CONTROVERSY MAIN STORIES TALKING POINTS

THE GOP’S More misery What if

REVISION in Gaza and UFOs
OF JAN. 6 Israel are real?
p.6 Rep. Kevin p.4 p.17
McCarthy

THE BEST OF THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Mask
confusion
Was the CDC’s about-face
on indoor protection
premature?
p.5

MAY 28, 2021 VOLUME 21 ISSUE 1029

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 Contents 3

Editor’s letter
It was the $4.4 million ransom that was the breaking point
for me. The many proponents of Bitcoin have been telling us
endlessly for years that digital currencies are going to change
everyone’s lives. Well, they were right. Thanks to the magic of
Bitcoin, a group of hackers based in Eastern Europe can hijack
oil pipelines in the U.S., create lines for gas at stations from
North Carolina to Florida, and then walk off with millions that
can’t be traced. For people who don’t regularly read the financial
pages, this is an appropriate introduction to digital currencies—
or “crypto,” as the initiates like to refer to Bitcoin and its imita-
tors. Created with utopian dreams of a medium of exchange un-
burdened by government, Bitcoin has delivered in full: a currency
optimized for criminal transactions, a vast regulation-free waste
of energy and computing power (see Technology, p.20), a windfall
for speculators. And for the rest of us—in the words of Bitcoin-
dabbler Elon Musk—“a hustle.”
So let’s get back to that ransom. The operators of the Colonial
Pipeline had no choice but to pay it to get gasoline moving
through the Southeast again. Of course there will be more such
demands—and bigger ones. If you can get $4 million, why not
$20 million? Digital currency is the prerequisite for this grow-
ing business. Bitcoin boosters, including much of Silicon Valley,
wanted a way to move large sums of money without government
interference. We got that, and it hasn’t worked out. As in other
areas, the absence of government just returns us to the state of
nature—not a kind place. Governments themselves are becom-
ing wise to this, exposing Bitcoin to risks of a sudden crackdown.
Just how long this story goes on is anyone’s guess; last week Bit-
coin plummeted in a frantic one-day sell-off, then just as myste-
riously recovered. But we’ve seen enough now to know the plot,
which follows so many science-fiction movies: a Mark Gimein
utopian beginning gives way to a dystopian end. Managing editor

NEWS
4 Main stories
An explosion of
violence in Israel and
Gaza; the CDC’s new
mask guidelines spark
celebrations and confusion
6 Controversy of the week
Should Congress
investigate the Jan. 6
Capitol insurrection?
7 The U.S. at a glance
Supreme Court to hear
key abortion case; a sham
election audit in Arizona
8 The world at a glance
Why so many Brazilian
children are dying of
Covid; China lands a
rover on Mars
10 People
Editor-in-chief: William Falk
Managing editors: Theunis Bates,
Mark Gimein
Assistant managing editor: Jay Wilkins
Deputy editor/International: Susan Caskie
Deputy editor/Arts: Chris Mitchell
Senior editors: Chris Erikson, Danny Funt,
Michael Jaccarino, Dale Obbie,
Zach Schonbrun, Hallie Stiller
Art director: Dan Josephs
Photo editor: Mark Rykoff
Copy editor: Jane A. Halsey
Researchers: Joyce Chu, Ryan Rosenberg
Contributing editors: Ryan Devlin,
Bruno Maddox
Group publisher: Paul Vizza
(paul_vizza@theweek.com)
Associate publisher: Sara Schiano
(sara_schiano@theweek.com)
West Coast executive director:
Tony Imperato
East coast account director: Meg Power
A Gaza building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike (pages 4 and 14) Group custom content director:
Barbara Baker Clark
Director, digital operations & advertising:
ARTS LEISURE Andy Price
Media planning manager: Andrea Crino
22 Books 27 Food & Drink Direct response: Anthony Smyth
Letting the forest deliver Meaty grilled oyster
(914-409-4202; anthony@smythps.com)

Isabella Rossellini’s its wisdom mushroom kebabs; three

lockdown romance; a Sex
Pistol becomes a caregiver
11 Briefing
Should the U.S. boycott
the 2022 Winter
Olympics in Beijing?
12 Best U.S. columns
How lockdowns helped
the economy; the GOP’s
cuckoo caucus
15 Best European
North American CEO: Randy Siegel
SVP, finance: Maria Beckett
wine clubs worth joining Director, financial reporting:
23 Author of the week Arielle Starkman
How Christina Hunger 28 Coping SVP, global marketing: Lisa Boyars
taught her dog How the pandemic messed
VP consumer marketing:
Yanna Wilson-Fischer
to talk with our brains; the noisy Consumer marketing director:
joys of cicada season
Leslie Guarnieri
Senior digital marketing director:
24 Art & Music Mathieu Muzzy
Agnes Pelton’s Manufacturing manager, North America:
Lori Crook
cosmic BUSINESS
HR manager: Joy Hart
landscapes; Operations manager: Cassandra Mondonedo
32 News at a glance
St. Vincent’s Chairman: Jack Griffin
AT&T’s disastrous media Dennis Group CEO: James Tye
new sound
experiment; Bill Gates’ Group CRO: Julian Lloyd-Evans

columns
Italy overwhelmed by a
new migrant surge
16 Talking points
The new culture war
over critical race theory;
taking UFOs seriously;
AP, Getty
25 Film & workplace affairs U.K. founding editor: Jolyon Connell
Company founder: Felix Dennis
Home 33 Making money
Media Returning to a very
Eric Bana different office; refund Visit us at TheWeek.com.
feels the heat For customer service go to
delays at the IRS
in Australian TheWeek.com/service.
thriller The Dry 34 Best columns Renew a subscription at
The specter of inflation is RenewTheWeek.com or give a

is it time to start paying Isabella Rossellini back; the go-to currency gift at GiveTheWeek.com.
people to get vaccinated? (p.10) for ransom demands
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
4 NEWS The main stories...
Israel’s campaign to degrade Hamas’ military
What happened But as demonstrated by weekend
Amid growing international calls bombings that killed 42 residents of
for a cease-fire, Israel continued an a collapsed apartment building and
offensive in Gaza this week to eradi- destroyed offices for the Associated
cate Hamas leadership and military Press and other news organizations,
capabilities, in response to a sus- Israel “is pushing the boundaries of
tained barrage of more than 4,000 legitimate military targeting.” With
rockets fired at Israeli towns. “The even some pro-Israel U.S. lawmakers
shooting must stop,” said French expressing concern, “the collateral
President Emmanuel Macron, who political and diplomatic damage to
drafted a cease-fire resolution for the Israel is steadily growing.”
United Nations Security Council. By
midweek, the airstrikes had killed What the columnists said
more than 225 Palestinians, includ- The usual arguments about aggres-
ing at least 64 children, displaced Israel’s Iron Dome missiles (right) rising to block Hamas rockets sion and reprisal miss the point,
more than 58,000, and destroyed said Shadi Hamid in TheAtlantic
hundreds of buildings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .com. This latest conflict began in East Jerusalem, when Israel
tweeted that the attacks would “continue as long as necessary to tried to evict Palestinian families and then sent police to raid the
restore calm to the citizens of Israel.” Hamas-fired rockets that Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel’s defenders fail to acknowledge the “wildly
slipped past Israel’s Iron Dome defense shield have killed at least unequal” power imbalance “in which Israel is the aggressor and
a dozen Israeli citizens, including two children. In response, Israel Palestinians are the aggressed.” That imbalance provokes humili-
said, it had destroyed 60 miles of underground tunnels, struck 80 ated Palestinians to lash out over and over again, and gives Israel
rocket launchers, and killed at least 130 Hamas militants. no incentive whatsoever to seek peace.

The White House said that President Biden told Netanyahu he
“expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a cease-
fire.” But Netanyahu declined. That prompted some Democrats to
call on Biden to take a tougher stance. “The president needs to tell
Netanyahu to stop,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Rep. Il-
han Omar of Minnesota said Biden should block a $735 million
weapons sale to Israel. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
accused critics of Israel of engaging in “false equivalence between
terrorist aggressors and a responsible state defending itself.” The
U.S. must “stand foursquare behind our ally,” he said.
If you’re rooting for a Palestinian state, “you must also want
Hamas to be humiliated and defeated,” said Bret Stephens in The
New York Times. The sole objective of this terrorist organiza-
tion has been to turn a “potentially negotiable” conflict into a
“zero-sum holy war.” There’s no moral equivalent between Israel’s
inadvertent killing of Palestinians and Hamas’ deliberate attacks
on Israeli citizens—or its strategy of housing arsenals amid civil-
ian populations so it can “reap the propaganda benefits” when
Palestinian children are killed by defensive strikes. Hamas “must
be routed.”

The Israeli bombardment created a growing humanitarian crisis As the bloody fighting continues, Biden faces a war within his own
in Gaza, where power lines were damaged, hospitals and schools party, said Ryan Lizza in Politico.com. While he’s moved to the left on
were taken out of commission, fuel and water were in short supply, issues from climate to racial justice, “on Israel he’s a throwback”—
and a devastated sewer system flooded streets with wastewater. and he’s facing a rebellion from “a vocal Left that’s deeply disenchanted
“We are tired,” said Haya Abdelal, 21, with the Jewish state.” The ground is
after the building next to her home was What next? shifting, with progressive Democratic
destroyed. “We need a truce. We can’t Biden’s call for a cease-fire will have no ef- lawmakers openly criticizing Israel and
bear it anymore.” fect, because “Washington has less leverage polls showing Democratic voters now
than ever,” said Walter Russell Mead in The “equally sympathetic toward both
What the editorials said Wall Street Journal. “Everyone in the region” sides” of the conflict.
“The narrative is following a familiar is aware that the U.S.’s chief goal is to “reduce
script,” said The Wall Street Journal. America’s Middle East footprint.” Few Israelis Hopes for ending the “vicious cycle”
Hamas fires rockets at Israeli civilians, fear that Biden will disrupt the status quo, and of violence are dimmer than ever, said
and Israel strikes back at the source of “even fewer Palestinians believe that the U.S. can David Ignatius in The Washington
the weaponry. Then “Hamas plays up or will force Israel to make the concessions on Post. In the past, America would have
the civilian casualties, and the world Jerusalem and settlements they demand.” The urged recommitment to a “peace
leans on Israel to stop defending itself.” current violence “will burn itself out,” but with process,” but no such process exists. In
As the fighting continues, “let’s hope this support for a two-state solution all but dead, this Israel, the “political fabric has frayed
isn’t the trap the Biden administration “Hundred Years’ War” looks nowhere “close to during recent years of electoral impasse
falls into.” Israel has “an obligation to an end.” The Democratic divide over Israel “is and interim government.” On the Pal-
its own people to degrade the threat” going to be a problem” for Biden, said Henry estinian side, the “mess is even worse,”
with a sustained assault. Olsen in The Washington Post. Biden special- with power flowing away from the
izes in finding middle ground, but there is none “corrupt and feeble” Palestinian
It’s time for Israel “to call a halt,” said between pro-Palestinian Democrats and an Israel Authority toward the militant Hamas.
The Washington Post. Yes, its targeted that’s “shifted dramatically to the right.” In com- The only way out is through bold,
bombing “is not morally or legally ing years, that tension will only grow. honest, and courageous leadership—
Getty

comparable” to Hamas’ “war crimes.” and none is in evidence.

Illustration by Fred Harper.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021 Cover photos from Reuters, Getty (2)
 ... and how they were covered NEWS 5

CDC lifts mask rules for vaccinated Americans

What happened “Eradication of the coronavirus was
Many Americans took off their face never and still cannot be the goal,” said
masks last week after the Centers for WashingtonExaminer.com. We don’t
Disease Control scrapped almost all of demand that other risks be reduced to
its masking and social-distancing recom- zero at any cost, and the same is true
mendations for people fully vaccinated with Covid. The CDC’s new advisory
against Covid-19, an unexpected an- is an overdue recognition of the reality
nouncement that was met with celebra- that, thanks to vaccines, “we have
tion and confusion. Citing new research defeated the epidemic. It’s over.” Now
that indicates recipients of Pfizer’s and it’s time to take the next steps. Class-
Moderna’s shots are highly unlikely to rooms need to open in full. We should
spread the virus or to be infected by lift capacity limits at ballparks, theaters,
variants, the CDC said vaccinated people and places of worship “where the com-
can safely go without masks in almost all munity spread is low—which is almost
situations—even when they are indoors Shoppers in Huntington Beach, Calif. all of the country.”
in large groups. The advisory, an abrupt
about-face for an agency that just three weeks earlier had urged What the columnists said
vaccinated people to remain masked in crowded spaces, surprised The CDC’s guidance has caused “a giant mess,” said Dr. Leana
even the White House. “We’ll smile again,” President Biden said Wen in The Washington Post. The announcement blindsided gov-
on receiving the news, “and now, see one another’s smile.” Within ernors and mayors, leading to a confusing patchwork of new mask
a day, some 20 states had lifted mask mandates for vaccinated rules across the country, and it left businesses scrambling to find
residents. Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Publix, Target, Starbucks, ways to relax restrictions while also protecting the unvaccinated.
and other businesses also dropped mask requirements for inocu- A scientific agency like the CDC is not equipped to steer policy,
lated customers. so “Biden needs to course-correct, now.” His administration
should define region-by-region criteria for lifting mask mandates—
Real-world data suggests the vaccines are working remarkably perhaps when 70 percent of a community is vaccinated—and
well: At the peak of the pandemic in January, Covid was killing help private entities set up apps that people can use to prove their
more than 3,300 Americans a day; that figure is now down to vaccination status.
about 600. While the U.S. vaccination campaign has slowed from
an April high of 3.5 million shots administered daily to 1.8 million Democrats who once demanded that everyone “follow the science”
now, about 158 million Americans have received at least one are now aghast that the CDC is doing just that, said Noah Rothman
dose and nearly half of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, including in CommentaryMagazine.com. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy
70 percent of seniors. reacted to the agency’s advisory “as though it was a display of pure
madness” and vowed to keep his state’s indoor mask mandate,
Many health officials and doctors said the CDC’s announcement while Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged that masks would stay
was premature and could undercut one of the most effective tools on in her city until she received “clarification from the CDC.” For
for battling the coronavirus—which is still infecting about 35,000 liberals, face coverings have become “a tribal identifier and a sign of
people a day. “The guidance shifts all righteousness,”said Kevin Williamson
the burden onto individuals to be ‘on in NationalReview.com. They won’t
their honor,’” said Johns Hopkins Uni- What next? give them up any more readily than
versity epidemiologist Lisa Maragakis. With more than 4,100 Americans dying of the they will Subarus or Whole Foods.
“The likely result is almost no one will coronavirus every week, the pandemic is “not
wear a mask.” over by any means,” said Paul Waldman in The CDC’s mask guidance depends on
WashingtonPost.com. “But if millions of people people being truthful and considerate,
What the editorials said are going to be removing their masks” and said Julia Bosman and Sarah Mervosh
“Don’t toss out your face mask and resuming activities known to spread the virus, in The New York Times. But the
rush out on the town just yet,” said it’s vital we get as many people inoculated as pandemic has exposed how little trust
the Los Angeles Times. For starters, possible. Nearly half of GOP voters still say they there is between red and blue America.
the CDC guidance is full of exceptions: don’t plan to get a shot; that might change if We’ve witnessed “screaming crowds”
It doesn’t extend to prisons, schools, Republican leaders stopped treating vaccina- protesting lockdowns, strangers
hospitals, trains, planes, or businesses tion “like some kind of shameful secret.” Of the growling at one another about social
that require face coverings. “So much 212 Republicans in the House of Representatives, distancing, and infuriating stories of
for getting back to normal.” Then only 95 were willing to tell CNN that they’d gotten vaccine-line jumping. Now Ameri-
there’s the fact that only one-third of shots. Many vaccine holdouts aren’t stereotypical cans are being asked to lower their
Americans are fully vaccinated, and “anti-vaxxers, ” said former FDA Commissioner guard and accept that every maskless
there’s no way to know if the maskless Scott Gottlieb in The Wall Street Journal. A large person is fully vaccinated. Michigan
people near you in a restaurant or store number just find getting a shot inconvenient or resident Tori Saylor, who is immuno-
have had their shots. There’s still a risk, unnecessary. There’s reason to hope that the CDC compromised, says she isn’t yet ready
albeit a low one, “of sparking new in- tying inoculation to freedom from masks will be to make that assumption. “How can I
fections when you gather unvaccinated the nudge these Americans need “to make that judge whether someone is vaccinated
and unmasked people in a room and appointment to get vaccinated.” by making momentary eye contact
Getty

let them mix.” with them?”

THE WEEK May 28, 2021
6 NEWS Controversy of the week
Jan. 6: Should a bipartisan commission investigate?
“Hey, remember that Jan. 6 attack on the agree with him that the election was stolen.
Capitol?” said Bess Levin in Vanity Fair. Democrats want a commission to damage the
Republicans would prefer that you didn’t. GOP and protect their own hold on power,
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial.
this week reversed himself and called on Their goal is to buttress their narrative that
the GOP caucus to reject a proposed bill, Jan. 6 “was a planned attempted coup.”
brokered by McCarthy’s own negotiators, With no chance of a “fair-minded inquiry,”
for a 9/11-style, bipartisan commission to why should Republicans play ball?
investigate the attempted insurrection. The
bill was expected to pass the House anyway That’s rather rich, given that Republicans
and head to the Senate, where Minority staged 10 congressional investigations into
Trump supporters breaking into the U.S. Capitol
Leader Mitch McConnell quickly declared the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi,
his opposition. To be fair, some Republicans said, a commission Libya, said Jonathan Chait in NYMag.com. But now McCarthy
should also probe left-wing “political violence” such as the rioting thinks we don’t need even one probe into how a defeated U.S. presi-
in Portland. If that excuse sounds transparently absurd, consider the dent enlisted a violent mob to try to “cancel an election because he
efforts of House Republicans last week to rewrite history about the lost.” Congressional Republicans have good reason to fear a thor-
deadly assault—which left five dead and 138 Capitol police officers ough investigation, said Greg Sargent in WashingtonPost.com. The
injured. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona described the rioters as “peace- “ugly truth” is that many were “all in with Trump’s effort to over-
ful patriots,” while Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia likened the turn the election.” McCarthy also does not want to testify about his
violent insurrection to a “normal tourist visit.” Do tourists break mid-riot phone call to Trump pleading with the then-president to
down doors and windows, drag officers down steps and bash them call off his supporters. Trump reportedly told him, “Well, Kevin, I
with flagpoles and bats, and prowl the Capitol hallways shouting guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
“Where’s Nancy?” and “Hang Mike Pence”? The GOP is now try-
ing to memory-hole “one of the darkest days in modern American The GOP is minimizing Jan. 6 for two disgraceful reasons, said Fred
history,” said Chris Cillizza in CNN.com. It all speaks to “just how Hiatt in The Washington Post: to preserve the Big Lie of the stolen
low the party has stooped in its worship of the former president.” 2020 election and “to give cover for actions that in 2024 could turn
the Big Lie into the Big Steal.” That’s why Republican state legisla-
GOP leaders may not be principled, but they “are playing it smart,” tures are proposing and passing bills designed not only to suppress
said Harry Enten in CNN.com. They’re poised to recapture the the Democratic vote but also to let those legislators override election
House and perhaps the Senate in next year’s midterms if they can officials, said Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times. These
just turn out “their 2020 base and a little more.” To join Democrats laws will enable state legislatures to refuse to certify Democratic vic-
in an investigation of Jan. 6 would endanger that prospect by tories. In 2020, “Trump’s rolling coup attempt didn’t succeed,” but
incensing Trump and the 70 percent of Republican voters who it revealed how to rig the system for next time.

