newyorker--2020-05-07--Let’s Protect and Reward Workers Who Are Keeping America Going

If the fight to contain the coronavirus is a war , as Donald Trump and other politicians keep saying , it is a war in which working-class Americans , many of them members of minority groups , are suffering a disproportionate share of the casualties .
This became clear early in the outbreak , and it still holds true .
Last week , the Centers for Disease Control released a study from Georgia that showed that more than eighty per cent of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 in that state are African-American .
Here in New York City , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In affluent ( and mostly white ) parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn , there are fewer than ten confirmed cases of COVID-19 per thousand residents , whereas in many poor ( and mostly non-white ) parts of the city the infection rate is more than twenty-five per thousand residents .
( I took these figures from a very useful interactive map created by Ben Huff , a contributor to the website Untapped New York . )
A number of factors could have contributed to this pattern , but a central one , surely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professionals have been sheltering at home for the past couple of months , many working-class people have had to continue going out to their essential jobs , potentially exposing themselves to the virus .
They work at hospitals and nursing homes .
They are first responders , bus drivers , grocery clerks .
They fill packages at distribution warehouses , process meat at densely packed factories , and deliver food and other items to our doors .
In March , Congress made COVID-19 testing free and mandated two weeks of paid sick leave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But , all over the country , essential workers are still struggling to get tested and to find masks and other protective equipment .
Last month , the C.D.C .
reported that at least nine thousand health-care workers have gotten sick .
Some stricken workers have seen their paid sick leave run out before they could return to work .
Others have died .
According to USA Today , the number of COVID-19 cases tied to meat-processing plants , where many employees are Latino or African-American , has passed ten thousand .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meat plants is at least forty-five , and it ’ s growing by the day , even as Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at keeping the plants open .
Warehouses are another source of grave concern .
In March , employees at Amazon ’ s fulfillment facility on Staten Island protested against unsafe working conditions .
Earlier this week , citing alerts from workers , The Verge reported that at least twenty-nine workers at the warehouse have fallen ill , and one has died .
Trump and Mike Pence have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but what have they done to protect them ?
The inability to provide adequate protective equipment is widely recognized , but the Administration ’ s failures extend beyond that , to the safety requirements and guidelines issued by federal agencies .
The C.D.C .
“ now allows essential workers to continue to work even if they may have been exposed to the coronavirus—as long as they appear to be asymptomatic and the employer implements additional precautions , ” Celine McNicholas and Margaret Poydock , of the Economic Policy Institute , wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also pointed out that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration , the federal agency responsible for insuring workplace safety , has issued guidance that certain businesses aren ’ t required to investigate some workplace cases of coronavirus .
“ Not only does this guidance make workers less safe , ” McNicholas and Poydock wrote , “ it will likely make the public health crisis worse as employers will not be required to record virus-related illness as officials work to track these cases.
” It isn ’ t just essential workers who need protecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their places of employment over the next few weeks , insuring workplace safety everywhere will be vital .
But , on Thursday , the A.P .
reported that the Trump Administration has shelved a detailed set of safety guidelines that experts at the C.D.C .
developed .
Among them was a suggestion that businesses should offer vulnerable workers , such as older ones , “ duties that minimize their contact with customers and other employees.
” The report containing the guidelines was supposed to be released last week , but it got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
, wrote in a public letter to the U.S. Secretary of Labor , Eugene Scalia , “ the Department of Labor and federal government have failed to meet their obligation and duty to protect workers ; the government ’ s response has been delinquent , delayed , disorganized , chaotic and totally inadequate.
” To remedy some of these failures , Trumka asked the Administration to order all employers to develop a “ workplace infection control plan , ” which would include “ an exposure risk assessment ; engineering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including social distancing ) ; respiratory protection and other PPE ; sanitation and cleaning ; medical removal and wage protection for COVID-19 infected and exposed workers ; and training and education.
” That proposal sounds very reasonable .
So do many of the elements of the “ Essential Workers Bill of Rights ” that Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Democratic congressman Ro Khanna have put forward .
Under their proposal , which they unveiled last month , essential workers would be guaranteed health care , child care , and medical leave .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would also receive a pay raise in recognition of “ the critical contribution they are making to our health and our economy.
” In an election year dominated by the virus , you might think that politicians of all parties could unite behind proposals like these , but you ’ d be mistaken .
Instead of prioritizing the interests of essential workers and returning workers , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that his main goal in negotiating the next economic-rescue bill will be protecting business owners , including major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections that occur in the workplace .
“ If there ’ s any red line , it ’ s on litigation , ” McConnell said , on Tuesday .
In other words , there won ’ t be any additional money for hard-hit states , front-line workers , or anything else , until employers are given the green light to skimp on safety precautions .
In this area , as in others , the coronavirus has highlighted some basic realities about class and politics in the United States .
Over the past few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s former campaign manager , has received a lot of publicity for his claims that Trump is turning the G.O.P .
into a workers ’ party .
He meant a white workers ’ party , of course .
But even that claim ignored the fact that , when it comes to governing , the Republican Party remains primarily a vehicle for protecting corporate and financial interests .
McConnell isn ’ t even trying to hide it .
So the burden of protecting workers and their families falls on local leaders , and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaders : Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she enters negotiations over the next stimulus bill , and Joe Biden as he campaigns for the Presidency .
During a virtual town hall on Monday , Biden promised to provide essential workers , particularly those employed at meat-processing plants , with tests , protective equipment , and additional pay .
“ We owe you , ” he said .
That was a welcome acknowledgment of the obvious .
In the coming weeks and months , the former Vice-President should expand upon his commitment and campaign on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in favor of workers .
If not now , when ?

If the fight to contain the coronavirus is a war, as Donald Trump and other politicians keep saying, it is a war in which working-class Americans, many of them members of minority groups, are suffering a disproportionate share of the casualties. This became clear early in the outbreak, and it still holds true.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control released a study from Georgia that showed that more than eighty per cent of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 in that state are African-American. Here in New York City, a similarly skewed pattern can be seen. In affluent (and mostly white) parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, there are fewer than ten confirmed cases of COVID-19 per thousand residents, whereas in many poor (and mostly non-white) parts of the city the infection rate is more than twenty-five per thousand residents. (I took these figures from a very useful interactive map created by Ben Huff, a contributor to the Web site Untapped New York.)
A number of factors could have contributed to this pattern, but a central one, surely, is that, while most urban professionals have been sheltering at home for the past couple of months, many working-class people have had to continue going out to their essential jobs, potentially exposing themselves to the virus. They work at hospitals and nursing homes. They are first responders, bus drivers, grocery clerks. They fill packages at distribution warehouses, process meat at densely packed factories, and deliver food and other items to our doors.
In March, Congress made COVID-19 testing free and mandated two weeks of paid sick leave for many stricken by the virus. But, all over the country, essential workers are still struggling to get tested and to find masks and other protective equipment. Last month, the C.D.C. reported that at least nine thousand health-care workers have gotten sick. Some stricken workers have seen their paid sick leave run out before they could return to work. Others have died. According to USA Today, the number of COVID-19 cases tied to meat-processing plants, where many employees are Latino or African-American, has passed ten thousand. The death toll among workers at these same meat plants is at least forty-five, and it’s growing by the day, even as Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at keeping the plants open. Warehouses are another source of grave concern. In March, employees at Amazon’s fulfillment facility on Staten Island protested against unsafe working conditions. Earlier this week, citing alerts from workers, The Verge reported that at least twenty-nine workers at the warehouse have fallen ill, and one has died.
Trump and Mike Pence have publicly lauded the contributions of front-line workers, but what have they done to protect them? The inability to provide adequate protective equipment is widely recognized, but the Administration’s failures extend beyond that, to the safety requirements and guidelines issued by federal agencies. The C.D.C. “now allows essential workers to continue to work even if they may have been exposed to the coronavirus—as long as they appear to be asymptomatic and the employer implements additional precautions,” Celine McNicholas and Margaret Poydock, of the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a recent blog post. The authors also pointed out that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency responsible for insuring workplace safety, has issued guidance that certain businesses aren’t required to investigate some workplace cases of coronavirus. “Not only does this guidance make workers less safe,” McNicholas and Poydock wrote, “it will likely make the public health crisis worse as employers will not be required to record virus-related illness as officials work to track these cases.”
It isn’t just essential workers who need protecting. As more and more Americans return to their places of employment over the next few weeks, insuring workplace safety everywhere will be vital. But, on Thursday, the A.P. reported that the Trump Administration has shelved a detailed set of safety guidelines that experts at the C.D.C. developed. Among them was a suggestion that businesses should offer vulnerable workers, such as older ones, “duties that minimize their contact with customers and other employees.” The report containing the guidelines was supposed to be released last week, but it got nixed.
As Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., wrote in a public letter to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Eugene Scalia, “the Department of Labor and federal government have failed to meet their obligation and duty to protect workers; the government’s response has been delinquent, delayed, disorganized, chaotic and totally inadequate.” To remedy some of these failures, Trumka asked the Administration to order all employers to develop a “workplace infection control plan,” which would include “an exposure risk assessment; engineering and administrative and work practice controls (including social distancing); respiratory protection and other PPE; sanitation and cleaning; medical removal and wage protection for COVID-19 infected and exposed workers; and training and education.”
That proposal sounds very reasonable. So do many of the elements of the “Essential Workers Bill of Rights” that Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Democratic congressman Ro Khanna have put forward. Under their proposal, which they unveiled last month, essential workers would be guaranteed health care, child care, and medical leave. For the duration of the pandemic, they would also receive a pay raise in recognition of “the critical contribution they are making to our health and our economy.”
In an election year dominated by the virus, you might think that politicians of all parties could unite behind proposals like these, but you’d be mistaken. Instead of prioritizing the interests of essential workers and returning workers, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that his main goal in negotiating the next economic-rescue bill will be protecting business owners, including major corporations, from any legal liability for infections that occur in the workplace. “If there’s any red line, it’s on litigation,” McConnell said, on Tuesday. In other words, there won’t be any additional money for hard-hit states, front-line workers, or anything else, until employers are given the green light to skimp on safety precautions.
In this area, as in others, the coronavirus has highlighted some basic realities about class and politics in the United States. Over the past few years, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former campaign manager, has received a lot of publicity for his claims that Trump is turning the G.O.P. into a workers’ party. He meant a white workers’ party, of course. But even that claim ignored the fact that, when it comes to governing, the Republican Party remains primarily a vehicle for protecting corporate and financial interests. McConnell isn’t even trying to hide it.
So the burden of protecting workers and their families falls on local leaders, and, at the national level, on Democratic leaders: Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she enters negotiations over the next stimulus bill, and Joe Biden as he campaigns for the Presidency. During a virtual town hall on Monday, Biden promised to provide essential workers, particularly those employed at meat-processing plants, with tests, protective equipment, and additional pay. “We owe you,” he said. That was a welcome acknowledgment of the obvious. In the coming weeks and months, the former Vice-President should expand upon his commitment and campaign on a broader argument for rebalancing the economy in favor of workers. If not now, when?


