vox--2020-05-07--Why people online are nostalgic for the early 2010s

POV : It ’ s 2013 .
You ’ re listening to a Purity Ring song on your iPhone 4S , wearing an American Apparel tennis skirt while reblogging a Tumblr post shipping Santana and Brittany from Glee .
Bing !
Your friend just texted you a hilarious Harlem Shake Vine .
You text back “ lmao DEAD.
” This is , statistically , probably not what you were doing in 2013 .
But wouldn ’ t it be fun to pretend it was ?
Reliving a very specific subculture from the period that roughly spans from 2009 to 2014 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ironically oversize eyeglasses , and late-wave finger mustaches — is what countless millennials and Gen Z kids are doing right now , online and in their bedrooms .
“ Bop or flop ?
” posits a TikTok trend asking users to rate “ coming-of-age indie pop bangers ” from those years .
Girls are recreating outfits inspired by hyper-stylized image macros of flower crowns and band T-shirts they loved in middle school .
Others are digging back into their angst-ridden social media posts from their adolescent and teen years .
“ If you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ qualify for a senior discount , ” reads one self-deprecating video from the genre , as though the era were several generations ago and not less than a decade .
“ We ’ re seeing posts literally float to the surface from 10 years ago , ” says Cortney Kerans , the head of communications at Tumblr .
She noticed something strange was going on when Megamind , an animated movie from 2010 , was the most popular film on the platform the week of March 16 .
“ It made no sense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was no news about it , no piece of art that was going viral.
” When Kerans took a deep dive into what else was trending , she noticed a pattern : Everyone who remembers the internet in the early 2010s was rediscovering their fantasy favorites , like Twilight and Divergent .
Like junk food , video games , and at-home hair dye , nostalgia is a popular pastime even in normal circumstances , but particularly so in an era where the present feels inescapable .
In 2017 , millennials flocked to emo-themed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their youth .
In 2018 , teens made memes about being nostalgic for 2015 , in part because anything before President Trump felt like some long-forgotten past .
Now , when a pandemic orders us to stand still at the exact same time , the only way through is back .
For Krystine Batcho , a professor of psychology who studies nostalgia at Le Moyne College , none of this is a surprise .
Major life changes , even positive ones — career switch-ups , marriage , moving — always coincide with feelings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time when things felt simpler and less scary .
So does loneliness .
“ Life as we knew it a month ago might never return in the same form , ” she says .
“ We really do yearn to , if nothing else , be able to visit that past.
” Young people in their late teens and early 20s are already the age group most predisposed to feelings of nostalgia , Batcho explains , because it ’ s the time in our lives when the trappings of childhood are being left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most nostalgic demographic is the elderly , but it ’ s less likely that the years between 2009 and 2014 are “ the good old days ” they ’ re thinking of . )
As one might assume , when we ’ re nostalgic for the past , it isn ’ t really our old Tumblrs or the movie Megamind that we ’ re really longing for , but the feelings associated with them .
“ What people are craving is the period when they had fewer worries , more innocent fun , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Batcho says .
“ It was simpler .
Now there are all these choices .
[ Social media ] got so complicated that it ruins some of the fun.
” POV : It ’ s 2020 , and you ’ re in your childhood bedroom as an adult .
Not by choice , but because your university closed down the dorms .
Your whole life is online now — classes , grocery shopping , friend dates , actual dates .
It reminds you of another time in your life when online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For 18-year-old student Anna Tulenko , that time was 2013 .
Back then , her all-girls Catholic school had 15 people in each grade , so her real social life was on Tumblr and Instagram , in the fandom communities for alt-pop artists like Troye Sivan , Marina and the Diamonds , and Lana Del Rey .
“ The ideal was pastel grunge , the 1975 , Arctic Monkeys , American Apparel , black-and-white stripes , and jelly shoes , like you were living in an episode of Skins , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the time .
She and a few online friends from the early 2010s made a TikTok video transforming into the Tumblrized version of their younger selves — pigtail buns , chokers , e-girl hearts , knee socks , and chunky platforms , clutching a copy of Lorde ’ s Pure Heroine .
“ POV : It ’ s 2014 , ” read the caption .
Since she ’ s been back at her parents ’ house in New Jersey , Tulenko says , “ I feel like I ’ ve gone through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through in early adolescence.
” Of all the times to feel nostalgia for , I mention how weird it is that we long for that particular period , which is often one of the worst in our lives .
Nobody I know really liked being in seventh grade , but Anna says that ’ s part of why she ’ s revisited it .
“ I think it ’ s partially because of the melodrama of it all when you ’ re that age , especially for young girls , ” she says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yourself.
” At 18 , she ’ s able to contextualize some of that tween angst .
The music she listened to and the clothes she wore in 2014 are “ an escape itself , because now the world just feels like such a harsh place , and this was a time before I realized that.
” People are often nostalgic for things that felt horrible at the time .
Batcho says part of it is perspective — we realize how pointless our anxieties about boys or acne or friends actually were ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in middle school .
The other part , though , is that we like what ’ s familiar .
“ Right now , for instance , there is so much unfamiliar , ” she says , “ that even going back to the difficult times is still somewhat comforting.
” POV : It ’ s 2012 .
You ’ re a terrified college transfer in New York City , lonelier than you ’ ve been since middle school .
You pass the time by stumbling through other people ’ s identities , trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lieu of friendships and frat parties , you listen to the sad bands you read about on that niche blog nobody ’ s heard of .
I hated being 19 , but there ’ s never been a time when I listened to better music .
This , of course , is not an objective statement .
Every age group believes this — the best music was the kind they listened to when they were the saddest ; the best SNL cast was the one from the first time they watched .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from our millennium ’ s angsty teenage years , even though there does not seem to be a good name for what it is or if it can even be described as a genre .
“ Indie pop ” is maybe the best we have , a stepdaughter of the “ twee as fuck ” indie pop of the 2000s , though it comprises dream pop and alt-rock and electronic music and artists with little in common sonically , like Vampire Weekend and Grimes , Frank Ocean and Robyn .
“ It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so cool and edgy , ” says Joel Albers , founder of the Lights & Music Collective , a record label that hosts indie-pop dance parties .
“ When people started to make laptop music , it opened the floodgates .
I remember playing Lady Gaga ’ s ‘ Just Dance , ’ which at the time was an indie dance hit but then crossed over to pop , and people would look at me in the gym , like , angrily.
” Even back then , no one knew what to call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remembers .
“ Everyone called it ‘ techno.
’ They called Miike Snow , Passion Pit , anything with synthesizers ‘ techno.
’ ” Joel ’ s traveling dance party has featured precisely this type of music since the music was actually new .
In 2013 , he threw a club night at a small bar in Seattle called Dance Yourself Clean , after the LCD Soundsystem song , devoted to independent pop artists who didn ’ t fit with the pulsing EDM beats popular in lounges at the time .
Over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles and New York City , where there are now a handful of other popular indie pop dance parties that offer a similar escape into a time when the word “ hipster ” could be a meaningful description of a person .
I went in November with a small group of friends to a Dance Yourself Clean party in Brooklyn , where we sang along to our college playlists full of Phantogram , Miike Snow , Arcade Fire , and MGMT ( sure , the MGMT song that everybody knows came out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the vibe ) .
Joel says that the party isn ’ t meant to be a throwback ; it ’ s meant to be a celebration of indie pop as a genre .
We went for the nostalgia , though .
We wanted to hear the kind of music that made us , young people in Brooklyn , feel like even younger people in a grungier and more glamorous Brooklyn .
I didn ’ t even listen to LCD Soundsystem in 2013 , but it ’ s the kind of music that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These songs are now some of the most popular on the hottest social app of the moment .
On April 4 , 24-year-old model and illustrator Thaddeus Coates posted a “ Bop or Chop ?
” TikTok rating the “ early 2010s indie pop coming-of-age songs ” from his teenagehood that included Matt & Kim ’ s “ Daylight , ” Phoenix ’ s “ 1901 , ” and the undisputed apogee of the genre , “ Midnight City ” by M83 .
“ It ’ s infectious ; it just radiates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that time .
Lately , as he ’ s been staying at his childhood home during quarantine , he ’ s been revisiting the songs he listened to in high school and connecting over shared memories with other former Tumblr kids .
“ We ’ re using TikTok to find our tribe , ” he says .
Music , and the culture industry at large , is indeed different now .
The early 2010s was the heyday for music blogs , where artists would pick up steam via a network of niche websites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much of the music we listen to is dominated by what streaming algorithms demand .
Fandoms for movies , TV shows , and celebrities had not yet gone mainstream — they were a hobby you tended to enjoy in enclosed circles , not publicly , and nobody outside of those circles really seemed to care all that much .
Fast fashion existed , but it was not nearly as accessible ( and , well , fast ) as it is now — thanks to social media , beauty , and fashion trends moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ meme ” amounted to a cartoon with a caption in the Impact font .
Behind all of this has been the ambient noise of a new kind of monoculture , dominated by machine learning .
Nostalgia , like everything else , seems to move quicker now , too .