Good week for:

Only in America
QThe University of Wiscon-
sin’s new guidelines for cam-
pus speech affirm students’
right to be “free from any
official speech code” but also
from hearing any “insulting
and demeaning comments.”
Laura Beltz of the Founda-
tion for Individual Rights in
Education said while colleges
often “contradict themselves”
on free speech, “it is rare for a
school to make this contradic-
tion in a single sentence.”
QSome Republicans are
blaming President Biden for
Chick-fil-A’s new limit of one
dipping-sauce packet per item.
The fast-food chain blamed the
sauce drought on temporary,
“industry-wide shortages.” But
Rep. Lauren Boebert reacted
by asking, “Is there no limit
to how awful Biden’s America
can get?” while Sen. Ted Cruz
cited the one-packet limit
as proof that “Joe Biden is
destroying America.”
In other news
National service, after a U.K. finance firm estimated that the
U.S. to share more
nation’s hospitality sector can recoup its pandemic losses if every
vaccine doses
citizen of legal drinking age performs “the basic duty of every British
President Biden, facing pres-
adult” and consumes 124 pints of beer this summer.
sure to address overseas coro-
Newark, N.J., which was named one of the top 10 barbecue cities navirus surges, said this week
in the U.S. by an Australian food blog that did not include any city the U.S. would send 20 million
in Georgia, Mississippi, or Texas. more doses of Covid-19
Ill-gotten gains, with the news that New York Gov. Andrew vaccines to other countries
Cuomo was paid $5.12 million for American Crisis, his memoir in June. The U.S. last month
about the pandemic. The book stopped selling amid allegations promised to share 60 million
doses of the AstraZeneca
that Cuomo sexually harassed female underlings, hid nursing-home
deaths, and used staff on the state payroll for work on the book. vaccine, which hasn’t been ap-
proved for domestic use. The
Bad week for: additional 20 million doses will
consist of approved vaccines
Lesser included offenses, after a Colorado man charged with
made by Moderna, Pfizer, and
murdering his wife was also charged with stealing her mail-in bal- Johnson & Johnson. It is the
lot and using it to vote for Donald Trump. “I figured all these other first time Biden has agreed to
guys are cheating,” Barry Lee Morphew allegedly told FBI agents. share vaccines that could be
Flashbacks, with reports of increasing neutron levels in radioac- used in the U.S., although it
tive waste at the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine. wasn’t clear which countries
Ukraine’s Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants would get them. Longtime
warned, “We can’t rule out the possibility of [another] accident.” public health activist Gregg
Gonsalves said donating
Creative defenses, after Albert Watkins, lawyer for “QAnon
80 million doses without boost-
Shaman” Jacob Chansley, said that most of those who stormed the ing global vaccine production
Capitol on Jan. 6 are “short-bus people” with “brain damage” who was “like putting a Band-Aid
were “subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes on a machete wound.”
Getty

of which the world has not seen since f---ing Hitler.”

THE WEEK May 28, 2021
 The U.S. at a glance ...
Phoenix
Audit mayhem:
The Maricopa
County, Ariz.,
Board of
Supervisors urged
the state Senate
A ‘sham’ recount
this week to stop
its audit of 2020
election results, calling it a “sham.” The
Republican-majority board sent state
Senate President Karen Fann a letter say-
ing the audit in the state’s most populous
county was making Arizona a “laughing-
stock” and undermining trust in elections.
The head of Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-
based firm conducting the recount,
has repeated former President Donald
Trump’s false claim that the November
election was stolen. Trump last week-
end falsely claimed that the audit had
revealed that Maricopa County’s election
database was “DELETED!” Maricopa
County Recorder Stephen Richer,
a Republican, responded by
tweeting that Trump’s claim was
“unhinged,” adding, “We can’t
indulge these insane lies any
longer.’’ Three previous reviews
found no election fraud.
Fann insisted the audit would
proceed nonetheless, saying it
would improve future Arizona
elections.
Alpharetta, Ga.
Ransom paid: The Colonial Pipeline
returned to normal operations this week
after being shut down by a cyberattack,
as company officials confirmed they paid
a ransom of $4.4 million to hackers to
unlock its systems. CEO Joseph Blunt
said he felt he had no choice but to make
the payment, in Bitcoin, to the Darkside
hacker group given the risk to 45 percent
of the East
Coast’s gaso-
line supplies.
Alpharetta-
based
Colonial had
shut its 5,500
Back in operation miles of pipes
for six days. Fuel shortages continued at
gas stations across the Southeast and mid-
Atlantic even after the pipeline reopened,
as refueling trucks struggled to catch up.
Some stations reopened but ran out again
or set purchase limits to stretch their sup-
plies. The shutdown left panicked motor-
AP (3), Brown family
ists flocking to fill up their tanks, raising
prices across the Southeast and taking the
nationwide average gas price to $3.05 a
gallon, a seven-year high.
Washington, D.C.
Testing Roe v, Wade: The Supreme Court
announced this week that it would review
a Mississippi law seeking to ban most
abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. A
federal appeals court has blocked the leg-
islation, citing precedents protecting abor-
tion rights before fetal viability, at about
22 weeks. The Mississippi law could give
the high court’s newly expanded conserva-
tive majority an opportunity to narrow
abortion rights guaranteed under the
1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Mississippi’s
Republican attorney general, Lynn Fitch,
said the law reflected the people’s will to
“promote women’s health” and preserve
the “sanctity of life.” Ten states currently
have “trigger laws” that would auto-
matically impose abortion bans if Roe is
overturned. Legal experts said the court’s
6-3 conservative majority was signaling a
willingness to reconsider Roe by accepting
the case. The court will hear arguments in
its next term, which starts in October.
Orlando
Sex trafficking: Former Seminole County,
Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, a close
associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.),
pleaded guilty this week to six criminal
charges, including fraud and sex traffick-
ing of a minor. Before reaching a plea
deal, Greenberg told prosecutors that
he and Gaetz paid for sex with women,
reportedly including a 17-year-old girl.
According to court documents, Greenberg
paid more than $70,000 for “commer-
cial sex acts” from December 2016 to
December 2018, sometimes paying with
Venmo and marking the transactions
as “food,” “school,” and “ice cream.”
Greenberg admitted in his written plea
deal that he paid a minor for sex with him
and other men. He didn’t name Gaetz, but
Greenberg’s agreement to cooperate with
investigators appeared to increase the con-
gressman’s potential legal troubles. Gaetz,
a conservative firebrand and staunch ally
of former President Donald Trump, has
denied he ever paid for sex, or had sexual
contact with a minor.
NEWS 7
New York City
Trump’s legal jeopardy:
New York Attorney
General Leticia
James’ office
announced this
week that it is
“now actively
investigating James: On Trump’s trail
the Trump Organization in a criminal
capacity.” James’ office had been con-
ducting a civil inquiry that could have
resulted in fines or lawsuits, like the
ones former President Donald Trump
has faced over his charity and Trump
University. The change suggests that
James is working more closely with
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus
Vance Jr.’s ongoing criminal fraud inves-
tigation. The inquiries focus on a range
of potential financial crimes, including
inflating the value of Trump properties
to get better loan terms and undervaluing
them to reduce taxes. In a state-
ment, Trump attacked the New
York probe, saying that James
vowed to destroy him when
she ran for the office and that
her investigation is motivated by
partisan hatred. “There is noth-
ing more corrupt than an investiga-
tion that is in desperate search of a
crime,” Trump said.
Elizabeth City, N.C.
No charges: North Carolina prosecutors
said this week that the fatal shooting of
Andrew Brown Jr., an unarmed Black
man, was “justified,” and the sheriff’s
deputies involved would not be charged.
Seven deputies went to Brown’s Elizabeth
City, N.C., home on April 21 to serve
him with an arrest warrant. Brown, who
was in his car, turned it around, forcing
one of the officers to jump clear. Three
deputies opened fire as Brown, 42, tried
to drive away, hitting him five times;
one bullet entered the back of his head.
Police have said that Brown’s car struck
an officer, and the state’s investigation
determined that Brown had “used his
vehicle as a deadly weapon.” Brown’s
death, “while tragic, was
justified,” Pasquotank
County District Attorney
Andrew Womble said.
Protesters in Elizabeth
City denounced the deci-
sion, and Brown family
lawyers said defending
the shooting was “a slap
in the face to Andrew’s
family...and to rational
people everywhere.” Brown
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
 8 NEWS The world at a glance ...
Ottawa
Yacht fight: The mother and girl-
friend of Canadian billionaire Eugene
Melnyk are suing a yacht charter
company for $10 million, claiming
that a ship’s captain intentionally
subjected them to misery on the high
Not smooth sailing
seas. Melnyk, owner of the Ottawa
Senators hockey team, chartered the $420,000-a-week M/Y Dream
to cruise around the Bahamas last December. Once on board, he
suggested that the captain take a scenic route close to shore. The
lawsuits claim the “ill-tempered” captain was so insulted at having
his course questioned that he sailed the yacht into the rough open
ocean, causing vomiting and panic attacks among the passengers.
A lawyer for the yacht company said the captain wasn’t responsible
for the “nasty” weather and that “boats, unfortunately, are unsta-
ble platforms floating in an unstable medium.”
London
Boris’ nurse bails: The nurse who tended Prime Minister
Boris Johnson when he was in the ICU with Covid-19
last year has quit her job, citing low pay and a lack of
respect for National Health Service workers. “I’m just
sick of it,” said Jenny McGee, an intensive-care nurse for
11 years. “So I’ve handed in my resignation.” She said the
1 percent raise that Johnson’s government has proposed
for health workers who put in arduous hours during the
pandemic is an insult. She said Johnson’s staff tried to cor-
ral her into a “clap for the NHS” photo opportunity but
she refused because she felt that his government “hadn’t
led very effectively.” The U.K. jumped in and out of lock-
down last year and has so far recorded 128,000 Covid
deaths, the fifth-highest total in the world. McGee

Dublin
Hackers target health care: Ireland’s national health-care
service had to shut down all of its computers this week after a
ransomware attack crippled the organization’s IT system. Thousands
of doctor appointments, cancer treatments, and surgeries had to be
canceled because records couldn’t be accessed, and authorities said
it could be weeks before service returns to normal. Hospital phones
were down, as was the payroll system for health-care workers, and
patients were told not to come in except for life-threatening emergen-
cies. Conti, a Russian-speaking hacker group, threatened to release
private health data if the government didn’t fork over $20 million.
“The government will not be paying any money,” said Justice
Minister Heather Humphreys. “We will not be blackmailed.”
Reynosa, Mexico
Deportees at risk: Thousands of Central American
migrants deported to Mexico by the Biden administra-
tion are stranded in makeshift tent camps in violent bor-
der cities, making them easy prey for human traffickers
and other criminals. In April alone, the U.S. carried out
nearly 112,000 expulsions. Many deportees end up in
towns like Reynosa, which the State Department warns Inside a makeshift camp
Americans to stay away from because of “murder, armed robbery,
carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual
assault.” A Salvadoran migrant identified only as Maribel told NBC
News that she was kidnapped with her son in Reynosa and locked
up in a house with 90 other Central Americans. She was only freed
after her family paid a ransom of $3,000. Because the U.S. is not
expelling unaccompanied children, and conditions are so bad
in the camps, some deported parents have begun sending their
kids across the border alone to claim asylum.

Galápagos Islands, Ecuador São Paulo

Darwin’s Arch collapses: The famed 140-foot-tall Galápagos rock Kids dying of Covid: Young
formation known as Darwin’s Arch has crashed into the sea, a children are dying of Covid-19
result of natural erosion. One of the many tour groups that visit in Brazil at vastly higher rates than
Boat International, Getty, AP, Ecuador Ministry of Environment

the islands was nearby and saw the arch collapse. The tour opera-
tor called the sight a “once-in-a-lifetime event” and said that
local environmentalists have already renamed the two remaining
rock towers the Pillars of Evolution.
Meanwhile, actor Leonardo DiCaprio
has announced a $43 million pledge to
“rewild” the Galápagos Islands, breed-
ing and releasing rare species that once
were found there but are now locally
extinct. They include the Floreana
mockingbird—the first mockingbird
Now the ‘Pillars of Evolution’ described by biologist Charles Darwin.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
elsewhere in the world, and doctors are not sure why. An esti-
mated 2,200 Brazilian children ages 5 and under have so far died
of Covid, including more than 1,600 babies under a year old.
In the U.S.—which has a larger population and has suffered a
higher overall number of Covid fatalities—139 children ages 4 and
under have died of the disease. “We are seeing a huge impact on
children,” said epidemiologist Fatima Marinho. Scientists note that
the Brazilian variant of the virus is more severe in pregnant women,
and some are giving birth to premature babies infected with Covid.
Brazilian kids are also likely dying in higher numbers because
the country’s health-care system is completely overwhelmed, and
because many impoverished children can’t get to a hospital at all.
 The world at a glance ...
Ceuta, Spain
Migrants land en masse: Spain was scram-
bling to secure its borders this week after
some 8,000 migrants poured into the
tiny Spanish enclave of Ceuta, a chunk
of land jutting out from Morocco into
the Mediterranean. Most of the arrivals
Swimming to Ceuta entered the territory by swimming around
border fences that extend into the sea, while some used inflatable
rafts to reach Ceuta’s beaches. Spanish forces quickly deported at
least half of the migrants, but authorities were angered by footage
that showed Moroccan border guards doing nothing to hold back
the crowds. Some analysts suspect that Morocco allowed the exo-
dus because it was upset that Madrid permitted Brahim Ghali, the
leader of Western Sahara’s separatist Polisario Front, to be treated
at a Spanish hospital last month. Ceuta, population 80,000,
has been ruled by Spain since the 17th century.
Not a fan
New Delhi
Australians trapped: Australians, many of them of South Asian
ethnicity, are dying of Covid-19 in India because their coun-
try delayed their return home. Prime Minister Scott Morrison
announced a ban on all arrivals from India in April, citing the
country’s high rate of coronavirus infections, but later backed
down following a massive outcry in which he was accused of
heartlessness and racism. Now his government is allowing repa-
triation flights, but more than 9,000 Australians remain stranded
in India. Many of them are being barred from boarding after
testing positive for Covid. Govind Kant, a 47-year-old Sydney
businessman who had been trying to return for a month, died
AP, Reuters (3), AP
of the disease in New Delhi this week. In India, hospitals are
overwhelmed, with short supplies of medicine and oxygen, while
Australia, which has allowed very few international arrivals since
March 2020, is nearly Covid-free.
NEWS 9
Beijing
Mission to Mars: China has successfully landed
a rover on Mars, a feat that only the U.S. had
previously accomplished. The Zhurong rover
touched down in a huge basin in the Red Planet’s
northern hemisphere last week, unfurled its solar
panels, and began transmitting images back to
Earth. President Xi Jinping congratulated the
Chinese space team for its achievement, saying,
“Thanks to your courage in face of challenges and Zhurong’s selfie
pursuit of excellence, China is now among the leading countries in
planetary exploration.” Zhurong, about the same size as a small
car, resembles Spirit, one of NASA’s Martian rovers from the early
2000s. It will operate for 90 Martian days—the latest U.S. rover,
Perseverance, is on a 668-day mission—analyzing the chemistry of
rocks and using its radar to hunt for subsurface ice.
Tokyo
Scrap the Olympics: With Covid cases spiking more than 500 per-
cent in Japan since March, doctors there are demanding the cancel-
lation of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Japan is now registering
some 6,000 new infections a day, and hospitals “dealing with
Covid-19 have their hands full and have almost no spare
capacity,” said the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association.
Fewer than 4 percent of Japanese have received at least one
vaccine dose, and health experts fear that the arrival of inter-
national visitors for the Games—which will run from July 23
to Aug. 8—will cause an explosion of Covid cases. Some
60 percent of Japanese support a cancellation, but Prime
Minister Yoshihide Suga insists that the Olympics will go on
as scheduled. No spectators will be allowed, and all athletes
and coaches will remain confined to the Olympic Village.
Taipei
New outbreak: Thanks to its quick adoption of lockdowns
and mask mandates, Taiwan has been largely Covid-free
for the past year. But the island nation is now battling a
growing outbreak, a result of authorities drastically short-
ening the quarantine time for airline crews. Taiwan had
forced all crew members and international travelers to iso-
late in hotels for 14 days upon arrival. But cargo compa-
nies complained that they couldn’t operate on that sched-
ule, so last month Taiwan cut the quarantine to three days.
Some crew members were carrying the highly transmissible
British variant, and that strain began to circulate in broth-
els. Now Taiwan is registering more than 200 cases a day as
the virus rips through a population that had relaxed all
social distancing and is almost entirely unvaccinated. Disinfecting
Prayagraj, India
Bodies litter riverbanks: The bloated corpses of hundreds of Covid
victims are washing up on the shores of India’s Ganges River.
Hindus traditionally cremate their dead, but poor people who can’t
afford that option have long placed their dead in shallow riverbank
graves or floated the bodies in the river. Now, with so many people
dying of Covid, the price of a cremation with burial rites has tripled
to more than $200—causing more families to opt for river burials.
While India has officially recorded
some 275,000 Covid deaths, experts
believe the real toll could be well
over a million. In the city of Kanpur,
for example, only 196 Covid deaths
were recorded from April 16 to
May 5; the seven local crematoriums,
however, said they had performed
Graves near the Ganges nearly 8,000 cremations in that time.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
10 NEWS People
Huston’s Hollywood heritage
Danny Huston grew up feeling as if he were
the son of God, said Hadley Freeman in The
Guardian (U.K.). He was born in Rome after his
parents, famed director John Huston and actress
Zoe Sallis, had an affair while working together
on the 1966 epic The Bible. His mother starred
as Hagar, Abraham’s second wife, and his dad
appeared on screen as Noah and also provided
the voice of God. “That’s where the therapy starts,” says Huston,
now an acclaimed actor and director himself. “I had a lot of dif-
ficulty separating truth from fiction with those characters.” As a
youngster, Huston often visited his larger-than-life father on film
sets, once trekking to North Africa’s Atlas Mountains for The Man
Who Would Be King. “And there was Sean Connery and Michael
Caine and Christopher Plummer. For a young boy, it felt like an
absolute adventure.” Later, he became his father’s personal on-set
bartender, mixing cocktails to match the location. While shooting
1984’s Under the Volcano in Mexico, his father decided to drink
Cuba libres. “Normally he would complain and say, ‘No no, the
Coke is only there to color it!’” During the making of that movie,
“my father was having trouble with the title sequence. It was too
slow. I’d been to film school, so I said, ‘You could do this...’ And
he said, ‘You do it!’” Huston beams with obvious pride. “And it
made the cut.”
A Sex Pistol turned caregiver Rossellini’s lockdown fling
John Lydon now leads a very quiet life as his wife’s caregiver, said Isabella Rossellini never expected to find romance during the pan-
Nick Rufford in The Times (U.K.). In the 1970s, he was known as demic, said Angelica Jade Bastién in Harper’s Bazaar. The actress
Johnny Rotten, the front man of British punk band the Sex Pistols and model has had a string of high-profile relationships: She was
and a spokesperson for an angry generation. Lydon now lives in married to Martin Scorsese from 1979 to 1982, dated David Lynch
a beachside suburb of Los Angeles with his partner of 45 years, in the ’80s, and was engaged to Gary Oldman in the ’90s. But in
Nora Forster. She has Alzheimer’s disease, the first signs of which the early 2000s, Rossellini decided to put off seeking love for a few
developed in 2010, following the death from breast cancer of her years so she could focus on her two young children. “It became
20 years,” she says. “And do I regret it? No.” The daughter of movie
48-year-old daughter. “A real sadness filled her,” says Lydon, 65.
royalty—her mother was Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, her
“From there on it was small issues like constantly losing keys.”
father the Italian director Roberto Rossellini—she enjoyed being
Feeding, dressing, and caring for Forster, 78, has become a round- able to live without a partner obsessing over her looks. But last
the-clock job for Lydon. “Alzheimer’s is a wicked, debilitating pro- year, she fell into an unexpected romance. “We were caught in the
cess, but we’re going through that together. She doesn’t forget me. time of Covid, in those early months, in my house” on Long Island,
She forgets everything else but not me.” The strains of being a full- N.Y. “I didn’t expect that at 68 you can have a fling. It was delightful.
time caregiver sometimes cause Lydon to sink into a deep despair. It wasn’t that he defined my beauty, but it was companionship. And
“I will have moments that are overwhelmingly sad and at the same that I miss.” The man has since returned to his West Coast home.
time full of rage. But these are the cards you’re handed, and you “And so I always quote Casablanca”—in which her mother starred
play the game to the end to the best of your ability. God, you know, opposite Humphrey Bogart—“You know the line is, ‘We’ll always
if Johnny bloody Rotten can do it, what’s your excuse?” have Paris.’ I always say to this man, ‘We’ll always have Covid.’”

