Innehållsförteckning för September 9, 2022- September 16, 2022 från The Week Magazine

The contention that climate change isn’t real has gone poof! in a wisp of smoke, like a piece of paper held under a magnifying glass on a 100-degree day. But there are still those who contend that rapidly reducing the use of fossil fuels would be too painful a price to pay, and that rather than succumb to “alarmism,” humanity should learn to “adapt” to a hotter planet. The summer of 2022 has put the adaptation option under the magnifying glass. Unprecedented heat and drought have scorched China for months, and dried up so many rivers—including the mighty Yangtze—that authorities are instituting rolling blackouts because of lost hydropower. (See International columns, p.15.) In Europe, 104-degree days and prolonged drought baked a shocked Britain brown, revealed long-submerged relics in the Tiber…

Good week for: Taylor Lautner, after the actor shared the happy news that he is marrying his girlfriend, Taylor Dome, who will take his last name. Etiquette experts surveyed by Slate agreed that the couple should be known as “the Taylors Lautner.” Boldly going, with the news that the ashes of Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series, will be blasted into space later this year on a private spacecraft that will also carry the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan, who played chief engineer “Scotty.” Midlife crises, after quarterback Tom Brady finally explained his mysterious 11-day absence from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I’m 45 years old,” he said. “There’s a lot of s--- going on.” Bad week for: Stable…

Harry Styles has learned how to handle the intrusive attention that comes with pop stardom, said Brittany Spanos in Rolling Stone. He’s dealt with obsessive fans for 12 years, first as a member of the boy band One Direction, and then in a solo career that has really taken off. Immediately after performing in front of stadiums full of hysterical fans—still mostly girls—Styles, 28, always insists on taking a shower. “It’s really unnatural to stand in front of that many people and have that experience,” he says. “Washing it off, you’re just a naked person, in your most vulnerable, human form. Just like a naked baby.” The singer is also a movie star and fashion icon, though his gender-bending clothing choices have drawn accusations of “queerbaiting”—using queer aesthetics to…

Tim Requarth Slate Anthony Fauci may be America’s last “trusted doctor,” said Tim Requarth. After four decades of “spearheading America’s responses to infectious-disease threats from AIDS to monkeypox,” Fauci, 81, announced last week he was stepping down at the end of the year—to a sharply polarized reaction. When the Covid pandemic began in March 2020, Fauci tried and failed to stay above the fray as the U.S. response became a political lightning rod. Fauci became such a hated figure on the right that he needs a full-time security detail. Most of the right-wing attacks on him are based on “unhinged” conspiracy theories, such as that he sponsored and then covered up the creation of SARS-CoV-2 in a Wuhan lab. Still, it’s undeniable that at times in this fast-moving pandemic, “Fauci…

“The 2020 Electoral College map gives the impression that there are still dependable, contiguous regions of this continent with natural or psychological boundaries akin to the Mason-Dixon Line of yore. But the county election results maps tell a messier story. More Californians than Texans voted for Donald Trump. And even Richmond isn’t Richmond anymore—now that the city removed all the Confederate monuments from Monument Avenue, it’s just a bunch of Joe Biden voters driving past a statue of the tennis star Arthur Ashe. We are stuck with each other. We are stuck. With each other. Perpetually.” Sarah Vowell in The New York Times…

GERMANY Claudius Seidl Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Germans are fighting a new battle in the culture war over a children’s movie, said Claudius Seidl. The Young Chief Winnetou tells the backstory of the Apache chief Winnetou, a character created in the 1870s by German author Karl May. Generations of Germans grew up reading the books and watching the 1960s movies about the friendship between Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, his German companion, as the two forged peace between Native Americans and settlers in the Wild West. Those movies, with their clumsy stereotypes, are German classics, but they are also racist. You’d think that after they were so deliciously lampooned in the 2001 parody The Shoe of Manitou, nobody would make another. Yet this new film is a throwback. “Stupid, provincial, ignorant, and…

