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The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Editor’s letterBy Memorial Day, says Vice President Mike Pence, “we will have this coronavirus epidemic behind us.” In the warmth of summer, he and other sunny optimists predict, the virus will vanish like magic. By fall, the economy will come roaring back in a “V-shaped” recovery, and the past two months will all seem like a bad dream. Wouldn’t it be lovely? When faced with a monumental crisis, optimism can be helpful—but magical thinking, not so much. It can lead to reckless behavior and disappointment. There is no reason to expect the virus to disappear in May or June or any time in 2020, says infectious-disease specialist Michael Osterholm, who’s been urging the world to prepare for a pandemic since 2005. “This first wave of illness,” he told CNN.com this week,…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020It wasn’t all badOn March 23, 43 employees clocked in at the Braskem petrochemical plant in Marcus Hook, Pa.—and didn’t clock out for the next 28 days. They worked and slept in the factory, pulling alternating 12-hour shifts to meet the soaring demand for polypropylene, a key ingredient in protective medical masks and gowns. The men all volunteered for the “live-in,” and by the end of the 28 days had produced tens of millions of pounds of the lifesaving material. “We were just happy to be able to help,” said shift supervisor Joe Boyce.A coffee connoisseur in San Francisco is handing out free cups of high-quality joe to neighbors and essential workers from his kitchen window. Tech employee Ben Ramirez had long dreamed of opening his own café, and when coffee shops shuttered…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Only in AmericaCalifornia highway police say that while overall traffic levels are down 35 percent from last year because of a stay-at-home order, the number of speeding tickets for driving faster than 100 mph has increased by 87 percent, with one motorist caught doing 165 mph. Commissioner Warren Stanley warned that higher speeds can “significantly increase the chance of death should a crash occur.”A Michigan lawmaker wore a Confederate-flag face mask while voting to repeal the state’s lockdown measures. GOP state Sen. Dale Zorn at first claimed the design was merely a “pattern” used by his mask-sewing wife, then defended the Confederate flag as a part of “our national history.” When this failed to mollify African-Americans, Zorn apologized. “I did not intend to offend anyone,” said Zorn.Navy weighs decision on carrier captainThe…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020How Witherspoon beat the systemReese Witherspoon thought she was washed up at 36, said Ann Patchett in VanityFair.com. Eleven years had passed since Legally Blonde, and seven since she’d won an Oscar for Walk the Line, and Hollywood offers few starring roles to women past their 35th birthday. With few offers coming in, Witherspoon’s husband, Jim Toth, a talent agent, encouraged her to tap into her love of books and create a production company that would turn good stories into films with interesting roles for her and other actresses. “I always knew from the time I was 7 that I wanted to be a storyteller or an actor or a singer,” she says. She optioned two books: Gone Girl and Wild. The former was a huge hit and earned Rosamund Pike, then 35, an…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020In the newsMick Jagger won’t let one of the oldest debates in rock music die, arguing last week that “there’s obviously no competition” between the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Paul McCartney had reignited the rivalry days earlier, telling Howard Stern, “I love the Stones, but I’m with you. The Beatles were better.” The 77-year-old singer said Jagger’s band largely based its sound on the blues, whereas the Beatles had “more influences.” Sir Paul also called the Stones copycats, saying they followed the Fab Four to the U.S. and mimicked the Beatles’ psychedelic sound on 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with Their Satanic Majesties Request months later. Jagger, 76, called McCartney’s comments “so funny” and noted “the real big difference” between the groups: “One band is unbelievably luckily still playing…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Should we ‘believe all women’?Charles SykesTheBulwark.comWe will probably never know if former Senate aide Tara Reade’s allegations against Joe Biden are true, said Charles Sykes, and her inconsistent versions of what happened in 1993 provide “reasons to be skeptical.” But a former neighbor of Reade’s now says that Reade told her in 1995 that Biden had sexually assaulted her. That makes it even more imperative for the presumptive Democratic nominee to personally address Reade’s charge, rather than let his campaign issue carefully worded denials. But there is another urgent question here. “Do we still believe all women? Or are we starting to realize how dangerous that slogan can be to the rights of the accused?” Many conservatives are justifiably angry that the Left embraced a similarly shaky allegation against then–Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh,…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Sweden: Was it a mistake to buck the lockdown trend?Faced with a steady increase in Covid-19 cases, Sweden is tweaking its “light-touch approach” to the pandemic, said Jon Henley in The Guardian (U.K.). Unlike other European countries, Sweden has not ordered a total lockdown. High schools and colleges have gone online, but elementary schools, restaurants, shops, and offices have all remained open—although Swedes have been strongly encouraged to practice social distancing and to telecommute if possible. The country’s government says the aim of this relaxed strategy is to slow, not fully stop, the spread of the virus, thereby preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed and the economy from collapsing. At first the strategy seemed to be a tremendous success, but the country’s death toll has risen in recent weeks to 2,200, far higher than in neighboring countries. The government is…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Don’t say they died in vainAUSTRALIAMatthew CavanaughThe Sydney Morning HeraldAustralians have been taught to view the lives lost at Gallipoli as a colossal waste, said Matthew Cavanaugh. In April 1915, troops from across the British Empire—including tens of thousands of Aussies—landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in what is now modern Turkey. Their target was the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. But after eight months of bloody trench warfare in which the Allies advanced only a few hundred yards, an evacuation was ordered. Even the Australian War Memorial calls the operation a “failure” that had “no influence on the course of the war.” But it’s wrong to regard the World War I battle, as films and novels do, as a tale of senseless slaughter. Yes, the campaign failed to take down the Ottoman Empire, but “real war…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020NotedDuring the 13 hours in which President Trump spoke in the past three weeks of daily briefings on the Covid-19 pandemic, he devoted two hours to attacks, 45 minutes to praising himself and his administration, and 4.5 minutes to offering condolences to the families of the 57,000 Americans who’ve died. In one-third of his answers to questions, Trump attacked someone—including state governors, President Obama, and the