Q Jennifer Lopez is open to
rekindling a relationship with
Ben Affleck, after the onetime
lovers vacationed together at
a Montana resort last week,
sources tell People. “It’s all been
quick and intense, but Jennifer
is happy,” a source said. “She
Affleck and Lopez had remained friendly over
the years and spoke to each other periodi-
cally. Affleck and actress Ana de Armas broke
up earlier this year. Affleck has three children
with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, while Lopez
has twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
Q Ellen DeGeneres denied that she is end-
ing her long-running talk show next year
because of persistent reports that her show
is a toxic workplace, saying last week that
own mistreatment of employees was “com-
mon knowledge.” The deluge of criticism was
“devastating,” DeGeneres says. “I am a kind
person. I am a person who likes to make
people happy.” She said she had decided
to end the show after one more season be-
cause it’s “just not a challenge anymore.”
Q Macy’s pulled a cookware set hawked by
Chrissy Teigen last week after the model
and social media personality apologized
Yossi Michaeli/The Licensing Project, AP, Newscom

wants to spend as much time
with Ben as possible to see
where this could go.” Known
to tabloids as “Bennifer” when
they were engaged in the early
2000s, the two reunited after
Affleck, 48, reached out to
Lopez, 51, following her breakup
last month with Alex Rodriguez,
who had hoped to woo her back.
the allegations seemed “orchestrated” and
“misogynistic.” DeGeneres initially apolo-
gized after reports of sexual misconduct and
harassment led to the firing of three of her
top producers, but last week DeGeneres,
63, said, “I don’t know how I could have
known [about the misconduct] when there’s
255 employees here and there are a lot of
different buildings.” Some celebrities who
appeared on the show said that DeGeneres’
for past tweets berating reality TV star
Courtney Stodden. “I was an insecure,
attention-seeking troll,” Teigen, 35, said after
tweets emerged from the past decade of her
wishing that Stodden, 26, would take a “dirt
nap,” and saying “I hate you.” Famous for
marrying a 51-year-old at age 16, Stodden,
who identifies as gender nonbinary, says
they once received a private message from
Teigen that said, “I can’t wait for you to die.”

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

 Briefing NEWS 11

Boycotting the 2022 Olympics

Human rights activists are calling for the U.S. to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Will that happen?

Why is China hosting? the Russians and beat them. But in the
In a controversial decision, the end, 65 nations boycotted, including
International Olympic Committee voted the U.S. team. In retaliation, the Soviets
44 to 40 in 2015 to award the 2022 sat out the 1984 Summer Games in
Winter Olympics to China. China won Los Angeles.
partly because a number of cities had
withdrawn from the bidding, includ- Who supports a boycott in 2022?
ing Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, More than 180 human rights groups are
Norway, citing the costs and lack of leading the calls to skip the event over
interest by their citizens. Beijing views China’s aggressive actions against Tibet,
its selection as a major opportunity Taiwan, the Uighur community, and
to promote China’s image as a world Hong Kong. A survey by the Chicago
power rivaling the U.S. But activists are Council in March found that 49 percent
calling for the U.S. to lead a boycott of Americans support a boycott, with
of the competition. The outcry stems 46 percent opposed. Sen. Mitt Romney
primarily from China’s treatment of Exiled Tibetans protesting China hosting the Games (R-Utah), who was president of the
the Muslim Uighur minority, which the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, has called
Trump and Biden administrations have labeled as genocide. Since a boycott the “easy, but wrong, answer.” Romney said that “our
2017, an estimated 1 million Uighurs in the western Xinjiang athletes have trained their entire lives for this competition” and they
region have been detained without trial in indoctrination camps. shouldn’t be the ones to “shoulder the burden of our disapproval.”
Men and women have been subjected to horrific abuses, including
torture, rape, forced labor, sterilization, and political indoctrina- What is President Biden’s position?
tion, with demands they abandon their Muslim religion. Human A State Department spokesman said last month that a boycott
Rights Watch has denounced China’s treatment of the Uighurs was “something that we certainly wish to discuss”—but the
as “crimes against humanity.” Tensions have also ratcheted up department later walked back those remarks. White House press
over recent Chinese cyberattacks on the U.S., crackdowns on pro- secretary Jen Psaki said that “we are not discussing” a boycott
democracy activists in Hong Kong, and aggression against Taiwan. with allies. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also
The Chinese government has warned of a “robust response” if urged the U.S. not to hold out, saying “the more effective course
Washington opts to boycott. of action” would be to engage China directly on human rights
issues. Not surprisingly, most athletes want to compete, and IOC
Have there been previous Olympics boycotts? President Thomas Bach said history shows that boycotts never
They are actually not that uncommon. In 1956, several nations achieve anything. “Why would you punish the athletes from
skipped the games in response to the Soviet Union’s actions your own country if you have a dispute with a government from
in Hungary, while Egypt, Iraq, and another country?” Bach said. But U.S.
Lebanon boycotted the Summer Games skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin criticized
Echoes of 1936
in Melbourne, Australia, because of the IOC for giving China the oppor-
British and French involvement in the The present debate about China’s rising aggres- tunity to host “an event that’s sup-
Suez Crisis. In 1958, six years after it sion is drawing comparisons to one of the posed to bring the world together and
darkest chapters in Olympic history. Three years create hope and peace.”
sent its first Olympic delegation, the
before the onset of World War II, Berlin hosted
People’s Republic of China withdrew
the 1936 Summer Olympics. There were some
from the IOC following the committee’s Are there alternatives?
calls for a boycott because of reports of the
decision to let Chinese and Taiwanese If the U.S. still decides to send its
Nazi government’s plan to ban German Jewish
athletes compete under separate flags. athletes, corporations that normally
athletes and its increasingly hostile treatment of
China continued to boycott the Games sponsor the Olympics could pull their
Jews. Ultimately, the U.S. Olympic Committee
until 1980, the same year that the U.S. and 49 competing countries decided to send
support. The top American sponsors,
and 65 other countries boycotted the their athletes. The Games themselves featured including Airbnb, Coca-Cola, General
Summer Games in Moscow. the spectacular success of Black track star Electric, and Visa, collectively pay
Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in an over $1 billion for exclusive rights
Why did the U.S. boycott in 1980? embarrassing rebuke of Hitler’s “master race” to include the Olympic rings in their
President Jimmy Carter called for a theory. Nonetheless, Hitler used the Games as promotions. Some opponents of a
boycott of the Moscow Games in a platform to promote Nazi Germany as a world boycott argue that athletes could
response to the Soviet Union’s invasion power. At the start of the Games, Hitler’s min- use the world stage to raise aware-
of Afghanistan that winter. Public sup- ister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, stated, ness about China’s human rights
port for the boycott eroded after the “We desire in these weeks to prove to the abuses. Sprinters John Carlos and
U.S. hosted the 1980 Winter Games at world that it is simply a lie that Germans have Tommie Smith created one of the
Lake Placid, N.Y., and its men’s hockey systematically persecuted the Jews.” The IOC most powerful images in Olympic
team famously upset the Soviets on the subsequently awarded the 1940 Winter Games history by raising their fists in a
way to claiming the gold medal. That to Germany, but by then, Hitler had invaded Black Power salute on the medal
victory buttressed the argument that Poland, World War II had begun, and the Games stand in 1968. If American athletes
it would prove more embarrassing to were canceled. go to Beijing, it’s possible we could
Moscow for the U.S. to compete against see something just as memorable.
AP

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

12 NEWS Best columns: The U.S.
Now that vaccination is finally liberating us from Covid, said Noah
Saving lives Smith, we should thank lockdowns for saving hundreds of thousands It must be true...
helped of American lives. Copious research shows that despite strong pub-
lic resistance and spotty compliance, social distancing restrictions on
I read it in the tabloids
the economy bars, restaurants, and indoor gatherings cut transmission rates by
about 50 percent. Had we all simply gone about business as usual, the
QTwo small planes collided
in midair above Denver,
Noah Smith death toll would have been far worse—more than 1 million. Research leaving one nearly ripped in
Noahpinion.substack has also shown that sensible “fear of the virus”—not government half—but somehow, nobody
.com restrictions—is what drove most people to avoid restaurants and other was hurt. Both were prepar-
crowded spaces. A study found that store visits in Iowa, where there ing to land at a small airport
were no shutdowns, declined nearly as much as they did across the when they crashed. One
border in Illinois, where there were stay-at-home orders. “Nothing il- pilot successfully landed his
lustrates the benefit of lockdowns better than the case of Sweden,” severely damaged plane,
while the other deployed a
which refused to impose restrictions. A year later, Sweden’s death rate
parachute that brought the
has been more than triple that of Denmark and about seven times that plane to rest in a nearby
of Norway—and Sweden suffered a greater decline in GDP. The choice field. “Every one of these
“between human lives and dollars of GDP is a false one.” Reducing the pilots needs to go buy a
number of infections and deaths “helped the economy.” lottery ticket right now,” said
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s
Deputy John Bartmann. “I
“The GOP is flubbing one of its biggest political opportunities in years,”
The GOP’s said Andrew Sullivan. In the U.K. and other Western countries, conser-
don’t remember anything
like this.”
road back vative parties are winning elections by combining populist economic
policies with a strong defense of traditional values against a “radical left Q A college
baseball pitcher
to power assault.” Instead, Republicans are aligning themselves with the “broadly
toxic” figure of Donald Trump. To win back voters Trump alienated and from Sioux
Falls, S.D., had
Andrew Sullivan Democrats are turning off with wokeism, Republicans should go “left his prosthetic
AndrewSullivan on economics and right on culture.” On economics, that means limit- arm stolen
.substack.com ing the power of monopolistic corporations and “spreading the wealth” from his pickup
to the working class. On culture, it means affirming love of our flawed truck but got
but idealistic country, enforcing the nation’s borders “with firmness and it back after it
compassion,” and embracing “color-blind policies on race” rather than was found at a
Democrats’ demands for racial “equity.” Even now, the GOP stands local recycling plant. Parker
poised to take back the House in 2022, and could claim the Senate too, Hanson took to social media
and the White House in 2024, if it chooses leaders “less toxic to subur- to complain about the theft,
ban moderates” than Trump and his acolytes. A Republican Party that and his story was widely
stood for “hard work, traditional values, and individual opportunities” shared. So when the arm
would be very popular—and could create “a genuine realignment.” appeared on a conveyer line,
plant worker Tim Kachel
“recognized it instantly,” he
“There are no Marjorie Taylor Greenes in the Democratic Party,” said said. “I was jumping up and
Tolerating Max Boot. Republicans often downplay their party’s “alarming turn to down and screaming ‘Stop!’”
The arm was too damaged to
the cuckoo the hard right” by accusing Democrats of allying themselves with antifa
and far-leftists who call for defunding the police. In reality, left-wing use, but a Minnesota hospital
is donating a replacement.
caucus extremists and antifa “disdain the Democratic Party as too moderate.”
But right-wing extremists who claim the 2020 election was stolen, refuse “You never know what you’re
going to see coming through
Max Boot to get vaccinated, and embrace crackpot conspiracy theories “are very
this line,” said Kachel.
The Washington Post much in the mainstream” of the GOP. Take Republican Rep. Greene,
a menacing nut who last week chased after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez QA wealthy Northern Cali-
as she exited the House chamber, yelling, “Why do you support ter- fornia man had his Tesla im-
rorists and antifa?” Like a mature adult, AOC simply ignored her. An pounded after police found
him riding in the backseat on
earlier video shows Greene taunting AOC through the mail slot of her
the highway with the auto-
office door, berating her for “bringing God’s judgment on our country.” pilot engaged—so he went
Greene has plenty of “cuckoo” allies in the GOP caucus, including out and bought a new Tesla.
Reps. Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, and Lauren Boebert—elected officials Driver Param Sharma in-
whose sole mission appears to be trolling the libs. Far too many Republi- sisted that the illegal practice
cans have “left civility and reason far behind.” isn’t dangerous, even though
Tesla advises against it and
at least three people have
Viewpoint “I remember the first time I saw a pool of blood after a terrorist bombing in
been killed in autopiloted
my [Jerusalem] neighborhood, and the first time I saw torn pieces of what
had been a person on a downtown storefront. Bombs did not liberate anyone. If you have looked Teslas. Sharma vowed to
on these things, and you now hear of the rockets hitting Israel and buildings bombed in Gaza, then continue sitting in the back
it is impossible to bear hearing people far away talk with certainty about which missiles are evil and seat of his new car. “I’m rich
which are necessary. Weep, damn it, weep for us. Weep for this place in the season of wildflowers as f---,” he said. “Like, if you
when it should be beautiful, weep for the dead and the living, weep for God who can’t get us to take my Tesla away, I will get
stop, weep for humanity.” Gershom Gorenberg in The Washington Post another Tesla.”
Imagn

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

The Next Great Italian Masterpiece
The Argento Byzantine Bracelet is an
impeccable work of art with a price
unmatched by any in its class.

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14 NEWS Best columns: International
Israel: Hit by riots and rockets
The Israeli government has been
“caught completely off guard,” said
Ron Ben-Yishai in Ynetnews.com. After
weeks of rising tension over attempts to
evict Palestinian families from East Jeru-
salem homes and clashes between police
and Arab protesters around Jerusalem’s
Al-Aqsa Mosque—the third-holiest
shrine in Islam—it was inevitable that
Hamas would join the fray in the sup-
posed name of Palestinian solidarity.
The Islamist group did just that last
week, firing thousands of rockets from
A home hit by a rocket in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva
across Gaza toward Tel Aviv and cen-
tral Israel. Those missiles were “accurate to a degree Israel had
never imagined.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should
have been prepared for this assault. But our leaders have spent
“more than two years solely focused on themselves and their
power”—we’ve had four inconclusive elections since 2019—and
have neglected the Palestinian issue and rising anger among
Israeli Arabs. Now “everything is blowing up in their faces.”
The fighting is “coming to resemble an actual civil war,” said
Ruthie Blum in The Jerusalem Post. Arab mobs in Israeli cities
have set fire to synagogues and Jewish stores, while Jewish mobs meanwhile, hides its munitions in civilian buildings, so when
have pulled Arabs from their cars and beaten them. Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West
Bank, helped fuel this violence. He spread the lie that Israel in-
tended to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Abbas’ aim was to spark effectively “attacking a democracy for protecting herself from a
an uprising, giving him an excuse to cancel the upcoming Palestin- terrorist organization.” Evidently, the world would rather have
ian elections that his Fatah party was sure to lose to Hamas. He
succeeded in postponing the vote, but Hamas stole his thunder.
The Palestinians: An explosion of rage
Israel is entirely to blame for its bloody new conflict with
the Palestinians, said Baria Alamuddin in Arab News (Saudi
Arabia). Israeli authorities chose the holy month of Ramadan
to use their “fig leaf of a ‘justice’ system” to seek the eviction
of six Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem,
where they have lived for some 70 years. It was yet another of
the “racist land grabs” meant to “throttle Palestinians out of
existence in their own capital.” Some 20,000 Palestinian homes
throughout the city are currently under threat of demolition:
This is “the very definition of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”
The evictions are only one source of anger, said Palestinian
writer Muhammad Shehada in Haaretz (Israel). In recent weeks
Arab-Israelis have been beaten by police for daring to protest
against a far-right Jewish group that marched through Jerusalem
chanting “Death to Arabs!” and attacking Palestinian passersby.
When Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last
week, because Palestinians were stockpiling stones there in an-
ticipation of more clashes with authorities and far-right Jewish
nationalists, Hamas had to respond with rockets or be judged
“irrelevant by the Palestinian street.”
Where are our Arab brethren when we are under attack? asked
Ghazi Abu Daqqa in Felesteen (Gaza). “There is no room for
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
There’s something suspicious about the
timing of this conflict, said Adam Raz
in Haaretz. Having failed to muster
a governing coalition after the March
election, Netanyahu was just a few
days from being ousted from office. Did
he instruct police to crack down hard
on Palestinian protesters knowing that
Hamas would obligingly start lobbing
missiles, allowing Netanyahu to play
the role of a strong wartime leader?
Hamas and Netanyahu have certainly
had a long symbiotic relationship. The
prime minister needs the jihadist group
to undercut Abbas’ authority, “because with Hamas there’s no
talk about a negotiated solution to the conflict.” Hamas, mean-
while, likes that Netanyahu has turned a blind eye to the “cash-
filled suitcases” that keep arriving in Gaza from Qatar.
It’s absurd that much of the world views Israel as the bad guy
in this showdown, said Ronn Torossian in Arutz Sheva. Hamas
hurls rockets indiscriminately at our cities, while Israel strikes
judiciously, always warning first. Yet because we have the Iron
Dome anti-missile system, we incur far fewer casualties. Hamas,
Israel targets them, there are sometimes civilian casualties. The
result is that photographs of bleeding Palestinian children are
beamed around the globe, and the world sides with Hamas—
more Jews die, because that would even the score. Too bad.
Israel will not apologize for defending itself.
any justification for those who refrain from jihad.” We are
finally striking the Zionists in their cities, as they have long
bombed ours, and our brave warriors in Gaza could destroy
Israel once and for all if they were joined by forces from Leba-
non and Syria in the north, from Iran and Iraq in the east, and
Yemen in the south. Arab leaders won’t help, said Majid Al-
Zibdeh, also in Felesteen. The United Arab Emirates, Sudan,
Morocco, and Bahrain actually made peace with the Zionist
occupiers last year under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
We Palestinians are on our own. But Israeli Arabs, Gazans,
and West Bank residents are united in supporting the armed
resistance. The corrupt Palestinian Authority in the West Bank
is a puppet of the Israelis. Hamas is “the undisputed legitimate
leader of all the Palestinian people.”
Israel cannot claim the moral high ground, said Palestinian jour-
nalist Marwan Bishara in AlJazeera.com (Qatar). Having driven
Palestinians from their homes in 1948 and occupied more terri-
tory in subsequent wars, it bears “the sin of a state founded on
the ruin of another people.” That means there can be no good
outcome for Israel. “When the dust settles on another sadistic
Israeli war,” Israelis will again find themselves faced with “mil-
lions of Palestinians ever more determined to regain their liberty.”
AP
 Best columns: Europe
Whenever violence erupts in the Middle East, the
GERMANY forces of anti-Semitism roar forth in Germany,
said Jacques Schuster. The terrorist group Hamas
Mideast fight began raining thousands of missiles onto Israel
last week, and when Israel fought back, many
awakens our protesters in Germany denounced not Hamas
but “the Zionists.” Their anger went far beyond
anti-Semitism politics—it was not directed at Israel, but at Jews.
In Gelsenkirchen, Bonn, and Münster, “howling
Jacques Schuster
mobs marched in front of synagogues and Jewish
Die Welt
community centers to thunder out their hatred
of Jews, to burn Stars of David, and to terrorize
Germany’s Jewish citizens.” It boggles the mind
that this country, which because of its Nazi past
NEWS 15
has always rejected the notion of collective guilt,
should see its Jews held responsible for the actions
of Jews abroad. Many of these demonstrators are
Muslim immigrants, from Turkey, Tunisia, the
Palestinian territories, and elsewhere. “Raised on a
diet of Jew hatred,” they exploit the freedom they
enjoy here by “turning against our open society.”
But many other protesters are leftist Germans,
who defend Palestinian terrorism as justified and
who pretend that taking up the Palestinian cause
is not just a way to indulge their own latent anti-
Semitism. They call it “anti-Zionism,” but if the
goal is the elimination of the state of Israel, it is a
dangerous and hateful ideology.

NORWAY The same thing happens every year on Norway’s
national day, said Barbro Tronhuus Storlien. On
Don’t toy May 17, people put on their bunad—traditional
folk costumes with details that pay homage to the
with our wearer’s hometown or region—and I, as an expert
in bunad history and manufacture, am asked by
national dress various newscasters to weigh in. I am happy to
discuss the typical costume, consisting of a white
Barbro Tronhuus Storlien
shirt with a colorful embroidered vest, with skirts
Dagbladet for women and breeches for men. But if I dare to
point out that “jazzing it up with a red silk shirt”
is not traditional, I’m predictably denounced as
the “costume police.” An article headlined “Bunad
police say NO” might portray me as “humorless
and antiquated.” This is unfair. The real “bunad
police” were the old ladies who used to show up
at village festivals to tell us that “we had put the
wrong brooch on, forgotten the proper headgear,
or that our sock color was wrong.” I am speaking
only as a scholar, not as a scold. For example, I can
tell you that after World War II, it was common
in the Hallingdal valley to see bunad with Disney
motifs, made with printed cloth donated from
America. But to sport Disney in another region
would be incorrect. In other words, wear what you
want: Just don’t expect me to endorse it.