KENYA Eromo Egbejule and Immaculate Akello Al Jazeera (Qatar) Kenya’s President-elect William Ruto likes to cast himself as a “hustler,” said Eromo Egbejule and Immaculate Akello. That populist flair helped him beat Kenya’s political dynasties and its tribalism in the recent vote. Ruto, the vice president, bested rival Raila Odinga, who was backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta, by framing the election as “a class war between the haves and have-nots.” While Odinga and Kenyatta are the sons of Kenyan independence heroes, the triumphant Ruto presents himself as a rags-to-riches figure who “hawked chicken and peanuts on the streets” before becoming one of Kenya’s wealthiest businessmen. Of course, that’s not the whole story: Ruto got his start in politics in 1992, as a protégé of dictator Daniel Arap Moi, a fellow…

Nearly 18 months after the Covid relief plan allocated $386 million toward retraining veterans for civilian jobs, it has helped employ fewer than 400. Nearly 90 vocational schools have had their approvals for the program rescinded, after failing to enroll students or deliver the training and other services promised.The Washington Post The first expenditure the IRS will make with the additional $80 billion it was allocated by Congress last month is to hire people to answer taxpayers’ phone inquiries during next year’s tax-filing season. Because of budget cuts and manpower shortages, only about 1 in 10 people calling the IRS have been getting through to someone.The Wall Street Journal The U.S. has seen five “1,000-year rain events” since the end of July, in Dallas, eastern Kentucky, St. Louis, southern Illinois,…

“I needed a password eight characters long, so I picked ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.’”Comedian Nick Helm, quoted in Time Out Edinburgh “Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.” Alice Walker, quoted in Tasting Table “Every person has to come to terms with—even if just for themselves—the gap between what they believe and how they live their lives.” Writer Courtney E. Martin, quoted in LitHub “Get a bicycle. You will certainly not regret it, if you live.” Mark Twain, quoted in Blue Ridge Outdoors “The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.” William Gibson, quoted in Nasdaq.com “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that…

Surveillance in the college dorm A federal judge said a university’s use of monitoring software that scanned a student’s bedroom before he took a remote test violated the Fourth Amendment right to privacy, said Amanda Holpuch and April Rubin in The New York Times. Cleveland State, like many schools that offered online classes during the pandemic, employed software that “collects feeds from a computer’s camera and microphone” to prevent cheating on exams. Aaron Ogletree initially protested the policy when it was introduced in his class, and the school relented. But a month later, “two hours before a test, the university’s testing service told Ogletree in an email that a proctor would be checking his work area.” Ogletree complied, then sued the school. Twitter reinstates Berenson Covid vaccine skeptic Alex…

Young adults in America are higher than ever on weed and hallucinogens, new federal data shows. In the National Institutes of Health’s annual survey of drug use, 43 percent of respondents ages 19 to 30 said they had used marijuana 20 or more times in the past year, up from 29 percent in 2011, while 11 percent said they were daily users, up from 6 percent. These are the highest levels since the survey began, in 1988. Eight percent reported they used psychedelics, such as magic mushrooms or LSD, up from just 3 percent in 2011. The survey also showed that vaping and binge drinking continued to climb in 2021 after a brief pause the previous year, as did the consumption of alcoholic drinks mixed with THC, the psychoactive…

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new novel, Carrie Soto Is Back, follows a tennis champion who appeared in Reid’s 2021 best-seller, Malibu Rising. Below, the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo recommends other books set in shared universes. My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (2016). It’s no secret that Elizabeth Strout is a stunning writer, but I still find myself amazed at the depth she brings to the world of her stories centered on Lucy Barton. The four novels can be read in any order, but if you start with this—the first—you’ll soon be ready for Strout’s latest, Lucy by the Sea. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory (2019). Guillory is the queen of romance these days. Her Wedding Date series doesn’t need to be read in any…