In 2017 , the writer Brian Raftery argued that though traditional thinking suggests nostalgia arrives in 20-year cycles ( Grease in the ’ 70s , Dazed and Confused in the ’ 90s ) , our “ art-absorption metabolisms have been sped up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a borderless 24-hour culture klatch , full of nonstop pop-convos about The Stuff We Love.
” Now , he says , 20 years is far too long to wait to rediscover old favorites , hence , the mid-aughts revivalism he was writing about then .
Raftery also predicted that in the future , our cultural nostalgia will be less tied to specific artworks or ideas and more about the technologies on which they spread .
Ask anyone who was a very online teenager in the early 2010s and that ’ s how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re longing for : the aesthetic of Tumblr , where a high-contrast black-and-white photo of Doc Martens in a puddle overlaid with a quote about being too much or feeling too much passed as profound imagery .
Amanda Brennan , the resident “ meme librarian ” at Tumblr , has seen it all resurface over the past month via users sifting through their old accounts and engaging with posts from a decade ago .
“ The archive is just such a beautiful view , kind of like this digital diary , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hyper-fixations and then jump from one to the other to the other , and Tumblr is kind of like the travel guide through that .
It just feels like home.
” I was not a Tumblr teen ; I was not listening to Arctic Monkeys or wearing chokers and tennis skirts like a goth Lolita in high school , and odds are neither were you .
But this is the beauty of a collective nostalgia for a subculture that existed mostly via shared images and downloaded songs : It ’ s all still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have been part of it to understand the longing for what the music and images and styles evoked , or what it felt like to experience them when they were new .
POV : It ’ s 2020 .
You are an adult , living a life that is a little more boring than it was a decade ago , stuck at home in the midst of a global pandemic that will probably change the world as we know it .
You hear a song that sounds like it could be screamed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a warehouse party , back when you used to go to warehouse parties , back when people were allowed to have those .
How could it have ever been so good ?
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

POV: It’s 2013. You’re listening to a Purity Ring song on your iPhone 4S, wearing an American Apparel tennis skirt while reblogging a Tumblr post shipping Santana and Brittany from Glee. Bing! Your friend just texted you a hilarious Harlem Shake Vine. You text back “lmao DEAD.”
This is, statistically, probably not what you were doing in 2013. But wouldn’t it be fun to pretend it was?
Reliving a very specific subculture from the period that roughly spans from 2009 to 2014 — the era of indie pop, ironically oversize eyeglasses, and late-wave finger mustaches — is what countless millennials and Gen Z kids are doing right now, online and in their bedrooms. “Bop or flop?” posits a TikTok trend asking users to rate “coming-of-age indie pop bangers” from those years. Girls are recreating outfits inspired by hyper-stylized image macros of flower crowns and band T-shirts they loved in middle school. Others are digging back into their angst-ridden social media posts from their adolescent and teen years. “If you were on Tumblr in 2013-2014 you should qualify for a senior discount,” reads one self-deprecating video from the genre, as though the era were several generations ago and not less than a decade.
“We’re seeing posts literally float to the surface from 10 years ago,” says Cortney Kerans, the head of communications at Tumblr. She noticed something strange was going on when Megamind, an animated movie from 2010, was the most popular film on the platform the week of March 16. “It made no sense,” she says. “There was no news about it, no piece of art that was going viral.” When Kerans took a deep dive into what else was trending, she noticed a pattern: Everyone who remembers the internet in the early 2010s was rediscovering their fantasy favorites, like Twilight and Divergent.
Like junk food, video games, and at-home hair dye, nostalgia is a popular pastime even in normal circumstances, but particularly so in an era where the present feels inescapable. In 2017, millennials flocked to emo-themed concerts to relive the melancholy soundtracks of their youth. In 2018, teens made memes about being nostalgic for 2015, in part because anything before President Trump felt like some long-forgotten past. Now, when a pandemic orders us to stand still at the exact same time, the only way through is back.
For Krystine Batcho, a professor of psychology who studies nostalgia at Le Moyne College, none of this is a surprise. Major life changes, even positive ones — career switch-ups, marriage, moving — always coincide with feelings of wistfulness, a return to a time when things felt simpler and less scary. So does loneliness. “Life as we knew it a month ago might never return in the same form,” she says. “We really do yearn to, if nothing else, be able to visit that past.”
Young people in their late teens and early 20s are already the age group most predisposed to feelings of nostalgia, Batcho explains, because it’s the time in our lives when the trappings of childhood are being left behind for good. (The second most nostalgic demographic is the elderly, but it’s less likely that the years between 2009 and 2014 are “the good old days” they’re thinking of.)
As one might assume, when we’re nostalgic for the past, it isn’t really our old Tumblrs or the movie Megamind that we’re really longing for, but the feelings associated with them. “What people are craving is the period when they had fewer worries, more innocent fun, and greater emotional support during difficult times,” Batcho says. “It was simpler. Now there are all these choices. [Social media] got so complicated that it ruins some of the fun.”
POV: It’s 2020, and you’re in your childhood bedroom as an adult. Not by choice, but because your university closed down the dorms. Your whole life is online now — classes, grocery shopping, friend dates, actual dates. It reminds you of another time in your life when online was the only place that really mattered.
For 18-year-old student Anna Tulenko, that time was 2013. Back then, her all-girls Catholic school had 15 people in each grade, so her real social life was on Tumblr and Instagram, in the fandom communities for alt-pop artists like Troye Sivan, Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana Del Rey.
“The ideal was pastel grunge, the 1975, Arctic Monkeys, American Apparel, black-and-white stripes, and jelly shoes, like you were living in an episode of Skins,” she jokes of the aesthetic she obsessed over at the time. She and a few online friends from the early 2010s made a TikTok video transforming into the Tumblrized version of their younger selves — pigtail buns, chokers, e-girl hearts, knee socks, and chunky platforms, clutching a copy of Lorde’s Pure Heroine. “POV: It’s 2014,” read the caption.
Since she’s been back at her parents’ house in New Jersey, Tulenko says, “I feel like I’ve gone through every phase that I’d been through in early adolescence.” Of all the times to feel nostalgia for, I mention how weird it is that we long for that particular period, which is often one of the worst in our lives. Nobody I know really liked being in seventh grade, but Anna says that’s part of why she’s revisited it. “I think it’s partially because of the melodrama of it all when you’re that age, especially for young girls,” she says. “You feel pretty bad about yourself.” At 18, she’s able to contextualize some of that tween angst. The music she listened to and the clothes she wore in 2014 are “an escape itself, because now the world just feels like such a harsh place, and this was a time before I realized that.”
People are often nostalgic for things that felt horrible at the time. Batcho says part of it is perspective — we realize how pointless our anxieties about boys or acne or friends actually were; we realize that absolutely everyone is miserable in middle school. The other part, though, is that we like what’s familiar. “Right now, for instance, there is so much unfamiliar,” she says, “that even going back to the difficult times is still somewhat comforting.”
POV: It’s 2012. You’re a terrified college transfer in New York City, lonelier than you’ve been since middle school. You pass the time by stumbling through other people’s identities, trying to find one that fits. In lieu of friendships and frat parties, you listen to the sad bands you read about on that niche blog nobody’s heard of.
I hated being 19, but there’s never been a time when I listened to better music. This, of course, is not an objective statement. Every age group believes this — the best music was the kind they listened to when they were the saddest; the best SNL cast was the one from the first time they watched.
But there is something distinctive about the music from our millennium’s angsty teenage years, even though there does not seem to be a good name for what it is or if it can even be described as a genre. “Indie pop” is maybe the best we have, a stepdaughter of the “twee as fuck” indie pop of the 2000s, though it comprises dream pop and alt-rock and electronic music and artists with little in common sonically, like Vampire Weekend and Grimes, Frank Ocean and Robyn.
“It was so exciting. It made me feel so cool and edgy,” says Joel Albers, founder of the Lights & Music Collective, a record label that hosts indie-pop dance parties. “When people started to make laptop music, it opened the floodgates. I remember playing Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance,’ which at the time was an indie dance hit but then crossed over to pop, and people would look at me in the gym, like, angrily.” Even back then, no one knew what to call this new kind of music, he remembers. “Everyone called it ‘techno.’ They called Miike Snow, Passion Pit, anything with synthesizers ‘techno.’”
Joel’s traveling dance party has featured precisely this type of music since the music was actually new. In 2013, he threw a club night at a small bar in Seattle called Dance Yourself Clean, after the LCD Soundsystem song, devoted to independent pop artists who didn’t fit with the pulsing EDM beats popular in lounges at the time. Over the next few years, it expanded to Los Angeles and New York City, where there are now a handful of other popular indie pop dance parties that offer a similar escape into a time when the word “hipster” could be a meaningful description of a person.
I went in November with a small group of friends to a Dance Yourself Clean party in Brooklyn, where we sang along to our college playlists full of Phantogram, Miike Snow, Arcade Fire, and MGMT (sure, the MGMT song that everybody knows came out in 2005, but it’s about the vibe). Joel says that the party isn’t meant to be a throwback; it’s meant to be a celebration of indie pop as a genre.
We went for the nostalgia, though. We wanted to hear the kind of music that made us, young people in Brooklyn, feel like even younger people in a grungier and more glamorous Brooklyn. I didn’t even listen to LCD Soundsystem in 2013, but it’s the kind of music that makes you feel like you did.