Italy: No help from EU with migrant surge

The pandemic briefly slowed the flood of and France promised to help, but these
migrants landing on Europe’s southern days, “when Italy asks, nothing hap-
shores, said Filippo Santigliano in La pens.” Germany and France both have
Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (Italy). But elections next year, and their govern-
desperate Africans and Middle Easterners ments fear that taking in migrants will
are once again piling into rickety boats bolster the far right.
in Libya and sailing across the Mediter-
ranean in search of a better life. So far The Italian government has considered
this year, at least 11,000 migrants have proposing that the EU pay Libya to
reached Italy’s coasts—up from 4,100 in stop migrants from leaving, said Luca
the same period in 2020—and more than Gambardella in Il Foglio (Italy). But
500 others have died while attempting Libya is part of the problem. The num-
the crossing. Many of those who survive ber of migrants held in detention cen-
Italian police watch over new arrivals on Lampedusa.
land on the tiny island of Lampedusa, ters there stays remarkably constant,
where 2,100 migrants arrived in a single day last week. To curb even though the Libyan coast guard regularly intercepts boats.
the spread of Covid-19, Italy has converted a ferry into a quar- Why? A Libyan diplomatic source told me that local authorities
antine ship, so new arrivals can be tested and held until they are “resell the migrants to human traffickers,” who then send them
virus-free. But with more migrants landing every day, that ship back to sea. This racket also gives the corrupt government in
will soon run out of space. Why won’t the European Union help Tripoli a way “to subtly threaten Europe: Give us more political
us? “Italy is a civilized country that does not let people die at and economic aid or we’ll reopen the taps of migrant departures.”
sea,” but we should not shoulder this burden alone.
In the meantime, Italy is waging a “guerrilla war” against the
The EU is paralyzed, said Bernd Riegert in DeutscheWelle.com NGO ships that rescue migrants from sinking boats, said Matthias
(Germany). A decades-old regulation requires refugees to claim Rüb in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany). Former
asylum in their EU country of arrival, which puts a heavy burden far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini drew international con-
on frontline nations such as Italy, Greece, Spain, and Malta. Dur- demnation when he barred those ships from Italian ports. His
ing the migrant crisis of 2015, when more than 1 million asylum successor, Luciana Lamorgese, has implemented a more palatable
seekers crossed the Mediterranean, the EU tried to amend the version of the same policy. She lets the NGO ships land and dis-
policy so that migrants would be distributed equally across the charge their migrant passengers, and then impounds the vessels
bloc. But Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia and arrests the crews for violations ranging from safety infrac-
refused to abide by any quota system, and only a tiny number tions to human trafficking. Punishing the rescuers is no way to
of migrants were relocated. Richer countries such as Germany deal with migration—but Italy has been left with few options.
AP

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

16 NEWS Talking points
Critical race theory: The culture war over schools
The Right has a new culture-war “obses- If that all sounds panicky, said Michelle
sion,” said Adam Harris in TheAtlantic Goldberg in The New York Times, it’s
.com. As conservatives tell it, American intentional. Republicans are having a hard
schoolchildren are in grave danger of time generating fear and resentment of
being brainwashed by Critical Race President Biden, whose agenda is quite
Theory (CRT), a once obscure academic popular. “They need a more frighten-
framework conceived by a Harvard law ing, enraging villain to keep their people
professor in the 1970s. CRT examines engaged,” and “critical race theory fits the
how “the nation’s sordid history of slavery, bill.” CRT has become a “catchall” on the
segregation, and discrimination is embed- Right for any history curriculum reform
ded in our laws” and continues to affect or attempts to make schools more inclu-
how people of color are treated by banks, Anti-CRT protesters in California sive. In conservative states, the political
police, employers, and schools. Conserva- backlash to CRT is ferocious. In 2018,
tive critics make it sound as if there is a specific CRT curriculum the affluent suburb of Southlake, Texas, got unwelcome national
being forced on schools, but what they actually oppose are school attention when a group of white students were videoed laughing
districts choosing to re-examine “the role that slavery and seg- and shouting the N-word, and another student was videoed tell-
regation have played in American history” and possible ways of ing a joke about lynching. Black students subsequently described
redressing “those historical offenses.” Republicans have proposed experiencing “unambiguous racism,” so local officials created a
legislation in at least a dozen states to bar public schools from plan to address these incidents and educate students about bigotry.
teaching that the U.S. is “fundamentally racist” or addressing con- Conservative parents were so “furious” that the town elected a
cepts such as “social justice.” The alternative, said Brian Broome new mayor, two new school board members, and two new City
in WashingtonPost.com, is the “white-centric” view of U.S. history Council members who pledged to fight any teaching of CRT.
I was taught growing up, in which Christopher Columbus “dis-
covered” a largely empty America, slavery was a minor flaw fixed Good for Southlake parents for saying no to “woke education,”
by Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a nice man said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Voters overwhelm-
who preached racial unity. Opponents of CRT want kids to be ingly rejected “a wholesale makeover of their children’s education”
told, as I was, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with America. that would have included “diversity and inclusion” training at
Nothing to examine.” every grade level and encouraged students “to report each other
for microaggressions.” Not surprisingly, Southlake voters were
CRT is “more than just teaching kids to ‘think critically’ about the immediately labeled bigots in the national media, said Christopher
role that race has played in American history,” said the National Rufo in NYPost.com. That illustrates the CRT “mousetrap”: Any
Review in an editorial. It’s a form of indoctrination, pushed by objection to critical race theory “becomes irrefutable evidence”
far-left political activists “seeking to renovate the American social of a dissenter’s “white fragility, unconscious bias, or internalized
order from root to branch.” In CRT’s “dogma of division,” every- white supremacy.”
thing is seen through the prism of race, and the only remedy for
past discrimination is the pursuit of “equity” through racial quotas These “fevered narratives” oversimplify the CRT debate, said
and race-based policies. As anti-racist activist Ibram X. Kendi puts Clarence Page in the Chicago Tribune. As a Black man, I don’t
it, “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimina- agree that the U.S. is an innately racist nation akin to “apartheid-
tion.” This toxic ideology “is going to destroy the country,” said era South Africa.” Nor do I believe discussing CRT and white
Rod Dreher in TheAmericanConservative.com. The Biden admin- privilege is “divisive, anti-American propaganda,” as former Presi-
istration wants to push CRT “on all public schools,” proposing a dent Trump said last year. Yes, CRT too often “devalues the racial
rule that would give priority to federal-grant applicants for history progress that Americans have made.” But at the same time, those
and civics programs that emphasize CRT concepts. More than half who want students to focus on “the heroic and joyful side of our
of Republican voters oppose teaching CRT in schools, so how is nation’s history” without being taught about its ugly racial past
using taxpayer dollars to promote CRT “in any way” democratic? are engaging in a different kind of indoctrination.

QAmericans will eat 224 pounds of red
meat and poultry per person this year,
including 58 pounds of beef, according
to USDA projections. Plant-based meat
substitutes currently account for less than
3 percent of the nation’s packaged meat
sales, and only about 5 percent of Ameri-
cans identify as vegetarians.
The Washington Post
QSan Francisco may be approaching
Noted
tion rate of any state.
San Francisco Chronicle
QThe Biden administra-
tion has approved the
nation’s first large-scale
offshore wind farm, with
construction to begin as
soon as later this year.
The Vineyard Wind project will site 84 tur-
bines 14 miles off the Massachusetts coast
QJust 12 people are respon-
sible for 65 percent of false
and misleading anti-vaccine
posts on social media,
according to a new study.
The bogus claims, made
through multiple Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter
accounts, include denying
Covid-19 exists, touting false cures, and
charging that vaccine-caused deaths are
Shutterstock, Getty

herd immunity after 75 percent of eligible and create enough electricity to power being covered up, according to the Center
adults have gotten at least one vaccination 400,000 homes. for Countering Digital Hate.
shot. California now has the lowest infec- Reuters.com NPR.org

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

 Talking points NEWS 17

UFOs: What if they’re real? Wit &

Unidentified flying objects
have “accomplished an
out.” Obviously, “all this
is a little weird,” said Ezra
Wisdom
extraordinary feat,” said Klein in The New York “Mother Nature, in
Marik von Rennenkampff Times. But let’s say that we her infinite wisdom, has
in TheHill.com. They’ve do eventually get evidence instilled within each of
us a powerful biological
created agreement between that there is intelligent
instinct to reproduce; this is
former Trump administra- extraterrestrial life, either her way of assuring that
tion intelligence official via a UFO or an interstellar the human race, come
John Ratcliffe and former communication. Conspiracy what may, will never have
Obama administration theorists would see it as any disposable income.”
CIA director John Bren- proof the government has Humorist Dave Barry,
A photo taken by a U.S. Navy officer quoted in Al.com
nan. Both men say there been lying all along. Mili-
have been scores of credible sightings of UFOs— taries across the world would see the existence of “The pedigree of honey /
and that, in Brennan’s words, they may be piloted aliens as a threat justifying massive new military Does not concern the bee /
by “a different form of life.” After years of dis- spending. Perhaps it might even unite mankind, A clover, any time, to him /
missing UFO sightings as the delusions of “tinfoil- making our superficial differences seem trivial. Is aristocracy.”
Emily Dickinson, quoted in
hat conspiracy theorists,” Pentagon officials are One way or another, the knowledge we are not the Santa Barbara, Calif.,
acknowledging that military pilots have repeat- alone would “upend how humanity understands Independent
edly seen flying objects shaped like “tic tacs,” itself and our place in the cosmos.” “Doubt grows
“inverted pyramids,” and “an acorn” behaving in with knowledge.”
inexplicable ways—whizzing around at incredible Most scientists and academics remain skeptical Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
speeds, stopping and turning on a dime, diving that UFOs are alien craft, said Rizwan Virk in quoted in ArtsJournal.com
into the ocean. In June, U.S. intelligence agencies NBCNews.com. But “now that the government “In order to rise from
are finally expected to issue a report detailing is starting to take UFOs seriously,” it’s time for its own ashes, a phoenix
what the government knows about “unidentified scientists to join a concerted effort to figure out first must burn.”
aerial phenomena.” what these objects are. After next month’s report, Author Octavia Butler, quoted
in Cultured Magazine
the public may demand it, said C. Moon Reed in
The government isn’t going to announce that the Las Vegas Sun. “It’s maddening to learn that “You know you’re getting
UFOs are filled with “little green men,” said UFOs exist without also learning what or who old when you get that one
Gideon Lewis-Kraus in The New Yorker. But it they are.” Are they just visual illusions? Extrater- candle on the cake.
It’s like, ‘See if you can
is dropping “the taboo” on the topic and admit- restrial? Friendly? Hostile? It’s time we made a
blow this out.’”
ting “there are things it simply cannot figure serious effort to find out. Jerry Seinfeld, quoted in the
Montreal Gazette

Vaccination: Paying skeptics to get shots “The desire to reach the

stars is ambitious. The
desire to reach hearts is
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is giving the state’s to listen and try to understand their reasons,” wise and most possible.”
vaccine holdouts a million reasons to take a jab, rather than using a financial cudgel. Bribery Maya Angelou, quoted in the
said Hayes Brown in MSNBC.com. Last week, is also unlikely to make much difference, said Williston, N.D., Herald
he announced the “Vax-a-Million” lottery, in David von Drehle in The Washington Post.
which five randomly drawn state residents will Years of data show “mixed results, at best, in
win $1 million prizes—“so long as they’re vac- programs offering cash incentives to improve
cinated.” It’s not the first carrot dangled in front health,” such as paying people to lose weight,
Poll watch
of the vaccine-hesitant. New Jersey is offering free give up smoking, or get tested for sexually trans- Q77% of Americans plan
beer to those who get a shot, Mainers can claim mitted diseases. to travel this summer—a
$20 L.L. Bean gift cards, and New York offers stark turnaround from
free Mets and Yankees tickets. It “may seem Even limited success could make a big difference, last June, when just 29%
planned a trip.
desperate,” but with vaccination rates steeply said Colin Gabler in The Columbus Dispatch.
Harris Poll
declining and endangering our chances of reach- While some holdouts are hard-core anti-vaxxers,
ing herd immunity, it’s time to pull out “any and others are just “apathetic” about getting a shot, QUnvaccinated Ameri-
all efforts”—including cash incentives. In a UCLA whether because they don’t like needles, already cans seem to be more
study, a third of unvaccinated respondents said had Covid, or “the CVS is too far a drive.” Such comfortable with public
they’d roll their sleeves up for $100. “Bribing the people “may be nudged by a $100 payout,” activities than vaccinated
masses” may work. meaning that for $3 billion we could get another Americans, including go-
30 million people vaccinated and “move the ing on a cruise (37% vs.
We need to treat holdouts “like adults, not chil- needle on herd immunity.” That would be “a 17%), attending a concert
(42% vs. 23%), traveling
dren,” said bioethics professor Nancy Jecker bargain.” As a society, we “pay indirectly for
abroad (32% vs. 15%),
in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Inoculating each other’s poor health choices in the long run,”
going to the movies (46%
people is an urgent goal, but manipulating the said Jacob Appel in The Baltimore Sun. Better to vs. 33%), taking a train
poor in particular with money they need is pay people now to acquire immunity to Covid to (43% vs. 30%), and dining
Mystery Wire

“coercive” and unethical. “There are better, less “save their lives and protect their neighbors.” If out (63% vs. 56%).
intrusive alternatives,” such as outreach efforts we don’t, “we may find ourselves soon paying the Morning Consult
that approach the skeptical “with a willingness price of inaction.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
18 NEWS Pick of the week’s cartoons

THE WEEK May 28, 2021 For more political cartoons, visit: www.theweek.com/cartoons.
Pick of the week’s cartoons NEWS 19

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

20 NEWS Technology

Environment: Bitcoin’s power problem

As digital currencies grow, so do wor- 10 minutes. So competing miners must
ries about their real-world footprint, said run ever faster “simply to stand still”—
Ryan Browne in CNBC.com. Last week, the epitome of wastefulness. In the Finger
one of Bitcoin’s biggest cheerleaders, Elon Lakes region of upstate New York, an
Musk, announced that Tesla would no idled power plant is up and running again
longer accept the digital coin as payment just to “power Bitcoin mining,” said
for vehicles, because of concerns about Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker.
“rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels The influx of miners in Plattsburgh, N.Y.,
for Bitcoin mining.” Tesla purchased “drove up the cost of electricity so dra-
$1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in Febru- matically” that the city needed to enact
ary, and Musk indicated no plans to sell. a moratorium on new operations. When
But he alluded to data from researchers “the world desperately needs to cut car-
Long racks of Bitcoin mining rigs in Russia bon emissions,” does it makes sense to
at Cambridge University showing what
he considered an “insane” spike in Bitcoin’s electricity usage this devote a country’s worth of electricity to a virtual currency?
year. Musk is hardly the first to express “wariness about its im-
pact on the environment.” New Bitcoins can only be created, or “If you believe Bitcoin offers no utility beyond serving as a Ponzi
“mined,” via an intensive computational effort that requires an scheme,” then any consumption of energy would be considered
“unfathomable amount of energy.” By Cambridge’s estimate, this wasteful, said Nic Carter in the Harvard Business Review.
mining consumes as much energy annually as all of Argentina. Leaving that aside, though, some of the conventional energy
And roughly 70 percent of the mining is done in China, “whose and emissions assumptions that are used to estimate carbon
economy is still heavily reliant on coal.” footprints don’t apply to Bitcoin. For instance, many of China’s
Bitcoin miners have set up shop in places with abundant and
Miners are rewarded handsomely (6.25 Bitcoins, currently worth cheap hydropower, much of it under-utilized. As for Elon Musk,
about $350,000) for cracking the mathematical problems that said Megan McArdle in The Washington Post, I’m skeptical he
unlock new coins, said The Economist. But the automatic stabi- just realized “it takes boatloads of power to ‘mine’ digital gold.”
lizers in the system “vary the difficulty of the puzzles” to ensure I suspect what he’s really noticed is Bitcoin’s weakness as a cur-
that no matter how many miners are working on the problem, rency: “If you think your Bitcoin is going to quadruple in value
a new block of coins is generated, on average, only once every again, why would you trade it for a car today?”

Innovation of the week Bytes: What’s new in tech

New soft-
ware allows
anyone to
create a
deepfake
clone of
their own
voice, said
James Vin-
cent in TheVerge.com. Last week,
the technology firm Veritone intro-
duced Marvel.AI, which can clone
a voice and make the result sound
“nearly indistinguishable from the
real thing.” It’s aimed mainly at
celebrities and influencers, who
could allow “their voices to be out
and about, recording radio spots,
reading audiobooks,” at all times,
24/7. Traditional speech synthesis,
used for voice assistants like Siri
and Alexa, has been creating ever
more realistic voices. But dupli-
cating the sound of a particular
voice, especially a well-known
one, is a major advance. The AI--
created voices are still “flatter and
more clipped than the real thing.”
Parler bows to Apple’s demands
Parler’s new app will have to curb hate speech
after all—but only on iPhones, said Kevin
Randall in The Washington Post. The right-
leaning social platform that celebrated its
“anti-moderation” stance “came back to life
on Apple’s App Store” this week, months after
it was taken down by Apple and Google fol-
lowing the U.S. Capitol attacks on Jan. 6. To
get back in Apple’s good graces, Parler created
a new artificial intelligence moderation sys-
tem that will ensure that posts labeled “hate”
“won’t be visible on iPhones.” The platform
has contracted with a company called Hive,
which already flags content that is considered
“incitement” or includes threats of violence.
“But Parler had to compromise on hate
speech” for Apple to consider reinstatement.
Parler’s own chief policy officer, Amy Peikoff,
took a shot at Apple’s requirements, calling the
app’s iOS version “Parler Lite or Parler PG.”
Sending chatter between devices
Amazon and Apple are quietly building “vast
wireless networks using your devices,” said
of Echo speakers. The Sidewalk network lets
any of Amazon’s smart devices in range “send
very small bits of data” to one another. Apple
has been using similar technology for its Find
My iPhone feature since 2011. The Sidewalk
connection could be used to track deliveries or
create an internet link if your “main connec-
tion goes down.” You can opt out of these so-
called mesh networks, “but the tech giants are
betting” that they create enough benefits “that
for the most part we won’t.”
Visas for spouses of tech workers
Tech giants are fighting to save a crucial visa
for the spouses of skilled workers, said Joel
Rosenblatt and Olivia Carville in Bloomberg
.com. “Under the Obama-era ‘H-4 Rule,’ the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security in
2015 issued visas to 90,000 spouses of highly
skilled workers who live in the U.S. on H-1B
visas,” about three-quarters of whom work
in the tech sector. The Trump administra-
tion froze both H-1B and H-4 visas. Now
the Trump ban has expired, but an advocacy
group called Save Jobs USA is suing over
Getty, Shutterstock

Hypothetically, however, “you could
have Walter Cronkite reading the
nightly news again.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
Christopher Mims in The Wall Street Journal. the visas, arguing the H-4 program is illegal.
Amazon announced last week that it would “Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and
expand its Sidewalk network, which already more than 20 other organizations” have
includes some Ring devices, to cover its line urged a court to reject the claims.