3 “This is the kind of creative, far-reaching, accessible album that comes along once in a generation,” said Thom Jurek in AllMusic. Four years ago, the London jazz octet Kokoroko scored a surprise hit with “Abusey Junction,” a mostly instrumental song melding jazz, West African highlife, and Afrobeat. The band’s “omnivorous, welcoming” new record adds even more global influences to the mix: Yoruban, Caribbean, and Latin, as well as funk and soul. The distinctive mix that result sounds “at once contemporary and timeless.” The album is at its edgiest amid the staccato horn blasts, funky bass line, and martial percussion that drive “War Dance,” said Kitty Empire in The Observer (U.K.). Most of the songs, though, are mellower. Some fans of the band’s jazzier work “might find this record a…

California chardonnay has for too long been “a wine that many discerning consumers love to hate,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. But if you pass on the immenselyu popular white because you assume every bottle will be big, buttery, and oaky, you are missing out. “These days, many chardonnay producers are aiming for grace rather than for power” and delivering pleasures like these: 2020 Valravn ($20). Three Sonoma County vineyards contributed their grapes to this wine. “It’s a fine, entry-level chardonnay, rich and juicy, yet focused and balanced.” 2020 Lola ($25). “Like all the Lola wines I’ve tasted,” the Sonoma Coast winery’s chardonnay is “fresh and lively, subtle and unpretentious.” 2019 Hanzell Sebella ($28). Sonoma County’s Hanzell Vineyards helped pioneer the modern style, and its Sebella…

  Shower before bed. Because the primary cause of yellowing is your skin’s natural oils, a quick rinse before bedtime helps prevent staining. Wearing pajamas also helps, because that reduces the amount of contact between the sheets and your skin, and “the more coverage the better.”   Mind the product. Moisturizers, hair treatments, and other oily bath products can also transfer to the sheets. Don’t get in bed until the products dry, or use them in the morning.   Banish pets. Pets and their skin oils “bear some culpability, too.” Discourage cuddling by giving your dog or cat a separate bed.   Launder weekly. Even dark sheets should be washed every one to two weeks, but “err on the more frequent side” if you’re trying to keep white sheets white.…

Is “emotional vulnerability” really part of the job description for a CEO? asked Emma Goldberg in The New York Times. In an effort to better connect with workers, executives are rejecting “the stifling environments they got accustomed to when starting their careers” and have instead been “racing to let their employees know they’re not just empty suits.” Popular TED Talks and best-selling management books now stress the value of “emotional intelligence.” Technology also has “blurred the lines between work and life,” leading to an “expectation that people bring their ‘full selves’ to work.” But are employees comfortable with all this oversharing? It’s not clear. Earlier this month, Braden Wallake, the 32-year-old chief executive of a small sales and marketing company, went viral for posting a “crying selfie” on LinkedIn…

Gary Gaines never read the book that made him famous. The soft-spoken Texas football coach felt betrayed by Buzz Bissinger’s best-selling Friday Night Lights, which was adapted into a film starring Billy Bob Thornton as well as a popular TV show. Bissinger had been intrigued to hear that Gaines’ high school team, the Permian Panthers, played to crowds of 20,000, and he traveled to Odessa, Texas, to chronicle the 1988 season. Gaines said his wife read the resulting book and called him sobbing, saying the journalist had depicted their football-obsessed town as crawling with racists. “Bissinger came to do something and he did something else,” Gaines said in 2015. “I’m glad it’s behind us.” Born in Crane, Texas, Gaines was a high school quarterback and played wingback at Angelo…