newyorker--2020-05-07--Unskilled American Somehow Still Employed

WASHINGTON ( The Borowitz Report ) —Despite an increasingly grim employment picture , an unskilled American man remains gainfully employed , labor experts confirmed .
With millions applying for unemployment benefits each week , experts expressed bafflement and outright astonishment that a man with no identifiable skills , talents , or competence appears to be secure in his job .
“ This unskilled individual ’ s continued employment defies any kind of economic logic , ” Davis Logsdon , who studies employment trends at the University of Minnesota , said .
“ Of the 33.5 million Americans who have applied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , approximately 33.5 million are more qualified than he is.
” Even more perplexing , experts said , is the unskilled man ’ s persistent employment after failing at a series of other jobs during the past three years .
“ The only explanation that makes sense , and I ’ ll admit it ’ s far-fetched , is that whoever hired him is equally unskilled , ” Logsdon said .
Despite the man ’ s puzzlingly long record of employment , Logsdon said that ferocious economic headwinds could bring it to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ November .

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Despite an increasingly grim employment picture, an unskilled American man remains gainfully employed, labor experts confirmed.
With millions applying for unemployment benefits each week, experts expressed bafflement and outright astonishment that a man with no identifiable skills, talents, or competence appears to be secure in his job.
“This unskilled individual’s continued employment defies any kind of economic logic,” Davis Logsdon, who studies employment trends at the University of Minnesota, said. “Of the 33.5 million Americans who have applied for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks, approximately 33.5 million are more qualified than he is.”
Even more perplexing, experts said, is the unskilled man’s persistent employment after failing at a series of other jobs during the past three years.
“The only explanation that makes sense, and I’ll admit it’s far-fetched, is that whoever hired him is equally unskilled,” Logsdon said.
Despite the man’s puzzlingly long record of employment, Logsdon said that ferocious economic headwinds could bring it to an abrupt halt, as early as November.


newyorker--2020-05-07--How Racism Is Shaping the Coronavirus Pandemic

Evelynn Hammonds , who chairs Harvard ’ s department of the history of science , has spent her career studying the intersection of race and disease .
She wrote a history of New York City ’ s attempt , a century ago , to control diphtheria , and is currently at work on a book of essays on the history of race , from Jefferson to genomics .
Hammonds ’ s area of expertise is especially relevant today : while the data is incomplete , at this point in time , African-Americans represent nearly a third of U.S. deaths from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 cases , despite making up only about thirteen per cent of the population .
Hammonds noted recently , “ This new development of what has happened with the pandemic with respect to African-American communities ” is “ perhaps an old development.
” I spoke by phone with Hammonds , who is currently hosting a series of Webinars with academics and experts at Harvard on African-Americans and epidemics in American history , from the eighteenth century to the present day .
As she stated in one of the sessions , “ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to wait until this pandemic has passed to make clear what kinds of structural inequalities and implicit and explicit biases are at work.
” During our conversation , which has been edited for length and clarity , we discussed why African-Americans were once thought to be immune to various diseases , how this belief morphed into the fear that they were spreaders of contagion , and what lessons can be learned from a Civil War-era smallpox outbreak .
Have you been thinking about the coronavirus in a historical context , and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think any historian who has worked on the history of disease has been thinking about the coronavirus in historical contexts , and there are many , many resonances that kept appearing in press reports of all kinds .
About four weeks ago , I began to be particularly interested in the fact that I wasn ’ t hearing about the pandemic having an impact on African-American communities .
You heard stories that said this disease affects us all , but , knowing what we know about the ways in which epidemic diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a society , I was surprised that I wasn ’ t hearing very much about what was happening for African-Americans and Latinos , and also very poor people in general .
Then the news burst on the scene that , in many of the hardest-hit areas , African-Americans were disproportionately impacted .
And at that point I was having a conversation with Henry Louis Gates , Jr. , and I decided to host a Webinar on the impact of epidemic disease on African-Americans from 1793 to the present .
Why did you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was a very serious outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia from 1792 to 1793 .
At the time , Philadelphia was the seat of government .
Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence , a leading person in Philadelphia , but he was also a physician .
He wrote a lot about his theories , about the spread of yellow fever and how it should be treated .
I think the population of Philadelphia at the time was about fifty thousand , and over five thousand people died .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the things that came to the fore in that moment was the widespread belief among whites that African-Americans were immune to yellow fever .
And so , because of that belief , Rush enlisted two African-American leaders of the community , Richard Allen and Absalom Jones , and encouraged them to help treat the sick .
He taught them how to perform some nursing and to help treat the sick based on his theories of how you treat yellow fever .
And they did this , and they travelled around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this work , as many white élites had left town .
[ Other members of Philadelphia ’ s free black community also worked as volunteers during the epidemic . ]
And then at the end of the epidemic , a newspaper editor , Matthew Kerry , wrote an article saying that , yes , they were immune , but that these black people who were supposedly helping sick people in Philadelphia were actually robbing them .
Absalom Jones and Richard Allen then wrote a pamphlet , which is one of the earliest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States , and they argued that they had been misrepresented , that they had helped as many people as they could .
And , by the way , they found that many of the black people in Philadelphia also did suffer from yellow fever , and some died .
It ’ s an early instance of that notion that black bodies are different bodies , and therefore are not susceptible to diseases in the same way as whites , and the belief became quite visible and prominent in a medical discussion of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was an important moment .
It was also an important moment because African-Americans really spoke up for themselves and challenged those prevailing views .
Was Rush ’ s decision because he thought that they were immune , too , or was he trying to dispel the myth ?
Oh , no , he thought they were immune , too .
Throughout American history , and certainly through the eras of slavery and Jim Crow , it seems that going on side by side with this dislike of African-Americans was also this fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s right .
And so , moving forward in time , you see this idea of black bodies being a “ threat ” to the white population .
By the early twentieth century , there ’ s a famous article published in the American Journal of Public Health called “ Germs.
” Actually , it was first published in the Atlanta Constitution , and it was called “ Germs Know No Color Line.
” The doctor who wrote it was making an argument that suggested whites should be concerned about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they cared about African-Americans but because these people worked for them .
They raised their children , they cooked for them .
They were in and out of their houses .
They did their laundry .
And , since germs know no color line , these people who are so intimately involved in your lives will be bringing these germs and disease into your houses .
So you should care about their health , not for their sake but for your own sake .
It manifested the view that black bodies are dangerous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ black bodies , and black bodies and black people spread disease .
Another event that I know has captured your interest is the outbreak of smallpox toward the middle of the nineteenth century .
Can you talk about that a little bit ?
Right around the time of emancipation , with the war still going on , African-Americans really became a kind of refugee population .
They were leaving plantations in the South , and they left with very little to take care of themselves .
They had little food , they had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they didn ’ t really have destinations .
Where were they going ?
And many people followed the Union troops .
At the time , a smallpox epidemic broke out .
White physicians knew how to treat smallpox .
They knew about vaccination .
But they isolated the black people who were following the troops as refugees .
And by isolating the African-Americans , or I should say by isolating the newly freed African-Americans , the disease spread very quickly among them .
So the outbreak of smallpox was not controlled , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died .
And , in fact , a historian named Margaret Humphreys said something to the effect of : the path to freedom was paved with death , and destitution , and suffering .
So it was very striking that freedom came with the spread of a very serious and highly contagious disease , at a moment when there was no federal or state infrastructure to care for them .