These songs are now some of the most popular on the hottest social app of the moment. On April 4, 24-year-old model and illustrator Thaddeus Coates posted a “Bop or Chop?” TikTok rating the “early 2010s indie pop coming-of-age songs” from his teenagehood that included Matt & Kim’s “Daylight,” Phoenix’s “1901,” and the undisputed apogee of the genre, “Midnight City” by M83. “It’s infectious; it just radiates,” he says of the music from that time. Lately, as he’s been staying at his childhood home during quarantine, he’s been revisiting the songs he listened to in high school and connecting over shared memories with other former Tumblr kids. “We’re using TikTok to find our tribe,” he says.
Music, and the culture industry at large, is indeed different now. The early 2010s was the heyday for music blogs, where artists would pick up steam via a network of niche websites devoted to up-and-coming acts. Now, much of the music we listen to is dominated by what streaming algorithms demand.
Fandoms for movies, TV shows, and celebrities had not yet gone mainstream — they were a hobby you tended to enjoy in enclosed circles, not publicly, and nobody outside of those circles really seemed to care all that much. Fast fashion existed, but it was not nearly as accessible (and, well, fast) as it is now — thanks to social media, beauty, and fashion trends moving at warp speed. The idea of a “meme” amounted to a cartoon with a caption in the Impact font. Behind all of this has been the ambient noise of a new kind of monoculture, dominated by machine learning.
Nostalgia, like everything else, seems to move quicker now, too. In 2017, the writer Brian Raftery argued that though traditional thinking suggests nostalgia arrives in 20-year cycles (Grease in the ’70s, Dazed and Confused in the ’90s), our “art-absorption metabolisms have been sped up by the web, which often feels like a borderless 24-hour culture klatch, full of nonstop pop-convos about The Stuff We Love.” Now, he says, 20 years is far too long to wait to rediscover old favorites, hence, the mid-aughts revivalism he was writing about then.
Raftery also predicted that in the future, our cultural nostalgia will be less tied to specific artworks or ideas and more about the technologies on which they spread. Ask anyone who was a very online teenager in the early 2010s and that’s how they’ll describe the thing they’re longing for: the aesthetic of Tumblr, where a high-contrast black-and-white photo of Doc Martens in a puddle overlaid with a quote about being too much or feeling too much passed as profound imagery.
Amanda Brennan, the resident “meme librarian” at Tumblr, has seen it all resurface over the past month via users sifting through their old accounts and engaging with posts from a decade ago. “The archive is just such a beautiful view, kind of like this digital diary,” she says.
“People go through hyper-fixations and then jump from one to the other to the other, and Tumblr is kind of like the travel guide through that. It just feels like home.”
I was not a Tumblr teen; I was not listening to Arctic Monkeys or wearing chokers and tennis skirts like a goth Lolita in high school, and odds are neither were you. But this is the beauty of a collective nostalgia for a subculture that existed mostly via shared images and downloaded songs: It’s all still there. You don’t have to have been part of it to understand the longing for what the music and images and styles evoked, or what it felt like to experience them when they were new.
POV: It’s 2020. You are an adult, living a life that is a little more boring than it was a decade ago, stuck at home in the midst of a global pandemic that will probably change the world as we know it. You hear a song that sounds like it could be screamed by a bunch of sad young people at a warehouse party, back when you used to go to warehouse parties, back when people were allowed to have those. How could it have ever been so good?


vox--2020-05-07--The Justice Department has dropped Michael Flynn’s case

The Justice Department has dropped its case against former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn , erasing his guilty plea in the Mueller probe and ending a years-long saga over his sentencing .
In a court filing Thursday , the Department of Justice said that “ based on an extensive review and careful consideration of the circumstances ... continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice.
” The filing was signed by Timothy Shea , who ’ s currently serving as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia .
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US during Donald Trump ’ s presidential transition , when Flynn , a retired US Army lieutenant general , was serving as a senior member of the president-elect ’ s transition team .
At the time , the Justice Department lawyers prosecuting the case accepted Flynn ’ s guilty plea because it was part of a deal in which Flynn agreed to cooperate with investigators in the Mueller probe , presumably in exchange for a more lenient sentence when the time came .
But then Flynn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He began fighting his conviction , with his attorneys alleging the FBI had somehow railroaded him .
And Attorney General Bill Barr , who has made no secret of his distaste for the Mueller investigation , assigned an outside prosecutor , US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeff Jensen , to review the case against Flynn .
As part of that review , FBI documents came to light last week that revealed some of the Bureau ’ s internal deliberations ahead of its January 2017 interview with Flynn in which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Flynn ’ s attorneys — as well as Trump and his allies — saw these documents as somehow vindicating Flynn .
And now , it seems that the current leaders at the Justice Department — namely AG Barr — have bought into this narrative as well .
Jensen said in a statement that he had “ concluded the proper and just course was to dismiss the case.
” He added that he advised Barr on these findings , and the AG agreed with his conclusions .
In the Thursday court filing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigators but claims Flynn ’ s statements could not have “ conceivably ‘ influenced ’ an investigation that had neither legitimate or counterintelligence or criminal purpose.
” But not everyone involved in the case seems to agree with the decision : The lead prosecutor on the Flynn case , Brandon Van Grack , withdrew from the case Thursday , which was reported just before the news of Flynn ’ s dismissal broke .
He did not offer any details about his departure in his notice to the court .
Van Grack had worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ team , though he is also an official at the Justice Department , currently heading up the Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit .
The move to dismiss Flynn ’ s case and Van Grack ’ s resignation are strikingly similar to the Justice Department ’ s meddling in the Roger Stone case , another Trump associate convicted in the Mueller investigation .
Stone ’ s case is still proceeding , but Barr intervened in February to revise the prosecutors ’ initial sentencing recommendations .
In that instance , the entire prosecution team quit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s case must still be reviewed by the judge in the case , but the Justice Department ’ s handling of the Flynn matter will once again raise questions about the apparent politicization of the Barr ’ s Justice Department , which seems intent on protecting the president and undermining the outcomes of the Russia investigation .
Back in December 2017 , just one day after Flynn pleaded guilty , President Trump tweeted that he ’ d fired Flynn as national security adviser earlier that year because Flynn had lied not only to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike Pence .
Trump seems to have forgotten that second part about Pence , though , as on Thursday , Trump called Flynn an “ innocent man ” and said he now sees him as an “ even greater warrior.
” Flynn ’ s guilty plea was explosive at the time Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal law enforcement about his communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak .
In December 2016 , during Trump ’ s presidential transition , the Obama administration put sanctions on Russia for its role in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communicated with Kislyak and asked him not to retaliate — the implication being things would be different when Trump got into office .
When FBI agents asked him about those conversations in early 2017 , Flynn denied that he ’ d brought up sanctions .
Prosecutors also found evidence that Flynn may have broken the law elsewhere , including for failing to register as a foreign lobbyist , but prosecutors charged him with that one count of lying to the FBI , which Flynn plead guilty to in December 2017 .
Flynn agreed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign .
At the time , it was a major development in the probe that someone directly connected to Trump ’ s White House was working with prosecutors .
Initially , Mueller ’ s team spoke highly of Flynn ’ s cooperation .
In a 2018 sentencing memo , prosecutors called the former national security adviser ’ s help “ substantial , ” and Flynn appeared to be assisting in multiple investigations .
Prosecutors , as a result , recommended that Flynn receive a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentencing guidelines , “ including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration.
” Flynn ’ s initial cooperation with Mueller should have alienated him from Trump and his allies , as the president has bashed “ flippers ” — people who , like his former attorney Michael Cohen , talked to prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence — and Flynn absolutely cooperated with Mueller ’ s team .
But instead , Flynn ’ s case took a wild turn .
The Flynn case got really weird .
Now it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s sentencing was initially scheduled for December 2018 , and given the prosecutors ’ apparent satisfaction with Flynn ’ s help , looked to be fairly straightforward .
It turned out to be anything but .
Right before the sentencing hearing , Flynn ’ s lawyers suggested in a memo that he was railroaded by prosecutors , something Mueller ’ s team quickly dismissed .
Then , at his court date , the judge harshly criticized Flynn .
“ This is a very — serious — offense , ” Judge Emmet Sullivan said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House.
” Sullivan questioned prosecutors as to whether Flynn had committed treason , though he walked back those comments .
The judge then asked Flynn whether he wanted to delay his sentencing so he could get the full benefits of his cooperation .
Flynn agreed , which postponed his sentencing into 2019 .
But , last year , Flynn took a new approach , refusing to cooperate ( including on a case with one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filing a motion to rescind his guilty plea .
Prosecutors responded by rescinding their generosity .
Citing Flynn ’ s failure to accept responsibility in a January memo , they updated their sentencing recommendation to include prison time of zero to six months .
Then a few weeks later , prosecutors walked back that recommendation , saying , never mind , probation was okay .
NBC News later reported that senior officials at the Justice Department had intervened .
( This played out alongside the Roger Stone drama . )
Flynn ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February , but the judge overseeing the case , Emmet Sullivan , ended up postponing it “ until further order of the court.