NASA probe heads home with asteroid haul
After spending more than two years cir-
cling and studying an ancient space rock,
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has fired
its engines and begun its long journey
home, reports CNN.com. The probe’s
belly holds a precious cargo: possibly
more than a pound of grit grabbed from
the rubbly surface of the asteroid Bennu.
“I can’t wait to see what we learn from
the sample when it returns to Earth,”
says Sandy Freund, operations manager
of the Lockheed Martin Mission Support
Area. Bennu is as big as the Empire State
Building and some 4.5 billion years old.
That’s about the same age as the solar
Laid to rest 78,000 years ago
Africa’s earliest burial
Archaeologists have found the oldest known tion of various foods, including sugar-heavy a delicious sugar-water solution—which
human burial site in Africa—that of a
child, probably a boy, who died 78,000
years ago. The remains, so fragile they had
to be encased in plaster to be removed,
were found in the Panga ya Saidi cave near
Kenya’s coast. The child, who was about
3 years old, appears to have been carefully
placed in a pit and then covered up with sed- than one serving a week. Replacing sugary
iment from the cave floor. The positioning
of the bones indicate the child was buried
on its side with its legs drawn up to its chest 36 percent reduction
and that its head may have rested on some
kind of pillow. The fact that the spine hadn’t
collapsed during decomposition suggests the
body may have been wrapped in a shroud.
“The burial takes us back to a very sad
moment, one that despite the vast time sepa-
rating us, we can understand as humans,”
principal investigator Nicole Boivin, from
the Max Planck Institute in Germany, tells
The Guardian (U.K.). Older human burial
NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona, Reuters, Getty
sites have been discovered outside Africa,
even though the continent was the birthplace
of Homo sapiens. Researchers think this
merely reflects where the most research has
been done to date, and that older graves in
Africa are likely waiting to be discovered.
Sugary drinks and cancer risk
Younger women who drink two or more
sugary drinks a day have more than twice
Health & Science NEWS 21
system, so the pristine rock samples
could add to our understanding of how
planets form. OSIRIS collected the grit by
getting up close to Bennu, extending an
11-foot robotic arm fitted with a collection
filter, and then shooting a burst of nitro-
gen gas to kick up rocks and dust into the
filter. Although Bennu is about 200 mil-
lion miles from Earth, OSIRIS will have to
put another 1.4 billion miles on the clock
before rendezvousing with our planet. OSIRIS fires its engines in an artist’s impression.
The SUV-size craft will circle the sun twice
and reach Earth in September 2023. When OSIRIS, enter Earth’s atmosphere, and—if
it’s within 6,000 miles, a small capsule all goes well—land in Utah’s Great Salt
containing the samples will separate from Lake Desert.
the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer than Covid-sniffing bees
those who avoid the sweet stuff, reports Scientists have devised an innovative way to
Insider.com. The rate of the disease has test for Covid-19, reports The Washington
more than doubled among adults younger Post: getting bees to sniff it out. The idea
than 50 in the past three decades. Many came from a Dutch startup that had been
scientists suspect that increased consumption training the odor-sensitive insects to detect
of sugary drinks may be to blame. The bev- mineral-rich ore and land mines. For the
erages can suppress feelings of satiety, lead- latest project, researchers cooled down 150
ing to overeating, and can also cause spikes bees to make them less active, strapped
in blood glucose and insulin secretion, which the insects into harnesses, and then used
over the long term can induce inflamma- a Pavlovian conditioning method to teach
tion, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. In a new them the unique scent of the coronavirus.
study, researchers looked at data from some Each time the bees were exposed to a virus-
95,000 women who tracked their consump- positive test sample they were also given
sodas, fruit drinks, and energy drinks. Over the bees drank by extending their tongues.
24 years of monitoring, 109 participants When they were given a negative sample,
developed bowel cancer. The researchers they received no reward. Within hours the
calculated that the women who drank two bees were sticking out their tongues when
or more 8-ounce servings of such beverages presented with the virus, even when no
a day were 2.2 times more likely to develop sugar water was offered. The researchers
colorectal cancer than those who drank less think the bees could be used in low-income
countries with limited access to sophisti-
beverages with coffee, milk, or artificially cated testing technology. “If this is going to
sweetened drinks was linked to a 17 to work,” says lead researcher Wim van der
in risk. Poel, “it can be very fast and very cheap.”
A grumpy dog is a smart dog charge straight ahead. “It’s quite a dif-
ficult task for a dog,” says study author
Dogs with “grumpy” char- Peter Pongracz, from
acteristics are better than Eotvos Lorand University
their cheerier peers at learn- in Budapest. Neither the
ing tricks from strangers, a short-tempered dogs
new study suggests. The nor the more agreeable
researchers didn’t categorize pooches worked out how
specific breeds as grumpy. to reach the treat on their
Instead, they lumped in any own, and learned equally
of the dogs they studied well from their owners,
that had a broad range of reports The New York
Brainier than a happy pooch?
grumpy traits, such as being Times. But when a stranger
quick to bark, snapping or snarling when demonstrated how to get the object, the
disturbed, and not coming when called. grumpy dogs did noticeably better. “They
For the study, the researchers put a treat were more attentive,” says Pongracz. It’s
behind a V-shaped wire fence, so the dogs unclear what—if anything—is behind the
would have to move further away from link. But it suggests that dogs that are
the food to access it—counterintuitive slow to warm to strangers may be good
behavior for canines, who just want to at learning from them.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
22
Review of reviews: Books
Book of the week
Finding the Mother Tree:
Discovering the Wisdom
of the Forest
by Suzanne Simard (Knopf, $29)
“Finding the Mother Tree is certain to
be one of this year’s most widely dis-
cussed books,” said Hamilton Cain in
the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Written
by Suzanne Simard, “a real-life tree-
whisperer” whose discoveries have
changed how we think about forests, the
book is both “a literary revelation” and
“that botany class you never knew you
needed.” A forest ecologist who grew up in
a Canadian logging family, Simard was 20
when she began wondering why seedlings
planted in clear-cut areas often struggled to
survive. Trees, she discovered, exist in coop-
erative communities that exchange nourish-
ment and information through an under-
ground fungal network. Her breakthrough
findings, have been popularized by the movie
Avatar, the book The Hidden Life of Trees,
and Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory.
Finally, she has shared her own account,
Novel of the week
Second Place
by Rachel Cusk
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25)
“Readers love to hate female characters
for causing momentary discomfort,” said
Hillary Kelly in the Los Angeles Times.
Rachel Cusk is beyond worrying over
such matters, though. Her first novel
since her radical and brilliant Outline tril-
ogy is narrated by a woman named M,
who is needy, pushy, and resentful. It’s
“straight vinegar”—“delicious and good
for the gut.” M has invited a once cele-
brated painter to stay in a cottage on her
property but becomes enraged by his be-
havior. Second Place feels like a transition
novel, yet “Cusk’s open experimentation
is refreshing, as is her belief that a writer
must keep moving forward.” To M’s dis-
may, the artist brings along a young girl-
friend, asserting a freedom that M can’t
imagine exercising, said Helen Shaw in
NYMag.com. The book remains “a mood
piece, a drug,” a bracing bath in M’s fe-
vered thinking. M is desperate to have L
paint her, but L claims he can’t truly see
her. It’s a crushing blow. Above all else,
Second Place is “an exploration of how
dangerous it is to want to see yourself
reflected in the artist’s eye.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
ARTS
A mature beech forest: No tree is an island.
in “a luminous weave of memoir, scientific
treatise, and Native-inflected meditation.”
Simard’s logging roots run deep, said Jona-
than Slaght in The New York Times. In her
home province, there is a Simard Mountain
named after her forebears, and she proudly
enumerates the fingers and other parts the
family sacrificed to the vocation. It thus hurt
her to realize that clear-cutting was devastat-
ing to forest health: “One love of her life
was destroying the other.” Still, she was
thrilled to be able to prove that nutrients
are passed between trees through fungi that
attach to the roots. Eventually, she estab-
The Secret to
Superhuman Strength
by Alison Bechdel
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24)
Alison Bechdel’s “qui-
etly astonishing” new
graphic memoir has a
deceivingly straight-
forward premise,
said Rachel Cooke in
TheGuardian.com.
The pioneering com-
ics artist and author
of 2006’s Fun Home
has been an exercise
fanatic all her life,
forever exchanging
one obsession for another, and she wished to
examine why. But while Bechdel “manages
to be slyly funny” about an array of fitness
activities, from martial arts to Nordic ski-
ing to spin classes, she might be even better
at addressing her deeper subject, which is
self-improvement writ large. Yes, you have
probably grown tired of advice about self-
care this year. “All I can tell you is that her
thoughts on mortality, wonder, and tran-
scendence will do you a lot more good, at
this point in the pandemic, than your next
yoga class.”
lished that a forest is a sentient, interact-
ing community in which certain mature
trees, or “mother trees,” act as hubs for
the distribution of nutrients and life-
sustaining information. Simard’s work
“turned the tables on the view of trees
as engaged in a fierce competition with
one another,” said Richard Schiffman in
CSMonitor.com. Her model of forest life,
she notes, aligns closely with the under-
standing of indigenous people. “Still, not
everyone is a fan.” Commercial loggers
have resisted her recommendations, and
some scientists criticize her language as
overly anthropomorphic.
Simard at times does push her metaphors
too far, said Eugenia Bone in The Wall
Street Journal. “I chafe when genetic adap-
tation is called ‘wisdom,’” for example.
Still, the analogies do help readers under-
stand the biology, and many are “surpris-
ingly apt,” such as when Simard invokes
brain cells and neural pathways to describe
the hub-and-node system by which informa-
tion is passed from mycorrhizal fungi to tree
roots. In the end, this book “might even
persuade you that organisms other than
ourselves, even fungi, have agency.”
Each chapter of the book covers roughly
10 years in the 60-year-old author’s life.
Once the story puts childhood behind, said
Elizabeth Weil in The New York Times,
“Bechdel dabbles in nearly every exer-
cise craze of the past four decades.” The
litany of trend chasing “would feel dull,
self-indulgent, and exhausting if Bechdel
weren’t fully aware that it is essentially neu-
rotic and nuts.” Besides, her work is always
layered, and so we get drawings, captions,
and annotation as we go, as well as mini-
biographies of Samuel Coleridge, Jack
Kerouac, Adrienne Rich, and other authors
and thinkers whose writing helps Bechdel
work through her ideas.
Always, exercise seems the answer to com-
peting aims, said Katy Waldman in The
New Yorker. On one hand, Bechdel, like
any other fitness enthusiast, exercises to
perfect the self. At the same time, she “seeks
to lose herself, to leave herself behind,”
often finding greatest fulfillment when
the rush of an activity or the focus that it
requires allows her to momentarily forget
herself. This lends a “slightly tragic” air to
the book, because the attempt to erase or
outrun oneself is bound to fail. “Perhaps, as
Media Bakery
Bechdel writes near the end of her memoir,
transcending her story was never the right
goal” anyway. “Better to work it out.”
 The Book List
Best books…chosen by Jake Tapper
CNN anchor Jake Tapper is the author of two thrillers. His first, 2018’s The Hellfire
Club, is being adapted into an HBO series. His new sequel, The Devil May Dance,
follows Charlie and Margaret Marder as the couple infiltrates Frank Sinatra’s circle.
Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan (2010).
To best be able to submerge myself in the 1962
Rat Pack Hollywood to write my new thriller,
I dove into some great books about that time.
There are many fascinating biographies of Frank
Sinatra, one of the main characters in my book,
but James Kaplan’s two volumes may be the best.
Volume one takes Sinatra’s life story to 1954.
Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan
(2015). Now we reach the era of The Devil May
Dance. I love writing about the 1950s and early
1960s because on its surface the time seems so
glamorous but in reality was full of menace:
McCarthyism, the rise of the military-industrial
complex, conspiracies, Cold War tensions, rac-
ism, and misogyny. The inspiration for my
book comes from a true story: Sinatra, who had
worked his heart out to get John F. Kennedy
elected, had his Rancho Mirage, Calif., com-
pound built out in expectation of hosting the
president in 1962. But Attorney General Robert
Kennedy, investigating organized crime, became
concerned about his brother staying in a home
where mobsters had also slept.
Also of interest...in the interwar years
The Haunting of Alma Fielding
by Kate Summerscale (Penguin, $28)
Kate Summerscale’s latest nonfic-
tion tale “reads like a novel you
don’t want to put down,” said Ilana
Masad in NPR.org. In 1938, a real-
life housewife in suburban London
claimed her home had been invaded
by a poltergeist, attracting the attention of a
Hungarian-born ghost hunter. But this book isn’t
just about supernatural spirits. “It’s also a narra-
tive about women and power, about the fear of
looming war, about the choices people make in
order to escape certain aspects of their lives.”
Midnight in Cairo
by Raphael Cormack (Norton, $29)
Jazz-age Cairo rivaled any other city
for nightlife, said Moira Hodgson
in The Wall Street Journal. Author
Raphael Cormack offers a “riveting,
lively” snapshot of the city by weav-
ing together profiles of seven women
who were key contributors to the efflorescence.
Singer Oum Kalthoum remains a beloved
AP, Ariana Velazquez
national icon, but Cormack also includes forgot-
ten figures such as a Coptic club owner, a vaude-
villian, and an actress who drew comparisons to
Sarah Bernhardt.
The Manchurian Candidate by Greil Marcus
(2002). In my thriller, our heroes Charlie and
Margaret befriend Sinatra on the set of The Man-
churian Candidate. Greil Marcus’ essays about
the trippy 1962 film are a fascinating window
into the era.
Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business
of Dreams by Nick Tosches (1992). For art,
don’t miss Tosches’ literary rumination on Dean
Martin. Poetry.
Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra by George
Jacobs (2003). Jacobs was Sinatra’s personal
assistant, and he’s another character in The Devil
May Dance. His memoir provides an absorbing
look at Sinatra and complicates the old saying,
attributed to French wit Madame Cornuel, that
no man is a hero to his valet.
My Story by Judith Exner (1977). Exner, who
knew Sinatra, Kennedy, and mobster Sam Gian-
cana quite intimately, wrote a memoir that’s now
out of print but still a dishy read. Even if only
half of it is true, you’ll find yourself shaking your
head in amazement.
Billy Wilder on Assignment
edited by Noah Isenberg (Princeton, $25)
“Billy Wilder sweet-talked his way
into his singular life,” said Marc
Weingarten in The Washington Post.
The future Hollywood director spent
his 20s as a charismatic but cutting
newspaper writer in Vienna and
Berlin, and the profiles, reviews, and other stories
collected here “read like precursors to the New
Journalism–era reportage of Tom Wolfe.” In one
piece, he’s working as a taxi dancer. In another,
he mocks a mogul’s teeth. On political topics, he
was “a Weimar version of H.L. Mencken.”
Maniac
by Harold Schechter (Little A, $25)
“In the 1920s, an attack on a
school was a new and baffling
crime,” said Katrina Gulliver in
TheAmericanConservative.com. That
may explain why few of us know
that the deadliest-ever attack on a
U.S. school was a 1927 bombing in Bath town-
ship, Michigan, that killed 45 people, including
38 children. Crime writer Harold Schechter
makes the story “as nerve-wracking as a page-
turning thriller.” The killer, in the worst ways,
turns out to be “a man ahead of his time.”
ARTS 23
Author of the week
Christina Hunger
Christina Hunger is a real-life
Dr. Dolittle, said Reed Tucker
in the New York Post. Over
the past three years, the young
speech pathologist has trained
her dog to communicate in
English using a series of paw-
size buttons that each play a
pre-recorded
word. Hun-
ger’s new
book, How
Stella Learned
to Talk,
recounts the
process and
offers advice
on how readers can do the
same. “Outside” was Stella’s
first word, followed closely by
“water” and “play.” Today,
Stella makes use of nearly 50
words or phrases, displaying
a facility that has attracted
a large Instagram follow-
ing. She might, when being
taken outside by Christina’s
boyfriend, stop to assemble a
complex thought: “Christina,
come, play, love you.” Hunger
learns from the experiment
every day. “Dogs are thinking
a lot,” she says. “They have
opinions and are wanting to
share them.”
Stella’s accomplishments
“raise questions about how
we define speech,” said Nora
Krug in The Washington Post.
Some skeptics have ques-
tioned whether Stella has
simply learned to press but-
tons that she knows will earn
her rewards. But Hunger has
never fed Stella treats during
the training. She also rejects
the idea that some harm is
done by teaching a dog to
communicate in a way that is
unnatural. “Using the words
is just one of the ways for her
to express herself,” she says.
Stella may also be on her way
to greater feats, given that
dogs, by some estimates, can
understand upward of 1,000
words. Still, Stella will prob-
ably never understand that
her story has already been
published. “She has seen the
book, as an object. But she’s
a dog,” Hunger says. “She has
no concept about the content.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
24 ARTS Review of reviews: Art & Music
Exhibit of the week
Agnes Pelton: Desert
Transcendentalist
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs,
Calif., through Sept. 6
Agnes Pelton was not a flashy painter, said
Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles
Times. When producing the mystical, semi-
abstract images for which she has become
celebrated, the idiosyncratic modernist
(1881–1961) “almost never let the action
of her hand intrude.” Throughout her six-
decade career, “her work received scant
notice beyond a small circle of like-minded
admirers.” But Pelton’s star has risen over
the past quarter century, and the opening
of a touring retrospective at a Palm Springs
museum only 7 miles away from her long-
time home “secures her significant place
among early American modern artists.”
The exhibition has been pared to 35 works
since its pandemic-interrupted stop at New
York City’s Whitney Museum of American
Art. Yet the core of her work remains. “For
Agnes Pelton, painting was a profound
means for contemplation. Hers and ours.”
“Because of the cosmic reach of her land-
scapes, Pelton has often been compared to
Georgia O’Keeffe,” said Ann Japenga in
KCET.org. Both she and O’Keeffe stud-
ied under Arthur Wesley Dow at Pratt
St. Vincent
Daddy’s Home
++++
St. Vincent’s new album,
upon first listen, “seems
like it might impress her
critics,” said Spencer
Kornhaber in The
Atlantic.com. The cold,
robotic art rock of recent
releases has been
replaced by the sounds of early-’70s rock
and soul: “the boogying synths of Stevie
Wonder, the spacey noodling of Pink Floyd.”
But the promise of a looser, more per-
sonal songwriting is never satisfied. “With
repeated listens, a familiar hollowness sets
in.” This talented artist, a guitar virtuoso who
presents as a David Bowie heir, continues
to withhold too much. “Do we ever want St.
Vincent to sound ‘relatable,’ though? Maybe
not!” said Rob Harvilla in TheRinger.com.
As a musician who revels in creating high-
concept fictional personas for every album
cycle, “she is never, ever, ever boring.” The
title track, as a piece of music, is “so odd, so
swampy, so slow-eyed and sharp-elbowed”
that we ought to just listen. Put aside
thoughts about what St. Vincent should do,
and “you can better appreciate this record
as a triumphantly bizarre multimedia spec-
tacle that earns its loopier affectations.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
Pelton’s Orbits (1934): An otherworldly wonder
Institute in Brooklyn, and both moved to
the Southwest at the invitation of patron
Mabel Dodge Luhan. But Pelton, who
relocated to the Palm Springs area in the
1930s, had reached her 50s by the time she
hit her stride with “quietly luminescent”
imagined landscapes informed by astrology,
Buddhism, and theosophy. Pelton spent
more of her time creating conventional
landscapes that earned her a modest liv-
J. Cole
The Off-Season
++++
“It hasn’t been the
greatest year for major
rap releases,” said Eric
Skelton in Complex
.com. J. Cole might
turn the tide, though,
because his sixth
album will one day
likely rank “among the strongest projects
of his career.” Across 12 tracks, the 36-year-
old North Carolina rapper and self-styled
“middle child” on the genre’s generational
time line “positions himself as an all-time
great” and comes across as deserving of
the title. He presents the album as an off-
season workout in which he’s testing his
stylistic range, yet he sounds “more musi-
cally compelling than ever” because there’s
“a mixtape energy” to the entire project.
“In its looseness, the album feels like a
serrated jolt,” said Brandon Yu in Variety
.com. Cole’s earnestness “has always been
both the key to his success and his greatest
artistic fault,” and The Off-Season shines
because it avoids self-seriousness. Though
he recently teasingly suggested that this
album may be one or two removed from
his last, J. Cole “appears far from ready to
bow out, nor should he be.”
ing, said Peter Plagens in The Wall Street
Journal. Today, however, as the art estab-
lishment has belatedly begun recognizing
the achievements of women working in the
modernist era, the roughly 100 imagined
landscapes Pelton painted have understand-
ably drawn attention. In Orbits, from 1934,
seven ideogrammatic stars float against
a dark backdrop that suggests a soaring
mountain with a cartoonish snow cap. “In
anyone else’s hands, all of this would be
insufferably corny; with Pelton, however, it’s
genuinely and defiantly beautiful.”
Don’t be put off by her homespun mys-
ticism, said Mario Naves in The New
Criterion. Unlike Hilma af Klint, the
20th-century Swedish proto-modernist
who was the subject of a blockbuster 2018
Guggenheim Museum exhibition, Pelton is
a true find. Hers is “an art of bottomless,
crystalline color, and spaces so nuanced
in their transitions as to occasion double
takes.” Despite the modernism of Pelton’s
formal vocabulary, “the chromatic and
spatial resonance of the pictures—their
clarity, depth, and jewel-like sonorities—
are pure Renaissance.” That’s lofty praise,
“but name another 20th-century artist who
created anything close to the infinite yellow
of Prelude (1943) or the milky veils of
unnameable color that filter through The
Blest (1941).”
The Black Keys
Delta Kream
++++
The Black Keys’ new
tribute to the Missis-
sippi juke-joint blues-
men who inspired their
music “percolates with
a respect for the source
material,” said Matt
Collar in AllMusic.com.
The Ohio-bred garage rockers add “lo-fi
swagger” to 12 classic tunes by such hill
country legends as Junior Kimbrough, R.L.
Burnside, and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
“Swampy, yet vibrating with a dreamy
psychedelic quality,” the opener, “Crawling
Kingsnake,” exemplifies the album’s “laconic
and acidly textured” sound. “Something
feels off,” though, “since the renditions here
rarely live up to the originals,” said Kory
Grow in Rolling Stone. Delta Kream’s secret
weapon is slide guitarist Kenny Brown, who
Agnes Pelton/Oakland Museum of California
worked with Kimbrough. “But even at its
best,” this hastily recorded collection sounds
like a compilation of bonus tracks. True, the
album can’t replicate the “dangerous back-
woods stomp” of hill country blues, but “it
comes awfully close,” said Hal Horowitz in
AmericanSongwriter.com. “If Keys fans are
encouraged to explore the originals, this
project will have accomplished its mission.”
 Review of reviews: Film & Home Media
Bana: A suspect hero
The Dry
++++
Welcome home, Eric Bana, said Richard
Kuipers in Variety.com. The Melbourne-
born actor scored Australia’s biggest hit
of the year with this smart, newly arrived
thriller based on a best-selling novel, and
he’s “perfectly cast” in the lead. Bana, 52,
plays Aaron Falk, a big-city detective who
returns to his drought-stricken hometown
to attend the funeral of a friend who appar-
ently killed himself in a murder-suicide.
Something isn’t right, though, and the
plot “crackles along nicely” as Falk ques-
tions various townsfolk with motives to
kill. Falk also has questions to answer,
because some locals still suspect him in
the death years earlier of his high school
crush, said Stephen Russell in TimeOut
.com. Unfortunately, the story’s frequent
use of flashbacks “sucks some of the oxy-
New and notable podcasts
Death at the Wing
(Three Uncanny Four)
Though hoops is the
common thread in
Adam McKay’s current
podcast series, said
Bryan Kalbrosky in
USAToday.com, “you
don’t need to be a bas-
ketball fan, even in the
slightest, to become infatuated.” The Oscar-
winning screenwriter of The Big Short and
director of Anchorman examines the early
deaths of several rising roundball stars
to illustrate how the sport and the larger
culture took a turn under President Ronald
Reagan. “If you are someone who loves
sports, you will be hooked by some of the
fascinating details that McKay unearths
about some of the game’s biggest legends.”
But the focus of the series is on would-be
stars, such as Boston Celtics draftee Len
Bias, mercurial NBA guard Terry Furlow,
and Chicago high schooler Benji Wilson.
“Though the fits between the biographies
and the historical trends McKay is describ-
ing can be messy,” said PodcastReview.org,
“the show’s ambition—to identify what
IFC Films
changed and was lost during Reagan’s eco-
nomic revolution—is worthwhile.”
gen from the present-day drama,” and
many secondary characters are too thinly
sketched. “I sniffed out the villain a fair way
off,” said Anthony Lane in The New Yorker.
But despite its minor flaws, “the film has
serious staying power,” heralding, perhaps,
a new era of climate-change cinema. These
troubled characters haven’t seen rain in
nearly a year, and the camera lingers on
sputtering faucets and parched riverbeds
where children once swam. Even viewers
who judge The Dry a mere B movie “will be
left with raw throats and a sense of trouble
in store.” (In theaters or $7 on demand) R
Other new movies
Riders of Justice
Mads Mikkelsen’s latest project is “one of
the most fascinating films I’ve seen in a
long while,” said Joe Morgenstern in The
Wall Street Journal. The great Danish actor
plays a stone-faced soldier who pursues a
vendetta against the biker gang he believes
killed his wife. This movie is no subtitled
by-the-numbers thriller, though: It’s “a deli-
ciously absurdist, fundamentally serious
enterprise that uses a superheated revenge
plot to address our common need for mak-
ing sense out of life.” (In theaters or $7 on
demand) Not rated
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
“A reimagining of the Saw movies might
have been intriguing,” said Bilge Ebiri in
NYMag.com. After all, the 2004 splatterfest
that spawned so many ridiculous sequels
was “impossibly tense.” Unfortunately, this
May I Elaborate?
(Team Coco)
Meet your new favorite
motivational guru, said
Morgan McNaught in
AVClub.com. Actor and
comedian J.B. Smoove,
best known for playing
a confidante to Larry
David on Curb Your
Enthusiasm, takes the idea of a series built
on daily affirmations and “turns it into high-
concept art.” In each 15-minute episode, an
entry from a quote-a-day calendar inspires
oddball musings by Smoove and his side-
kick Miles Grose: An Anaïs Nin aphorism
about courage, for example, inspired
consideration of the difference between
a hero and a hoagie. Seekers of conven-
tional life wisdom need not apply, but “if
you are a person who wonders if the sun
and moon work at the same factory, May
I Elaborate? sees you, and offers a lot of
inspiration couched in a gonzo sensibility.”
Recent episodes have been “pure Smoove,”
said Marc Hershon in NYMag.com. Want
to break the ice at parties? Leave your fly
open, he advises, because “Nothin’ starts a
conversation faster than, ‘Hey, brother, your
zipper’s down.’”
ARTS 25
reboot “weakens what was already there.”
Chris Rock plays a wisecracking detective
on the trail of a serial killer, and Rock’s
humor “makes for a nice contrast to the
grim goings-on.” But by reversing the fran-
chise’s villain-centric formula, Spiral “winds
up feeling like an ordinary serial-killer pro-
cedural.” (In theaters only) R
Those Who Wish Me Dead
The “ludicrous but propulsive” new action
film starring Angelina Jolie “does what
Hollywood has always done to her: doubt
her abilities,” said Shirley Li in TheAtlantic
.com. The A-list actress plays a firefighter
who parachutes into wildfires, yet even
after her character pledges to protect a
teenager from assassins, she “sees little
action.” Instead, she runs, cowers, and
becomes more motherly, reflecting an
industrywide “lack of imagination” about
how to deploy an older female action star.
(In theaters or via HBO Max) R
The Perfect Candidate
The latest drama from Wadjda director
Haifaa Al-Mansour shows “just how much
more there is to be done before women can
fully steer their destinies in Saudi Arabia,”
said Robert Abele in the Los Angeles
Times. When a young, niqab-clad doctor
tires of the unpaved road that leads to the
local hospital, she runs for a post in munici-
pal government. Sexist indignities ensue,
yet this “charm-zested” tale of an underdog
“earns its hopeful conclusion.” (In select
theaters only) Not rated
Mission: Commission
(Miller Theatre)
As quality podcasts
about classical music
finally begin to prolifer-
ate, one series is break-
ing new ground, said
Joshua Barone in The
New York Times. Music
audiences usually hear
only finished work, and “what often gets
lost is the story of creation—the hiccups and
dead ends, the thrill of discovery.” Columbia
University’s Miller Theatre, an incubator
of new classical music, has captured the
drama in that process with a six-part series
that follows three composers as they turn
seedling notions into performance-ready
work. The first episode feels “suspiciously
optimistic,” but subsequent entries chart the
natural ups and downs of composing and
collaborating for three artists of different
styles and temperaments. Demystifying the
art of composition by means of interviews
and the participants’ audio diaries was “a
brilliant idea,” said Patricia Nicol in The
Sunday Times (U.K.). As of this week, you
can hear the fruit of the artists’ labors in a
final episode that showcases the completed
compositions.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
26 ARTS
Streaming tips
New nature documentaries...
Secrets of the Whales
Four episodes deliver the
most gorgeous footage of
orcas, humpbacks, belugas,
and sperm whales as nar-
rator Sigourney Weaver
reveals stunning discover-
ies about whale intelligence
and culture. Awe is the only
possible response. Disney+
The Year Earth Changed
2020 was the year animals
got a break from the normal
frenzy of human activity.
Around the globe, wildlife
roamed empty city streets,
and at-risk species made
incredible comebacks. This
David Attenborough–
narrated special surveys
the untamed party we all
missed, and accumulates
lessons in living that we can
take from it. Apple TV+
Life in Color
The honeyed voice of Atten-
borough also elevates this
visually dazzling series, as
the great naturalist exam-
ines the myriad ways that
animals use color. Netflix
Elephant
Meghan Markle, Duchess
of Sussex, proves to be
a soothing narrator in an
outstanding kid-friendly
documentary about a family
of elephants on a 1,000-mile
trek across the Kalahari
Desert. Disney+
Cher & the
Loneliest Elephant
Cher hasn’t had as unlikely
a scene partner since Sonny
Bono, but the pop diva is
as magnetic as ever in a
special in which she trav-
els to Pakistan to rescue
an elephant scarred by
35 years of lonely captivity.
Paramount+
Kiss the Ground
This somewhat disjointed
documentary offers a mes-
sage worth hearing: One
of the secrets to fighting
global warming may lie in
the soil beneath our feet
and the role that farmland
can play in carbon seques-
tration. Woody Harrelson
narrates. Netflix
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
Television
The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching
Between Black and Blue
This twisty, four-part true-crime series begins
with a 1975 murder in Denver. Two former New
York City police partners are convicted as con-
spirators in the crime. But Mike Borrelli and Bob
Davis maintained their innocence as Davis, who
is Black, sat in prison for more than a decade. To
crack the case, filmmaker Sheldon Wilson had to
sort out how Elvis Presley figured in. And he had
to track down a gunman who’d been in hiding
for 40 years. Available Tuesday, May 25, AMC+
High on the Hog: How African American
Cuisine Transformed America
For centuries now, African-American cooking
has been a link to an ancestral past, a celebra-
tion of available ingredients and flavors, and
an evolving, wholly satiating cuisine. In this
roaming, four-part docuseries, Whetstone
magazine founder Stephen Satterfield enjoys
countless mouthwatering meals while tapping
into the insights of culinary historian Jessica B.
Harris and various chefs who’ve become experts
on African-American foodways. Available
Wednesday, May 26, Netflix
Friends
Maybe they actually were good friends. Seventeen
years after Friends aired its final episode, the
six co-stars of the beloved sitcom have finally
reconvened to laugh and reminisce about their
decade-long run. Little about the special has
been revealed other than that Jennifer Aniston,
Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry,
David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc will all
be there, and the extensive guest list runs from
Justin Bieber to Cindy Crawford to Lady Gaga.
Available Thursday, May 27, HBO Max
Oslo
As violence between Israelis and Palestinians
flares again, the unlikelihood of the 1993 Oslo
Peace Accords becomes even clearer. J.T. Rogers’
Tony Award–winning play about the secret
talks that led to a fragile peace agreement has
been given a handsome screen adaptation, with
Ruth Wilson and Andrew Scott co-starring as
the married Norwegian diplomats who dared
Ryan as Shoesmith: A pretty nice guy at home
The Friends cast in their prime
to bring the divided parties together. Saturday,
May 29, at 8 p.m., HBO
The Kominsky Method
Sandy Kominsky is flying solo in The Kominsky
Method’s final season. The departure of Alan
Arkin, who played Sandy’s best friend, leaves
Michael Douglas’ aging acting coach burdened
with carrying out his pal’s odd final wishes while
trying to meet the challenge of a surprise major
screen role. Arkin is missed, but Kathleen Turner
is back in a full-time role as Sandy’s ex-wife,
while Morgan Freeman joins as a guest star.
Available Friday, May 28, Netflix
Other highlights
Rugrats
Nickelodeon’s classic animated series goes 3D
in a reboot that reunites the gang of adventur-
ous toddlers. Available Thursday, May 27,
Paramount+
Cruella
Emma Stone plays the villainess of 101 Dalma-
tians in an origins tale that debuts in theaters on
the same day it becomes available as a $30 home
stream. Available Friday, May 28, Disney+
Plan B
In a movie that puts a spin on the classic stoner-
comedy road trip, two high school girls in South
Dakota must track down a Plan B pill within
24 hours. Kuhoo Verma and Victoria Moroles
co-star. Available Friday, May 28, Hulu
Show of the week
Mr. Inbetween
It’s hard to find a proper work/life balance when
your main gig is contract killing. Ray Shoesmith
has done admirably well across two seasons of
this award-winning Australian crime dramedy se-
ries, carrying out brutal hits while holding things
together as a father to a daughter approaching
her teen years. Creator and star Scott Ryan has
given himself a new set of challenges in the
show’s final season, as Ray carries on his grisly
work, tries to keep it from burying him, and
watches Brittany connect with a first boyfriend
while beginning to figure out who Dad really is.
NBC, FX
Tuesday, May 25, at 10 p.m., FX
• All listings are Eastern Time.

