The Week Magazine February 17, 2023

Both at home and abroad, the market for intolerance and illiberalism is as strong as ever. In Florida, there will be no AP African-American studies, lest high school students’ unformed minds be exposed to the curse of critical race theory (see Controversy, p.6). But on the other hand, make sure not to buy the new Harry Potter video game, Hogwarts Legacy, lest you seem to be endorsing J.K. Rowling’s ostensibly retrograde views on gender (Film, p.26). Do buy Salman Rushdie’s new novel, Victory City (Books, p.23)—it’s a great book, and the least you can do considering how many assassination attempts he’s survived since offending the wrong mullah. But wait! Don’t forget about the young people—both Muslims and Hindus—slaughtered and imprisoned by Hindu fundamentalists because they fell in love with someone…

What happened Questions swirled this week around a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina after it spent days drifting over the U.S., riveting public attention. Tensions between the superpowers flared after the giant white balloon was seen floating over Montana at about 60,000 feet, and U.S. officials acknowledged they’d been quietly tracking it as it crossed Alaska, Canada, and Idaho. As it passed over Kansas and Missouri, Chinese officials admitted that the craft—estimated to be 200 feet tall and carrying 2,000 pounds of equipment—was theirs, but said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course. U.S. officials rejected that claim, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to China, calling the balloon flight…

What happened Facing an atmosphere of deep partisan division, President Biden this week struck an optimistic tone in a State of the Union speech widely interpreted as a practice run for a re-election campaign. Biden praised the country’s economic recovery during his tenure—including the creation of more than 12 million jobs and an unemployment rate sinking to a 54-year low—as well as the 2021 passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. At least a dozen times when listing legislative accomplishments, he called on Congress to “finish the job.” He also repeated calls for bipartisan action in areas such as immigration, national security, and antitrust enforcement, and he vowed to veto any attempt at a national abortion ban or a repeal of prescription-drug price controls. “The people sent us…

When Oscar Burrow declared he wanted to be the youngest person to conquer Mount Everest, his dad gently told the 6-year-old that this feat would be difficult to arrange. “But I didn’t want to dash his dreams,” said Mr. Burrow. “So we came up with a plan to climb the highest mountains in Great Britain.” They turned their challenge into a charity bid, hoping to raise 8,849 pounds—matching the height of Mount Everest in meters—for children’s hospice care. Burrow has already tackled six of Britain’s 12 tallest mountains. Nine-year-old Bobbi Wilson was recently honored by Yale University for her work to eradicate the invasive spotted lanternfly from her hometown of Caldwell, N.J. Bobbi, who is Black, was spraying a homemade pesticide near her home last October when a neighbor called…

The College Board marked the start of Black History Month last week by “caving to Ron DeSantis,” said Nikki McCann Ramirez in Rolling Stone. To help build his “anti-woke” brand, Florida’s ambitious governor sent conservatives into swoons of delight when he recently blocked Florida schools from adopting the Board’s AP African-American Studies (APAAS) curriculum as an optional class for college-bound high school seniors, claiming it “lacks educational value.” Rather than defend the importance of exposing students to an “honest, accurate discussion” of America’s racial history, the College Board meekly folded. Last week it published a “revised” Black-history curriculum stripped of all the topics—including reparations, intersectionality, and the Black Lives Matter movement—that DeSantis had flagged as objectionable. The Board insists the changes had nothing to do with “DeSantis’ demagoguery,” said…

Good week for: Disgust, after Republican Sen. Mitt Romney chastised serial liar Rep. George Santos for grinning and shaking hands in the front aisle of the House chamber before the State of the Union speech. “You don’t belong here,” an indignant Romney told him. “You ought to be embarrassed.” Self-esteem, after the rapper and producer Dr. Dre was awarded the first annual “Dr. Dre Global Impact Award” at the Grammys. “Never compromise your vision at all,” Dre told the audience, holding the Dr. Dre award aloft. The quiet life, after Boris Johnson, the disgraced former British prime minister, revealed he is spending his days mastering the art of drawing cows, who “are actually far more difficult to draw than you think. Next stop, the horse.” Bad week for: Reviews, after…