press.The Washington PostFox News President Jay Wallace sent a memo to network anchors who are cheering on the anti-lockdown protests in several states, urging them to remind protesters to practice social distancing. The network is heavily covering the protests, often showing demonstrators without masks huddled together, talking and shouting slogans.NPR.comDuring a hearing to vote on a new coronavirus stimulus package, nearly the entire Democratic…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Wit & Wisdom“Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has.” Novelist Anita Brookner, quoted in The New York Times“The hospitals alone remind us of the equality of man.” W.H. Auden, quoted in Goodreads.com“A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.” Journalist Sydney J. Harris, quoted in the Associated Press“It is hard when nature does not respect your intentions, and she never does exactly respect them.” Novelist Wendell Berry, quoted in Lapham’s Quarterly“Every revolutionary opinion draws part of its strength from a secret conviction that nothing can be changed.” George Orwell, quoted in Vice.com“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” Leo Tolstoy, quoted in CountryLiving.com“The easiest kind of relationship for me is…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Innovation of the weekApple’s next MacBook could come equipped with its own custom processor, bypassing chip giant Intel, said Mark Gurman in Bloomberg.com. After 15 years partnering with Intel for its central processing units, or CPUs, Apple appears ready to switch to its own model “based off the A14 processor in the next iPhone,” which uses technology from Arm Inc. Arm-based chips use “less energy than Intel’s offerings” and have generally been geared toward mobile devices rather than laptops and desktops. But “a slowdown in Intel’s chip advancements” has been blamed for the decline in Mac upgrades. While the first Mac chips “won’t be able to rival the performance Intel provides,” Apple is working on designs that can pack in 12 or more “cores,” or processing units, in place of the two-core Intel…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The puzzle of ‘Covid toes’Doctors have identified an unusual new symptom of Covid-19: frostbite-like blue or purple lesions on the feet and toes. “They’re typically painful to touch and could have a hot burning sensation,” Ebbing Lautenbach, chief of infectious disease at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, tells USA Today. So-called Covid toes typically afflict patients who aren’t exhibiting any other symptoms—much as the loss of taste and smell has been seen in otherwise asymptomatic patients. In some people, the lesions disappear within a week to 10 days without any other Covid-19 symptoms manifesting; other patients have gone on to develop respiratory symptoms. Covid toes appear to be more prevalent among children and young adults, a population more likely to be asymptomatic or have milder symptoms than older people, possibly because they…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug(Penguin, $30)Your morning coffee, like anything else, has never been an innocent pleasure, said Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker. Augustine Sedgewick’s new book turns the history of the ubiquitous beverage into a story that’s “not very different from the kind that might be told of Colombian cocaine production and narco-terrorism.” To the young historian, coffee helped pioneer globalization, establishing a pattern in which the consumer-addict is tied to poor laborer-producers in a manufactured co-dependence. Sedgewick is wrong that capitalism is the culprit here; he should blame mass-scale agriculture. But he’s right that the impoverishment of farmworkers in the southern hemisphere is linked to every citizen in the industrialized north who drinks coffee in order to work hard and fast enough to stay employed. He has also found a “fiendishly…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Chosen by Sarah Urist GreenMuseum curator Sarah Urist Green is the host of The Art Assignment, a weekly online series produced by PBS Digital Studios. Her new book, You Are an Artist, offers more than 50 prompts for readers to tap their creative potential.Hold Still by Sally Mann (2015). This is not just the memoir of a photographer but also an important, lasting chronicle of how art and life are messily, exquisitely intertwined. Mann’s story, accompanied by her stunning photography, has given me a model for how to be an artist, wife, mother, daughter, friend, and thoughtful member of humanity, all at the same time.Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton (2012). You might not think you want to read a story about an artist-illustrator’s past life as a competitive swimmer and her continuing love for…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Virtual travel: Can the concept liberate a world stuck at home?I think I have found the perfect virtual travel experience, said Erin Riley in OutsideOnline.com. While countless destinations around the world offer small online tastes of their real-life wonders, the tourism board of the remote and spectacular Faroe Islands has devised “a fun way to make us feel like we’re there.” On a regular basis, one or another earnest Faroese citizen straps on a helmet equipped with a small camera and starts wandering—by foot, kayak, horseback, or even helicopter—through some astounding landscape in the sparsely populated Danish archipelago. Better yet, the guide supplies running commentary while being steered left, right, forward, and back by viewers taking short turns commanding an on-screen control panel. The guide can even be prompted to jump in place, and as much as the device is…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The Week’s guide to what’s worth watchingNatalie Wood: What Remains BehindIt’s hard to think of Natalie Wood without also recalling her mysterious death by drowning at 43. But Wood had been a screen icon, a mother, and an industry force, and this documentary, largely emceed by Wood’s oldest daughter, offers a fittingly loving portrait. Wood’s widower, Robert Wagner, helps celebrate his wife’s life and speaks again about the night she died in circ*mstances that remain under investigation nearly 40 years later. Just don’t expect a definitive account. Tuesday, May 5, at 9 p.m., HBODead to MeNothing forges a friendship quite like the cover-up of a spouse-killing hit-and-run. Co-stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini ended Season 1 of this hit dramedy with a dead man once again possibly uniting them—though it depends on who fired the gun…3 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Posh grits: Start the right way, and you’ll want them all dayIf you’ve only ever eaten instant grits, you might assume that all grits taste like sawdust, says Mike Cioffi, Chris Bradley, and Sara B. Franklin in The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook (Clarkson Potter). “True grits are a revelation,” though. They’re slow to make. But they’re also warm and filling, “tasting distinctly of themselves and smelling like row upon row of field corn.”At our upstate New York diner, grits are a staple, with rotating toppings that expand their versatility. The vegetarian version below never leaves the menu. “It’s light enough to feel virtuous and sophisticated enough to impress.” Just start the grits a day in advance. We recommend using Anson Mills Antebellum Coarse White Grits, which can be mail ordered.Recipe of the weekTomato, chickpea, and