Mushroom kebabs: Meaty grilled flavor without the meat
When I first tasted this recipe for grilled
mushrooms, said Ori Menashe in Bavel:
Modern Recipes Inspired by the Middle
East (Ten Speed Press), it “reminded me a
lot of the meaty smokiness of Argentinian
barbecue.” When cooked slowly 6 inches
over a charcoal fire, the seasoned mush-
rooms end up juicy, smoky, and tender.
At Bavel, the Los Angeles restaurant that
my wife and I created, I serve them atop
a bright puree of spinach and lovage, “a
minerally, almost salty green that tastes
like a mix between overgrown parsley and
celery leaves.”
Recipe of the week
Grilled oyster mushroom kebabs with
lovage puree
1 lb oyster mushrooms
Grapeseed oil for coating
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground sumac, plus more for dusting
2 tbsp lovage puree (recipe below)
Slice mushrooms off the cluster, leaving a
very small amount of stem intact. Using
a metal or soaked wooden skewer, thread
mushrooms through stem, gill-side down,
alternating the tops of the mushrooms from
left to right so they cook evenly. You should
have two skewers with about 14 mush-
rooms on each.
LEISURE
Food & Drink
Pureed greens round out a satisfying dish.
Brush mushrooms with a generous amount
of oil to coat, making sure to oil the gills.
Lightly season with salt, pepper, and ½ tsp
sumac per skewer.
Preheat a charcoal grill to medium heat.
Place mushrooms on grill 6 inches above
coals and cook, flipping skewers every
2 minutes, for 8 to 14 minutes total, until
edges start to curl and brown and mush-
rooms have shrunk significantly. Moisture
will drip from mushrooms to the coals,
creating smoke that adds flavor.
To serve, spread lovage puree evenly over
center of a plate. Lightly dust puree with
sumac and place mushroom skewers on
top. Serves 4.
27
Lovage puree
2 cups loosely packed lovage leaves
4 cups packed spinach leaves
2-inch piece fresh turmeric, peeled, grated
with a Microplane
1 garlic clove, grated with a Microplane
1 tsp kosher salt
1⁄ cup crème fraîche
3
½ cup yogurt whey (see note below)
1 tsp ground cardamom
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large
pot and fill a large bowl with ice water.
Blanch lovage in boiling water for 2 min-
utes, then add spinach and blanch for an
additional 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove
greens from pot and place in ice water for 2
to 3 minutes. Using a colander or fine-mesh
sieve, drain greens. Using your hands, form
greens into a ball and squeeze out most of
the water. Place greens in a kitchen towel.
Wring towel to remove as much liquid as
possible until greens are almost dry.
Place greens in a blender and add turmeric,
garlic, salt, crème fraîche, whey, cardamom,
and 3 tbsp water. Mix on high speed, stop-
ping to scrape down the sides when neces-
sary, until mixture is smooth. If mixture
won’t fully blend, add a little more water.
Makes about ½ cup.
Note: Yogurt whey is the liquid obtained
from yogurt when it’s drained.

Wine clubs: How to identify the ones worth joining Ranked: Top pasta sauces
Too often, popular wine clubs “have little to do with If Prego’s marinara sauce were any
wine,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. If wine worse, said Lucas Kwan Peterson in the
is arriving at your doorstep via subscription services Los Angeles Times, “the SEC would
associated with NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Turner have to get involved.” Other big names,
Classic Movies, or yes, The New York Times, you are such as Classico and Barilla, aren’t much
really paying to associate yourself with a lifestyle brand better. But I sampled 30 jarred marina
while the company doing the actual choosing and sauces, and there are many solid op-
shipping of the wine is a licensee that serves several of tions, starting with this ranked top 4.
those corporate clients. “Nothing is necessarily wrong Rao’s “A bulletproof choice for any
with these wines. They might be tasty and satisfying.” pasta,” Rao’s is simple and balanced,
But “from a wine lover’s view,” the problem with such “generous with the olive oil” but with “a
A selection of wines from Plonk
clubs is “an almost complete lack of transparency about strong tomato flavor.”
the wines.” Often, the provider buys unsold lots of wine and slaps a new proprietary Mezzetta Mezzetta’s entry “has
label on each bottle. The consumer, in many cases, can’t even tell who made the wine or a bright, strong tomato flavor
where the grapes were grown. and is quite onion-forward.”
Fortunately, there are other options, and “the range of good wine clubs is vast.” If you Silver Palate Salty, tangy, and
love a particular wine shop or wine producer, look into its club offerings. Wine importers “slightly peppery,” this sauce
also run solid clubs. Always, the “great dividing line” separating worthy from unworthy gets added flavor dimen-
clubs is whether the wines can be traced to a specific place and producer. Many fine in- sion from carrots and pear
dependent wine clubs have popped up over the past decade, including these standouts: concentrate.
Plonk Sommelier Etty Klein seeks unusual bottles from around the world and focuses Victoria This is another
particularly on organic and biodynamic wines. good sauce, but Victoria’s
Winestyr Chicago-based Winestyr features artisanal offerings from “an excellent array now-hard-to-find premium
of American producers,” with the majority in California. White Linen brand is even
Nicole Franzen

Natural Action This nonprofit startup combines a love of California natural wines with better—“as close to perfect
an emphasis on supporting racial justice. It directs proceeds to diversifying the industry. as a jarred sauce can get.”

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

28 LEISURE Coping

Brain fog: Why so many feel it and why it may pass

“If your brain feels foggy and you’re function, says neuroscientist Catherine
tired all the time, you’re not alone,” said Loveday, but returning to socializing as
Rhitu Chatterjee in NPR.org. Mental Covid restrictions are lifted will be espe-
health–care providers across the U.S. cially important. “Our brains wake up in
report that they’re hearing such com- the presence of other people,” Loveday
plaints from many people who were says. Jon Simons, another British neuro-
never infected with Covid-19, and very scientist, agrees. “Simons’ advice to us
few of those experts are surprised. “This all is to get out into the world, to have
kind of mental fog is real.” And though as rich and varied experiences and inter-
it can be traced to an array of causes, “at actions as we can.”
the root of it are the stress and trauma of
the past year.” You didn’t need to con- It’s not crazy to wonder if we will
tract the virus to have spent months at a ever be the same, said Ellen Cushing
time gripped with anxiety, and that state The mind wasn’t built for long shutdowns. in TheAtlantic.com. Personally, “I feel
of mind takes a toll. Anxiety is a fight-or- like I have spent the past year being
flight response that triggers the release of the hormone cortisol, pushed through a pasta extruder,” and by the tail end of winter,
which elevates heart rate, tires us out, and has been shown to I was forgetting names, forgetting words, even forgetting why
impair attention, concentration, and memory. Brain fog, in other I walked into my kitchen. “The sunniest optimist would point
words, is “a normal response to an abnormal year.” out that all this forgetting is evidence of the resilience of our
species,” that humans forget many things surprisingly quickly,
Boredom alone may explain some people’s fogginess, said Moya and we will quickly forget this trying past year too. I know of
Sarner in TheGuardian.com. “The brain is stimulated by the the counterevidence, that survivors of major catastrophes show
new, the different,” and it’s effectively engineered to shut down elevated rates of mental-health problems long after the event.
when nothing changes. In a scenario in which there is “a blend- But I aspire to escape that fate. “Some Saturday not too long
ing of one day into the next, with no commute, no change of from now, I will go to a party or a bar or even a wedding. I’ll
scene, no change of cast,” the mind is also robbed of context kiss my friends and try their drinks. My synapses will be made
that helps it to encode and store memories. Any break in such plastic by the complicated, strange, utterly novel experience of
a repetitive routine will help in restoring normal cognitive being alive again, human again. I can’t wait.”

Transition season: Making the most of it A reopening story...