” That ’ s because Flynn had begun arguing that the FBI had set him up to lie , and that he ’ d received inadequate assistance from his former lawyers , whom he ’ d worked with during his guilty plea .
Sullivan allowed time for both prosecutors and Flynn ’ s legal team to make their cases on these charges .
But in late April , FBI documents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ review ordered by Bill Barr .
The materials , which are partially redacted , are from January 2017 and consist of three emails and one handwritten note dealing with internal discussions among agents that took place shortly before they questioned Flynn .
The emails discuss how to answer questions Flynn might ask during the investigation .
The handwritten note , however , includes more detailed deliberations , such as whether to present Flynn with evidence if he were to lie during his interview about his contacts with Kislyak .
In that note , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the initials , to belong to Bill Priestap , the former head of FBI counterintelligence ) writes that the goal of the interview with Flynn was “ to determine if he is going to tell the truth [ about ] his relationship w/ Russians.
” In another section it reads : “ What is our goal ?
Truth/admission or to ... get him to lie , so we can prosecute him or get him fired ?
” The author also writes in the note at one point : “ If we get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Act give facts to DOJ + have them decide ...
If we ’ re seen as playing games , WH will be furious .
Protect our institution by not playing games.
” Flynn ’ s defenders pointed to these last memos — especially the note asking whether the goal was to “ get him to lie , so we can prosecute him or get him fired ?
” — as proof that the FBI went into the interrogation with the intention of getting Flynn to lie .
Flynn ’ s attorney called the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” according to the New York Times .
Those defenders include the president , who responded to the documents by tweeting , “ What happened to General Michael Flynn , a war hero , should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again !
” Others in law enforcement didn ’ t see a plot to get Flynn , and instead understood it as the standard law enforcement practice of strategizing before a high-profile interview .
But the Justice Department , in moving to dismiss Flynn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closely to the president ’ s interpretation .
“ The frail and shifting justifications for its ongoing probe of Mr. Flynn , ” the filing says , “ as well as the irregular procedure that preceded his interview , suggests the FBI was eager to interview Mr. Flynn irrespective of any underlying investigation.
” The Department of Justice ’ s interference brings scrutiny back on Barr The extraordinary move to dismiss the case against Flynn looks like yet another instance of Barr ’ s Justice Department overriding the discretion of prosecutors , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem to protect the president ’ s interests .
The implications for the rule of law are worrisome .
Flynn lied to the FBI and admitted his guilt , but the Justice Department is now basically saying that doesn ’ t matter : “ [ T ] he government is not persuaded that the January 24 , 2017 interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr. Flynn ’ s statements were material even if untrue , ” the filing states .
“ Even if Flynn told the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could not have conceivably ‘ influenced ’ an investigation that had neither legitimate counterintelligence nor criminal purpose , ” the filing also states .
This is a dramatic reversal from what federal prosecutors said in 2017 .
In a filing laying out the charges against Flynn and his plea agreement , Mueller ’ s team wrote that Flynn ’ s “ false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI ’ s ongoing investigation ” into the links and ties between the Trump campaign and Russia ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In other words , Flynn ’ s lies actually mattered .
This is why the Justice Department ’ s decision to dismiss Flynn ’ s case looks very much like the latest assault on the legitimacy of the Russia investigation during Bill Barr ’ s tenure .
Critics have long accused Barr of acting as Trump ’ s personal attorney , beginning with his handling of the Mueller investigation itself .
Barr released selective details about Mueller ’ s report , which Trump used to declare “ total exoneration , ” despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and urging him to release more detailed summaries .
Barr refused ; nearly a month later , he released a redacted version of Mueller ’ s full report , but not before giving a news conference that defended the president as “ frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency.
” Barr also disputed some of the findings in the Justice Department inspector general ’ s report that found political bias did not motivate the opening of the Russia investigation .
“ The FBI launched an intrusive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thinnest of suspicions that , in my view , were insufficient to justify the steps taken , ” Barr said after the release of the report .
The attorney general also ordered a separate investigation into the origins of the Russia probe , led by Connecticut US Attorney John Durham .
Barr overrode Stone ’ s sentencing , against the apparent objections of career prosecutors .
The motion to dismiss Flynn ’ s case is added to that list .
But with the country reeling from the coronavirus , the fallout from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
House Democrats expressed outrage and re-upped calls for Barr to testify .
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler ( D-NY ) called the decision to drop the case against Flynn “ outrageous ” in a statement Thursday .
“ The evidence against General Flynn is overwhelming .
He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators .
And now a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the President ’ s crony simply walk away , ” he said .
“ Americans are right to be furious and worried about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Nadler had scheduled a hearing with Barr in March , where Democrats hoped to grill Barr on Stone ’ s sentencing .
That was rescheduled because of the pandemic , but Nadler said that he intends to reschedule the hearing as soon as possible and request the Department of Justice Inspector General conduct a review .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

The Justice Department has dropped its case against former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, erasing his guilty plea in the Mueller probe and ending a years-long saga over his sentencing.
In a court filing Thursday, the Department of Justice said that “based on an extensive review and careful consideration of the circumstances ... continued prosecution of this case would not serve the interests of justice.” The filing was signed by Timothy Shea, who’s currently serving as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI investigators about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US during Donald Trump’s presidential transition, when Flynn, a retired US Army lieutenant general, was serving as a senior member of the president-elect’s transition team.
At the time, the Justice Department lawyers prosecuting the case accepted Flynn’s guilty plea because it was part of a deal in which Flynn agreed to cooperate with investigators in the Mueller probe, presumably in exchange for a more lenient sentence when the time came.
But then Flynn’s case took a bizarre turn. He began fighting his conviction, with his attorneys alleging the FBI had somehow railroaded him. And Attorney General Bill Barr, who has made no secret of his distaste for the Mueller investigation, assigned an outside prosecutor, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeff Jensen, to review the case against Flynn.
As part of that review, FBI documents came to light last week that revealed some of the Bureau’s internal deliberations ahead of its January 2017 interview with Flynn in which agents questioned him about his Russian contacts. Flynn’s attorneys — as well as Trump and his allies — saw these documents as somehow vindicating Flynn.
And now, it seems that the current leaders at the Justice Department — namely AG Barr — have bought into this narrative as well. Jensen said in a statement that he had “concluded the proper and just course was to dismiss the case.” He added that he advised Barr on these findings, and the AG agreed with his conclusions.
In the Thursday court filing, the DOJ concedes that Flynn lied to investigators but claims Flynn’s statements could not have “conceivably ‘influenced’ an investigation that had neither legitimate or counterintelligence or criminal purpose.”
But not everyone involved in the case seems to agree with the decision: The lead prosecutor on the Flynn case, Brandon Van Grack, withdrew from the case Thursday, which was reported just before the news of Flynn’s dismissal broke. He did not offer any details about his departure in his notice to the court.
Van Grack had worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, though he is also an official at the Justice Department, currently heading up the Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit.
The move to dismiss Flynn’s case and Van Grack’s resignation are strikingly similar to the Justice Department’s meddling in the Roger Stone case, another Trump associate convicted in the Mueller investigation. Stone’s case is still proceeding, but Barr intervened in February to revise the prosecutors’ initial sentencing recommendations. In that instance, the entire prosecution team quit.
The motion to drop Flynn’s case must still be reviewed by the judge in the case, but the Justice Department’s handling of the Flynn matter will once again raise questions about the apparent politicization of the Barr’s Justice Department, which seems intent on protecting the president and undermining the outcomes of the Russia investigation.
Back in December 2017, just one day after Flynn pleaded guilty, President Trump tweeted that he’d fired Flynn as national security adviser earlier that year because Flynn had lied not only to the FBI but also to Vice President Mike Pence.
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017
Trump seems to have forgotten that second part about Pence, though, as on Thursday, Trump called Flynn an “innocent man” and said he now sees him as an “even greater warrior.”
Flynn’s guilty plea was explosive at the time
Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal law enforcement about his communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
In December 2016, during Trump’s presidential transition, the Obama administration put sanctions on Russia for its role in interfering in the 2016 election. Flynn communicated with Kislyak and asked him not to retaliate — the implication being things would be different when Trump got into office.
When FBI agents asked him about those conversations in early 2017, Flynn denied that he’d brought up sanctions. Prosecutors also found evidence that Flynn may have broken the law elsewhere, including for failing to register as a foreign lobbyist, but prosecutors charged him with that one count of lying to the FBI, which Flynn plead guilty to in December 2017.
Flynn agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. At the time, it was a major development in the probe that someone directly connected to Trump’s White House was working with prosecutors.
Initially, Mueller’s team spoke highly of Flynn’s cooperation. In a 2018 sentencing memo, prosecutors called the former national security adviser’s help “substantial,” and Flynn appeared to be assisting in multiple investigations. Prosecutors, as a result, recommended that Flynn receive a punishment on the low end of the sentencing guidelines, “including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration.”
Flynn’s initial cooperation with Mueller should have alienated him from Trump and his allies, as the president has bashed “flippers” — people who, like his former attorney Michael Cohen, talked to prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence — and Flynn absolutely cooperated with Mueller’s team.
But instead, Flynn’s case took a wild turn.
