July 2024

by Benjamín Labatut,

[Essay]

Metal Machine Music

Can AI think creatively? Can we?

by Laurent Dubreuil,

[Letter from Cologne]

The Dead Admonish

Facing the ghosts of resistance and exile

by John Ganz,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in fireworks sales in the United States since 2000 : 203

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which U.S. adults are more likely to say their mother was a greater moral influence on them than their father was : 86

[Harper’s Index]

By which they are more likely to say their father was a greater political influence on them than their mother was : 130

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2018 in the portion of Americans who say there are too few women in high political offices : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say their federal income taxes were too high this year : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which Americans were last this critical of federal income-tax rates : 2001

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of hiring managers who say they knowingly ask illegal questions during job interviews : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. CEOs who say they get enough sleep : 77

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of stadiums in U.S. men’s major sports leagues that were named for a corporate sponsor in the first half of the 1990s : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated value of U.S. coins lost in the garbage each year : $67,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Hours of minimum-wage labor that it would take to afford a Christmas greeting card from a Virginia prison commissary : 2.96

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of people executed by lethal injection in Georgia since 1977 who were black : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of botched lethal injections in Georgia since 1977 in which the person being executed was black : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of cases in which U.S. police officers were charged with selling, dealing, or trafficking drugs since 2005 : 628

[Harper’s Index]

In which U.S. police officers were charged with sex-related crimes : 3,663

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of these sex-related offenses that were perpetrated by officers who had previously faced criminal charges : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Most common age of victims of sexual abuse by U.S. police officers : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in the portion of chronically absent U.S. public school students since 2015 : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. public school teachers who say their school had at least one gun-related lockdown last year : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who believe that arming teachers would be effective in preventing shootings : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who believe that improved mental-health screening and treatment would be effective : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. teenagers who say they feel anxious without their phones : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease over the past year in the portion of Americans aged 18 to 34 who have a favorable opinion of Israel : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Number of confirmed killings of Palestinian journalists and media workers since October 7 : 92

[Harper’s Index]

Number of other confirmed killings of journalists and media workers around the world during that period : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Number of reported killings of aid workers in Gaza during that period : 244

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of aid workers killed worldwide each year in the past decade : 123

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of land previously used for agriculture in Gaza that was destroyed between October 7 and March 2024 : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of common fruits and vegetables sold in the United States that contain dangerous levels of pesticides : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of hot dogs eaten per second in the United States between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year : 818

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. voters who believe Trump would perform better than Biden in a hot-dog-eating contest : 58

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe Trump would be better than Biden at changing a diaper : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of likely Trump voters who say that a conviction in his New York criminal trial would not affect their vote for him : 62

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that it would make them even more likely to vote for him : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they would support their state’s secession from the Union : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase over the past fifty years in the number of Americans who say they would like to move to another country : 240

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in fireworks sales in the United States since 2000 : 203

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which U.S. adults are more likely to say their mother was a greater moral influence on them than their father was : 86

[Harper’s Index]

By which they are more likely to say their father was a greater political influence on them than their mother was : 130

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2018 in the portion of Americans who say there are too few women in high political offices : 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say their federal income taxes were too high this year : 60

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which Americans were last this critical of federal income-tax rates : 2001

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of hiring managers who say they knowingly ask illegal questions during job interviews : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. CEOs who say they get enough sleep : 77

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of stadiums in U.S. men’s major sports leagues that were named for a corporate sponsor in the first half of the 1990s : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated value of U.S. coins lost in the garbage each year : $67,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Hours of minimum-wage labor that it would take to afford a Christmas greeting card from a Virginia prison commissary : 2.96

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of people executed by lethal injection in Georgia since 1977 who were black : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of botched lethal injections in Georgia since 1977 in which the person being executed was black : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of cases in which U.S. police officers were charged with selling, dealing, or trafficking drugs since 2005 : 628

[Harper’s Index]

In which U.S. police officers were charged with sex-related crimes : 3,663

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of these sex-related offenses that were perpetrated by officers who had previously faced criminal charges : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Most common age of victims of sexual abuse by U.S. police officers : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in the portion of chronically absent U.S. public school students since 2015 : 73

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. public school teachers who say their school had at least one gun-related lockdown last year : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who believe that arming teachers would be effective in preventing shootings : 13

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage who believe that improved mental-health screening and treatment would be effective : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. teenagers who say they feel anxious without their phones : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease over the past year in the portion of Americans aged 18 to 34 who have a favorable opinion of Israel : 41

[Harper’s Index]

Number of confirmed killings of Palestinian journalists and media workers since October 7 : 92

[Harper’s Index]

Number of other confirmed killings of journalists and media workers around the world during that period : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Number of reported killings of aid workers in Gaza during that period : 244

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of aid workers killed worldwide each year in the past decade : 123

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of land previously used for agriculture in Gaza that was destroyed between October 7 and March 2024 : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of common fruits and vegetables sold in the United States that contain dangerous levels of pesticides : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of hot dogs eaten per second in the United States between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year : 818

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. voters who believe Trump would perform better than Biden in a hot-dog-eating contest : 58

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe Trump would be better than Biden at changing a diaper : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of likely Trump voters who say that a conviction in his New York criminal trial would not affect their vote for him : 62

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that it would make them even more likely to vote for him : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say they would support their state’s secession from the Union : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase over the past fifty years in the number of Americans who say they would like to move to another country : 240

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in fireworks sales in the United States since 2000 : 203

Readings

[Essay]

The Approach of a Dangerous Fate

by Kevin Barry,

[Poem]

The Best I Can Do Is to Be Concrete

by Diane Seuss,

[Messages]

Tears and Pain

Meridian, a mixed-media artwork (oil, acrylic, acrylic polymer, archival paper, ink, aluminum, Dibond, and wood) by Sarah Sze, whose work was on view last month at Victoria Miro, in Venice, Italy.

Rain in the city, a painting by Louis Fratino, whose monograph Louis Fratino was published in May by Magic Hour Press. Fratino’s work is on view through November at the Venice Biennale, in Italy.

“1365-03 Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture,” a photograph by Yoko Ikeda, whose book Contrepoint was published by IBASHO and the(M) éditions. Ikeda’s work was on view last month as part of the exhibition All That’s Fit, at The Fulcrum, in Los Angeles.

“East MLK Blvd., Austin, Texas, 2021” and “Praying Cowboy, Gladewater, Texas, 2021,” photographs by Rahim Fortune from his book Hardtack, which was published in April by Loose Joints.

Meridian, a mixed-media artwork (oil, acrylic, acrylic polymer, archival paper, ink, aluminum, Dibond, and wood) by Sarah Sze, whose work was on view last month at Victoria Miro, in Venice, Italy.

“East MLK Blvd., Austin, Texas, 2021” and “Praying Cowboy, Gladewater, Texas, 2021,” photographs by Rahim Fortune from his book Hardtack, which was published in April by Loose Joints.

Meridian, a mixed-media artwork (oil, acrylic, acrylic polymer, archival paper, ink, aluminum, Dibond, and wood) by Sarah Sze, whose work was on view last month at Victoria Miro, in Venice, Italy.