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[Report] Happy Fucking Birthday

An exhausted America turns two hundred and fifty

by Christopher Hooks,

Current Issue July 2026

[Letter from Florida] Republican Machines

Can the GOP save the humanities?

by Ann Manov,

[Essay] American Ephemera

A primer on a free people’s government

by William T. Vollmann,

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans in 2024 who were very confident that their state and local governments would run fair elections : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who are very confident of this today : 2/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Democrats who would support their state seceding : 22

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of protests that took place in the United States in the first year of Trump’s first term : 10,873

[Harper’s Index]

In the first year of his second term : 39,154

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of attendees at the “No Kings” protest in Washington in March who were white : 86

[Harper’s Index]

Who had a college degree : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which the average four-year in-state public-university tuition has increased since 2011 : 45

[Harper’s Index]

By which financial aid has increased since then : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of U.S. college students who are in therapy : +27

[Harper’s Index]

Who are severely depressed : −26

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American parents who suspect that their child has mental-health issues caused by screen time : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who lie to other parents about how much screen time they allow their children : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who lie to doctors about it : 1/5

[Harper’s Index]

Average distance from home, in miles, that American parents would allow their ten-year-old to walk or bike alone : 0.12

[Harper’s Index]

That they would allow their seventeen-year-old to do so : 0.99

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American adult thinks one or both of their parents regrets having had them : 1 in 6

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of opposite-sex American couples in which the man is at least two years older than his partner : 50

[Harper’s Index]

In which the woman is at least two years older : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who believe that extramarital affairs are “morally unacceptable” : 9/10

[Harper’s Index]

Of the French who believe so : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans earning less than $50,000 per year who agree with the proverb “cheaters never prosper” : 3/5

[Harper’s Index]

Of those earning more than $100,000 who do : 2/5 : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated value of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers in 2025 : $2,020,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of the total amount of cryptocurrency stolen last year that this value represents : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which immigrants to the United States pay more in taxes, on average, than U.S.-born citizens : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who said that “a great deal” or “almost all” of federal government spending was wasteful in 2025 : 57

[Harper’s Index]

In 2026 : 70

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of FEMA disaster-aid requests made by Republican governors that Trump has approved in his second term : 9/10

[Harper’s Index]

Of those made by Democratic governors : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who said that renewable energy should be prioritized over fossil fuels in 2020 : 65

[Harper’s Index]

In 2026 : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of mature giant sequoias in the United States that have been killed by wildfires since 2015 : 17

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who believe the world will end in their lifetime : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American men who say that the United States should “rarely or never use military force” : 46

[Harper’s Index]

Who say so when the question frames this view as that of a “dove” as opposed to that of a “hawk” : 36

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who say that they would be willing to fight for their country : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Italians who, when asked what makes them proud of their country, mention art and culture : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Of Americans who do : 1/50

Weekly Review

July 7, 2026

The Brooklyn Bridge briefly caught fire during a fireworks display; two Russian nationals scaled to the top of the spire of the Empire State building in supposed demonstration of the power of love and peace; a British Premier League soccer team donated more than 40 pairs of game-worn socks to a group of horses and donkeys who would wear them as protection from the bites of flies. Read More

General Interest

Harper’s Art Desk

View All

The Hour Glass, 2025, a mixed-media artwork (glass mosaic and gold-leaf with patinated brass frame) by Shahzia Sikander, whose work is on view through July 31 at Victoria Miro, in London © Shahzia Sikander. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

Miss Liberty Reaches Out to Welcome the Persecuted, a painting by Reverend Benjamin Franklin Perkins, whose work is on view through September 13, as part of the exhibition Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Courtesy the American Folk Art Museum. Gift of Audrey B. Heckler

Photographs from Ganges River by Sara Hylton, part of the LOST V box set, a collection of eight monographs that will be published this month by Kris Graves Projects © Sara Hylton. Courtesy Kris Graves Projects

“Airbrush-IMAGE-ENHANCER-1767139117711-1767139117711.jpg,” a photograph by Kate Steciw, whose work is on view through July 18 at OSMOS, in New York City © The artist. Courtesy OSMOS, New York City

Waiting, a painting by Celeste Rapone, whose work is on view through June 20 at Esther Schipper, in Berlin. Courtesy the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin/Paris/Seoul

