting alone killed a great white shark and ate its liver.

Genomic analysis indicated that psychedelic mushrooms emerged around the time of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic mass extinction.

The playing speed of a metal guitarist directly correlates with his intrasexual competitiveness but not his mating success.

Recent toilet-paper hoarding was more prevalent among Americans than Europeans and more prevalent among the old than the young.

Ostrich-shell beads indicating the onset of the Initial Upper Paleolithic were found to have reached Shuidonggou by 39000 bc, and strontium isotope levels revealed the social exchange of ostrich-shell beads during the Late Quaternary in the Karoo Supergroup.

Hemotoxic snakebite may be treatable with a heavy-metal chelator.

The mating calls of male Panama cross-banded tree frogs are synchronized to confuse bats and midges.

Peatlands, which now store roughly as much carbon as Earth’s forests or its atmosphere, can hold more carbon if exposed to low-intensity fires.

Terrestrial bacteria can grow on extraterrestrial nutrients; the black hole nearest Earth was discovered in the constellation Telescopium; and X-ray experiments conducted at the European Synchrotron indicated that moisture is destroying The Scream.