Learning to love the cicada swarm
Don’t let yourself become a cicada hater, said
Isabella Isaacs-Thomas in PBS.org. Very soon,
parts of 15 states in the East and Midwest will
be inundated by the harmless but noisy bugs
that emerge only once every 17 years. Between
now and early July, billions will climb out of
burrows as nymphs, shed their exoskeletons,
mate, and then die. But don’t cower. Make
the 2021 emergence more memorable by par-
ticipating. Using the app Cicada Safari, adults
and children can log their sightings to aid
researchers. You can learn to distinguish the
songs of the three active species at the website
Cicada Mania. Cicadas are also edible, and
brave eaters can find cooking instructions
online. Later, the intricately patterned wings
of the carcasses invite craft projects, such as
preserving them in resin to make earrings.
Finally need a travel agent?
Even for the vaccinated, “travel remains far
from simple,” said Lauren Sloss in The New
York Times. That has led many people to con-
sider working with a travel agent for the first
hotels, airlines, and the like. To find one you’ll
like, start by asking friends for recommenda-
tions. If that fails, look for a local agent first
and try to find one who specializes in the des-
tination or type of trip you’re targeting. When
you first chat, ask about fees and be up front
about your budget. Most importantly, “make
sure your adviser understands your travel
style.” Ask about his or her travel preferences
and favorite places; if the agent isn’t asking as
many questions about you, that’s a red flag.
How to work from home forever
It’s time to speak up if you want your em-
ployer to let you keep working remotely,
“because policies are being crafted right now,”
said Rachel Schnalzer in the Los Angeles
Times. You have to make your wishes known
to have a chance that they’ll be granted, but
back up your request with a detailed proposal
that highlights past successes, shows how
you’ll continue being effective, and addresses
concerns such as how you’ll handle meetings.
Don’t just make a personal case; show how
your working remotely can help the business.
Linda Melton
was one
of the first
two people
offered a
job when a
customer of
almost three
decades
decided
to save
the Elliston Place Soda Shop, said
Margaret Littman in the Nashville
Scene. At Nashville’s longest-
operating restaurant, “Miss Linda” is
more than a server. Thanks to family
recipes, she has also been “the face
behind the chess pies, the meringue
pies (the taller the better), and
banana pudding.” She was back at
work last week when a meticulous re-
creation of the 82-year-old soda shop,
all red tiles and tableside jukeboxes,
opened next door to its old location.
Owner Tony Giarratana had listened
when Melton fought menu changes
and the introduction of “uppity, fancy
words” to the descriptions. In order
Getty, Eric England

time. Travel agents can reduce the stress of
planning and usually provide their services for
free, or charge just a modest booking fee. They
make their money through commissions from
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
You may be turned down, so “be prepared to to keep its place in locals’ hearts, the
hear no.” At that point, you can suggest part- restaurant even still offers a “meat-
time remote as a compromise, or just keep per- and-three” for just $9.99.
forming and ask again in a few months.
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Investments in securities involve the risk of loss.
Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
30 Best properties on the market
This week: Homes in Washington, D.C.
X Dupont Circle The architect
of the Woodrow Wilson House
and the Department of the In-
terior’s Main Building designed
this three-bedroom Italian Re-
naissance Revival as his private
home. The 1910 townhouse
features three marble fireplaces;
grand staircase and new eleva-
tor; balcony; chef’s kitchen;
parlor and dining and living
rooms; primary bedroom with
fireplace and skylit spa bath-
room; and lower-level recre-
ation room and second kitchen.
Outside are a front garden,
patio, back deck, and roof deck
with panoramic city views.
$3,450,000. Michael Rankin,
TTR Sotheby’s International
Realty, (202) 271-3344
W Tenleytown The Rest is one of
the oldest houses in Washington,
dating to the 1700s. The five-
bedroom home on the city’s high-
est point has views of the Wash-
ington Monument; tradition says
Dolley Madison watched from its
tower as the White House burned
in the War of 1812. Among its
historic details are eight fire-
places, blown-glass windows,
original floors and cabinetry, and
hand-hewn chestnut beams. The
0.4-acre lot includes a guesthouse,
pond, pergola, and grape arbor.
$3,679,500. Wicca Davidson,
Long & Foster/Luxury Portfolio
International, (301) 980-5596

X Capitol Hill The 1903 Deer House is iconic

for its gala parties held indoors and out. Built
by Antonio Malnati, a stonecutter who worked
on the Executive Office
Building, the seven-
bedroom home features
stone and wood carving;
four fireplaces; a chef’s
kitchen, wine cellar, and
beamed, chestnut-paneled
dining room; a generous
living room; and a large
in-law suite. The double
lot has a landscaped
front, a side porch, a
garden courtyard with
hand-painted mural, and
a garage. $3,850,000.
The Gary & Michael
Team, Coldwell Banker
Realty, (202) 439-6009

THE WEEK May 28, 2021

 Best properties on the market 31
X Logan Circle This 1885
five-bedroom Victorian stands
just off historic Logan Circle.
The house has crown mold-
ings, arched doorways, three
fireplaces, and a four-story
stairwell skylight; a gourmet
kitchen with floor-to-ceiling
cabinets, leading to a separate
entertaining area with butler’s
pantry, wine cooler, and fire-
place; a second-floor owner’s
suite with custom closets, bath-
room with steam shower, and
library with fireplace; and two
lower-level rental studio apart-
ments. Outdoor space includes
a front garden and roof deck.
$2,850,000. Carrie Mann,
Compass, (301) 792-3135

Maryland

Washington, D.C.

W Capitol Hill The Doolittle-Tullock

House, a Richardsonian Victorian
designed by Robert Stead in 1887,
has hosted many political receptions.
Currently owned by noted biographer
James Swanson, the five-bedroom home includes nine fireplaces,
an arched stained-glass window, a balcony with views of Capitol
Hill, two parlors, a library with a bay window, a dining room with
walnut coffered ceilings, and a fourth-floor garret that may have
been the studio of Lincoln Memorial sculptor Daniel Chester French.
$3,599,000. Maggie Daley, Coldwell Banker Realty, (202) 550-0972

Steal of the week

X Petworth In 1929, architects James E. Cooper

and George T. Santmyers created Hampshire
Gardens, the first fully developed garden apart-
ment complex in the city. This top-floor unit has
hardwood floors, arched doorways, high ceilings,
large windows, a modern kitchen with dining area,
an ample living room, an updated bathroom, and a
large, bright bedroom. The building is pet-friendly
and includes extra storage space, a laundry, and
access to expansive landscaped grounds. $224,900.
David Bediz, Keller Williams, (202) 642-1616
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
32
The bottom line
QThe World Health Organiza-
tion reported that 745,000
people died in 2016 from
stroke and heart disease
caused by working long
hours. The research found
that working 55 hours or
more a week was associated
with a 35 percent higher risk
of stroke and a 17 percent
higher risk of dying from
heart disease.
BBC.com
QFive high-profile electric-
vehicle startups that went
public through mergers with
special-purpose acquisition
companies (SPACs) have
lost $40 billion in value. At
their peaks, Nikola, Fisker,
Lordstown, Canoo, and Ar-
rival were worth a combined
$60 billion.
Bloomberg.com
QTwenty
compa-
nies were
responsible
for producing
55 percent of
the 130 mil-
lion tons of
single-use plastic waste in the
world in 2019. ExxonMobil led
all global plastic-waste pollut-
ers with 5.9 million tons; Dow
Chemical (5.5 million) and
China’s Sinopec (5.3 million)
were just behind.
TheGuardian.com
QDigital currency scam-
mers impersonating Elon
Musk have stolen more than
$2 million in the past six
months alone, according
to regulators. Scammers
seeking Bitcoin often claim
that celebrities will match any
money they are sent.
Insider.com
QMacy’s said its first-quarter
sales jumped 56 percent from
last year, when the start of the
pandemic crushed retailers.
The New York Times
QBank of America said it
would raise its lowest wage
to $26 an hour by 2025. The
bank brought its minimum
pay to $15 an hour in 2017,
then to $20 an hour in 2020.
McDonald’s also said it is rais-
ing hourly pay, by an average
of 10 percent.
Yahoo.com
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
BUSINESS
The news at a glance
Entertainment: AT&T calls it quits on media
In a stunning “about-face from All that wasted time and money
its $85 billion purchase of Time is tough to swallow, said Tara
Warner in 2018,” AT&T said Lachapelle in Bloomberg.com.
this week it would spin off its AT&T “fought tooth and nail”
media assets and merge them with against the Justice Department
Discovery, said Edmund Lee and to complete the Time Warner
John Koblin in The New York merger and create the scale it
Times. The combination of HBO, believed it needed “to be able to
Spinning off a media powerhouse
Warner Bros. studios, CNN, and compete with Google, Amazon,
several other cable networks with reality-based and Apple.” It was so proud of the accomplish-
Discovery channels such as HGTV and the Food ment that it gave executive John Stankey a special
Network will create the second-largest media com- bonus for completing the deal—and later made
pany in the United States. The new company, trail- him CEO. Yet ever since, AT&T has struggled to
ing only Disney in size, plans to spend $20 billion explain its rationale for “a remarkable strategic
a year developing content to compete with Disney shift that launched the ultra-profitable wireless
and Netflix. Discovery’s chief, David Zaslav, will carrier into the ultra-unprofitable world of stream-
oversee the new venture, while AT&T goes “back ing TV.” Now it’s stuck with unwinding a merger
to being a purely telecommunications business.” that’s a textbook example of corporate overreach.
Bitcoin: Investors whipsawed by digital currencies Choosing red or blue
The price of Bitcoin plunged more than 30 percent in a single day
equals less green
this week, then rebounded in a surprise rally, said Vildana Hajric in Aligning your portfo-
lio with your political
Bloomberg.com. Other cryptocurrencies also plummeted, including
beliefs is costly, said
Ether and Dogecoin. The intense volatility, which at one point brought Liam Denning and Nir
the total value of Bitcoin down $500 billion from its peak, shocked
Kaissar in Bloomberg
investors. “Nothing could explain the frantic rout” as Bitcoin “dropped .com. October saw
thousands of dollars in price in a matter of minutes,” though a hint of the launch of the
restrictions from China’s central bank may have exacerbated the sell-off. American Conservative
Values ETF, which
Streaming: Amazon seeks to buy MGM studio excludes companies
Amazon is negotiating a deal to acquire MGM, said Brooks Barnes that are “funding the
in The New York Times. “It was unclear how much Amazon might ‘liberal agenda.’” Out
be willing to spend,” but $9 billion is being floated as MGM’s asking go Facebook, Apple,
price. The studio that was once “home to ‘more stars than the heav- Alphabet, and—since
ens’” owns a film collection that includes the James Bond, Hobbit, and their executives criti-
Rocky franchises. Amazon recently brought back a top executive who cized a new Georgia
helped build the company’s Prime streaming service, “underscoring voting law—Delta and
Amazon’s growing ambition in Hollywood.” Coca-Cola. The rest of
the portfolio looks “very
Climate: International call to end new fossil-fuel search much like the S&P 500
The International Energy Agency warned this week that new fossil fuel but with a rightward
lean.” The difference
exploration projects must stop immediately if the world is to achieve net
is the price compared
zero carbon emissions by 2050, said Leslie Hook and Anjli Raval in the with investing in a
Financial Times. The IEA’s report spelled out “how challenging it will be regular S&P index
to get” to net zero emissions and “meet the Paris climate accord goal” tracker: ACVF’s expense
of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As part of an “overhaul of ratio is 75 basis points,
energy supply and demand,” the agency called for a quadrupling of the or .75 percent of your
annual growth of solar and wind power by the end of the decade. money every year, ver-
sus just 3 basis points
Microsoft: Board investigated Gates relationship for an inexpensive
Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board last year while it was S&P 500 fund. Conser-
investigating his romantic relationship with a female employee, said vatives aren’t the only
Emily Glazer in The Wall Street Journal. The investigation started after ones trying to “cash
an engineer reported the relationship in a letter to the board. A spokes- in on political tribal-
woman for Gates confirmed “an affair almost 20 years ago which ended ism.” There is also the
amicably,” but said his exit from the board was unrelated. The New Democratic Large Cap
York Times also reported last week that the Microsoft co-founder had Core ETF “with a blue
tinge,” which charges a
Reuters, Alamy
“developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work settings,” pur- somewhat less onerous
suing several women who worked for him. Gates and his wife, Melinda, 45 basis points.
announced their divorce earlier this month after 27 years of marriage.
 Making money BUSINESS 33

Reopening: The post-pandemic office takes shape

“The future looks hybrid,” said Emma to “inflate a translucent, cellophane
Jacobs in the Financial Times. As com- balloon wall.”
panies develop plans to reopen offices,
more are envisioning the workplace as a Australia might offer a more immedi-
“destination for innovation, collaboration, ate and grounded “taste of what the
networking, coaching, and socializing,” post-pandemic office might look like,”
rather than solitary tasks. For some busi- said Krithika Varagur in The Wall
nesses, this has meant a complete reimag- Street Journal. The country had strict
ining of the office. That means goodbye to early lockdowns and aggressive quar-
long rows of desks. WeTransfer, a cloud antine protocols, and firms like Adobe,
software business, “has removed half the Facebook, and Dell returned to offices
desks in its offices” in favor of “workshop last June. Still, it has been a long path
rooms” and meeting spaces. One major from “quarantine to unmasked meet-
international bank, HSBC, is getting rid A badge swipe can adjust Google’s ‘hot desks’ ings.” Facebook ditched the buffet, and
of the executive suite. “I won’t be in the “there are no more cookie jars in the
office five days a week,” chief executive Noel Quinn said. break room” at Dell. But office occupancy in Canberra is back
to 65 percent, from around 30 percent last July. Sydney’s central
Google’s amenity-filled campus was designed to keep workers at business district has begun to pick up again with workers who
the office as long as possible, said Daisuke Wakabayashi in The “stick around for happy hour.”
New York Times. The company began rethinking the “future
of work” several years ago to accommodate a growing global “A hybrid future seems ideal,” said Bryan Walsh in Axios.com—
workforce. But the pandemic has accelerated that realignment. employees get more flexibility, and “companies save on real es-
Google’s famed cafeterias “will move from buffet style to boxed, tate.” But “no one actually knows how this will work.” Ideally,
grab-and-go meals.” The massage rooms and fitness centers have the future will offer “the best of both worlds: the connections
closed. Instead of rows of desks, Google is designing “Team and experiences of in-person with the flexibility and freedom of
Pods” on casters that can “be wheeled into various arrange- remote.” The risk is that hybrid work will “resemble the subpar
ments.” A circular meeting-room concept called Campfire is “in- hybrid schooling too many students have endured, with over-
terspersed with displays” for virtual participants. And those who worked teachers struggling to simultaneously handle in-person
want more privacy at their desk can summon a robot on wheels and remote students.”

What the experts say Charity of the week

An IRS refund logjam
Taxpayers are encountering unprecedented
delays getting refunds, said Laura Saunders in
The Wall Street Journal. “A host of problems
rooted in the Covid-19 pandemic” has led to a
severe backlog at the Internal Revenue Service.
The agency is “reviewing about 16 million
2020 returns, mostly because of tax changes
last year and in March,” while simultaneously
gearing up “to send checks to millions of fami-
lies” who qualify for upfront child tax credits
this summer. Having to delay two annual filing
deadlines last year, apply new tax-law changes,
and “coordinate 470 million stimulus pay-
ments” hasn’t made the IRS’s job easier. For-
tunately, the agency will pay 3 percent interest
on “most tax refunds issued after April 15,” as
long as the return was filed by May 17.
Measuring housing-cost inflation
“If someone were to rent your home today,
Cayce Clifford/The New York Times/Redux
Price Index on its own. This “could have sig-
nificant consequences for reported inflation
statistics and monetary policy.” Homeowners
can be slow “to adjust their expectations for
a hypothetical rental price of their home” as
the housing market rises. Last month, owners
reported their equivalent rent increased 2 per-
cent from a year earlier. The median price for
a single-family home, on the other hand, rose
16.5 percent.
The unwanted GoFundMe
“Setting up a GoFundMe without the knowl-
edge or permission of a friend or neighbor
or co-worker should be avoided in most, if
not all, instances,” said Quentin Fottrell in
MarketWatch.com. Consider this story of a
person who was in a terrible accident that
left them comatose in the intensive-care unit:
Friends started a GoFundMe to pay the ex-
penses, and soon “it was up to $15,000 and
The Academy of
American Poets
(poets.org),
founded in 1934,
exists to foster the
appreciation of
poetry and to sup-
port poets. Twenty-
five years ago, the
Academy launched
National Poetry Month to remind the
public of the part poetry plays in our cul-
ture, and it has now become one of the
world’s premier literary celebrations. The
Academy’s website provides multiple
resources, including daily poetry read-
ings, some from previously unpublished
authors. It offers teachers educational
resources and poetry lesson plans, and
organizes regular poetry events. The
Academy provides funds to poets, and
offers a number of nationally recognized
fellowships and prizes. Throughout the
pandemic, the Academy has been offer-
ing $5,000 emergency grants to artists

facing financial constraints.

how much do you think it would go for
monthly, unfurnished and without utilities?”
asked Brian Chappatta in Bloomberg.com.
It’s not an easy question, but it’s exactly the
one asked by the Labor Department in its
Consumer Expenditure Survey. Economists
call the answer “owners’ equivalent rent,” and
it makes up one-fourth of the U.S. Consumer
over 300 friends, even strangers, had con-
tributed.” Unknown to the donors, however,
“most of the expenses” from the hospitaliza-
tion were covered by insurance. The patient
had also recently inherited almost $1 million
from a relative. If something like this happens
to you, tell your friends you appreciate what
they did for you, but refund the money.
Each charity we feature has earned a
four-star overall rating from Charity
Navigator, which rates not-for-profit
organizations on the strength of their
finances, their governance practices,
and the transparency of their operations.
Four stars is the group’s highest rating.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
34 Best columns: Business

Inflation: Is an ancient specter returning?

“Inflation is here,” said Neil Irwin in cinated Americans to get out of their
The New York Times. The question is houses. Hotels and flights are packed
how long it will stay. The Consumer again, but car lots have been further
Price Index in April made its “steepest emptied by a global shortage in semi-
year-over-year jump in 13 years,” put- conductors. “This is not what durable,
ting data behind the warnings that many economy-wide inflation is made of.”
economists and businesses have been is-
suing for weeks. “What is unusual about Yet it is exactly how a wage-price spiral
this moment is that prices for so many can begin, said Connel Fullenkamp
things are rising at once, albeit for differ- in Newsweek.com. The stagflation of
ent reasons.” Some costs, such as airfare, the 1970s “also featured ‘temporary’
are simply returning to pre-pandemic supply shocks—at the time, to energy
Rising airfares: Warning sign or just back to normal?
levels. In other cases, the causes of price and food—and easy monetary policy.”
increases—for instance, the spike in East Coast oil prices set off by The clearest sign of an impending crisis is that “businesses have
a cyberattack—“are truly random events.” And supply shortages lost all fear of raising prices.” They are justifying it “by saying
in everything from lumber to semiconductor chips could just be a that customers can afford it and everyone else is doing it, too.”
symptom of “an economy rebooting itself.” But inflation watchers This creates a dangerous self-perpetuating cycle. Indeed, the Fed
are on high alert, fretting that all these factors (and more) could may have to raise interest rates “much higher than investors
unleash “price dynamics unseen since the early 1980s.” anticipate,” said former New York Fed president Bill Dudley in
Bloomberg.com. Markets are expecting short-term rates to stay
“Inflation hawks” said the same thing in 2011, said Paul Krug- below 2 percent. But if inflation runs higher than its target, “one
man, also in The New York Times. A similar surge in consumer could imagine a federal funds rate of 4.5 percent.”
prices caused mainly by rising oil prices arrived as the world
recovered from the 2008 financial crisis. But the Federal Re- There is both risk and opportunity for President Biden, said
serve rightly stayed “focused on ‘core’ inflation, a measure Matthew Yglesias, also in Bloomberg.com. “Rising prices for
that excludes volatile food and energy prices.” This time, core food and energy may not matter to economists, but they do to
inflation is temporarily up, but if you correct for the effects of consumers.” Biden can “let Powell stay focused on the long-term
“simply getting back to normal,” the data looks much tamer. health of the labor market.” But the White House should look
Five categories—used cars, rental cars, airfare, and lodging and at “unwinding the Trump-era U.S.-European tariff war on food
food away from home—contributed nearly 60 percent of the products,” and at expanding visa programs to stem the short-
increase in prices, said Eric Levitz in New York magazine. These age in agricultural labor. Prices at the supermarket “matter to
are “artifacts of the pandemic economy” and the rush by vac- people’s lives and to politicians’ futures.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook often talks about the com-
How Apple pany’s commitment to civil liberties and privacy. “But
lets China to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators,” said
Jack Nicas, his company has become “a powerful
have its way tool” of Beijing’s vast censorship operation. China
has been essential to Apple’s growth as the world’s
Jack Nicas most valuable business. The Chinese government
The New York Times spent billions to “pave roads, recruit workers, and
construct factories” for Apple’s massive supply chain.
In return, China has aggressively sought concessions.
In 2016, the government approved a law requiring
that personal data “that is collected in China be kept
in China.” Warned that Beijing could shut down
iCloud in China if Apple did not comply, Cook
agreed to move Chinese customers’ personal data to
the servers of a state-owned company in Guizhou
province: Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, or GCBD. Then
the digital keys that can unlock customer data were
moved there, too—into the very “data centers they’re
meant to secure.” In addition to compromising on
data protections, Apple has “helped China spread its
view of the world,” blocking and flagging apps that
Apple managers “worry could run afoul of Chinese
officials.” Indeed, “just as Cook figured out how to
make China work for Apple, China is making Apple
work for the Chinese government.”