This week’s question: A Detroit man had a tattoo parlor implant a chip in his hand that unlocks and starts his Tesla. What would you call a company devoted solely to microchipping people who want to move through the world without keys, phones, or other portable devices? Last week’s contest: A Missouri pastor used a recent sermon to lambaste his “cheap” congregation for not getting him the expensive Movado watch he’d asked for. What would you call a custom luxury timepiece created particularly for faith leaders who often ask for money and gifts? THE WINNER: “Tithex” Rebecca Burgan, Grass Valley, Calif. SECOND PLACE: “Alpha and Omega” Patty Oberhausen, Fort Wayne, Ind. THIRD PLACE: “The Holy Rolex” Erica Avery, Greenfield, Mass. For runners-up and complete contest rules, please go to…

What happened Americans who have received two primary vaccine doses could begin getting new booster shots soon past Labor Day, after the Food and Drug Administration this week authorized the first Covid vaccines reformulated for Omicron. Pfizer and Moderna have both created versions of a bivalent vaccine containing genetic material from the original Covid strain and two Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and the dominant BA.5. Pfizer’s booster has been approved for everyone over 12, while Moderna’s is cleared for adults. The federal government has already ordered 171 million doses of what is expected to be the last free Covid booster. Last month, the government ceased sending free Covid tests to households, due to lack of funding. While the Omicron boosters have only been tested on mice, fears that the virus…

A Nebraska man was arrested for staging an active-shooter drill at an Omaha charity office without informing terrified employees that it wasn’t real. John Channels, 27, was paid by Catholic Charities to barge into their offices firing an assault rifle loaded with blanks, as fake blood–spattered actors fell “dead.” Catholic Charities said Channels “mishandled” the drill’s “implementation.” Lakewood, N.J., has cut down all the shade trees in its town square to make it less attractive to the homeless. Mayor Ray Coles says the tree removal was a response to complaints of homeless people harassing passersby and defecating in the street. Homeless advocate Steven Brigham says the real issue is Lakewood’s lack of shelters, and called it “extremely extreme to cut down the trees.” In other news U.S. life expectancy plunges…

Coco Gauff erupted onto the tennis scene in storybook fashion, said Alyssa Roenigk in ESPN.com. Three years ago, the teenage prodigy from outside Atlanta faced one of her idols, Venus Williams, at Wimbledon—and won. After her surprise defeat of Venus, Gauff shook hands with her idol and said, “I wouldn’t be playing tennis without your influence.” Gauff, now 18, has never been shy about giving credit to her inspirations. If she hadn’t seen two fellow Black women torching the pro tennis circuit, she might never have asked for a racquet. But once she did, her parents devised a 10-year plan to make her a pro, modeled explicitly after the extremely regimented training approach made famous by the Williams sisters’ father, Richard. “Serena, Venus, Serena, Venus,” Gauff says. “That’s all…

A federal jury last week awarded $15 million to Vanessa Bryant after finding that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters violated her family’s civil rights by taking and sharing photos of mangled bodies at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant; their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; and seven others. The jury also awarded $15 million to Chris Chester, whose wife, Sarah, and daughter, Payton, were among the deceased. In testimony, deputies and firefighters admitted to showing photos of body parts at a bar, a cocktail party, and an awards gala. The plaintiffs had sought an additional $75 million for emotional distress, but the jury did not award that. Bryant said she would donate the money to her family’s nonprofit sports foundation.…

David French The Dispatch Our criminal justice system is set up to guarantee that innocent people will be shot in their own homes, said David French. Last week, former police detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy, confessing that she falsified the no-knock search warrant application that led to 26-year-old Breonna Taylor’s killing by police in March 2020. Two other officers face federal charges over the falsified warrant, while a third faces charges of violating Taylor’s civil rights by firing wildly into her Louisville apartment. In situations like these, “we ask ourselves: How much blame should we allocate to ‘the system,’ and how much to individuals?” Taylor’s case illustrates why the system is largely at fault. No-knock warrants are far too easy to get, thanks to a…