feta grits2 pts cherry or grape tomatoes,…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Sleep time: Why your dreams have been stranger latelyIf you’ve been wondering if other people have been having strange dreams during the pandemic, said Caity Weaver in The New York Times, “the answer is, yes—someone is always having weird dreams lately.” Dreams are weird in general. But it’s also true that anxiety about amorphous threats combined with disruptions in daily routines may be causing people to dream more often and more frequently. Simply having more time to sleep can have an effect: We dream in short bursts roughly every 90 minutes, when we reach REM sleep, and REM periods lengthen as we sleep, leading to longer, more vivid dreams. And when our fears center on threats that are hard to visualize, our subconscious plugs in metaphors—which is why many people are reporting dreams about bugs, zombies, and tidal…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020‘Quarantine campouts’: A fun indoor escapeIt might be time to pitch a tent indoors, said Krista Langlois in OutsideOnline.com. With travel and outdoor activities limited, I recently thrilled my 2-year-old when I cleared the playroom of toys, set up a tent, and surrounded it with potted plants—“going for the illusion that we were camping in a jungle.” Do it for an overnight or just a half-hour. The point is to stop the daily noise—“no phones, no distractions” (unless you want piped-in jungle noises). You might just create some lasting campout memories. After we “galumphed around like we were bears and moose,” we sat in camp chairs, snacked on cookies, then “snuggled in our sleeping bags and pretended to hide from a rainstorm.”…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Rescue: An aid windfall for big hotel chainA $2.2 billion hotel group, the biggest beneficiary of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, said it had no plans to return $126 million in loans intended for small businesses, said Paul O’Donnell in The Dallas Morning News. Monty Bennett’s Ashford Inc. called criticism for taking aid for its the 130 luxury resorts “misplaced.” Other large businesses, such as Shake Shack, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and AutoNation “returned more than $170 million to the program.” A new, $310 billion round of PPP funding began this week but was marred by computer glitches that kept many businesses from applying.Tech: Alphabet sees increase but urges cautionAlphabet’s revenue rose 14 percent in the first quarter, beating expectations, said Gerrit De Vynck and Mark Bergen in Bloomberg.com. But the Google parent company also cautioned that…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020What the experts sayThe shortest bear market ever?“Is the bear market over?” asked Ben Levisohn in Barron’s. Stocks have largely rebounded since last month’s lows, and even the collapse in oil prices last week did not have the impact on the market many expected. However, we’re not out of the woods yet. A push-pull has developed between bulls, betting on the Federal Reserve to continue coming to the market’s rescue, and bears, betting on earnings continuing to fall off a cliff. The stock market usually falls as much as earnings, “which means the MSCI World Index should have fallen as much as 50 percent when all is said and done,” but it only dropped 34 percent. Citigroup strategist Robert Buckland says it’s time to “buy the dip,” but I’m “not making a call…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Help for those who need it leastJesse DruckerThe New York Times“Under the cover of the pandemic,” the wealthy got a “tax break bonanza” in last month’s $2 trillion stimulus package, said Jesse Drucker. While small businesses and the unemployed “jostle to grab small slices of aid,” the government is giving away $174 billion in temporary tax breaks to rich individuals and large companies. Many of the breaks “undo limitations that were imposed to rein in the giveaways” in the 2017 tax cuts. One change, “worth more than $13 billion over a decade, loosens 2017 restrictions on how much interest big companies can deduct on their taxes.” The law also lifts restrictions on how companies can use paper losses—including some “expenses that are only for tax purposes and that don’t reduce profits reported to shareholders”—to cut their…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The flamboyant golfer who partied with SinatraDoug Sanders won 20 events on the PGA Tour and made a legion of fans with his snappy, rainbow-hued attire and easygoing personality. But his sporting career was forever defined by a 30-inch putt. With one hole left at the 1970 Open Championship, the player known as the Peaco*ck of the Fairways needed a four-shot par to defeat the great Jack Nicklaus and win golf’s most coveted trophy. He hit a long drive and a safe second shot onto the 18th green at Scotland’s iconic St. Andrews. His first putt ended just short of the cup, and he agonized over his next shot, which missed by an inch. Sanders lost an 18-hole playoff against Nicklaus by a stroke the following day, cementing his miss as one of the great chokes…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Legal lockdownThis week’s question: A Miami-area judge has warned local lawyers to dress professionally for telecourt hearings after one appeared shirtless and another addressed the court from her bed. If a TV network were to make a legal drama about the struggles and triumphs of a firm of locked-down attorneys, what could the show be titled?Last week’s contest: Because of public-health concerns, it’s possible that the NFL, MLB, and NBA might be benched until 2021. Please come up with a psychological term to describe the shock and despair felt by many Americans as they awaken to the reality of a year without sports.THE WINNER: “Hooplessness” Michael Rouse, Troy, Mich.SECOND PLACE: “Postsportum depression” John Munsch, BoulderTHIRD PLACE: “Restless leagues syndrome” Laurel Rose, PittsburghFor runners-up and complete contest rules, please go to theweek.com/contest.How…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Easing restrictions in Republican-run statesWhat happenedRepublican governors across the U.S. took the first steps to reopen numerous states this week—a move met by cheers from business leaders who say extended lockdowns will wreak economic devastation, and by warnings from public health officials that a new surge in infections will follow. The easing of restrictions came as the U.S. passed 1 million confirmed cases—a third of the world’s total—and 58,000 deaths, more than the U.S. suffered in more than a decade of the Vietnam War. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the most expansive reopening, allowing barbershops, gyms, tattoo parlors, nail salons, restaurants, and theaters to open, with restrictions on the number of patrons. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ended stay-at-home orders and announced that retail stores, restaurants, theaters, and malls can open Friday, at 25…5 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Injecting Lysol: Trump’s scientific ignorancePresident Trump “has often said he is exceptionally smart,” said Matt Flegenheimer in The New York Times, citing his genetic connection to a supposedly “super-genius” uncle who’s a scientist. But his musings last week on alternative treatments for Covid-19 did not make Trump sound very smart; in fact, they created “near-universal public alarm.” At one of his painful-to-watch coronavirus briefings, an excited Trump hailed research showing the coronavirus’ vulnerability to sunlight and household disinfectant. To the visible discomfort of coronavirus adviser Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump wondered what would happen if “you brought the light inside the body…either through the skin or in some other way,” and if disinfectant could be used to clear Covid-riddled lungs “by injection inside, or almost a cleaning.” Of all the “head-snappingly stupid things” Trump has…3 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020UnmaskedRochester, Minn.Vice President Pence refused to wear a mask while touring the Mayo Clinic, defying federal guidelines and the policies of the world-renowned medical center. Pence appeared to be the only barefaced person present as he visited a lab where Mayo conducts Covid-19 tests, discussed the hospital’s research, and met with an employee who has recovered from the disease and now is donating plasma. Pence was joined by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both of whom wore masks. The clinic sent, but later deleted, a tweet noting that the vice president had been informed of the policy. Asked about the incident, Pence said, “I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis,” adding that he wanted to be able to “look” hospital workers “in the eye.”Wrong…4 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Tyler’s neurotic fearNovelist Anne Tyler might be one of the world’s most acclaimed novelists, said Hadley Freeman in TheGuardian.com, but she’s never outgrown her childhood fear that if she simply thought about something it might come true. When she was a child, she used to wish that her school would burn down on the eve of a math test, but would then fret about it, because “I would have felt so guilty.” When she wrote the murder scene of a 12-year-old, Ethan Leary, in her 1995 novel The Accidental Tourist, she rendered him younger than her daughters, “so I wouldn’t think as they came up to that age, ‘Oh no, what have I set in motion?’” Tyler, who lives in Baltimore, often channels childhood emotions into her characters, who are famously bewildered…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Sports on holdPro sports leagues are desperate to resume play this summer, but will it be safe to do so?Will games be held this year?It’s still unknown. Cooped-up fans craving the escape of sports have suffered a month of postponements: the NBA and NHL playoffs, baseball’s opening day, the Masters golf tournament, college basketball’s “March Madness,” even the Olympics in Tokyo. As fans clamor for distraction and revenue losses mount, team owners and league officials in all the major sports are talking about playing games this summer in empty stadiums. President Trump has urged the leagues to restart games soon, and even said he wants fans packing stadiums by August. “We have to get our sports back,” he said several weeks ago. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years…5 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Reversing Supreme Court precedentsRuth MarcusThe Washington PostA Supreme Court decision about jury verdicts “could spell trouble for Roe v. Wade,” said Ruth Marcus. Last week, the justices ruled that juries in state courts must be unanimous when convicting someone of a serious crime, overturning a previous court ruling in 1972. “The more interesting, and perhaps ominous, aspect of the case” was the justices’ debate “over when to stick with precedent and when to jettison it.” The 6-3 ruling “was about as scrambled as imaginable,” with the majority including the most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, and the most liberal, Sonia Sotomayor. Conservative justice Samuel Alito wanted to uphold convictions based on 10-2 jury verdicts, but almost gleefully noted that the court’s decision sets an “important precedent about stare decisis”—the legal doctrine that previous Supreme…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Lockdown can’t stop protestsPOLANDMartyna BundaPolitykaThe radical right thinks it can take advantage of Poland’s coronavirus lockdown to push its extremist agenda through Parliament, said Martyna Bunda. Bills are pending in the legislature that would relax hunting laws, ban sex education in schools, and criminalize the act of helping Holocaust survivors regain Polish property taken from their murdered ancestors. But the bill that has attracted the most attention is a proposal to ban pregnant women from seeking abortions for severely malformed fetuses. Catholic Poland already has some of Europe’s strictest abortion laws: Terminations are allowed only in cases rape or incest, if a mother’s life is in danger, or if the fetus is severely deformed—that last being the reason for 98 percent of abortions here. Anti-abortion activists thought they could sneak a new ban…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020How they see us: A superpower in ill health“Will American prestige ever recover” from Donald Trump’s catastrophic handling of the coronavirus? asked Fintan O’Toole in The Irish Times (Ireland). The U.S. president has squandered America’s vast power “willfully, malevolently, vindictively,” and now his country is the epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 58,000 dead. Rather than protecting Americans, Trump spent weeks denying there was a threat, then blamed state governors for failing to prepare, then confiscated the very supplies they needed to keep their citizens alive. People around the world watch his “freak show” press conferences agape as he suggests treating infected patients with bleach and UV rays. We are witness to the “grotesque spectacle of the president openly inciting people (some of them armed) to take to the streets to oppose the restrictions that save lives.”…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Antibody tests: Cause for optimism?An astonishing 1 in 5 people in New York City may have already had coronavirus, said David Leonhardt in NYTimes.com. Researchers collected blood samples from 1,300 people in New York City and found that 21 percent had Covid-19 antibodies, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to speculate last week that 2.7 million New Yorkers may have survived the disease—most with mild or no symptoms. Two new antibody tests in Southern California also indicate higher-than-expected infection rates. A much higher rate of infection than indicated by officially confirmed cases might be good news, since it suggests that the death rate could be closer to 0.5 percent, not 3 or 4 percent. But a high infection rate would also indicate the virus is far more contagious than we realized, indicating that “it may be…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Food supply: The virus hits meatpacking plantsAmericans are “dangerously close to seeing meat shortages at grocery stores,” said Michael Hirtzer and Jen Skerritt in Bloomberg.com. The coronavirus pandemic has led to outbreaks in “some of the country’s biggest slaughterhouses” for pork, beef, and poultry, with at least 22 shutting down for some period. The union representing meatpackers says 5,000 workers have either tested positive or are self-quarantining after exposure. John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, the country’s biggest meat company, warned last week that the “food-supply chain is breaking” and “millions of pounds of meat will disappear” from supermarket shelves. With outbreaks threatening to shut down 80 percent of meat production, President Trump this week invoked the Defense Production Act to order plants to