The Flynn case got really weird. Now it’s even weirder.
Flynn’s sentencing was initially scheduled for December 2018, and given the prosecutors’ apparent satisfaction with Flynn’s help, looked to be fairly straightforward. It turned out to be anything but.
Right before the sentencing hearing, Flynn’s lawyers suggested in a memo that he was railroaded by prosecutors, something Mueller’s team quickly dismissed.
Then, at his court date, the judge harshly criticized Flynn. “This is a very — serious — offense,” Judge Emmet Sullivan said. “A high-ranking senior official of the government making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation while on the physical premises of the White House.”
Sullivan questioned prosecutors as to whether Flynn had committed treason, though he walked back those comments. The judge then asked Flynn whether he wanted to delay his sentencing so he could get the full benefits of his cooperation. Flynn agreed, which postponed his sentencing into 2019.
But, last year, Flynn took a new approach, refusing to cooperate (including on a case with one of his business associates) and eventually filing a motion to rescind his guilty plea.
Prosecutors responded by rescinding their generosity. Citing Flynn’s failure to accept responsibility in a January memo, they updated their sentencing recommendation to include prison time of zero to six months.
Then a few weeks later, prosecutors walked back that recommendation, saying, never mind, probation was okay. NBC News later reported that senior officials at the Justice Department had intervened. (This played out alongside the Roger Stone drama.)
Flynn’s sentencing was scheduled for the end of February, but the judge overseeing the case, Emmet Sullivan, ended up postponing it “until further order of the court.”
That’s because Flynn had begun arguing that the FBI had set him up to lie, and that he’d received inadequate assistance from his former lawyers, whom he’d worked with during his guilty plea. Sullivan allowed time for both prosecutors and Flynn’s legal team to make their cases on these charges.
But in late April, FBI documents were newly unsealed as part of a review ordered by Bill Barr.
The materials, which are partially redacted, are from January 2017 and consist of three emails and one handwritten note dealing with internal discussions among agents that took place shortly before they questioned Flynn.
The emails discuss how to answer questions Flynn might ask during the investigation. The handwritten note, however, includes more detailed deliberations, such as whether to present Flynn with evidence if he were to lie during his interview about his contacts with Kislyak.
In that note, an FBI official (believed, based on the initials, to belong to Bill Priestap, the former head of FBI counterintelligence) writes that the goal of the interview with Flynn was “to determine if he is going to tell the truth [about] his relationship w/ Russians.” In another section it reads: “What is our goal? Truth/admission or to ... get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
The author also writes in the note at one point: “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act give facts to DOJ + have them decide ... If we’re seen as playing games, WH will be furious. Protect our institution by not playing games.”
Flynn’s defenders pointed to these last memos — especially the note asking whether the goal was to “get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” — as proof that the FBI went into the interrogation with the intention of getting Flynn to lie. Flynn’s attorney called the revelations “shocking” and “reprehensible,” according to the New York Times.
Those defenders include the president, who responded to the documents by tweeting, “What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!”
Others in law enforcement didn’t see a plot to get Flynn, and instead understood it as the standard law enforcement practice of strategizing before a high-profile interview.
But the Justice Department, in moving to dismiss Flynn’s case on Thursday, hews more closely to the president’s interpretation. “The frail and shifting justifications for its ongoing probe of Mr. Flynn,” the filing says, “as well as the irregular procedure that preceded his interview, suggests the FBI was eager to interview Mr. Flynn irrespective of any underlying investigation.”
The Department of Justice’s interference brings scrutiny back on Barr
The extraordinary move to dismiss the case against Flynn looks like yet another instance of Barr’s Justice Department overriding the discretion of prosecutors, and doing it in a way that would seem to protect the president’s interests.
The implications for the rule of law are worrisome. Flynn lied to the FBI and admitted his guilt, but the Justice Department is now basically saying that doesn’t matter: “[T]he government is not persuaded that the January 24, 2017 interview was conducted with a legitimate investigative basis and therefore does not believe Mr. Flynn’s statements were material even if untrue,” the filing states.
“Even if Flynn told the truth, Mr. Flynn’s statements could not have conceivably ‘influenced’ an investigation that had neither legitimate counterintelligence nor criminal purpose,” the filing also states.
This is a dramatic reversal from what federal prosecutors said in 2017. In a filing laying out the charges against Flynn and his plea agreement, Mueller’s team wrote that Flynn’s “false statements and omissions impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI’s ongoing investigation” into the links and ties between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.
In other words, Flynn’s lies actually mattered. This is why the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss Flynn’s case looks very much like the latest assault on the legitimacy of the Russia investigation during Bill Barr’s tenure.
Critics have long accused Barr of acting as Trump’s personal attorney, beginning with his handling of the Mueller investigation itself.
Barr released selective details about Mueller’s report, which Trump used to declare “total exoneration,” despite Mueller himself disputing Barr’s characterization and urging him to release more detailed summaries. Barr refused; nearly a month later, he released a redacted version of Mueller’s full report, but not before giving a news conference that defended the president as “frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency.”
Barr also disputed some of the findings in the Justice Department inspector general’s report that found political bias did not motivate the opening of the Russia investigation. “The FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a US presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr said after the release of the report.
The attorney general also ordered a separate investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, led by Connecticut US Attorney John Durham. Barr overrode Stone’s sentencing, against the apparent objections of career prosecutors. The motion to dismiss Flynn’s case is added to that list.
But with the country reeling from the coronavirus, the fallout from Flynn’s case may be muted. House Democrats expressed outrage and re-upped calls for Barr to testify.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) called the decision to drop the case against Flynn “outrageous” in a statement Thursday.
“The evidence against General Flynn is overwhelming. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. And now a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the President’s crony simply walk away,” he said. “Americans are right to be furious and worried about the continued erosion of our rule of law.”
Nadler had scheduled a hearing with Barr in March, where Democrats hoped to grill Barr on Stone’s sentencing. That was rescheduled because of the pandemic, but Nadler said that he intends to reschedule the hearing as soon as possible and request the Department of Justice Inspector General conduct a review.


vox--2020-05-07--Ask a Book Critic: I want a captivating novel that won’t make me think too much

Welcome to the latest installment of Vox ’ s Ask a Book Critic , in which I , Vox book critic Constance Grady , provide book recommendations to suit your very specific mood : either how you ’ re feeling right now or how you ’ d like to be feeling instead .
We have somehow made it to May , beloveds , and by the traditional publishing calendar , that ’ s when the beach reads start to come out .
This year , many of us probably won ’ t be spending time at the beach , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frothy books have begun landing on my desk .
For that reason , I spent this week with Emma Straub ’ s family dramedy All Adults Here , and I can heartily recommend it if your current mood is wanting to feel like you run a bookshop in a cozy New England fishing town but also you solve murders on the side , and you want to read something to soothe your nerves because of your jam-packed crime-solving/book-selling schedule .
( That is , I must confess , often my own mood .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the week refreshing my memories of The Secret History , the May pick for the Vox Book Club .
That book indulges my desire to be a dark and moody intellectual on a college campus , nursing a cup of black coffee ( n.b .
I do not drink coffee ) in an ivy-covered building on a gray and rainy day while I ponder my Plato translation ( n.b .
I do not read Greek ) and also the terrible crime I have been forced , due to circumstances beyond my control , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not commit crimes ) .
If you would also like to spend some time feeling brilliant and tragic , join us !
But if you are in the mood for a completely different kind of book , that ’ s why this column exists .
Tell me how you want to feel , and I will match you with a book to get you there .
The recommendation requests below , submitted to me via email and on Twitter , have been edited for length and clarity .
I am craving a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t make me think too much Try The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles .
It ’ s about two sisters in Brazil in the 1930s .
Both of them are great seamstresses , but one of them marries rich , and the other one becomes an outlaw .
This book has , by and large , floated under the radar , but I ’ ve never met anyone who read it who didn ’ t end up loving it .
Since it looks like I won ’ t be traveling anytime soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about a road trip or a quest Rainbow Rowell ’ s Wayward Son is a road trip-slash-quest fantasy , although it would probably help to start with the first book of this ongoing series , Carry On .
They ’ re both fun light reads that riff off of Harry Potter fanfiction .
Neil Gaiman ’ s American Gods is also a super-absorbing road trip fantasy novel that makes a strong case that roadside attractions are America ’ s most holy places .
And Flaming Iguanas by Erika Lopez is about two punk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I do a lot of yoga and meditation , but it ’ s starting to feel incestuous .
I ’ m getting stopped up .
I need a book that will make me , let me , feel feelings .
Drown me in language and love .
We talk a lot about books as an escape here , but you ’ re absolutely right that sometimes we need to stop escaping our feelings and just take a beat to feel them .
And one of the things books can do is offer us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safely , especially when reality is so overwhelming and terrifying .
What I think you need is Kazuo Ishiguro ’ s Never Let Me Go , which understands better than any book I know of that life is awful and unfair , but that we have no choice but to bear it .
Back when one could do such things , I spent many an afternoon in a coffee shop with this book , blinking determinedly and trying to keep from crying in public .
If you ’ d like me to recommend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at constance.grady @ vox.com with the subject line “ Ask a Book Critic.