Evelynn Hammonds, who chairs Harvard’s department of the history of science, has spent her career studying the intersection of race and disease. She wrote a history of New York City’s attempt, a century ago, to control diphtheria, and is currently at work on a book of essays on the history of race, from Jefferson to genomics. Hammonds’s area of expertise is especially relevant today: while the data is incomplete, at this point in time, African-Americans represent nearly a third of U.S. deaths from the coronavirus pandemic and thirty per cent of COVID-19 cases, despite making up only about thirteen per cent of the population. Hammonds noted recently, “This new development of what has happened with the pandemic with respect to African-American communities” is “perhaps an old development.”
I spoke by phone with Hammonds, who is currently hosting a series of Webinars with academics and experts at Harvard on African-Americans and epidemics in American history, from the eighteenth century to the present day. As she stated in one of the sessions, “I can’t imagine saying that we have to wait until this pandemic has passed to make clear what kinds of structural inequalities and implicit and explicit biases are at work.” During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed why African-Americans were once thought to be immune to various diseases, how this belief morphed into the fear that they were spreaders of contagion, and what lessons can be learned from a Civil War-era smallpox outbreak.
Have you been thinking about the coronavirus in a historical context, and, if so, what specific context?
I think any historian who has worked on the history of disease has been thinking about the coronavirus in historical contexts, and there are many, many resonances that kept appearing in press reports of all kinds. About four weeks ago, I began to be particularly interested in the fact that I wasn’t hearing about the pandemic having an impact on African-American communities. You heard stories that said this disease affects us all, but, knowing what we know about the ways in which epidemic diseases always lay bare and make visible inequalities in a society, I was surprised that I wasn’t hearing very much about what was happening for African-Americans and Latinos, and also very poor people in general. Then the news burst on the scene that, in many of the hardest-hit areas, African-Americans were disproportionately impacted. And at that point I was having a conversation with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and I decided to host a Webinar on the impact of epidemic disease on African-Americans from 1793 to the present.
Why did you decide to start in 1793?
Because there was a very serious outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia from 1792 to 1793. At the time, Philadelphia was the seat of government. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a leading person in Philadelphia, but he was also a physician. He wrote a lot about his theories, about the spread of yellow fever and how it should be treated. I think the population of Philadelphia at the time was about fifty thousand, and over five thousand people died. That’s quite significant. And one of the things that came to the fore in that moment was the widespread belief among whites that African-Americans were immune to yellow fever. And so, because of that belief, Rush enlisted two African-American leaders of the community, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, and encouraged them to help treat the sick. He taught them how to perform some nursing and to help treat the sick based on his theories of how you treat yellow fever. And they did this, and they travelled around the city, and they did a lot of this work, as many white élites had left town. [Other members of Philadelphia’s free black community also worked as volunteers during the epidemic.]
And then at the end of the epidemic, a newspaper editor, Matthew Carey, wrote an article saying that, yes, they were immune, but that these black people who were supposedly helping sick people in Philadelphia were actually robbing them. Absalom Jones and Richard Allen then wrote a pamphlet, which is one of the earliest pamphlets written by African-Americans in the United States, and they argued that they had been misrepresented, that they had helped as many people as they could. And, by the way, they found that many of the black people in Philadelphia also did suffer from yellow fever, and some died. It’s an early instance of that notion that black bodies are different bodies, and therefore are not susceptible to diseases in the same way as whites, and the belief became quite visible and prominent in a medical discussion of an outbreak. So, to me, that was an important moment. It was also an important moment because African-Americans really spoke up for themselves and challenged those prevailing views.
Was Rush’s decision because he thought that they were immune, too, or was he trying to dispel the myth?
Oh, no, he thought they were immune, too.
Throughout American history, and certainly through the eras of slavery and Jim Crow, it seems that going on side by side with this dislike of African-Americans was also this fear of them as physical presences or bodies.
That’s right. And so, moving forward in time, you see this idea of black bodies being a “threat” to the white population. By the early twentieth century, there’s a famous article published in the Atlanta Constitution, called “Germs Know No Color Line.” The doctor who wrote it was making an argument that suggested whites should be concerned about the health of African-Americans, not because they cared about African-Americans but because these people worked for them. They raised their children, they cooked for them. They were in and out of their houses. They did their laundry. And, since germs know no color line, these people who are so intimately involved in your lives will be bringing these germs and disease into your houses. So you should care about their health, not for their sake but for your own sake. It manifested the view that black bodies are dangerous, white people should protect themselves from black bodies, and black bodies and black people spread disease.
Another event that I know has captured your interest is the outbreak of smallpox toward the middle of the nineteenth century. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Right around the time of emancipation, with the war still going on, African-Americans really became a kind of refugee population. They were leaving plantations in the South, and they left with very little to take care of themselves. They had little food, they had little clothing, they had no housing, they didn’t really have destinations. Where were they going? And many people followed the Union troops.
At the time, a smallpox epidemic broke out. White physicians knew how to treat smallpox. They knew about vaccination. But they isolated the black people who were following the troops as refugees. And by isolating the African-Americans, or I should say by isolating the newly freed African-Americans, the disease spread very quickly among them. So the outbreak of smallpox was not controlled, and many of those African-Americans suffered and died. And, in fact, a historian named Margaret Humphreys said something to the effect of: the path to freedom was paved with death, and destitution, and suffering. So it was very striking that freedom came with the spread of a very serious and highly contagious disease, at a moment when there was no federal or state infrastructure to care for them.
That’s the origin of that epidemic and outbreak. And the fact that African-Americans were leaving the South was the impetus for the Freedmen’s Bureau. There was a medical division of the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was established by the federal government, and the medical division was set up to provide health care for African-Americans. They built makeshift hospitals. They provided nursing and care and treatment as best they could. But, certainly in the political controversies during Reconstruction, Southerners reacted strongly to the federal government spending funds to take care of black people. And, as you know, the Southerners won arguments in Reconstruction, and therefore the federal government retreated from a national effort to provide health care to African-Americans. At the same time, a small group of educated African-Americans was involved in trying to provide care for this newly freed population, which had so very little. And they, too, argued to the federal government that now they were citizens, they wanted the government to provide health care to them. It was a moment where citizenship was tied to health care in a way that hadn’t really been articulated before.


newyorker--2020-05-07--Daily Cartoon: Thursday, May 7th

Daily Cartoon: Thursday, May 7th

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newyorker--2020-05-07--What Shakespeare Actually Wrote About the Plague