It used to be that criminals could do no better than
The perfect “a suitcase full of unmarked U.S. dollar bills,” said
currency for Gina Chon. But the Colonial Pipeline hack “shows
the global currency of crime has a rival.” Last week,
criminals the fuel transport company paid $4.4 million in
Bitcoin to the Russian cybercrime group DarkSide
Gina Chon to regain access to their computer systems and get
BreakingViews.com oil pumping again to the East Coast. The hackers’
demand was neither unprecedented nor surpris-
ing. Because “no personal information is needed to
transfer or convert cryptocurrencies,” Bitcoin has
long been the “go-to for ransom demands.” But in
the past year, its rapid acceptance has made it even
more enticing for illicit activity, and “the market
value of all Bitcoin in circulation” sits at nearly
$900 billion today. More home sellers, yacht dealers,
auction houses, luxury carmakers, and even the Dal-
las Mavericks have begun accepting cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s move “from the fringe to the conventional”
gives regulators even more reason to step in. The
new Securities and Exchange Commission chairman,
Gary Gensler—who taught a course called “Block-
chain and Money” at MIT—has signaled the need
for “more regulations around crypto activities.” The
latest ransom payment should add to the watchdogs’
sense of urgency.
AP

THE WEEK May 28, 2021


The brash architect who aimed to dazzle
Helmut Whether it’s love or
Jahn loathing, Helmut
1940–2021 Jahn’s buildings
always inspire a
strong reaction. The German-born
architect achieved rock-star status in
the 1980s and ’90s with brash and
playful designs that commanded
eyeballs and dominated skylines.
His modernist works include the
neo-Deco Liberty Place skyscraper
in Philadelphia—a steroid-pumped take on
New York’s elegant Chrysler Building—and the
spaceship-like Sony Center in Berlin. But he left
his biggest stamp on Chicago, where his numerous
creations include the James R. Thompson Center, a
gleaming government office complex with a coni-
cal atrium framed in turquoise glass and pink steel,
and the swaggering United Airlines terminal at
O’Hare Airport, with its exposed steel framework
and curving, neon-lit underground tunnel. Partial
to Porsches and racing yachts, the handsome archi-
tect shrugged off critics who derided his designs as
ugly and impractical. “Controversy is good,” said
Jahn, who died in a cycling accident. “I’d rather
have people talk about buildings than say, ‘Well,
that’s just another building that I didn’t see.’”
He was born in Nuremberg, to a special-
education teacher father and a homemaker
mother, said The New York Times. As a boy
The chemist who made Post-it Notes sticky
Spencer Silver’s most
Spencer
Silver famous creation at
1941–2021 first seemed utterly
useless. In 1968, he
was working as a research chemist
at a 3M lab, tasked with devising
an adhesive so strong that it could
be used in aircraft construction.
The product he came up with was
heat resistant, clear, and could be
removed from a surface without
losing stickiness or leaving a residue. But it was
too weak to affix anything heavier than a piece
of paper. Still, Silver patented his invention, say-
ing he was certain he’d found “a solution waiting
for a problem to solve.” That problem arrived
in 1974, when 3M scientist Arthur Fry was at
church choir practice and fuming about how the
pieces of paper he used to bookmark songs in
his hymnal kept falling out. Fry wondered if he
could create a sticky bookmark. “Then I thought
of Spence’s adhesive,” he said. Fry’s experiments
led to the Post-it Note, introduced by 3M in
Amin Akhtar/laif/Redux, 3M
1980. The company now sells 50 billion Post-
its a year, blanketing offices and homes with
reminders, messages, and to-do lists.
Silver was born in San Antonio to an accountant
father and secretary mother, said The Wall Street
Obituaries 35
The outdoorsman who
turned Orvis into
Jahn “aspired to be an airline
a lifestyle powerhouse
pilot,” but a love of drawing
ultimately attracted him to archi- Leigh H. Perkins turned his
tecture. He graduated from the love of the outdoors into a
Technical University of Munich, multimillion-dollar business.
then in 1966 went to Chicago to In 1965, the former min-
study at the Illinois Institute of ing and metals executive
took out a
Technology under the modern-
Leigh H. $200,000 loan
ist master Ludwig Mies van der Perkins to buy Orvis,
Rohe. Refusing to follow his 1927–2021 a 109-year-
tutors’ briefs, he quit after a year old mail-
and joined the venerable architectural firm C.F. order fishing-tackle shop
Murphy Associates. Though fresh out of school, in Manchester, Vt. An Orvis
he played a major role in the 1971 design of customer since college,
Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center, Perkins transformed the firm
an “epic structure of black steel and glass” by from a purveyor of niche
fishing gear into an upscale
Lake Michigan, said the Chicago Tribune. Nine
outdoors brand, selling
years later, he “designed his first official Chicago everything from graphite fly
skyscraper,” the curved, glass-and-aluminum rods to engraved drinking
Xerox Center. In 1981, the firm was renamed glasses, linen dresses, and
Murphy/Jahn, and eventually just Jahn. polyester dog beds. Perkins
spent more than 250 days
“By the late 2000s, Jahn’s popularity had a year hunting and fishing,
waned,” said The Guardian (U.K.). Linked to the often testing the company’s
“excesses of the previous decades,” his practice kit himself. Orvis “sold a way
shrank to a third of its previous size. In a 2018 of life,” he said, “and it made
interview, Jahn bemoaned the “banality” that had sense to me that the boss
was living that life.” When
overtaken architecture, dictated by profit-minded
corporate clients. “There is no emotion, no imagi- Perkins handed Orvis over
nation, no invention,” he said. “I prefer when to his sons in 1992, it had
grown into a $90 million–a-
form follows force rather than function.”
year business; that number
has since quadrupled.
The scion of a wealthy
Cleveland family, Perkins
Journal. After studying chemistry in “inherited an abiding inter-
est in the outdoors from his
college, Silver joined 3M, known for
mother,” who took him fish-
giving employees freedom “to pur- ing and alligator-hunting, said
sue ideas in the company’s vast labo- The Washington Post. After
ratories.” He immediately knew the graduating from Williams
adhesive he’d created was special— College in Massachusetts,
even if it couldn’t hold together he spent 15 years working
airplane parts. Under magnifica- in industry, rising to become
tion, it had “beautiful, bright, clear, the vice president of a gas
crystalline spheres,” he said, “like welding and equipment firm.
He “quit after he learned that
little glass balls.” Told to shelve his
the president’s son was tak-
invention, Silver instead began giving seminars ing over the business,” and
for 3M’s product developers, said The New York bought Orvis.
Times, promoting the adhesive “so assiduously”
that he earned the nickname Mr. Persistent. “Shortly after, Perkins opened
the Orvis fly-fishing school in
Originally named Press ’n Peel pads, the product Vermont, thought to be the
took off when 3M gave free samples to offices first of its kind in the U.S.,”
in Boise, said The Washington Post. “First pro- said The New York Times.
The idea was to democratize
duced in canary yellow,” Post-it Notes are now
the world of fly-fishing, tra-
sold in virtually every shape and color imagin-
ditionally the domain of the
able. “In an irony that brings Silver’s chemical
upper crust, and to build the
experimentation full circle, the product is also
company’s customer base.
available in a ‘Super Sticky’ incarnation.” Silver,
There was only one reason to
who received 36 other patents and retired in go fishing, Perkins explained:
1996, drew “almost cosmic meaning” from his “To enjoy yourself. Anything
unique adhesive. “It doesn’t break down,” he that detracts from enjoying
said. “The paper will eventually deteriorate, but yourself is to be avoided.”
the stickiness will always remain.”
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
36
A stowaway at 35,000 feet
Climbing into an airplane’s wheel well is a feat of almost unimaginable desperation, said Sirin Kale
in The Guardian. It leads to freezing and oxygen deprivation—yet incredibly, some stowaways survive.
I
T WAS SUNDAY June
30, 2019, a balmy
summer’s afternoon,
and Wil, a 31-year-old
software engineer, was
lounging on an inflatable
air bed outside his house
in southwest London. He
wore pajamas and drank
Polish beer. As he chatted
to his housemate in the
sunshine, planes on their
way to Heathrow Airport
made their final approach
overhead. On his phone,
Wil showed his house-
mate an app that tells
users the route and model
of any passing plane. He
tested the app on one
plane, and then held his
phone up again, shielding
his eyes from the sun and
squinting into the sky.
In a jetliner’s wheel well, the noise is relentless, and the temperature is minus 35 degrees.
Then he saw something
falling. “At first I thought it was a bag,”
he said. “But after a few seconds it turned
into quite a large object, and it was fall-
ing fast.” Maybe a piece of machinery had
S
fallen from the landing gear, he thought,
or a suitcase from the cargo hold. But then
he half-remembered an article he had read
years before, about people stowing away on
planes. He didn’t want to believe it, but as
the object got nearer and nearer, it became
impossible to deny. “In the last second or
two of it falling, I saw limbs,” said Wil. “I
was convinced that it was a human body.”
Wil took a screenshot of the flight app noti-
fication, and his housemate called the police
to give them the details: Kenya Airways
flight KQ 100, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
that had left Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport eight hours and six
minutes earlier, at 9:35 a.m. local time. Wil
turned out to be right. It was a body. It—
he—had plummeted 3,500 feet, half-frozen,
hitting the ground at 3:38 p.m. He was the
man who fell from the sky.
The body landed on Offerton Road, 1,000
feet from Wil’s house. Police contacted
Heathrow, which dispatched staff to exam- air pressure at cruising altitude is around
ine the Kenya Airways plane’s wheel wells,
the unpressurized area into which the
plane’s landing gear retracts after takeoff.
Inside, staff found a grubby khaki rucksack lead to hypoxia, when the blood is not able plane earlier, as the plane waited in an area
with the initials MCA written on it. The
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
The last word
the body, which can
cause heart attacks
and brain death.
And yet what is truly
extraordinary, given
the risks involved,
is that some stow-
aways do survive.
“Something happens
that we don’t fully
understand,” said
Paulo Alves of the
U.K.’s Aerospace
Medical Association.
Their best guess
about how some
stowaways cheat
death? They
hibernate.
Stephen Veronneau,
the world’s leading
expert on wheel-
well stowaways,
outlined this theory
rucksack didn’t contain any significant in a 1996 paper for the Federal Aviation
clues: just some bread, a bottle of Fanta, a Administration. “The person’s core body
bottle of water, and a pair of trainers. temperature can fall to 27 Celsius (about
81 degrees Fahrenheit), or even lower.
TOWING AWAY IN the wheel well of When the plane lands, a gradual rewarming
a passenger jet is a suicidally danger- occurs, along with reoxygenation.” To be
ous thing to do. According to the U.S. frozen, and come back to life. It is fantasti-
Federal Aviation Administration, from 1947 cal. And yet, it seems to be true.
to February 2020, 128 people around the
T
world attempted to stow away in this man- HE KENYA AIRWAYS stowaway case
ner. More than 75 percent of them died. would normally have been one for
This is not surprising. At every stage, immi- the London police’s missing persons
nent death is all but assured. unit, but the team was swamped. So Det.
Sgt. Paul Graves of the specialist crime
The stowaway may fall out of the plane unit volunteered. In his three-decade career
as it is taking off. If he survives takeoff, as a police officer, Graves had worked on
he can be crushed by the landing gear as stabbings, shootings, kidnappings, and
it retracts into the wheel well. If he avoids attempted murders. Graves hoped to iden-
that too, he will probably die shortly after. tify the fallen man and repatriate his body,
Within about 25 minutes of takeoff, most but he wasn’t optimistic.
passenger planes reach a cruising altitude
of 35,000 feet. The temperature outside In September 2019 Graves flew to Kenya,
the plane is approximately minus 65 hoping to uncover any information that
Fahrenheit, although the hydraulic lines might help identify the stowaway. He visited
used to extend and retract the landing gear slums around the airport, and mortuaries,
emit heat, raising the temperature by as which were full of unclaimed bodies. The
much as 35 degrees. Still, minus 30 is cold airport’s CCTV recordings of the depar-
enough to induce fatal hypothermia. The ture gate and runway show that nobody
jumped on the plane as it was taking off
four times lower than sea level, which and nobody climbed into the undercar-
means that a person’s lungs cannot draw riage while it was at Gate 17. That means
sufficient oxygen from the air. This will the stowaway almost certainly boarded the
Alamy
to supply enough oxygen to the tissues of where CCTV coverage was less clear.

From a physical perspective, getting on
the plane wouldn’t have been difficult. To
access the wheel well, you have to shimmy
about 6 feet up the landing gear—it is
covered in struts, making it easy to get a
foothold—and crawl into the cavity that the
wheels retract into after takeoff. The hard
part would have been gaining access to the
aircraft before takeoff. Security at Jomo
Kenyatta International was tight. “There
was no evidence of any obvious security
breaches,” said Graves. “All the staff had to
use passes to go through secure gates.”
For the people who run airports, stowaways
are embarrassing, dangerous, and often lead
to demands for expensive security upgrades.
For Kenyan authorities, there may have
been an additional concern. In 2017, Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport received a
category 1 security classification, permit-
ting direct flights to the U.S. By the end of
2019, Kenyan officials had wrapped up
their investigation, and no breach had been
found at Jomo Kenyatta International. It
retained its category 1 security status.
For Graves, though, the story was always
bigger than how the stowaway made it on
to the plane. The question was why. “We
saw the aftermath of someone falling from
an aeroplane,” said Graves. “But for me,
the interesting part was, where did the
story start?”
S
INCE THE EARLIEST days of aviation,
there have been stowaways. People
from countries such as Cuba, South
Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and China have
secretly climbed onto planes in the hope of
leaving their old life behind. They abscond
for all kinds of reasons: poverty, unhap-
piness, boredom, despair. Bas Wie, the
12-year-old who stowed away in a Douglas
DC-3 from Indonesia to Australia in 1946,
was an orphan who worked for food in the
kitchens of Kupang Airport in West Timor.
A teenager who flew in the wheel well of
a Boeing 767 from California to Hawaii
said he was trying to get back to his mother
in Somalia. Every known wheel-well
stowaway has been male. The youngest
documented was a boy of 9.
Cuba is the most common country of origin
for wheel-well stowaways, with nine cases
since 1947. Armando Socarras Ramirez
was the first. In June 1969, when he was
17, Ramirez hid in the right wheel well of
a Douglas DC-8 that was due to make the
eight-hour flight from Havana to Madrid.
Upon landing, the pilot found Ramirez
lying under the plane, covered in ice, not
breathing. “The doctors in Spain called me
the Popsicle!” Ramirez told me recently. He
is now 69, a father of four and grandfather
Getty
of 12, and lives in Virginia.
The last word
Ramirez got the idea to stow away from
his friend Jorge Pérez Blanco, who was a
year younger. Together, they staked out
Havana Airport. “The only airline suitable
was Iberia,” Ramirez said, “because the
rest were going to communist countries. If
we’d landed there, they’d have sent us right
back—maybe in the same wheel well!”
The Iberia Airlines flight from Madrid
landed on a Tuesday morning, refueled, and
departed on Tuesday evening.
On June 3, 1969, Ramirez and Pérez waited
outside the perimeter fence. Ramirez car-
ried a rope, a flashlight, and cotton wool
to stuff into his ears. As the plane began
to taxi toward the runway, they jumped
Ramirez survived a Havana-to-Madrid flight.
the fence. Pérez started to have second
thoughts, and Ramirez half-dragged him to
the plane. The engines were roaring madly.
They approached from the rear.
Pérez, who shortly after fell out of the plane
and was found alive on the runway, entered
the left wheel well, and Ramirez the right.
The plane took off. “When the plane got up
in the air,” Ramirez says, “the compartment
started opening up to let the wheels come
inside. I was hanging on with my fingertips
to the edge of the compartment and being
blown sideways by the wind.”
Inside the wheel well, it was black and
deafening. “You became part of the noise.
It made me shake. I put some cotton wool
in my ears, but it didn’t work. When you
become the noise, it’s beyond comprehen-
sion,” he said. But, wedged into the corner
of the compartment, Ramirez felt over-
joyed. “I was content,” he said, “because I
made it.”
He leaned against the tires, which were hot
to the touch but cooled down quickly as
the temperature in the wheel well plunged.
“It was very, very freezing,” he said, “and
I was shivering and shaking.” He passed
out, and his next memory is of waking up
underneath the plane in Madrid, before he
blacked out again. Paramedics were called.
Staff carried him into the airport and left
him on the ground, thinking he was dead.
37
Then he came to. “I saw people around me
and the room was moving around, like I
was dizzy,” he says. “Everything was mov-
ing, the walls were moving, and the lights
were moving from side to side.”
Ramirez spent the next 52 days recovering
in the hospital. At first, he was unable to
hear anything, and staff had to communi-
cate with him using a chalkboard, but after
a month, his hearing returned. Incredibly,
he says, he has suffered no long-term health
consequences. “My blood pressure is nor-
mal, my heartbeat is normal,” he said.
He worked as a firefighter for 11 years.
Ramirez has only one regret. “After me, in
Cuba, a lot of youngsters tried to do what I
did,” he said, “and most of them died.”
W
E STILL DO not know the identity
of the man who fell to the earth
on June 30, 2019. All we know—
or think we know—are the last things he
would have seen and heard. The grunt and
hiss of hydraulics inside the wheel well,
as flight KQ 100 waited on the runway in
Nairobi. The clattering footsteps on metal
stairs as passengers boarded the plane.
The plane taxiing toward the runway. A
pause, and then the drone of Rolls-Royce
engines attacking asphalt at 180 mph.
The plane picking up speed, the noise
intensifying into the pneumatic whine of a
thousand dentist’s drills. Liftoff. A whip of
wind, an icy chill, and up to 10,000 feet,
20,000 feet, 35,000 feet. Colder and colder.
Unconsciousness. Oblivion.
He was buried in Lambeth cemetery on
Feb. 26, 2020. It was a beautiful morning,
clear and freezing cold. As workers pre-
pared to lower the body into the ground, a
solitary mourner panted into view. An offi-
cial from the Kenyan embassy, dressed in a
black suit and leather shoes, barely making
it in time. The workmen lowered the coffin
into the ground, and inclined their heads
for a few seconds. On the coffin was a
metal plaque, reading “Unknown (Male),
Died 30th June 2019, Aged 30.”
When the body was in the ground, the
embassy worker spun on his heels and hur-
ried away. I looked at the grave. A nameless
man lay before me in a little plot of south-
west London, in an unmarked grave, iden-
tifiable only by a simple wooden cross and
a numeric code. There are so many people
like him. The horror of the Kenya Airways
stowaway’s death made for newspaper
headlines, but many more migrants die, in
equally horrific circumstances, every week.
They keep quiet counsel in unvisited graves,
and their stories vanish with them.
Adapted from a story first published in The
Guardian. Used with permission.
THE WEEK May 28, 2021
38 The Puzzle Page
Crossword No. 601: Actors of the Century by Matt Gaffney The Week Contest
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This week’s question: The U.S. government will soon
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If a TV network were to make a sitcom about Kohout’s
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