” The more specific your mood , the better !
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Welcome to the latest installment of Vox’s Ask a Book Critic, in which I, Vox book critic Constance Grady, provide book recommendations to suit your very specific mood: either how you’re feeling right now or how you’d like to be feeling instead.
We have somehow made it to May, beloveds, and by the traditional publishing calendar, that’s when the beach reads start to come out. This year, many of us probably won’t be spending time at the beach, but nevertheless, a variety of light and frothy books have begun landing on my desk. For that reason, I spent this week with Emma Straub’s family dramedy All Adults Here, and I can heartily recommend it if your current mood is wanting to feel like you run a bookshop in a cozy New England fishing town but also you solve murders on the side, and you want to read something to soothe your nerves because of your jam-packed crime-solving/book-selling schedule. (That is, I must confess, often my own mood.)
I’ve also been spending the week refreshing my memories of The Secret History, the May pick for the Vox Book Club. That book indulges my desire to be a dark and moody intellectual on a college campus, nursing a cup of black coffee (n.b. I do not drink coffee) in an ivy-covered building on a gray and rainy day while I ponder my Plato translation (n.b. I do not read Greek) and also the terrible crime I have been forced, due to circumstances beyond my control, to cover up (n.b. I do not commit crimes). If you would also like to spend some time feeling brilliant and tragic, join us!
But if you are in the mood for a completely different kind of book, that’s why this column exists. Tell me how you want to feel, and I will match you with a book to get you there.
The recommendation requests below, submitted to me via email and on Twitter, have been edited for length and clarity.
I am craving a good, captivating novel that won’t make me think too much
Try The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles. It’s about two sisters in Brazil in the 1930s. Both of them are great seamstresses, but one of them marries rich, and the other one becomes an outlaw. This book has, by and large, floated under the radar, but I’ve never met anyone who read it who didn’t end up loving it.
Since it looks like I won’t be traveling anytime soon, I would love a fun book about a road trip or a quest
Rainbow Rowell’s Wayward Son is a road trip-slash-quest fantasy, although it would probably help to start with the first book of this ongoing series, Carry On. They’re both fun light reads that riff off of Harry Potter fanfiction.
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is also a super-absorbing road trip fantasy novel that makes a strong case that roadside attractions are America’s most holy places. And Flaming Iguanas by Erika Lopez is about two punk rock women driving motorcycles across America.
I do a lot of yoga and meditation, but it’s starting to feel incestuous. I’m getting stopped up. I need a book that will make me, let me, feel feelings. Drown me in language and love.
We talk a lot about books as an escape here, but you’re absolutely right that sometimes we need to stop escaping our feelings and just take a beat to feel them. And one of the things books can do is offer us a space to work out our feelings safely, especially when reality is so overwhelming and terrifying.
What I think you need is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, which understands better than any book I know of that life is awful and unfair, but that we have no choice but to bear it. Back when one could do such things, I spent many an afternoon in a coffee shop with this book, blinking determinedly and trying to keep from crying in public.
If you’d like me to recommend a book for you, email me at constance.grady@vox.com with the subject line “Ask a Book Critic.” The more specific your mood, the better!


vox--2020-05-07--Sign up for the Vox Book Club newsletter

Cookie banner
We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.


vox--2020-05-07--Tech billionaires are already mounting a pressure campaign to prevent the next pandemic

Hillary Clinton wore a black breathing mask imprinted with the word “ VOTE ” in Twitter and Instagram posts this weekend , posing in what appeared as a homespun effort to pitch “ the must-have accessory for spring.
” The posts bear an unassuming hashtag : # MaskingForAFriend .
But behind this hashtag and those fun posts — as well as similar ones by celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger — are a group of tech billionaires trying to answer a weighty , almost existential question : How can we make sure a devastating pandemic never happens again ?
That ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group formed by major tech philanthropists including Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt , who are behind a new push to cajole overseas governments to more fully fund international institutions like the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .
The group , called the Pandemic Action Network , is behind the # MaskingForAFriend campaign that seeks to change personal behavior .
But its more important ambition is to change government behavior .
This initiative is one of the more forward-looking attempts from philanthropy to shape what the world looks like after the crisis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political advocacy .
The push is small for now , with just $ 1.5 million in initial cash from Schmidt Futures , the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , and other backers .
But the Pandemic Action Network aims to lead a pressure campaign that shapes the policy debate , a debate that will be at the fore of the next wave of pandemic response efforts .
Gabrielle Fitzgerald , who led program advocacy at the Gates Foundation for a decade and then a $ 100 million push by billionaire Paul Allen to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when international institutions issued reports sounding the alarm — then languished with inadequate follow-up — or made bold promises that they wouldn ’ t meet .
For instance , after the Ebola crisis , the WHO in 2015 set out to raise a $ 100 million contingency fund for emergency response but has only raised about $ 46 million to date .
Filling that funding gap is one of the things that Fitzgerald , now the Pandemic Action Network ’ s co-founder , would have pushed for .
Other causes that Fitzgerald ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressuring foreign governments to fund the Gates-founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations , which develops vaccines , along with possible companion efforts in the future that seek to develop therapeutics .
They may also look domestically , advocating , for instance , for more US resources in America ’ s Strategic National Stockpile .
“ There ’ s a lot of talk of ‘ this can ’ t happen again.
’ But right now , all of the focus is on the response , ” Fitzgerald said .
“ At some point very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ahead beyond the immediate crisis and start thinking about what mechanisms need to be put in place to make sure it doesn ’ t happen.
” Despite the death toll posed by a global pandemic , the wealthy have largely under-funded work meant to gird the world for a deadly outbreak .
This research area , sometimes called “ biosecurity , ” has been a priority for just a few major philanthropies , like Gates and the Open Philanthropy Project , funded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz .
Moskovitz has said he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , too , and that he worries an “ engineered pandemic ” in the future could be even worse than the coronavirus .
“ We don ’ t think it ’ s too early to start thinking about how to prevent something like this — or worse — from happening again , ” Moskovitz tweeted last week .
“ Reducing the likelihood of such an outcome is one of the most critical projects philanthropy and government can undertake , which is why even today , in the midst of COVID-19 , our biosecurity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focused on looking ahead.
” The hope and expectation is that more donors will join Moskovitz in spending big on pandemic preparedness work once we ’ re through this .
But that ’ s not the only uphill battle for the Pandemic Action Network .
It doesn ’ t only need philanthropists to prioritize pandemics , but also to prioritize advocacy efforts , which some philanthropists remain uncomfortable with .
Some don ’ t see the upside in getting too political .
Others worry it could endanger their tax-exempt status if it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bunch of rich people funding their own pandemic preparedness programs out of their own pocket ?
That ’ s not the world Fitzgerald is pushing for .
“ If you want large-scale , system-wide policy change that ’ s going to be able to affect more than what you can afford to fund yourself , advocacy is a really good investment , ” she said .
“ This is definitely an example of something that no one funder can do alone , even the biggest governments.
” Every day at Vox , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Hillary Clinton wore a black breathing mask imprinted with the word “VOTE” in Twitter and Instagram posts this weekend, posing in what appeared as a homespun effort to pitch “the must-have accessory for spring.” The posts bear an unassuming hashtag: #MaskingForAFriend.
But behind this hashtag and those fun posts — as well as similar ones by celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger — are a group of tech billionaires trying to answer a weighty, almost existential question: How can we make sure a devastating pandemic never happens again?
That’s one of the main focuses for a group formed by major tech philanthropists including Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt, who are behind a new push to cajole overseas governments to more fully fund international institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO). The group, called the Pandemic Action Network, is behind the #MaskingForAFriend campaign that seeks to change personal behavior. But its more important ambition is to change government behavior.
This initiative is one of the more forward-looking attempts from philanthropy to shape what the world looks like after the crisis, and one of the few focused on political advocacy.
The push is small for now, with just $1.5 million in initial cash from Schmidt Futures, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other backers. But the Pandemic Action Network aims to lead a pressure campaign that shapes the policy debate, a debate that will be at the fore of the next wave of pandemic response efforts.
Gabrielle Fitzgerald, who led program advocacy at the Gates Foundation for a decade and then a $100 million push by billionaire Paul Allen to combat Ebola, can recall many times when international institutions issued reports sounding the alarm — then languished with inadequate follow-up — or made bold promises that they wouldn’t meet. For instance, after the Ebola crisis, the WHO in 2015 set out to raise a $100 million contingency fund for emergency response but has only raised about $46 million to date.
Filling that funding gap is one of the things that Fitzgerald, now the Pandemic Action Network’s co-founder, would have pushed for.
Other causes that Fitzgerald’s new group might take up include pressuring foreign governments to fund the Gates-founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which develops vaccines, along with possible companion efforts in the future that seek to develop therapeutics. They may also look domestically, advocating, for instance, for more US resources in America’s Strategic National Stockpile.