SINGAPORE Nicholas Fang Today “Should men cry in public?” asked Nicholas Fang. Singaporeans have been asking that question ever since a man was caught on camera “with tears streaming down his face” as he sang the national anthem at this year’s National Day Parade. The viral image brought the man, high school teacher Azuan Tan, instant fame. It’s no surprise the video caused a stir: Under Singapore’s conservative norms, the sight of a man shedding tears runs counter to traditional stereotypes of “men being strong and silent.” Yet when I saw Tan’s face, “I knew exactly how he was feeling.” Because of the pandemic, Singapore had pared back its previous two National Day celebrations, and we all had “pent-up patriotism seeking an outlet.” And then this long-delayed parade took as…

Dermatologists say they have found a treatment for hair loss that actually works, reports The New York Times—and it costs only pennies a day. The secret is minoxidil, the active ingredient in the hair-growth salve Rogaine. Rather than having patients apply the drug directly to the scalp, as the over-the-counter product indicates, doctors have been prescribing minoxidil in very low-dose pills—and many say this stimulates hair growth in both women and men, provided the original hair loss isn’t too severe. Rodney Sinclair at the University of Melbourne in Australia, for example, says he has helped more than 10,000 patients in this way. He’s among many dermatologists across the world and in the U.S. who are prescribing it “off-label”—a common practice in the industry for other drugs as well. The…

(Riverhead, $28) If you’ve never read Abdulrazak Gurnah before, “consider this a late invitation that you should not ignore,” said Ron Charles in The Washington Post. When the Tanzanian-born British novelist won last year’s Nobel Prize in literature, publishers began scrambling to make his books available here. Afterlives, a 2020 novel that has only now gotten its U.S. release, proves revelatory. Interweaving the stories of three East African men whom we meet in the early 20th century when Germany rules their land, it’s “at once a globe-spanning epic of European colonialism and an intimate look at life in one of the many overlooked corners of the Earth.” Gurnah “sees in all directions at once,” said Bethanne Patrick in the Los Angeles Times. One of his protagonists fights for Germany…

This Story Will Change by Elizabeth Crane (Counterpoint, $26) Elizabeth Crane’s marriage “ended in a way that seemed, to her, sudden and baffling,” said Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times. When her husband of 15 years decided that he was leaving her, Crane could do little about it. “Except cry. And maybe write a memoir.” Aiming to move past her grief, she has written a courageously detailed account of how the marriage foundered. “It is difficult at times not to scream while reading it, sometimes in frustration and sometimes in exquisite recognition.” All of This by Rebecca Woolf (HarperOne, $27) Rebecca Woolf took her dying husband literally when he urged her to write an honest account of their life together, said Rebecca Steinitz in The Boston Globe. Woolf’s…

3 Julia Jacklin has reached “her absolute artistic prime,” said Ellen Johnson in Paste. The Australian singer-songwriter’s catchy, polished indie rock “gets better with each album,” and so does her frank, confessional songwriting. At 32, she’s “a sharp observer of her own internal life” and “never holds back.” That’s true here even on songs that are about developing sexual agency (“Ignore Tenderness”) and her struggle to communicate with her mother (“Less of a Stranger”). Whereas Crushing, Jacklin’s stellar 2019 LP, focused on breakups and other upheavals, this “near-perfect” follow-up is “about what it takes to keep everything together.” The notion that change is inevitable animates the standout single “I Was Neon,” said Quinn Moreland in Pitchfork. The rest of the album “takes its time unwinding,” but Jacklin shines whenever she…

Addictive legal dramas… Extraordinary Attorney Woo Netflix’s latest breakthrough Korean hit follows a plucky attorney with autism as she finds her footing at a top firm. Even with subtitles, it’s a pleasant, easy watch filled with likable characters and interesting cases. Netflix Damages Everybody knows Glenn Close is good. But they may not know just how good she was in this circa-2007 series about cold-blooded, clever-beyond-her-peers lawyer Patty Hewes. Co-stars Rose Byrne and Ted Danson are also top-notch. Hulu Goliath Looking to fill a hole in your viewing life now that Saul Goodman is gone? Goliath is not on Better Call Saul’s level, but it does have Billy Bob Thornton—compelling as ever as a washed-up former hotshot who takes on his prominent old firm. Bonus: William Hurt as Billy’s…