Shakespeare lived his entire life in the shadow of bubonic plague .
On April 26 , 1564 , in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church , in Stratford-upon-Avon , the vicar , John Bretchgirdle , recorded the baptism of one “ Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere.
” A few months later , in the same register , the vicar noted the death of Oliver Gunne , an apprentice weaver , and in the margins next to that entry scribbled the words “ hic incipit pestis ” ( here begins the plague ) .
On that occasion , the epidemic took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the town ’ s population .
By good fortune , it spared the life of the infant William Shakespeare and his family .
Such outbreaks did not rage on forever .
With the help of strict quarantines and a change in the weather , the epidemic would slowly wane , as it did in Stratford , and life would resume its normal course .
But , after an interval of a few years , in cities and towns throughout the realm , the plague would return .
It generally appeared on the scene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was terrifyingly contagious .
Victims would awaken with fever and chills .
A feeling of extreme weakness or exhaustion would give way to diarrhea , vomiting , bleeding from the mouth , nose , or rectum , and telltale buboes , or swollen lymph nodes , in the groin or armpit .
Death , often in great agony , would almost inevitably follow .
Innumerable preventive measures were proposed , most of which were useless—or , in the case of the killing of dogs and cats , worse than useless , since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rat-borne fleas .
The smoke of dried rosemary , frankincense , or bay leaves burning in a chafing dish was thought to help clear the air of infection , and , if those ingredients were not readily available , physicians recommended burning old shoes .
In the streets , people walked about sniffing oranges stuffed with cloves .
Pressed firmly enough against the nose , perhaps these functioned as a kind of mask .
It was early recognized that the rate of infection was far higher in densely populated cities than in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do so escaped to rural retreats , though they often brought infection with them .
Civic officials , realizing that crowds heightened contagion , took measures to institute what we now call social distancing .
Collecting data from parish registers , they carefully tracked weekly plague-related deaths .
When those deaths surpassed thirty , they banned assemblies , feasts , archery contests , and other forms of mass gathering .
Since it was believed that it was impossible to become infected during the act of worship , church services were not included in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not permitted to attend .
But the public theatres in London , which routinely brought together two or three thousand people in an enclosed space , were ordered shut .
It could take many months before the death rate came down sufficiently for the authorities to allow theatres to reopen .
As a shareholder and sometime actor in his playing company , as well as its principal playwright , Shakespeare had to grapple throughout his career with these repeated , economically devastating closings .
There were particularly severe outbreaks of plague in 1582 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 1608-09 .
The theatre historian J. Leeds Barroll III , who carefully sifted through the surviving records , concluded that in the years between 1606 and 1610—the period in which Shakespeare wrote and produced some of his greatest plays , from “ Macbeth ” and “ Antony and Cleopatra ” to “ The Winter ’ s Tale ” and “ The Tempest ” —the London playhouses were not likely to have been open for more than a total of nine months .
It is all the more striking , then , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never directly represents the plague .
He did not write anything remotely like , let alone as powerful as , his contemporary Thomas Nashe ’ s haunting “ A Litany in Time of Plague ” : In Shakespeare , epidemic disease is present for the most part as a steady , low-level undertone , surfacing in his characters ’ speeches most vividly in metaphorical expressions of rage and disgust .
Mortally wounded in the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues , Mercutio calls down “ A plague on both your houses.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lear tells his daughter Goneril , “ A plague-sore , or embossed carbuncle / In my corrupted blood.
” “ Here ’ s gold , ” the misanthropic Timon of Athens offers his visitor .
“ Be as a planetary plague , when Jove / Will o ’ er some high-viced city hang his poison / In the sick air.
” “ All the contagion of the south light on you / You shames of Rome , ” Coriolanus spits at the plebeians : Plague constantly appears throughout Shakespeare ’ s works in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a plague upon it when thieves can not be true to one another ” ; “ a plague of sighing and grief !
It blows a man up like a bladder ” ; “ a plague upon this howling ” ; “ a plague of these pickle-herring !
” But this is a sign less of existential horror than of deep familiarity , the acceptance of plague as an inescapable feature of ordinary life .
As such , it can be turned to comic effect , as when Beatrice mocks what it is @ @ @ @ @ @

Photograph from Alamy
Shakespeare lived his entire life in the shadow of bubonic plague. On April 26, 1564, in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church, in Stratford-upon-Avon, the vicar, John Bretchgirdle, recorded the baptism of one “Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere.” A few months later, in the same register, the vicar noted the death of Oliver Gunne, an apprentice weaver, and in the margins next to that entry scribbled the words “hic incipit pestis” (here begins the plague). On that occasion, the epidemic took the lives of around a fifth of the town’s population. By good fortune, it spared the life of the infant William Shakespeare and his family.
Such outbreaks did not rage on forever. With the help of strict quarantines and a change in the weather, the epidemic would slowly wane, as it did in Stratford, and life would resume its normal course. But, after an interval of a few years, in cities and towns throughout the realm, the plague would return. It generally appeared on the scene with little or no warning, and it was terrifyingly contagious. Victims would awaken with fever and chills. A feeling of extreme weakness or exhaustion would give way to diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding from the mouth, nose, or rectum, and telltale buboes, or swollen lymph nodes, in the groin or armpit. Death, often in great agony, would almost inevitably follow.
Innumerable preventive measures were proposed, most of which were useless—or, in the case of the killing of dogs and cats, worse than useless, since the disease was in fact spread by rat-borne fleas. The smoke of dried rosemary, frankincense, or bay leaves burning in a chafing dish was thought to help clear the air of infection, and, if those ingredients were not readily available, physicians recommended burning old shoes. In the streets, people walked about sniffing oranges stuffed with cloves. Pressed firmly enough against the nose, perhaps these functioned as a kind of mask.
It was early recognized that the rate of infection was far higher in densely populated cities than in the country; those with the means to do so escaped to rural retreats, though they often brought infection with them. Civic officials, realizing that crowds heightened contagion, took measures to institute what we now call social distancing. Collecting data from parish registers, they carefully tracked weekly plague-related deaths. When those deaths surpassed thirty, they banned assemblies, feasts, archery contests, and other forms of mass gathering. Since it was believed that it was impossible to become infected during the act of worship, church services were not included in the ban, though the infected were not permitted to attend. But the public theatres in London, which routinely brought together two or three thousand people in an enclosed space, were ordered shut. It could take many months before the death rate came down sufficiently for the authorities to allow theatres to reopen.
As a shareholder and sometime actor in his playing company, as well as its principal playwright, Shakespeare had to grapple throughout his career with these repeated, economically devastating closings. There were particularly severe outbreaks of plague in 1582, 1592-93, 1603-04, 1606, and 1608-09. The theatre historian J. Leeds Barroll III, who carefully sifted through the surviving records, concluded that in the years between 1606 and 1610—the period in which Shakespeare wrote and produced some of his greatest plays, from “Macbeth” and “Antony and Cleopatra” to “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Tempest”—the London playhouses were not likely to have been open for more than a total of nine months.
It is all the more striking, then, that in his plays and poems Shakespeare almost never directly represents the plague. He did not write anything remotely like, let alone as powerful as, his contemporary Thomas Nashe’s haunting “A Litany in Time of Plague”:
Rich men, trust not in wealth,
Gold cannot buy you health;
Physic himself must fade.
All things to end are made,
The plague full swift goes by;
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Beauty is but a flower
Which wrinkles will devour;
Brightness falls from the air;
Queens have died young and fair;
Dust hath closed Helen’s eye.
I am sick, I must die.
Lord, have mercy on us!
In Shakespeare, epidemic disease is present for the most part as a steady, low-level undertone, surfacing in his characters’ speeches most vividly in metaphorical expressions of rage and disgust. Mortally wounded in the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, Mercutio calls down “A plague on both your houses.” “Thou art a boil,” Lear tells his daughter Goneril, “A plague-sore, or embossed carbuncle / In my corrupted blood.” “Here’s gold,” the misanthropic Timon of Athens offers his visitor. “Be as a planetary plague, when Jove / Will o’er some high-viced city hang his poison / In the sick air.” “All the contagion of the south light on you / You shames of Rome,” Coriolanus spits at the plebeians:
You herd of—Boils and plagues
Plaster you o’er, that you may be abhorred
Farther than seen, and one infect another
Against the wind a mile!
Plague constantly appears throughout Shakespeare’s works in the form of everyday exclamations: “a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true to one another”; “a plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder”; “a plague upon this howling”; “a plague of these pickle-herring!” But this is a sign less of existential horror than of deep familiarity, the acceptance of plague as an inescapable feature of ordinary life. As such, it can be turned to comic effect, as when Beatrice mocks what it is to be befriended by Benedict:
O Lord! He will hang upon him like a disease. He is sooner caught than the pestilence, and the taker runs presently mad. God help the noble Claudio. If he have caught the Benedict it will cost him a thousand pound ere ’a be cured.
It can even be used with something like cheerful resignation, as when the countess Olivia in “Twelfth Night” marvels at the speed with which she has fallen in love:
How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague?
Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections
With an invisible and subtle stealth
To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.
The contagion that continued to take so many lives has morphed into a happy image of lovesickness: “Well, let it be.”
The plague as an actual event figures prominently in only one of Shakespeare’s plays. Friar Laurence in “Romeo and Juliet” has asked a fellow friar to deliver a crucial message to the exiled Romeo in Mantua, informing him about the clever drug that is going to make Juliet appear to have died. In a few lines, the messenger conveys a wealth of information, far more than seems strictly necessary for the requirements of the plot:
Going to find a barefoot brother out,
One of our order, to associate me,
Here in this city visiting the sick,
And finding him, the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Sealed up the doors and would not let us forth,
So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed.
Franciscans, who as a discalced order went either barefoot or in sandals, were required by their rules to travel in pairs. Hence the messenger had to locate another Franciscan in Verona (“in this city”) to accompany him (“one of our order, to associate me”). He found this intended companion visiting the sick, and both were therefore suspected of having been exposed to the disease. As a result, they were put into quarantine. “The searchers of the town”—that is, the public-health officers—literally locked them in by nailing the doors shut. The quarantine has evidently only just ended. Friar Laurence returns to the key question—“Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?” —and receives a dismaying answer:


