November 2024

by Lauren Oyler,

[Letter from Bougainville]

The Seventy Percent

On minor characters and human possibility

by Yiyun Li,

Harper’s Magazine welcomes reader response.

Email us about articles in the magazine.

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which Americans are more likely to disapprove of a woman’s election to the presidency than a person of color’s : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. partisan races in 2022 that were uncontested : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of these in which the sole candidate was a Democrat : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes of daily housework done by married American men who identify
as liberal : 99

[Harper’s Index]

By married American men who identify as conservative : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say they try to be polite when interacting with AI chatbots : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe their treatment of AI chatbots “will one day be taken into account somehow” : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage increase since 1980 in the portion of homicides in the United States that go unsolved : 64

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated ratio of pets to children under the age of 4 in China : 1:1

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which this ratio is projected to reach 2:1 : 2030

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of global net growth in renewable-energy capacity last year attributable to China : 63

[Harper’s Index]

Amount that the average American believed they would need to save for a comfortable retirement in 2020 : $951,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase this year in the number of Fidelity 401(k) accounts worth more than $1,000,000 : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Number of points by which the average credit score drops in a U.S. state after three years of legalized online sports betting : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Average percentage by which the rate of personal bankruptcy increases in such states : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American families traveling to a Disney theme park in 2022 that took on debt to do so : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. college seniors who are interested in becoming a corporate executive : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2022 in mentions of diversity on S&P 500 earnings calls : 52

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change this year in the portion of Democrats who say that businesses should take public political stances : −14

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of sanctions imposed by the United States exceeds that of any other country : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of the population of Cuba that has emigrated since 2022 : 18

[Harper’s Index]

That emigrated in the four years following the 1959 revolution : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 1983 in the portion of American 19-year-olds with driver’s licenses : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who in 2019 preferred to watch movies in theaters : 58

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of cleanliness among Americans’ grievances with movie theaters : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of single American adults who have sent a nude photo of themselves to someone in the past year : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of photos stored in an American smartphone user’s camera roll : 2,795

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which Americans are more likely to disapprove of a woman’s election to the presidency than a person of color’s : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. partisan races in 2022 that were uncontested : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of these in which the sole candidate was a Democrat : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of minutes of daily housework done by married American men who identify
as liberal : 99

[Harper’s Index]

By married American men who identify as conservative : 88

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say they try to be polite when interacting with AI chatbots : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Who believe their treatment of AI chatbots “will one day be taken into account somehow” : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage increase since 1980 in the portion of homicides in the United States that go unsolved : 64

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated ratio of pets to children under the age of 4 in China : 1:1

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which this ratio is projected to reach 2:1 : 2030

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of global net growth in renewable-energy capacity last year attributable to China : 63

[Harper’s Index]

Amount that the average American believed they would need to save for a comfortable retirement in 2020 : $951,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase this year in the number of Fidelity 401(k) accounts worth more than $1,000,000 : 39

[Harper’s Index]

Number of points by which the average credit score drops in a U.S. state after three years of legalized online sports betting : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Average percentage by which the rate of personal bankruptcy increases in such states : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American families traveling to a Disney theme park in 2022 that took on debt to do so : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Average debt taken on by such a family for their trip : $1,983

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who view fast food as a “luxury” : 78

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who have worked at McDonald’s : 1/8

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. college seniors who are interested in becoming a corporate executive : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 2022 in mentions of diversity on S&P 500 earnings calls : 52

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change this year in the portion of Democrats who say that businesses should take public political stances : −14

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of sanctions imposed by the United States exceeds that of any other country : 3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of the population of Cuba that has emigrated since 2022 : 18

[Harper’s Index]

That emigrated in the four years following the 1959 revolution : 5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease since 1983 in the portion of American 19-year-olds with driver’s licenses : 21

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who in 2019 preferred to watch movies in theaters : 58

[Harper’s Index]

Rank of cleanliness among Americans’ grievances with movie theaters : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of single American adults who have sent a nude photo of themselves to someone in the past year : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of photos stored in an American smartphone user’s camera roll : 2,795

Readings

[Essay]

First Raccoon

by Katherine Rundell,

[Correspondence]

Lorem Ipsum

by Kate Colby,

“Towing a tractor to Boise, Idaho” and “Christina’s World,” photographs by Mike Brodie from his book Failing, which will be published this month by Twin Palms Publishers.

Courtesy the artist and Twin Palms Publishers

Pool Under Thalo Green Sky, a painting by Katherine Bradford, whose work was on view last month at Kaufmann Repetto, in Milan.

Courtesy the artist, private collector, and Kaufmann Repetto

“Khan Shatyr Building, Astana, Kazakhstan, 2017,” a photograph by Andrew McConnell, from his monograph Some Worlds Have Two Suns, which will be published next month by Gost.

Courtesy the artist and Gost

El Secreto (The Secret), a painting by Lorena Torres, whose work was on view last month at Huxley-Parlour, in London.

Courtesy the artist and Huxley-Parlour, London

“Towing a tractor to Boise, Idaho” and “Christina’s World,” photographs by Mike Brodie from his book Failing, which will be published this month by Twin Palms Publishers.

Courtesy the artist and Twin Palms Publishers

Pool Under Thalo Green Sky, a painting by Katherine Bradford, whose work was on view last month at Kaufmann Repetto, in Milan.

Courtesy the artist, private collector, and Kaufmann Repetto

“Khan Shatyr Building, Astana, Kazakhstan, 2017,” a photograph by Andrew McConnell, from his monograph Some Worlds Have Two Suns, which will be published next month by Gost.

Courtesy the artist and Gost

El Secreto (The Secret), a painting by Lorena Torres, whose work was on view last month at Huxley-Parlour, in London.

Courtesy the artist and Huxley-Parlour, London

“Towing a tractor to Boise, Idaho” and “Christina’s World,” photographs by Mike Brodie from his book Failing, which will be published this month by Twin Palms Publishers.

Courtesy the artist and Twin Palms Publishers

[Letters]

by Christopher Carroll, Ann K. Gollin, Marilynne Robinson, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Annie Dillard, Roger D. Hodge, Ellen Rosenbush, Jennifer Szalai, Sheila Wolfe, Gerald Marzorati, Cynthia Ozick, Garret Keizer, Ralph Nader, Colin Harrison, Francine Prose, Curtis White, Gemma Sieff, Robert Whitcomb, Jack Hitt, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Adam Iscoe, Will Augerot, Matthew Stevenson, Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,