“There’s a lot of talk of ‘this can’t happen again.’ But right now, all of the focus is on the response,” Fitzgerald said. “At some point very soon, we need to start looking ahead beyond the immediate crisis and start thinking about what mechanisms need to be put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Despite the death toll posed by a global pandemic, the wealthy have largely under-funded work meant to gird the world for a deadly outbreak. This research area, sometimes called “biosecurity,” has been a priority for just a few major philanthropies, like Gates and the Open Philanthropy Project, funded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. Moskovitz has said he is thinking about the world after the coronavirus, too, and that he worries an “engineered pandemic” in the future could be even worse than the coronavirus.
“We don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about how to prevent something like this — or worse — from happening again,” Moskovitz tweeted last week. “Reducing the likelihood of such an outcome is one of the most critical projects philanthropy and government can undertake, which is why even today, in the midst of COVID-19, our biosecurity program has a lot of its energy focused on looking ahead.”
The hope and expectation is that more donors will join Moskovitz in spending big on pandemic preparedness work once we’re through this. But that’s not the only uphill battle for the Pandemic Action Network. It doesn’t only need philanthropists to prioritize pandemics, but also to prioritize advocacy efforts, which some philanthropists remain uncomfortable with. Some don’t see the upside in getting too political. Others worry it could endanger their tax-exempt status if it is seen as formal lobbying.
And so a bunch of rich people funding their own pandemic preparedness programs out of their own pocket? That’s not the world Fitzgerald is pushing for.
“If you want large-scale, system-wide policy change that’s going to be able to affect more than what you can afford to fund yourself, advocacy is a really good investment,” she said. “This is definitely an example of something that no one funder can do alone, even the biggest governments.”


vox--2020-05-07--Essential workers still lack basic safety protections on the job

Evidence-based explanations of the coronavirus crisis , from how it started to how it might end to how to protect yourself and others .
Whenever a “ code purple ” is announced at the Walmart Sam Carroll works at in Oklahoma City , it ’ s a covert signal for employees to wash or sanitize their hands that customers aren ’ t supposed to pick up on .
“ But when the customers see us clean our hands , they usually put their hands out and I give them a little bit , ” Carroll says .
“ I even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ That ’ ll be $ 10.
’ ” Carroll , 57 , like millions of essential workers across the country , finds himself on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis .
Walmart has been taking measures to protect him , but he thinks they could be doing more .
Walmart made masks mandatory for associates on April 17 and provides workers a new one every time they come in .
But just 19 percent of essential workers across the country said the same of their workplaces , according to a new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the University of California Berkeley and UC San Francisco .
The report examines how essential food , grocery , retail , and delivery workers are being protected by their employers .
Researchers surveyed 8,000 workers from nearly 50 big service-sector companies such as Walmart , McDonald ’ s , Costco , Amazon , UPS , and Walgreens between March 7 and April 9 to find out what sort of health and safety measures are being taken in their workplaces .
They asked them whether cleaning has increased , whether they ’ re being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re being required to wear them .
About two-thirds of employees said cleaning in their workplaces had improved , but in terms of providing protective equipment such as masks and gloves , companies have a long way to go .
And while some companies might have improved their sanitation and PPE regimes since the survey was taken , essential workers say there are still big gaps .
Carroll , for instance , is the main provider for his family , including his wife and three sons , and as they depend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is depending on Walmart to protect him .
His store has hired a third-party cleaning company , but he feels they could do more .
“ They haven ’ t done a real thorough cleaning in the store , ” he says .
The store has always had gloves because they need them for people who work with meat in the deli , but they ’ re not required .
Carroll , who is also a member of workers ’ rights organization United for Respect , doesn ’ t have much use for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind up poking a hole in them or tearing them .
The global pandemic has placed a new focus on how workers are treated , especially as millions of people who work in low-paid service jobs have suddenly been deemed vital to the American economy .
And while some of the conversation has centered around how much they ’ re paid , at the very basic level , it ’ s also important to talk about how they ’ re protected .
Going to work during a global pandemic , they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ There ’ s been a lot of attention to the lack of personal protective equipment in health care settings , but if we think about grocery stores and pharmacies and how much traffic is going through there , it ’ s really important to think about the essential workers who are continuing to staff these places , ” said Kristen Harknett , an assistant professor at UCSF and one of the researchers behind the project .
“ We can ’ t hold onto the illusion that these jobs aren ’ t important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essential.
” How protected you are depends on where you work Most workers say they ’ ve seen new cleaning procedures at their jobs , which makes sense — cleaning your surroundings and washing your hands have been some of the most prominent and earliest pieces of advice from experts when it comes to combating the coronavirus .
Overall , 65 percent of workers surveyed said their workplaces had started requiring additional cleaning , 56 percent said gloves had been made available , and only 19 percent said masks had been made available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t mean it is required : Just 18 percent of workers said they were required to wear gloves and only 7 percent were required to wear masks .
And it varies .
Three-quarters of drugstore and pharmacy workers and two-thirds of big-box superstore workers say they ’ ve seen changes in cleaning , but less than half of warehouse workers and a quarter of delivery workers say the same .
About one-third of workers at restaurants , fast food stores , and coffee shops said cleaning policies hadn ’ t changed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ food-handling companies have pretty strict guidelines around cleanliness already .
More than half of workers in those types of establishments said they had access to gloves , and they were likeliest to say gloves were required .
The researchers also note that only around half of warehouse and fulfillment center workers had access to gloves , which is notable , given that so many people are ordering online to stay safe .
Within industries , different companies are caring for their workers and customers at varying levels .
For example , three-quarters of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procedures ; less than half of Burger King employees did .
“ Among big-box stores and warehouse and fulfillment centers , Costco and Home Depot stand out and Walmart , Amazon , and UPS lag in terms of cleaning , gloves , and masks , ” the report reads .
“ In grocery , larger shares of workers at Aldi report cleaning , gloves , and masks , while workers at Publix and Safeway report the fewest new protective measures .
In pharmacy , CVS workers report less new cleaning , but more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Costco workers have also reported poor working conditions and concerns about their health .
Kory Lundberg , a spokesperson for Walmart , told me that the company has continued to “ evolve on this as the situation has gone on.
” He noted that the retailer has implemented health screenings and temperature checks for employees before they start their shifts , installed plexiglass at checkout lanes and in other areas , and provides hand sanitizer to workers and customers .
It has also put in place an emergency leave policy that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We continue to look and work with public health officials and understand what are the steps we can take to help keep people safe , ” he said .
But for many workers , their employers ’ efforts aren ’ t good enough .
Some workers have been speaking out about the conditions they ’ re working under , including at Amazon , which has seen a rise in employee activism in recent years .
Workers are worried the company isn ’ t doing enough to protect them and in March began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and staging walkouts in protest of their conditions .
Hibaq Mohamad , who works at an Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee , Minnesota , told me she ’ s worried about the lag time on getting gloves and masks and doesn ’ t think the company is doing enough to clean .
“ It ’ s scary , ” she said .
In a statement to Vox , Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty said ensuring the health and safety of its employees is the company ’ s “ top concern.
” She highlighted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process updates ” and expects to spend more than $ 800 million on coronavirus-related safety measures in the first half of the year .
“ Our focus remains on protecting associates in our operations network with extensive measures including distributing face masks , disinfectant wipes , hand sanitizer , implementing temperature checks , operating with strict social distancing protocols , and recognizing their contributions with additional pay and leading benefits , ” Lighty said .
“ We encourage anyone interested in the facts to compare our overall pay and benefits , as well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to other retailers and major employers across the country.
” On Monday , Amazon said that a worker at its fulfillment facility in Staten Island had died of Covid-19 , and on Tuesday , it confirmed an employee in Illinois had died .
The first known coronavirus death of an Amazon worker happened on March 31 .
As Vox ’ s Anna North recently noted , at least 18 Walmart employees had died as of April 18 , and workers at Trader Joe ’ s , Safeway , and Kroger stores have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t sign up for this The Shift Project ’ s survey was conducted from early March to early April as the gravity of the pandemic was beginning to take hold in the United States .
Companies may have tightened protective guidelines since then , but they ’ ve been slow to act .
At the start of April , the New York Times reported that Home Depot employees said they had been told not to wear masks , and Walgreens workers had been discouraged from wearing them .
Some companies ’ efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers have encountered pushback from the public .
One Oklahoma city reversed its mask requirement rule for shoppers after workers reported they were being threatened by customers , and a Family Dollar worker in Michigan was fatally shot after trying to enforce the store ’ s mask policy .
The way these service workers are being treated now is emblematic of the way they ’ ve always been treated , said Danny Schneider , an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and one of the researchers behind the project .
“ We really have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was laboring under crummy job conditions for a long time , with low wages and unstable , unpredictable , and insufficient work hours , ” Schneider said .
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak , there was a sense around many jobs now deemed “ essential ” that they were somehow less important .
They were low-skilled and low-paid .
But now , that illusion is over , or at least it should be .
“ We can now plainly see how difficult and important these jobs are , ” Schneider said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same.
” On a policy level , there are things the government can do to make sure essential workers are protected and compensated .
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ) has put out coronavirus guidelines for workplaces , and workers who feel their workplace is unsafe can report it , though how effective that will be is unclear .
Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) and Rep. Ro Khanna ( D-CA ) have pushed for an essential worker “ bill of rights ” in Congress that would include health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and child care support .
Some Democrats and Republicans have put forth plans for essential worker hazard pay .