newyorker--2020-05-07--Big Oil’s Reign Is Finally Weakening

Big Oil’s Reign Is Finally Weakening

Subscribers to The Climate Crisis newsletter received this piece in their in-boxes .
Sign up to receive future installments .
On some long-distant day when some as-yet-unborn historian sits down to write the story of climate change—the story of the greatest crisis humans ever faced—it ’ s possible that they ’ ll choose an anecdote from this past week as a way into the story .
Amid the coronavirus pandemic , it understandably didn ’ t get much notice , but JPMorgan Chase announced on Friday that Lee Raymond will no longer serve as the lead independent director of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fossil-fuel industry .
I ’ ve told the backstory at much greater length here , but , briefly : Raymond was a key Exxon executive from the nineteen-eighties onward—the years when the company was one of the most profitable in the world .
( If you want a full account , read Steve Coll ’ s majestic “ Private Empire.
” ) Those were also the years when Exxon ’ s scientists discovered—before it was publicly an issue—that climate change was real and dangerous , and when Exxon ’ s executives decided to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cover up that truth .
Raymond gave the single most audacious speech of the era , telling a World Petroleum Congress audience in 1997 , on the eve of the Kyoto climate talks , that the planet was cooling , and that it made no difference if we acted then or waited a quarter century .
Raymond retired from Exxon as C.E.O.
, in 2005 , having earned a reported six hundred and eighty-six million dollars ; in his retirement , his job was to help run the board at Chase .
Advocates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead independent director because of his climate-denying past , and last month the New York City comptroller , Scott Stringer , joined the fight , pledging to vote the city pension fund ’ s Exxon shares against Raymond ; he persuaded the New York State comptroller and the Pennsylvania state treasurer , in turn , to join him .
One can only speculate , but this clearly put pressure on giant investors such as BlackRock , who have been making climate-friendly noises ; in any event , as the Financial Times reported , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , though he remains on the board .
The effect is probably practical and definitely symbolic—Raymond ’ s removal ratifies the notion that , after a decade of relentless campaigning by activists , Big Oil is no longer quite as big .
It ’ s true that , in the same week , much of the industry got the bailout that it had been asking for from Washington .
But that was scant cause for celebration : the International Energy Agency released new numbers , predicting that global oil demand would drop nine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis pointed out , the fossil-fuel sector really faces long-term solvency problems , not just short-term liquidity woes .
Demand growth had been slowing in recent years , as regulatory pressure began to mount , as a result of all that activism , and as renewable energy got cheaper .
Even before COVID-19 really bit , Exxon had been “ humbled , ” according to Bloomberg Businessweek , becoming a “ mediocre ” company .
Now it seems entirely likely that we have seen peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oil companies had predicted wouldn ’ t come for decades .
Here ’ s the energy analyst Kingsmill Bond ’ s precis : “ If demand for fossil fuels bounces back in 2021 by half the amount it fell in 2020 , and grows at 0.5 % a year , it would take 8 years to get back to where the industry started .
And in the meantime , the renewable energy revolution has not stopped.
” This process will accelerate in places where governments rebuild their economies with Green New Deals , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to private cars combines with cheap gas prices to keep the S.U.V .
era alive a little longer .
But the key point is that , as the industry flags , so will its political power .
“ The ability of the industry to dictate to governments will weaken , ” Bond said , “ and the capacity of incumbents to frustrate the growth of renewables will reduce.
” Exit Lee Raymond , stage right .
Vanessa Hauc took over in March as the anchor of Telemundo ’ s weekend newscast , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her other role , leading the Spanish-language network ’ s environmental-investigative unit for its remarkable program “ Planeta Tierra.
” She ’ s also notable for the fact that , in February , she was the first climate journalist chosen to ask questions at a Presidential debate .
Every poll shows that Latinx Americans are the group most concerned about climate change in the country—why ?
The climate emergency is affecting everyone on the planet , but not equally .
It disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable populations—women , children , and minorities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. , half of our community lives in the twenty-five most polluted cities in the country , and in neighborhoods that are close to factories and refineries with high levels of pollution .
Latino children are forty per cent more likely to die from asthma than non-Latino white children .
Our communities work in sectors that are directly impacted by heat waves and extreme-weather events , like agriculture , construction , and landscaping .
For us , the climate emergency is a reality affecting not only where we live but where we work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a powerful force of change .
We care deeply about the environment .
Our connection with nature is ancestral—it ’ s in our DNA .
I still remember my trips to the market with my grandmother , in a small town in Colombia , where all the fruits and vegetables were organic and sold to us by local farmers .
I remember she didn ’ t use a plastic bag but a costal , a bag made of dry leaves to carry practically anything .
Many of my dresses first belonged to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on to my cousins in Peru .
We walked when we could , we shared rides , and food was the center of family gatherings .
We feasted around my grandmother ’ s delicious recipes from Peru .
Many Latino families are like that .
We recycle by nature .
We believe in conservation , and no food will go to waste in our homes .
We are a community that is ready to act on the climate emergency and that wants to be a part of the solution .
The challenge we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a platform and the necessary resources and information to work on solutions and live sustainable lives .
What are the other issues that really draw a strong response on “ Planeta Tierra ” ?
“ Planeta Tierra ” shines a light on the greatest challenges we are facing today , from plastic pollution to the loss of biodiversity and deforestation .
But we frame our stories on solutions .
We look for the stories of people who are making a difference .
For example , entrepreneurs who are rethinking their way of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We interviewed a fashion designer in Mexico who is creating leather from the leaves of nopal , a traditional Mexican vegetable .
We also ran a story about a factory that is producing plastic out of avocado seeds .
We recently highlighted the work of women who are redesigning our food systems to make it healthy for us and for the planet , too .
The story of our changing planet can feel overwhelming .
Many of us have felt paralyzed in front of the magnitude of the challenge it presents .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ job is to inform my viewers about our changing climate in the most rigorous and scientific way .
But , as an environmentalist , my job is also to give them hope , to empower them to be part of the solution , to offer the tools and information they need to really be agents of change .
If there is one essay from the weeks of pandemic I wish I could make everyone read , it would be Kim Stanley Robinson ’ s offering on The New Yorker ’ s Web site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or as successfully with the climate crisis .
( Anyone who loves Gotham should immediately buy Robinson ’ s “ New York 2140.
” ) Speaking of our quarantine , he writes that “ we realize that what we do now , well or badly , will be remembered later on .
This sense of enacting history matters.
” But , he continues , thanks to global warming “ we ’ ve already been living in a historic moment .
For the past few decades , we ’ ve been called upon to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a way that will be scrutinized by our descendants .
”