Ocearch Shark Tracker tracks sharks that have been tagged by marine biologists. You can follow the sharks’ oceanwide migrations—and see whenever one approaches your nearest beach. Google Lens can pull up info on the seashells and pieces of coral you find while beachcombing. The image-recognition app can also identify plants and insects. FishAngler tells you all you need to know about local fishing spots. It even includes a “fish forecast” that suggests the ideal times to cast your line. MarineTraffic tracks ships and can identify any that you spot on the horizon. A $10-a-year subscription adds a tool that identifies ships using your smartphone camera. Knots3D uses animations to teach you how to tie more than 150 knots, “from those that might help you catch a fish to those that…

Russia shut down its main pipeline for natural gas to Europe this week, said Georgi Kantchev in The Wall Street Journal, claiming that a three-day halt was required for “scheduled preventative work.” The pipeline, the 760-mile-long Nord Stream, is operating at just 20 percent of its capacity. Western governments have dismissed Russia’s explanations, seeing the cuts in gas exports as “an economic attack in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war.” Maintenance operations are “usually telegraphed well in advance,” but this announcement caught European officials by surprise. Europe has been racing to fill its gas storage to avoid severe rationing this winter. Pharma: Moderna-Pfizer lawsuit over mRNA patents Moderna filed a lawsuit against Pfizer last week alleging that Pfizer copied its vaccine technology, said Daniel Trotta in Reuters. Moderna has…

A post-retirement tax nightmare For some higher earners, saving for retirement in a tax-deferred account is a ticking tax time bomb, said David McClellan in Kiplinger’s. Saving “everything you can in tax-deferred accounts” to benefit from tax-sheltered growth is still good advice for most savers. But eventually all retirees must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) starting at age 72. For those with extensive pretax savings, that “represents a growing tax liability.” A couple who have $500,000 in savings at age 40—and max out their contributions every year—will end up with $7.3 million in their 401(k) and face RMDs exceeding $435,000 by retirement and reaching $739,000 by age 80. Those are taxed as ordinary income. How to defuse the tax bomb? Consider transferring money from an existing tax-deferred account to…

Bryce Covert New York magazine For too many American workers, it’s three strikes and you’re out of a job, said Bryce Covert. An estimated 18 million workers are subject to points-based systems that monitor attendance at large corporations like Walmart, Amazon, AT&T, and Boeing. These attendance systems “go by different names in corporate-ese,” and are frequently lumped together as “no-fault policies.” Generally, the way the systems work is that “being late or leaving early incurs a fraction of a point, while missing a whole day or shift incurs a full one.” Three points is usually grounds for termination. Workers end up getting points for going to the emergency room—or they skip going because they fear losing their job and their health benefits. When regulators examined one case of AT&T…

Rusty Bowers thought he knew what his Republican Party stood for, said Ed Pilkington in The Guardian. Then came the aftermath of the 2020 election and the rejection of democracy. Rusty Bowers is headed for the exit. After 18 years as an Arizona lawmaker, the past four as speaker of the state’s House of Representatives, he has been unceremoniously shown the door by his own Republican Party. In July, he lost his bid to stay in the Arizona legislature in a primary contest in which his opponent was endorsed by Donald Trump. The rival, David Farnsworth, made an unusual pitch to voters: The 2020 presidential election had not only been stolen from Trump, he said, it was satanically snatched by the “devil himself.” Bowers was ousted as punishment. The Trump acolytes who…