stay open, angering workers and labor unions.The plant closures aren’t the only…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Retail: New questions about Amazon’s powerAmazon is attracting new antitrust scrutiny in the midst of the pandemic, said Dana Mattioli and Ryan Tracy in The Wall Street Journal. Interviews with more than 20 former Amazon employees show that the company may be stealing “proprietary information collected from independent sellers to develop competing products” sold under Amazon’s private label. An Amazon lawyer told Congress last summer that the company has never “used seller data” to develop its own products. But despite “restrictions in place to keep its private-label executives from accessing data on specific sellers,” former employees working on products like car-trunk organizers and office-chair cushions have “found ways around them.” The revelations have infuriated congressional investigators, who now ask if they were intentionally misled.Amazon will probably try to frame this as “the fault of a…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Covid-19 hits the obese especially hardObesity is emerging as a key indicator for which Covid-19 patients will fall severely ill with the disease—a worrying finding for the U.S., where more than 40 percent of adults are obese. The evidence comes from two new studies that analyzed thousands of coronavirus patients who arrived at emergency rooms in New York City. One study found that obese patients who were younger than 60 were at least two times more likely to be hospitalized than their nonobese peers and up to 3.6 times more likely to end up in the ICU. For the second study, which hasn’t yet been peer reviewed, researchers analyzed data from more than 4,000 Covid-19 patients and weighted the risk factors that result in hospitalization. Being 75 and older was the main predictor, followed by…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020A blood-clotting complicationCovid-19 appears to increase blood clotting throughout the body, a trait that may explain why the disease is so much deadlier than related viruses. ICU patients are already at high risk of developing clots—which can be deadly if they travel to the heart or lungs—because they’re very sick and lying still. But doctors suspect Covid-19 exacerbates the problem, reports CNN.com. A recent study in the Netherlands found “remarkably high” levels of clotting among Covid-19 patients in the ICU, while a consortium of experts from more than 30 hospitals around the world has concluded that those suffering from the disease are more susceptible to clots. “This is one of the most talked-about questions in Covid right now,” says Michelle Gong, from Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Scientists have identified…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020If It Bleeds(Scribner, $30)Stephen King’s new set of novellas “reaffirms his mastery of the form,” said Bill Sheehan in The Washington Post. The prolific author is at his best writing at a middle length, as these four “exceptionally compelling” stories demonstrate. In the opener, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, a boy gives an iPhone to an elderly billionaire technophobe, and the pair’s connection proves stronger than death. Next comes a portrait of an accountant, told in reverse, that blooms into “a wholly engaging narrative about the notion that all of us contain multitudes.” After that—“one of the most affecting stories I have read in a very long time”—the final two novellas feel overly conventional, said Ruth Franklin in The New York Times. In the title work, King’s savant-like sleuth Holly Gibney returns to investigate…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020In weird and witty novelsEnter the Aardvarkby Jessica Anthony (Little, Brown, $26)A power-hungry conservative congressman gets a rude, four-legged awakening in this “slim and perverse” novel, said Maggie Lange in the Los Angeles Times. Alexander Paine Wilson receives a package containing a taxidermied aardvark—a potential source of scandal because it once belonged to his secret male lover. The scenario is a liberal fantasy, but deft toggling between existential concerns and slapstick makes this a book that’s “brutally suited to our moment of absurd political theater.”Hearts of Oakby Eddie Robson (Forge, $15)This hybrid novel is “a gleaming gem of offbeat weirdness,” said Jason Heller in NPR.org. Author Eddie Robson, a British screenwriter, conjures a mythic city where nearly everything is made of wood, a king has undertaken a mad building spree, and a harried architect…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Music: How to catch the season’s classical wave“The world of classical music has never been more accessible,” said Joshua Barone in The New York Times. Ever since concert halls shut their doors in mid-March, “a day hasn’t gone by without something to stream.” Members of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, choirs, and opera companies have continued to perform—either from their homes or from empty concert halls. Their livestreams, which are often free, “have had more charm than a typical classical concert, with banter, a casual dress code, and imperfect production.” Even such luminaries as Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma have taken to social media to serenade us. Meanwhile, many classical music organizations have made their concert archives available online. “It’s enough to keep a critic happily overwhelmed. If anything, I’m taking in more music than before.”Listeners have…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Streaming tipsBelow, six terrific animated series made for adults:Cowboy BebopProbably the best anime series ever made, this neo-noir space tale about a crew of galaxy-running bounty hunters is both widely accessible and remarkably layered. Hulu and NetflixUndoneA young woman recovering from a car crash begins talking to her dead father, who teaches her to manipulate space and time. Beautiful rotoscope animation helps carry this mind-expanding series created by the BoJack Horseman team and co-starring Rosa Salazar and Bob Odenkirk. Amazon PrimeBig MouthNick Kroll and John Mulaney’s incredibly funny show about middle-schoolers navigating puberty takes scatological humor next-level. It also has an abundance of honesty and heart. NetflixRick and MortyBrilliant. Irreverent. Laugh-out-loud funny. There’s no place that this series—about an insane scientist who takes his grandson on adventures through alternate realities—can’t, or…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Next-level jigsaw puzzles1,000 ColoursAustralian artist Clemens Habicht has created “one of the most difficult puzzles out there.” The 1,000 pieces shift colors constantly, depending on the angle, “which makes for a mind-boggling experience.” Too easy? There’s a 5,000-piece version, too.$100, puzzlewarehouse.comSource: CNN.comRavensburger Krypt BlackThis spring, “everyone wants jigsaw puzzles.” Even Ravensburger, the world’s largest purveyor, is selling out of everything from “Dogs Galore” to this all-black headache, whose 1,000 pieces spiral toward the center. If that sounds fun, sign up for stock alerts.$21, ravensburger.usSource: Wall Street JournalAreaware Gradient PuzzleAvailable in various sizes and colors, Areaware’s popular gradient puzzles employ subtle shades that can be challenging—or soothing, if you’re “a few-pieces-at-a-time type of person.” This is one you’ll leave out once it’s done.