The removal of the former ExxonMobil C.E.O. Lee Raymond as the lead independent director of JPMorgan Chase’s board is a climate-activist victory. Photograph from Fort Worth Star-Telegram / ZUMA
Subscribers to The Climate Crisis newsletter received this piece in their in-boxes. Sign up to receive future installments.
On some long-distant day when some as-yet-unborn historian sits down to write the story of climate change—the story of the greatest crisis humans ever faced—it’s possible that they’ll choose an anecdote from this past week as a way into the story. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, it understandably didn’t get much notice, but JPMorgan Chase announced on Friday that Lee Raymond will no longer serve as the lead independent director of the world’s largest lender to the fossil-fuel industry.
I’ve told the backstory at much greater length here, but, briefly: Raymond was a key Exxon executive from the nineteen-eighties onward—the years when the company was one of the most profitable in the world. (If you want a full account, read Steve Coll’s majestic “Private Empire.”) Those were also the years when Exxon’s scientists discovered—before it was publicly an issue—that climate change was real and dangerous, and when Exxon’s executives decided to join with others in the industry to cover up that truth. Raymond gave the single most audacious speech of the era, telling a World Petroleum Congress audience in 1997, on the eve of the Kyoto climate talks, that the planet was cooling, and that it made no difference if we acted then or waited a quarter century.
Raymond retired from Exxon as C.E.O., in 2005, having earned a reported six hundred and eighty-six million dollars; in his retirement, his job was to help run the board at Chase. Advocates have urged Chase to remove him as lead independent director because of his climate-denying past, and last month the New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer, joined the fight, pledging to vote the city pension fund’s Exxon shares against Raymond; he persuaded the New York State comptroller and the Pennsylvania state treasurer, in turn, to join him. One can only speculate, but this clearly put pressure on giant investors such as BlackRock, who have been making climate-friendly noises; in any event, as the Financial Times reported, Chase has removed Raymond from his position, though he remains on the board.
The effect is probably practical and definitely symbolic—Raymond’s removal ratifies the notion that, after a decade of relentless campaigning by activists, Big Oil is no longer quite as big. It’s true that, in the same week, much of the industry got the bailout that it had been asking for from Washington. But that was scant cause for celebration: the International Energy Agency released new numbers, predicting that global oil demand would drop nine per cent this year. As economists at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis pointed out, the fossil-fuel sector really faces long-term solvency problems, not just short-term liquidity woes. Demand growth had been slowing in recent years, as regulatory pressure began to mount, as a result of all that activism, and as renewable energy got cheaper. Even before COVID-19 really bit, Exxon had been “humbled,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek, becoming a “mediocre” company. Now it seems entirely likely that we have seen peak oil demand, a moment that the oil companies had predicted wouldn’t come for decades. Here’s the energy analyst Kingsmill Bond’s precis: “If demand for fossil fuels bounces back in 2021 by half the amount it fell in 2020, and grows at 0.5% a year, it would take 8 years to get back to where the industry started. And in the meantime, the renewable energy revolution has not stopped.”
This process will accelerate in places where governments rebuild their economies with Green New Deals, and lag in places where a move back to private cars combines with cheap gas prices to keep the S.U.V. era alive a little longer. But the key point is that, as the industry flags, so will its political power. “The ability of the industry to dictate to governments will weaken,” Bond said, “and the capacity of incumbents to frustrate the growth of renewables will reduce.” Exit Lee Raymond, stage right.
Passing the Mic
Vanessa Hauc took over in March as the anchor of Telemundo’s weekend newscast, but she didn’t give up her other role, leading the Spanish-language network’s environmental-investigative unit for its remarkable program “Planeta Tierra.” She’s also notable for the fact that, in February, she was the first climate journalist chosen to ask questions at a Presidential debate.
Every poll shows that Latinx Americans are the group most concerned about climate change in the country—why?
The climate emergency is affecting everyone on the planet, but not equally. It disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable populations—women, children, and minorities, among them Latinos. Here in the U.S., half of our community lives in the twenty-five most polluted cities in the country, and in neighborhoods that are close to factories and refineries with high levels of pollution. Latino children are forty per cent more likely to die from asthma than non-Latino white children. Our communities work in sectors that are directly impacted by heat waves and extreme-weather events, like agriculture, construction, and landscaping. For us, the climate emergency is a reality affecting not only where we live but where we work. Still, I see my community as a powerful force of change. We care deeply about the environment. Our connection with nature is ancestral—it’s in our DNA. I still remember my trips to the market with my grandmother, in a small town in Colombia, where all the fruits and vegetables were organic and sold to us by local farmers. I remember she didn’t use a plastic bag but a costal, a bag made of dry leaves to carry practically anything. Many of my dresses first belonged to my sisters. I then passed them on to my cousins in Peru. We walked when we could, we shared rides, and food was the center of family gatherings. We feasted around my grandmother’s delicious recipes from Peru.
Many Latino families are like that. We recycle by nature. We believe in conservation, and no food will go to waste in our homes. We are a community that is ready to act on the climate emergency and that wants to be a part of the solution. The challenge we face is to insure that those communities have a platform and the necessary resources and information to work on solutions and live sustainable lives.
What are the other issues that really draw a strong response on “Planeta Tierra”?
“Planeta Tierra” shines a light on the greatest challenges we are facing today, from plastic pollution to the loss of biodiversity and deforestation. But we frame our stories on solutions. We look for the stories of people who are making a difference. For example, entrepreneurs who are rethinking their way of doing business and creating more sustainable products. We interviewed a fashion designer in Mexico who is creating leather from the leaves of nopal, a traditional Mexican vegetable. We also ran a story about a factory that is producing plastic out of avocado seeds. We recently highlighted the work of women who are redesigning our food systems to make it healthy for us and for the planet, too. The story of our changing planet can feel overwhelming. Many of us have felt paralyzed in front of the magnitude of the challenge it presents. Therefore, as a journalist, my job is to inform my viewers about our changing climate in the most rigorous and scientific way. But, as an environmentalist, my job is also to give them hope, to empower them to be part of the solution, to offer the tools and information they need to really be agents of change.
Climate School
If there is one essay from the weeks of pandemic I wish I could make everyone read, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’s offering on The New Yorker’s Web site. No novelist has engaged as long or as successfully with the climate crisis. (Anyone who loves Gotham should immediately buy Robinson’s “New York 2140.”) Speaking of our quarantine, he writes that “we realize that what we do now, well or badly, will be remembered later on. This sense of enacting history matters.” But, he continues, thanks to global warming “we’ve already been living in a historic moment. For the past few decades, we’ve been called upon to act, and have been acting in a way that will be scrutinized by our descendants.”


newyorker--2020-05-08--Only Nineties Kids Will Remember the Way Things Used to Be

Attention , nineties kids !
Grab your Pogs and poke that straw through your packet of Capri Sun , because this blast from the past will have you calling Carson Daly ’ s “ TRL ” to request some sense of normalcy .
Here are a handful of the most out-there fads from back in the day that no one outside our generation will understand .
“ ProStars ” was a bonkers 1991 NBC Saturday-morning cartoon in which the era ’ s most famous athletes—Bo Jackson , Michael Jordan , and Wayne Gretzky—fought crime .
It ’ s crazy to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In order to score that trip to Club Med , your parents had to go in person to a travel agent instead of booking online .
Today , no one goes anywhere .
“ Friends , ” one of the most popular shows on TV , was so unrealistic .
The characters lived in giant apartments that they entered and exited without masks ; they were always hanging out at Central Perk , a public coffee shop where they clustered inches from one another on a couch ; and Rachel had a haircut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started on the laugh track—only nineties kids can recall amusement .
There used to be people you hung out with .
“ You don ’ t just eat your Dunkaroos !
” You also wash your hands first , then wash your hands again when you think maybe you missed a step , then wash your hands a third time , and finally give up without eating your Dunkaroos at all .
Instead , you hide under the covers and wait for sleep .
You ’ re never calm anymore , but sometimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and reminisce about going to the record store to pick up your favorite new teen pop or rap-rock CD .
It ’ s hard to believe that we ever went to the record store .
Now it ’ s like , “ Give me something to break ?
How about the illusion that you will ever be O.K .
again ?
” Of course , the coolest record store in the mall was the Wall , with its so-called Lifetime Music Guarantee .
Kids today would never believe that anything in this lifetime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place where people shopped among throngs of other potential germ-carriers .
You made fun of your friend in checkered Vans and suspenders for dancing to this upbeat music genre , but these days you have to tip your fedora to the horn section—the coronavirus may not survive as long on brass as it does on many other surfaces .
Remember trying to sneak these digital pets into school , and how upset your teachers got when the little screen disrupted class ?
In 2020 , every student is a tiny avatar on an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard to imagine that a responsible person would bring a being of any sort into this cruel world .
Did the pump on this shoe perform an actual function ?
And , in today ’ s broken economy , do you ?
You used to think that conditions might not only continue to be satisfactory but also get better in the future .
Within this framework , you even felt comfortable enough to aspire to achieve “ goals ” and to wish for specific improvements to your lot in life .
Try explaining @ @ @ @ @

