It Is Not A Matter of Not KnowingWhatever pandemic comes next will arrive in a culture deeply suspicious of the kind of measures we’ll need to survive it.
Health officials are worried about bird flu. Cases continue to climb, especially in California. But whatever pandemic comes next will arrive in a culture deeply suspicious of the kind of measures we’ll need to survive it.
Jess McAllen describes the nationwide movement to ban or limit masking. Advocates pitch it as a solution to crime and discrimination, but in truth such rules are meant to punish pro-Palestine protesters, and will harm those with disabilities or chronic illness. They’re a disaster for both privacy and public health, yet Republicans and Democrats alike press on, knowing the consequences.
Speaking of which: Leo Kim looks at recent initiatives to use AI to understand what animals are saying. Even if we could comprehend their speech, he writes, it’s unlikely we’d follow their advice, which might well be, “Stop destroying our habitats.” And Apoorva Tadepalli reviews Quarterlife, a novel that tracks political transformation in India, where growing nationalist fervor alienates some more than others.
Elsewhere: Jackson Davidow presents photos from Arthur Tress that depict the cruising grounds of Central Park. And in a story from our archives, Adele Stan examines the networks of private capital that wormed their way into the Trump White House the first time around.
“We’re not destroying the planet because we lack the right ‘facts of the matter’ but because our devastating systems are fundamentally irrational, premised on paradoxical axioms like perpetual growth.”
“Characters from nearly every single interest group, from Gyaan to Omkar, wrestle with the insecurity borne of longing to be the right kind of Indian, but the insecurity of the nationalist is especially tragic.”
“After decades of considering the Ramble series a solely personal project, as publishing or exhibiting these pictures would have been taboo at the time of their composition, Tress has been lately revisiting this doggedly queer work.”
“You can bet they plan to run the country the same way they have run their companies: using shell games and pyramid schemes, fraud and shakedown, answerable to virtually no one.”
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