$25, areaware.comSource: TheWirecutter.comBgraamiens’ The Lines“Don’t wear glasses? You might after completing…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Homes on riversAustin Set beside Lake Austin, a reservoir on the Colorado River, this four-bedroom home comes with a boathouse, dock, and boat lift. The Italian Renaissance–style building has an open layout, cathedral ceilings, travertine and wood floors, and a recording studio, game room, and master suite with spa bathroom. The tiered 1-acre lot, landscaped with palm, oak, and fruit trees, features an outdoor kitchen, a pool, and a koi pond. $3,900,000. Foreman Property Group, Coldwell Banker Realty, (512) 554-8298Groton, Conn. This 1837 five-bedroom home offers panoramic views of the Mystic River. Inside are wide-plank floors, French doors, a grand staircase, multiple fireplaces, a wine cellar, a formal living room and dining space, and a chef’s kitchen with custom cabinets, a center island, and a breakfast and entertainment area. Outside are lawns,…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Charity of the weekSince the Covid-19 epidemic hit, Feeding America (feedingamerica.org) has been mobilizing its vast network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries scattered across all 50 states to ensure no family will go hungry. As the largest hunger relief organization in the nation, Feeding America has launched a Covid-19 Response Fund, making emergency food boxes, fundraising, and partnering with schools to feed low-income families. Many of its food banks have shifted operations to accommodate safer measures, including implementing drive-through pantries, seniors-only hours, and home deliveries. You may also consider donating to its local food banks, such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which brings produce to schools every week, or the Food Bank for New York City, which is providing emergency food and groceries for health-care workers.Each charity we feature…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Parties jostle over help for struggling statesWhat happenedDemocrats and Republicans set out radically different priorities on coronavirus relief this week, setting up a protracted fight over aid to cash-strapped states, jobless Americans, and beleaguered businesses. House Democrats called for $700 billion for states, as well as an increase in food stamp benefits and money to pay for mail-in and early voting in the 2020 election. Democrats are pushing for an even greater expansion of safety net programs; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a national guaranteed income was “worthy of attention.” By contrast, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that any state aid would have to be contingent on a federal law protecting businesses that reopened from a potential “avalanche of lawsuits,” calling it a “red line” for any legislation.States face a one-two punch of increased…3 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Good week/bad weekGood week for:Abstinence, with news that the incidence of STDs in New York City has plunged 80 percent since the start of the pandemic. “That’s what social distancing will do,” said Dr. Kris Bungay of the Gotham Medical Group.Making lemonade, with the launch of ThePub.ie, a “virtual pub” set up by the owners of an actual pub in Dublin so that the Irish can re-create their locals. “Social distancing doesn’t have to mean anti-social,” said co-founder Sebastien Conway.National sacrifice, after Belgians were asked to eat french fries twice a week to help shrink a 750,000-ton glut of potatoes caused by the pandemic’s impact on food exports. If Belgians comply, said agriculture minister Hilde Crevits, “we can avoid seeing excellent food, for which our farmers have worked so hard, being lost.”Bad…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Trump seeks payoutsDoonbeg, IrelandThe Trump Organization has applied for bailout money from the Irish and British governments to help cover payroll at its golf resorts in Doonbeg, Ireland, and Aberdeen and Turnberry, Scotland. All three resorts are currently closed in compliance with national lockdowns. In the U.K., the government is covering 80 percent of furloughed workers’ salaries, up to about $3,000 a month, and in Ireland, workers can get up to 85 percent of their pay. President Trump’s son Eric said the family company is not seeking assistance to boost its own coffers. “It is solely about protecting people and their families who would otherwise be out of work.”Smear campaignOttawaCanada’s chief public health officer, Hong Kong–born Dr. Theresa Tam, has won fans during the pandemic with her calm, informative daily briefings, but…7 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Steves’ surprising contentmentRick Steves is not used to being stuck at home, said Gabriella Paiella in GQ.com. As host of Rick Steves’ Europe and a world-class travel guru, he’s constantly on the move. But now he’s sheltering in place in his house in Washington state. “It’s a big adjustment for me to get away from my addiction to being productive every day,” he says. “I’m a joyful workaholic, because I love my work and I have a mission.” But to his surprise, he hasn’t hated being home. “There’s a sort of an intimacy that you wouldn’t have otherwise,” he says, “and the big question for a lot of us is, ‘Will anything good come out of this when we’re done?” In Steves’ case, the answer is yes. He’s learning to cook and…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The severe psychic toll on teenagersLisa JacobsSTATnews.com“Adolescents and young adults are paying a high price for Covid-19 prevention,” said psychiatrist Lisa Jacobs. Young people have extremely low odds of dying from the disease, yet they are making a huge and largely unappreciated sacrifice at a time of life when friends and physical outlets for all that energy are crucial. “No graduations. No sports. No time with friends.” I have fielded calls from parents enraged that their kids snuck out to see friends, but is it really irrational for teens to see being trapped in their rooms as a bigger threat than Covid-19? Many young people have told me they can’t take much more of the isolation. “Their restlessness and boredom have morphed into depression, anxiety, and anger.” Even in better times, about 8 percent of…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Viewpoint“An internal GOP memo circulated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee summarizes the party’s message on the coronavirus: It’s all China’s fault. ‘Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban—attack China,’ the memo urges. Republicans are already conceding that they won’t be able to argue that Trump kept us safe or has effectively managed the crisis. It makes perfectly clear the party’s obsessive focus on China is designed to distract from Trump’s catastrophic managerial failure. They are privately admitting his actions are literally indefensible.”Jonathan Chait in NYMag.com…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Who benefits when Ukraine burns?UKRAINESergey GrabovskyDenThe fires sweeping across northern Ukraine were set deliberately, said Sergey Grabovsky. Every year, local farmers burn off dry grass and loggers cover their illegal deforestation operations by setting blazes. But there’s also evidence that some fires were started “for political reasons,” likely by pro-Russian elements, to destabilize our country. Isn’t it curious that if you look at satellite images, the fires stop at the border with Belarus? Some have argued that Belarus has no arsonists, because dictator Alexander