Attention, nineties kids! Grab your Pogs and poke that straw through your packet of Capri Sun, because this blast from the past will have you calling Carson Daly’s “TRL” to request some sense of normalcy. Here are a handful of the most out-there fads from back in the day that no one outside our generation will understand.
“ProStars”
“ProStars” was a bonkers 1991 NBC Saturday-morning cartoon in which the era’s most famous athletes—Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky—fought crime. It’s crazy to think that there were ever sports.
Travel Agents
In order to score that trip to Club Med, your parents had to go in person to a travel agent instead of booking online. Today, no one goes anywhere.
“Friends”
“Friends,” one of the most popular shows on TV, was so unrealistic. The characters lived in giant apartments that they entered and exited without masks; they were always hanging out at Central Perk, a public coffee shop where they clustered inches from one another on a couch; and Rachel had a haircut. And don’t get us started on the laugh track—only nineties kids can recall amusement.
Friends
There used to be people you hung out with.
Dunkaroos
“You don’t just eat your Dunkaroos!” You also wash your hands first, then wash your hands again when you think maybe you missed a step, then wash your hands a third time, and finally give up without eating your Dunkaroos at all. Instead, you hide under the covers and wait for sleep. You’re never calm anymore, but sometimes you are asleep.
’NSync, Britney Spears, and Limp Bizkit
Close your eyes and reminisce about going to the record store to pick up your favorite new teen pop or rap-rock CD. It’s hard to believe that we ever went to the record store. Now it’s like, “Give me something to break? How about the illusion that you will ever be O.K. again?”
The Wall
Of course, the coolest record store in the mall was the Wall, with its so-called Lifetime Music Guarantee. Kids today would never believe that anything in this lifetime is guaranteed.
The Mall
The mall was a place where people shopped among throngs of other potential germ-carriers.
Ska-Punk
You made fun of your friend in checkered Vans and suspenders for dancing to this upbeat music genre, but these days you have to tip your fedora to the horn section—the coronavirus may not survive as long on brass as it does on many other surfaces.
Tamagotchi
Remember trying to sneak these digital pets into school, and how upset your teachers got when the little screen disrupted class? In 2020, every student is a tiny avatar on an LCD display, and it’s hard to imagine that a responsible person would bring a being of any sort into this cruel world.
Reebok Pumps
Did the pump on this shoe perform an actual function? And, in today’s broken economy, do you?
Hopes and Dreams
You used to think that conditions might not only continue to be satisfactory but also get better in the future. Within this framework, you even felt comfortable enough to aspire to achieve “goals” and to wish for specific improvements to your lot in life. Try explaining that to a Zoomer!


newyorker--2020-05-08--To Save Election Day, Start By Getting Rid of Election Night?

Subscribers to The New Yorker ’ s new 2020 election newsletter , On the Trail , received this piece in their in-boxes .
Sign up to receive future installments .
Election Days are as old as America , but Election Nights are a product of twentieth-century mass media .
And , over decades , television news outlets have trained the American Election Night viewer to expect a certain dramatic arc .
Tune in at 6 P.M. ( at least on the East Coast ) , when everything is uncertain , and go to bed at 11 P.M. , having watched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winners separated from the losers .
It ’ s not so different from the Super Bowl or the Grammys .
( I recommend watching NBC ’ s Election Night coverage from 1948 on YouTube .
The televised press releases , the correspondent on the scene , the panel of analysts—it ’ s all very familiar . )
Even before the coronavirus crisis , election experts were worrying that these media-created expectations , so good for ratings , were bad for democracy .
The rise in the use of mail-in and absentee ballots was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their election results quickly , and news outlets were not adjusting to this new reality .
In the 2018 midterms , for instance , California took days to finalize its results .
As a consequence , the Democratic wave that allowed the Party to flip control of the House of Representatives wasn ’ t fully revealed on Election Night , and so , on Election Night , the story wasn ’ t about a Democratic wave , causing confusion and frustration on all sides .
But , even when results are expected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In February ( remember February ? )
, a bum app caused delays in reporting the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses .
The chaos that followed led supporters of both Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg—who finished practically in a tie for first place—to suspect that their candidate was the victim of malfeasance , and left lingering questions about the validity of the results .
In April , Wisconsin held elections even as COVID-19 was spreading quickly through the state ’ s communities .
Election officials there scrambled both to find safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep up with a surge of absentee-ballot requests .
The legal disputes , confusion , and unsafe conditions that resulted were a wake-up call for many .
No one can say when the coronavirus crisis will fully pass , and election planners could not simply continue with business as usual this year .
In response , lawmakers and activists began pushing for measures to safeguard the November elections from the coronavirus .
Now a group of scholars calling themselves the Ad Hoc Committee for 2020 Election Fairness and Legitimacy have put out a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group calls for absentee-ballot processes to be strengthened , and for lawmakers to recommit themselves to making voting accessible to all .
But it also calls on the media to rethink the concept of Election Night .
“ It is especially important for the media to convey to the public the idea that , given an expected increase in absentee ballot voting in the November 2020 elections , delays in election reporting are to be expected , not evidence of fraud , and that the 2020 presidential election may be ‘ too early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day , ” the report states .
The report is worth reading in its entirety , because it offers advice to all corners : lawmakers , the media , election administrators , outside groups .
It ’ s a reminder that preserving elections at a time of increased partisanship and low public trust isn ’ t the responsibility of just one group or another , and won ’ t be fixed by just one solution picked from many .
“ The reasons for growing voter concern about the fairness and legitimacy of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues in law , media , politics and norms , and tech , ” the group , which was convened by Richard L. Hasen , a law professor at the University of California , Irvine , wrote .
“ This means that solutions to bolster American confidence in the fairness and accuracy of the elections must be multifaceted as well .
”

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Election Days are as old as America, but Election Nights are a product of twentieth-century mass media. And, over decades, television news outlets have trained the American Election Night viewer to expect a certain dramatic arc. Tune in at 6 P.M. (at least on the East Coast), when everything is uncertain, and go to bed at 11 P.M., having watched uncertainty resolve into certainty, with the winners separated from the losers. It’s not so different from the Super Bowl or the Grammys. (I recommend watching NBC’s Election Night coverage from 1948 on YouTube. The televised press releases, the correspondent on the scene, the panel of analysts—it’s all very familiar.)
Even before the coronavirus crisis, election experts were worrying that these media-created expectations, so good for ratings, were bad for democracy. The rise in the use of mail-in and absentee ballots was making it harder for states to tally their election results quickly, and news outlets were not adjusting to this new reality. In the 2018 midterms, for instance, California took days to finalize its results. As a consequence, the Democratic wave that allowed the Party to flip control of the House of Representatives wasn’t fully revealed on Election Night, and so, on Election Night, the story wasn’t about a Democratic wave, causing confusion and frustration on all sides. But, even when results are expected to be reported quickly, problems can occur. In February (remember February?), a bum app caused delays in reporting the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses. The chaos that followed led supporters of both Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg—who finished practically in a tie for first place—to suspect that their candidate was the victim of malfeasance, and left lingering questions about the validity of the results.
In April, Wisconsin held elections even as COVID-19 was spreading quickly through the state’s communities. Election officials there scrambled both to find safe ways to hold in-person voting and to keep up with a surge of absentee-ballot requests. The legal disputes, confusion, and unsafe conditions that resulted were a wake-up call for many. No one can say when the coronavirus crisis will fully pass, and election planners could not simply continue with business as usual this year. In response, lawmakers and activists began pushing for measures to safeguard the November elections from the coronavirus. Now a group of scholars calling themselves the Ad Hoc Committee for 2020 Election Fairness and Legitimacy have put out a helpful report listing fourteen recommendations. The group calls for absentee-ballot processes to be strengthened, and for lawmakers to recommit themselves to making voting accessible to all. But it also calls on the media to rethink the concept of Election Night. “It is especially important for the media to convey to the public the idea that, given an expected increase in absentee ballot voting in the November 2020 elections, delays in election reporting are to be expected, not evidence of fraud, and that the 2020 presidential election may be ‘too early to call’ until days after election day,” the report states.
The report is worth reading in its entirety, because it offers advice to all corners: lawmakers, the media, election administrators, outside groups. It’s a reminder that preserving elections at a time of increased partisanship and low public trust isn’t the responsibility of just one group or another, and won’t be fixed by just one solution picked from many. “The reasons for growing voter concern about the fairness and legitimacy of the U.S. election process are multifaceted, raising issues in law, media, politics and norms, and tech,” the group, which was convened by Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, wrote. “This means that solutions to bolster American confidence in the fairness and accuracy of the elections must be multifaceted as well.”