Schneider said that people can also ask employers to do better .
“ The data that we show , employer by employer , shows that some employers are doing better , ” he said .
It doesn ’ t have to be an inevitable race to the bottom , and everyone can do better .
Carroll , the Walmart worker , has been with the company for 11 years and makes $ 11.96 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bonus the company offered workers in March — $ 300 for full-time employees , $ 150 for part-time .
Walmart said it also moved up a quarterly payment to April that would usually be made in May .
I asked him what more he would want for the retailer to do .
“ I would ask for hazard pay .
I would ask them to back pay that hazard pay from when it started until now , ” he said .
I asked him how much he thinks would be adequate .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be at $ 14 or $ 15 an hour , ” he said , then qualified his response , chuckling with a bit of discomfort .
“ That sounds a little greedy , though.
” Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

Whenever a “code purple” is announced at the Walmart Sam Carroll works at in Oklahoma City, it’s a covert signal for employees to wash or sanitize their hands that customers aren’t supposed to pick up on. “But when the customers see us clean our hands, they usually put their hands out and I give them a little bit,” Carroll says. “I even joke with them, I say, ‘That’ll be $10.’”
Carroll, 57, like millions of essential workers across the country, finds himself on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. Walmart has been taking measures to protect him, but he thinks they could be doing more.
Walmart made masks mandatory for associates on April 17 and provides workers a new one every time they come in. But just 19 percent of essential workers across the country said the same of their workplaces, according to a new survey from the Shift Project out of the University of California Berkeley and UC San Francisco.
The report examines how essential food, grocery, retail, and delivery workers are being protected by their employers. Researchers surveyed 8,000 workers from nearly 50 big service-sector companies such as Walmart, McDonald’s, Costco, Amazon, UPS, and Walgreens between March 7 and April 9 to find out what sort of health and safety measures are being taken in their workplaces. They asked them whether cleaning has increased, whether they’re being provided gloves and masks, and whether they’re being required to wear them.
About two-thirds of employees said cleaning in their workplaces had improved, but in terms of providing protective equipment such as masks and gloves, companies have a long way to go.
And while some companies might have improved their sanitation and PPE regimes since the survey was taken, essential workers say there are still big gaps.
Carroll, for instance, is the main provider for his family, including his wife and three sons, and as they depend on him to protect them, he is depending on Walmart to protect him. His store has hired a third-party cleaning company, but he feels they could do more. “They haven’t done a real thorough cleaning in the store,” he says. The store has always had gloves because they need them for people who work with meat in the deli, but they’re not required. Carroll, who is also a member of workers’ rights organization United for Respect, doesn’t have much use for them — after a while, you wind up poking a hole in them or tearing them.
The global pandemic has placed a new focus on how workers are treated, especially as millions of people who work in low-paid service jobs have suddenly been deemed vital to the American economy. And while some of the conversation has centered around how much they’re paid, at the very basic level, it’s also important to talk about how they’re protected. Going to work during a global pandemic, they’re at high risk of getting sick.
“There’s been a lot of attention to the lack of personal protective equipment in health care settings, but if we think about grocery stores and pharmacies and how much traffic is going through there, it’s really important to think about the essential workers who are continuing to staff these places,” said Kristen Harknett, an assistant professor at UCSF and one of the researchers behind the project. “We can’t hold onto the illusion that these jobs aren’t important, because they’re designated as essential.”
How protected you are depends on where you work
Most workers say they’ve seen new cleaning procedures at their jobs, which makes sense — cleaning your surroundings and washing your hands have been some of the most prominent and earliest pieces of advice from experts when it comes to combating the coronavirus.
Overall, 65 percent of workers surveyed said their workplaces had started requiring additional cleaning, 56 percent said gloves had been made available, and only 19 percent said masks had been made available. Just because equipment is available doesn’t mean it is required: Just 18 percent of workers said they were required to wear gloves and only 7 percent were required to wear masks.
And it varies. Three-quarters of drugstore and pharmacy workers and two-thirds of big-box superstore workers say they’ve seen changes in cleaning, but less than half of warehouse workers and a quarter of delivery workers say the same.
About one-third of workers at restaurants, fast food stores, and coffee shops said cleaning policies hadn’t changed. To be sure, a lot of food-handling companies have pretty strict guidelines around cleanliness already. More than half of workers in those types of establishments said they had access to gloves, and they were likeliest to say gloves were required.
The researchers also note that only around half of warehouse and fulfillment center workers had access to gloves, which is notable, given that so many people are ordering online to stay safe.
Within industries, different companies are caring for their workers and customers at varying levels. For example, three-quarters of McDonald’s employees reported new cleaning procedures; less than half of Burger King employees did.
“Among big-box stores and warehouse and fulfillment centers, Costco and Home Depot stand out and Walmart, Amazon, and UPS lag in terms of cleaning, gloves, and masks,” the report reads. “In grocery, larger shares of workers at Aldi report cleaning, gloves, and masks, while workers at Publix and Safeway report the fewest new protective measures. In pharmacy, CVS workers report less new cleaning, but more access to and requirements to use PPE.”
Costco workers have also reported poor working conditions and concerns about their health.
Kory Lundberg, a spokesperson for Walmart, told me that the company has continued to “evolve on this as the situation has gone on.” He noted that the retailer has implemented health screenings and temperature checks for employees before they start their shifts, installed plexiglass at checkout lanes and in other areas, and provides hand sanitizer to workers and customers. It has also put in place an emergency leave policy that is currently set to last through May. “We continue to look and work with public health officials and understand what are the steps we can take to help keep people safe,” he said.
But for many workers, their employers’ efforts aren’t good enough.
Some workers have been speaking out about the conditions they’re working under, including at Amazon, which has seen a rise in employee activism in recent years. Workers are worried the company isn’t doing enough to protect them and in March began petitioning for it to take additional steps and staging walkouts in protest of their conditions.
Hibaq Mohamad, who works at an Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, told me she’s worried about the lag time on getting gloves and masks and doesn’t think the company is doing enough to clean. “It’s scary,” she said.
In a statement to Vox, Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty said ensuring the health and safety of its employees is the company’s “top concern.” She highlighted that it has implemented more than 150 “process updates” and expects to spend more than $800 million on coronavirus-related safety measures in the first half of the year.
“Our focus remains on protecting associates in our operations network with extensive measures including distributing face masks, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, implementing temperature checks, operating with strict social distancing protocols, and recognizing their contributions with additional pay and leading benefits,” Lighty said. “We encourage anyone interested in the facts to compare our overall pay and benefits, as well as our speed in managing this crisis, to other retailers and major employers across the country.”
On Monday, Amazon said that a worker at its fulfillment facility in Staten Island had died of Covid-19, and on Tuesday, it confirmed an employee in Illinois had died. The first known coronavirus death of an Amazon worker happened on March 31. As Vox’s Anna North recently noted, at least 18 Walmart employees had died as of April 18, and workers at Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Kroger stores have died as well.
Essential workers didn’t sign up for this
The Shift Project’s survey was conducted from early March to early April as the gravity of the pandemic was beginning to take hold in the United States. Companies may have tightened protective guidelines since then, but they’ve been slow to act. At the start of April, the New York Times reported that Home Depot employees said they had been told not to wear masks, and Walgreens workers had been discouraged from wearing them.
Some companies’ efforts to better protect their employees and their customers have encountered pushback from the public. One Oklahoma city reversed its mask requirement rule for shoppers after workers reported they were being threatened by customers, and a Family Dollar worker in Michigan was fatally shot after trying to enforce the store’s mask policy.
The way these service workers are being treated now is emblematic of the way they’ve always been treated, said Danny Schneider, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley and one of the researchers behind the project.
“We really have a large part of the labor force that was laboring under crummy job conditions for a long time, with low wages and unstable, unpredictable, and insufficient work hours,” Schneider said.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, there was a sense around many jobs now deemed “essential” that they were somehow less important. They were low-skilled and low-paid. But now, that illusion is over, or at least it should be. “We can now plainly see how difficult and important these jobs are,” Schneider said. “But it’s more of the same.”
On a policy level, there are things the government can do to make sure essential workers are protected and compensated. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put out coronavirus guidelines for workplaces, and workers who feel their workplace is unsafe can report it, though how effective that will be is unclear. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have pushed for an essential worker “bill of rights” in Congress that would include health and safety protection, universal paid leave, and child care support. Some Democrats and Republicans have put forth plans for essential worker hazard pay.
Schneider said that people can also ask employers to do better. “The data that we show, employer by employer, shows that some employers are doing better,” he said. It doesn’t have to be an inevitable race to the bottom, and everyone can do better.
Carroll, the Walmart worker, has been with the company for 11 years and makes $11.96 an hour. He collected a one-time bonus the company offered workers in March — $300 for full-time employees, $150 for part-time. Walmart said it also moved up a quarterly payment to April that would usually be made in May. I asked him what more he would want for the retailer to do. “I would ask for hazard pay. I would ask them to back pay that hazard pay from when it started until now,” he said.
I asked him how much he thinks would be adequate. “I would like it at least to be at $14 or $15 an hour,” he said, then qualified his response, chuckling with a bit of discomfort. “That sounds a little greedy, though.”