Lukashenko metes out “severe punishment” to anyone who deliberately starts a blaze. But “careless fools are everywhere, including Belarus, right?” It looks a lot like somebody is setting fires deliberately in Ukraine, and only in Ukraine. The perpetrators have even been careful not to let the flames get too close…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The Kremlin is a victim of its own intrigueRUSSIAMark GaleottiThe Moscow TimesThe Kremlin is being undermined by its own trolls, said Mark Galeotti. President Vladimir Putin is eager to use the global coronavirus crisis to pry his way back into the good graces of Western nations. At the virtual summit of G-20 leaders in March, Putin nobly called for a “joint moratorium” on all sanctions, as if his lifting of the import ban on Italian Parmesan would carry the same weight as the U.S. scrapping its financial sanctions against Russia. Putin’s government has also been busy arranging high-visibility aid operations, with state TV airing footage of military trucks emblazoned “From Russia With Love” heading to virus-stricken Italy, and of a cargo plane loaded with medical gear landing in New York. But the only thing European and U.S. officials…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Trump: Why the GOP is panickingPresident Trump’s re-election hopes look “increasingly precarious,” said Josh Kraushaar in the National Journal. The humming economy he’d planned on riding to victory has been flattened by the pandemic. Slumping approval ratings show he’s squandered his initial “‘rally around the flag’ bounce” with his mismanagement of the crisis and bizarre, self-congratulatory press conferences. Democrats have unified behind Joe Biden, foiling GOP hopes for a protracted “civil war.” And a host of polls show Biden leading both nationally—with a range of 6 to 10 points—and in every key swing state. Pundits remembering 2016’s upset will hedge their bets, but the fact is that short of a major economic turnaround in the fall, “Trump is now a decided underdog.” His poll slide is triggering GOP panic, said Henry Olsen in The Washington…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Vaccines: Should humans serve as guinea pigs?“An idea that might seem outlandish at first is gaining some ground as a way to speed development of a coronavirus vaccine,” said Peter Sullivan in TheHill.com. “Human challenge trials” would require a group of volunteers to get a potential vaccine and then be deliberately exposed to the virus to test whether it works. Last week, 35 House legislators urged the FDA to allow the method, comparing it to a dangerous mission undertaken during a time of war. There is no shortage of volunteers willing to become human guinea pigs for such testing. Nearly 4,000 people from 52 countries have signed up on the website 1daysooner.org—even though some could become seriously ill, or even die.Here’s why human challenge trials might be justified, said Dylan Matthews in Vox.com. Normally, creating a…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020What’s new in techDrone delivery gets realUPS is rapidly expanding its drone delivery service to get prescriptions safely to seniors, said Adam Shapiro in Yahoo.com. The Federal Aviation Administration has been working with UPS on regulations for drone delivery that could be finalized next year. In the meantime, the parcel service’s subsidiary Flight Forward has partnered with CVS to “begin using drones in early May” for prescription deliveries to the 135,000 residents at a Florida retirement community, the Villages. The drones will first go to a “central location in the community, where a UPS ground vehicle will complete the run.” Depending on how the test goes, it could be expanded to deliver to individual homes. UPS is competing with several other drone-delivery efforts, including one owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, that is…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Chloroquine no miracle cureThe largest study yet into a malaria drug touted by President Trump as a treatment for coronavirus has found no evidence that it helps patients, reports The Washington Post. In fact, the researchers noted there were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine than among those who received standard care. The study involved 368 male patients in Veterans Affairs hospitals around the U.S. Just over half were given hydroxychloroquine, either on its own or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin. The death rate among those administered hydroxychloroquine was about 28 percent, and 22 percent for those given the drug combination. Patients who received routine care alone had a death rate of 11 percent. Separate research in Brazil into hydroxychloroquine had to be halted last month after a quarter of recipients developed…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The West’s megadroughtThe severe drought that has plagued the western U.S. for two decades is as bad or worse than any dry spell in the past 1,200 years. That’s the conclusion of a new study into the “megadrought” that has been intensifying wildfire seasons and depleting reservoirs. Researchers examined tree-ring data and modern weather observations for nine states, from Oregon and Montana down through California and New Mexico, as well as part of northern Mexico. “We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we’re on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts,” lead author Park Williams, from Columbia University, tells CBSNews.com. Williams and his team identified four previous megadroughts, in the 9th, 12th, 13th, and 16th centuries. They found that the 19-year…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Jason RosenthalMillions of readers know Jason Rosenthal through his late wife, said Nara Schoenberg in the Chicago Tribune. In March 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal published an essay, “You May Want to Marry My Husband,” as a “Modern Love” column in The New York Times. The piece was essentially an extended personal ad for Jason, written because Amy, a children’s author, knew that ovarian cancer would soon end her life. She died just 10 days later, which briefly made Jason perhaps the most famous widower in America. Initially, he didn’t pay any attention to the 1,000 or so letters and emails sent his way, about 300 from women taking Amy’s offer literally. “I was just deep in the throes of my own grief,” Jason says. But the outpouring, which has never fully…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Movies to stream: Eight picks to help get you through MayMarie AntoinetteIgnore the middling Rotten Tomatoes score that this 2006 masterwork holds, said Richard Brody in NewYorker.com. Sofia Coppola’s third film “fuses empathetic insight, stylistic imagination, and cinematic precision in a way that’s so daringly counterintuitive as to befuddle the critical establishment.” Kirsten Dunst plays France’s last queen as “the poor little rich girl of Versailles,” and Coppola’s attention to detail and to her subject’s singular perspective may well transport you to “a state of aesthetic bliss.” (PG-13) CrackleAmerican GangsterRidley Scott’s 2007 crime drama united “two of the most charismatic actors of their generation,” said Brian Tallerico in NYMag.com. Denzel Washington plays a slick Harlem drug kingpin, while Russell Crowe is the dogged New York detective who brings him down. “Both men are great, but this is an awesome ensemble…4 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Spaceship EarthThey were called the