newyorker--2020-05-08--Charli XCX’s Homemade Quarantine Album

Charli XCX’s Homemade Quarantine Album

Charli XCX has been making futuristic electro-pop since her 2013 début , “ True Romance , ” but with her @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m Feeling Now , ” produced in quarantine at her home in L.A. @ @ @ @ @ ) , the English singer-songwriter creates music for the present .
The singles “ Forever @ @ @ @ @ crackle , smolder , and otherwise short-circuit , as though Charli ’ s electronic devices @ @ @ @ @ of her desire for human connection .
“ I ’ ll love you forever , @ @ @ @ @ even when we ’ re not together .
”

Charli XCX has been making futuristic electro-pop since her 2013 début, “True Romance,” but with her new album, “How I’m Feeling Now,” produced in quarantine at her home in L.A. (where she is pictured), the English singer-songwriter creates music for the present. The singles “Forever” and “Claws” crackle, smolder, and otherwise short-circuit, as though Charli’s electronic devices cannot withstand the intensity of her desire for human connection. “I’ll love you forever,” she sings, “even when we’re not together.”


newyorker--2020-05-08--The Restaurants Transforming Into Grocery Stores

Among my most treasured possessions right now is an imposingly large plastic jug containing five litres of olive oil from Spain .
I got it at Hart ’ s , a restaurant in Bed-Stuy .
On a recent Sunday , in a misty rain , I stood in an exceptionally calm line of people ( all masked , some gloved , all spaced at least six feet apart ) waiting to approach a table just inside the doorway .
Behind it , Hart ’ s three proprietors , Nialls Fallon , Leah Campbell , and Nick Perkins—who also own and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away , and Cervo ’ s , on the Lower East Side—were filling bags and boxes with olive oil ; produce , eggs , and meat ( including freshly killed , dry-brined chickens , ready to be roasted ) from local farms ; tinned seafood ; and bottles of wine and liquor .
Since early March , the dining rooms at Hart ’ s , the Fly , and Cervo ’ s have been closed .
They have never offered takeout , and the team decided that they weren ’ t going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t feel that their food would travel well and because they didn ’ t want to put their staff at risk .
But what started as a way to off-load excess inventory became a full pivot : all three establishments—and countless others across the city—are now effectively functioning as contactless grocery stores , open one day a week to fulfill orders placed online .
If there ’ s one thing I ’ d be happy to retain when shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted , it ’ s the opportunity to buy groceries from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowing not only how to cook but also , equally important , what to cook , and where to get the best ingredients .
The day before , I ’ d stood in another line , outside Archestratus , an exceptional bookstore and café in Greenpoint , for what its owner and chef , Paige Lipari , has dubbed her One-Stop Contactless Shop of the Highest Order .
From behind a table just inside the doorway , Lipari passed me a box laden with a half gallon of grass-fed milk , a two-pound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hulking ham hock from Smoking Goose , a butcher shop in Indiana , all of which I ’ d ordered on her Web site several days prior .
She hoisted , too , a plastic bag stuffed with bouquets of escarole , rainbow chard , and fava greens from Bodhitree Farm , in New Jersey .
For Lipari , transition comes naturally .
Not long after Archestratus opened , in 2015 , she began to regularly convert the store , which served prepared foods and pastries during the day , into an after-hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ featuring her family ’ s Sicilian recipes and dinners cooked by guest chefs , often on cookbook tours .
Before the pandemic , she was already stocking a small selection of dry goods , including Rancho Gordo beans and Italian pistachio spread , and with her expanded offerings she is fulfilling a legacy of sorts : for decades , her grandparents ran Lipari & Sons Latticini , a shop in Bushwick that sold groceries in addition to fresh mozzarella .
For safety as much as monetary reasons , Lipari and Fallon , Campbell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees in March .
If business continues apace—on a recent weekend , Lipari filled two hundred and thirty orders—they ’ ll be able to pay their bills , and to rehire staff and welcome back diners when it feels wise to do so .
But they all seem very clear-eyed about how uncertain the future remains , and open to the idea of a new normal .
“ To be able to weather other storms that come our way , ” Fallon told me by phone , restaurants might need to be “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just dine-in.
” He and his partners are finding gratification in sharing recipes , cooking advice , and their favorite cost-effective products with customers .
“ We ’ ve always been in the business of providing for our community—providing good food , providing good wine , helping people have a sense of place , ” Perkins said .
“ In a lot of ways right now , we ’ re still doing that .
We just have a different business model.
” Lipari told me , “ A lot of people have said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than what I can get when I normally shop , this flour is the best flour I ’ ve ever made bread with.
’ So why not keep going with that ?
” ♦

Among my most treasured possessions right now is an imposingly large plastic jug containing five litres of olive oil from Spain. I got it at Hart’s, a restaurant in Bed-Stuy. On a recent Sunday, in a misty rain, I stood in an exceptionally calm line of people (all masked, some gloved, all spaced at least six feet apart) waiting to approach a table just inside the doorway. Behind it, Hart’s three proprietors, Nialls Fallon, Leah Campbell, and Nick Perkins—who also own and operate the Fly, a few blocks away, and Cervo’s, on the Lower East Side—were filling bags and boxes with olive oil; produce, eggs, and meat (including freshly killed, dry-brined chickens, ready to be roasted) from local farms; tinned seafood; and bottles of wine and liquor.
At what Lipari calls her One-Stop Contactless Shop of the Highest Order, she stands in the threshold, wearing a mask and passing pre-ordered groceries to customers one at a time. Photograph by Caroline Tompkins for The New Yorker
Since early March, the dining rooms at Hart’s, the Fly, and Cervo’s have been closed. They have never offered takeout, and the team decided that they weren’t going to start now, both because they don’t feel that their food would travel well and because they didn’t want to put their staff at risk. But what started as a way to off-load excess inventory became a full pivot: all three establishments—and countless others across the city—are now effectively functioning as contactless grocery stores, open one day a week to fulfill orders placed online.
Lipari’s current inventory includes She Wolf Bakery sourdough bread, eggs from an upstate farm, organic all-purpose flour, blood oranges, Meyer lemons, French butter, sheep’s-milk yogurt, and smoked ham from a butcher shop in Indiana. Photograph by Caroline Tompkins for The New Yorker
If there’s one thing I’d be happy to retain when shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted, it’s the opportunity to buy groceries from neighborhood restaurants. Professional chefs excel at knowing not only how to cook but also, equally important, what to cook, and where to get the best ingredients. The day before, I’d stood in another line, outside Archestratus, an exceptional bookstore and café in Greenpoint, for what its owner and chef, Paige Lipari, has dubbed her One-Stop Contactless Shop of the Highest Order. From behind a table just inside the doorway, Lipari passed me a box laden with a half gallon of grass-fed milk, a two-pound sack of all-purpose flour, and a hulking ham hock from Smoking Goose, a butcher shop in Indiana, all of which I’d ordered on her Web site several days prior. She hoisted, too, a plastic bag stuffed with bouquets of escarole, rainbow chard, and fava greens from Bodhitree Farm, in New Jersey.
Loaves of She Wolf Bakery bread waiting to be packaged. Photograph by Caroline Tompkins for The New Yorker
For Lipari, transition comes naturally. Not long after Archestratus opened, in 2015, she began to regularly convert the store, which served prepared foods and pastries during the day, into an after-hours supper club, selling tickets to meals featuring her family’s Sicilian recipes and dinners cooked by guest chefs, often on cookbook tours. Before the pandemic, she was already stocking a small selection of dry goods, including Rancho Gordo beans and Italian pistachio spread, and with her expanded offerings she is fulfilling a legacy of sorts: for decades, her grandparents ran Lipari & Sons Latticini, a shop in Bushwick that sold groceries in addition to fresh mozzarella.
For safety as much as monetary reasons, Lipari and Fallon, Campbell, and Perkins laid off all their employees in March. If business continues apace—on a recent weekend, Lipari filled two hundred and thirty orders—they’ll be able to pay their bills, and to rehire staff and welcome back diners when it feels wise to do so. But they all seem very clear-eyed about how uncertain the future remains, and open to the idea of a new normal.
Produce from New Jersey’s Bodhitree Farm. Photograph by Caroline Tompkins for The New Yorker
“To be able to weather other storms that come our way,” Fallon told me by phone, restaurants might need to be “a little more diversified, and not just dine-in.” He and his partners are finding gratification in sharing recipes, cooking advice, and their favorite cost-effective products with customers. “We’ve always been in the business of providing for our community—providing good food, providing good wine, helping people have a sense of place,” Perkins said. “In a lot of ways right now, we’re still doing that. We just have a different business model.” Lipari told me, “A lot of people have said to me, ‘This is better than what I can get when I normally shop, this flour is the best flour I’ve ever made bread with.’ So why not keep going with that?” ♦
A Guide to the Coronavirus