Portion of Americans in 2024 who were very confident that their state and local governments would run fair elections : 3/4

Who are very confident of this today : 2/3

Percentage of Democrats who would support their state seceding : 22

Estimated number of protests that took place in the United States in the first year of Trump’s first term : 10,873

In the first year of his second term : 39,154

Percentage of attendees at the “No Kings” protest in Washington in March who were white : 86

Who had a college degree : 90

Percentage by which the average four-year in-state public-university tuition has increased since 2011 : 45

By which financial aid has increased since then : 11

Percentage change since 2021 in the portion of U.S. college students who are in therapy : +27

Who are severely depressed : −26

Portion of American parents who suspect that their child has mental-health issues caused by screen time : 1/4

Who lie to other parents about how much screen time they allow their children : 1/4

Who lie to doctors about it : 1/5

Average distance from home, in miles, that American parents would allow their ten-year-old to walk or bike alone : 0.12

That they would allow their seventeen-year-old to do so : 0.99

Chance that an American adult thinks one or both of their parents regrets having had them : 1 in 6

Percentage of opposite-sex American couples in which the man is at least two years older than his partner : 50

In which the woman is at least two years older : 15

Portion of Americans who believe that extramarital affairs are “morally unacceptable” : 9/10

Of the French who believe so : 1/2

Portion of Americans earning less than $50,000 per year who agree with the proverb “cheaters never prosper” : 3/5

Of those earning more than $100,000 who do : 2/5 : 2/5

Estimated value of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers in 2025 : $2,020,000,000

Percentage of the total amount of cryptocurrency stolen last year that this value represents : 59

Estimated percentage by which immigrants to the United States pay more in taxes, on average, than U.S.-born citizens : 17

Percentage of Americans who said that “a great deal” or “almost all” of federal government spending was wasteful in 2025 : 57

In 2026 : 70

Portion of FEMA disaster-aid requests made by Republican governors that Trump has approved in his second term : 9/10

Of those made by Democratic governors : 2/5

Percentage of Republicans who said that renewable energy should be prioritized over fossil fuels in 2020 : 65

In 2026 : 28

Estimated percentage of mature giant sequoias in the United States that have been killed by wildfires since 2015 : 17

Portion of Americans who believe the world will end in their lifetime : 1/4

Percentage of American men who say that the United States should “rarely or never use military force” : 46

Who say so when the question frames this view as that of a “dove” as opposed to that of a “hawk” : 36

Portion of Americans who say that they would be willing to fight for their country : 2/5

Portion of Italians who, when asked what makes them proud of their country, mention art and culture : 2/5

Of Americans who do : 1/50

July 7, 2026

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July 12, 2026

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Backsliding

Adventures

Where the Light Falls

Past Issues

Harper’s Finest

From the Archive

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Microplastics were found in sixty-two of sixty-two human placentas from a biobank in Texas.

Toxicity has remained a consistent feature of online interactions since 1989.

Humans are losing their ability to digest cellulose.

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

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

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

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

Depression in humans is correlated with higher body temperature, and cold-water swimming mitigates menopause symptoms.

Researchers warned that, as temperatures rise, humans should prepare for more diarrhea.

Off the Five Finger Islands, a team of cetologists aboard the Glacier Seal conducted an extended conversation with a female humpback named Twain.

Astrophysicists argued that the development of advanced alien technology requires an atmosphere composed of at least 18 percent oxygen.

Onshore wind turbines severely deter German bats from foraging.

An AI that was fed the employment and health data of six million Danes turned out to be more accurate than existing sociological methods at predicting if a given person was about to die.

A mother is 4.6 percent more likely to give birth in the same month she was born, and adjacent siblings are 12.1 percent more likely to be born in the same month as one another.

Electric eel discharge transforms the DNA of zebrafish larvae.

True crabs independently evolved to live out of the ocean up to seventeen times.

The average American girl born in 2019 will take prescription drugs for more than half her life.

Scientists were not certain whether the globally synchronized waves observed in the brains of wakeful rats on ketamine or LSD were a cause or a symptom of hallucinations.

Geoscientists were confident that, given access to the oldest barnacles on the flaperon of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, they could help pinpoint its crash site.

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