Biospherians. In 1991, the world watched as four men and four women entered a 3-acre complex in Arizona, committing to sequester themselves inside for two years. The facility, known as Biosphere 2, had been funded by a Texas billionaire and dreamed up by a former hippie who wished to test the viability of man-made ecosystems. Conflicts arose, as did reports of cultlike behavior. But all eight researchers made it through, and all seven surviving members share memories of the project in this engrossing documentary. Available for streaming Friday, May 8, Hulu…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Shortcut: A kitchen librarian“For anyone who owns 10 cookbooks—and especially for those of us who own 100,” EatYourBooks.com is a website you need to know, said Ashley Brantley in Nashville.Eater.com. When you subscribe, the service reintroduces you to the great recipes you already have on hand, because it acts like a personal search engine. Plug in your titles, and the next time you want to use rhubarb, say, it will scan its cookbook database and point you to the pertinent recipes already on your shelves. The site’s design is a little tired, said Joe Ray in Wired.com. But the $3-a-month service is amazing. It has many newspaper and magazine recipes in its files, but it’s even better when it points back to sources you already love. I just rediscovered the site and using…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Home repairs while distancing: How to call in a proPlan ahead. If you have a plumbing or electrical emergency and call a pro for help, ask what Covid-19 safeguards the contractor is following, and “discuss how the visit will go so both parties are on the same page.”Clear a path. Remove obstacles and open doors on the way to the workspace to reduce the number of surfaces the contractor touches. You should sanitize the workspace before your visitor arrives, and to make sanitizing easier for yourself afterward, you can cover the work area with a drop cloth.Be hospitable. Make sure the technician has access to a sink, soap, and paper towels. He or she will be just as worried as you are about getting sick.Take a walk. Plumbers appreciate when you don’t breathe down their necks, these days especially.…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Economy: GDP shrinks at historic pace“The record-long U.S. economic expansion is over,” said Katia Dmitrieva in Bloomberg.com. After nearly 11 years of growth, America’s gross domestic product fell 4.8 percent last quarter, the economy’s steepest contraction since 2008. But the data released this week doesn’t fully capture the full toll of the shutdown. “The current quarter is likely to be far worse,” with some analysts expecting the economy to shrink at a 40 percent annualized rate—the fastest decline on record. A recession isn’t officially triggered until at least two quarters of contraction, but the outlook is bleak: With unemployment surging, customers “remain wary” of spending money despite infusions of federal aid.This downturn is sparing nobody, said Paul Ziobro in The Wall Street Journal—even businesses “that have products and services in intense demand.” 3M said it…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Unemployment: Generous benefits, with a painful waitThe package of coronavirus stimulus measures has created a raft of unintended consequences for workers, said Greg Iacurci in CNBC.com. One business owner in Washington state expected her furloughed employees would be grateful when she got a Paycheck Protection Program loan and told them they could go back to work. Instead, “her employees hate her for it.” Thanks to a $600-a-week supplement to unemployment provided by the federal government, many of Jamie Black-Lewis’ 35 employees were “making more money by collecting unemployment benefits” than they’d get from working. “On what planet am I competing with unemployment?” Black-Lewis asks. Meanwhile, in California, gig workers who applied for benefits were in for their own surprise: Letters telling them that they were eligible, but “are entitled to $0.” While the federal government is…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Economy: The long road backDon’t bet on a sharp and quick recovery for the economy, said Andy Kessler in The Wall Street Journal. At the beginning of the crisis, many hoped that the post-virus economy would still “take off like a rocket ship,” in the words of President Trump. Economists and pundits came to call that a “V-shaped recovery”—meaning a sharp plunge, then a rapid return. Maybe if “we’d had a two-week house arrest—three, at max” that could have happened. But with 26 million unemployment claims, “we’ve clearly fallen off a cliff.” Now many economists think we are in for something more like a U, with a slower ascent, and maybe a “long time underwater.” My expectation is a little different. I foresee a short bounce, as we’ve already seen in the stock market.…3 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020A virus that kills paper moneyNancy ScolaPolitico.comThe post-pandemic world might have considerably less cash on hand, said Nancy Scola. The coronavirus has already changed Americans’ spending habits at stores, with more businesses switching to “hands-free” payment systems from PayPal and Square. When we emerge from lockdowns, “what once seemed like the oldest, most reliable way of paying now seems fraught: A physical object changing hands, bringing people closer than 6 feet, covered in who knows what.” Tech companies have of course been promoting for years the benefits of cashless payment systems that are freed from “the restrictions that govern traditional banks.” Jack Dorsey, Square’s chief executive, even “prodded the government to let his payments company help figure out how to get Americans their stimulus money in a hurry.” But a sharp pivot away from cash…1 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020The fastball pitcher whose failure became legendSteve Dalkowski was the greatest never-was in baseball. A physically unimposing left-hander, Dalkowski could hurl a fastball with such phenomenal speed that legions of players swear it’s never been equaled. “The hardest thrower I ever saw,” said Hall of Fame manager Cal Ripken Sr., who claimed the pitcher approached 115 miles per hour. Dalkowski had everything, explained one former coach—“except control.” He walked batters as often as he struck them out, and sometimes sent a pitch over the backstop or into the bleachers. Through nine minor-league seasons no coach could find the cure, and Dalkowski—inspiration for the errant pitcher “Nuke” LaLoosh in the 1988 movie Bull Durham—never played a major-league game. He was just as wild off the mound, a prodigious carouser who eventually became an alcoholic drifter. “He had…2 min
The Week Magazine|May 8, 2020Prisoner of the White HouseWith Covid-19 tearing through the country, a frustrated President Trump spends hours a day monitoring cable TV news and fuming about the coverage, said Katie Rogers and Annie Karni in The New York Times.President Donald Trump arrives in the Oval Office these days as late as noon, when he is usually in a sour mood after his morning marathon of television.He has been up in the White House master bedroom as early as 5 a.m. watching Fox News, then CNN, with a dollop of MSNBC thrown in for rage viewing. He makes calls with the TV on in the background, his routine since he first arrived at the White House.But now there are differences.The president sees few allies no matter which channel he clicks. He is angry even with Fox,…8 min