Beeban Kidron remembers the moment she decided to leave her 30-year career as a filmmaker, said Charles Hymas in The Telegraph (U.K.). In 2012, the British director had begun to observe a profound change in children’s behavior. “I’d walk into a room full of kids and they were silently tapping on their phones,” she says. “I was fascinated.” She began shooting a documentary, spending hundreds of hours shadowing teenagers as they engaged with the online world, whether that meant chatting on social media or looking at porn. The kids, says Kidron, 61, didn’t realize companies were trying to addict them. “What cuts a hole in my heart is the number of kids stuck in ‘the loop’ who say they tried to get off,” she says. “I spent time with…

The Washington Post Editorial A conservative activist who crusaded “with startling success” to overturn Roe was just rewarded with a $1.6 billion political contribution, said The Washington Post. Thanks to a tip, we learned that electronics mogul Barre Seid last year made a massive “dark money” contribution—100 percent of the shares in his company, Tripp Lite—to a group called Marble Freedom Trust. That group is headed by Leonard Leo, a longtime leader of the Federalist Society and primary architect of the movement to reshape the judiciary with conservative judges who’d overturn Roe. Seid’s advocacy donation—the largest in history—was made possible by the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United, which allowed for unlimited political spending by outside groups. Under campaign laws, nonprofit groups such as Leo’s—which are as political as they…

ITALY Floriana Bulfon La Repubblica A Russian spy who posed as a socialite for years in Naples wormed her way into the NATO officers’ social scene, said Floriana Bulfon. “Maria Adela Kuhfeldt Rivera” spoke six languages and claimed to be a German-Peruvian jewelry designer. From 2013 to 2018, she threw glittering parties and gave freely to a Lions Club chapter frequented by NATO officers, eventually becoming the club secretary. One American officer, Col. Sheila Bryant, said the woman’s bizarre story of having been raised in the USSR because her German mother abandoned her there didn’t ring true—and it wasn’t. An investigation by this newspaper, with Bellingcat and others, reveals that Rivera was actually Olga Kolobova, the daughter of a retired Russian military intelligence officer. We’re not sure what information the…

“It’s not just in your head,” said Zeynep Tufekci in The New York Times. For an estimated 12 to 20 percent of people who get Covid, some symptoms can linger for more than three months—a syndrome known as long Covid. For a smaller percentage, long Covid can be debilitating, with such symptoms as fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, digestive problems, nerve tingling, chest pain, a rapid heart rate, and depression. Much like other post-viral illnesses, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, long Covid is not well understood and thus is frequently dismissed as a conversion disorder—“the historic catchall for, ‘It’s in your head, dear.’” But a new study reveals that 16 million people in the U.S. are suffering from long Covid and up to 4 million remain out of work,…

(Hachette, $32) Creedence Clearwater Revival, in its heyday, was “popular almost beyond belief,” said David Cantwell in The New Yorker. The four-man band from working-class El Cerrito, Calif., scored 14 Top 10 songs from 1969 to 1971 and outsold the Beatles in the year Abbey Road was released. Yet while the music of John Fogerty and company has remained part of the fabric of American pop, “somehow, the sheer scope of what they accomplished has always seemed underappreciated.” John Lingan’s new book credits that in part to their being rock misfits. “Because they performed notably sober and straight—and especially because they favored two- to three-minute-long pop gems rather than improvised jams—they were perceived as squares even in their own scene.” But listeners of the time connected to a fatalism…

Don’t blame George R.R. Martin if you didn’t like the ending of Game of Thrones, said John Koblin in The New York Times. Though the HBO fantasy series was adapted from his A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Martin hasn’t even finished the last two books, and he had minimal input on the writing of the 2015–19 seasons of the hugely popular show. Those final seasons, he says, seemed rushed. “I never felt that seven or eight seasons was enough,” he says. “There’s enough material to sustain 12.” Martin, who’s been promising and failing for years to finish the books, says the work he’s done so far is headed for a different ending. “As I’m writing,” he says, “ideas are coming to me and characters are taking me…

  3 “Sometimes the best antidote to the stresses of modern life is a blast of purifying electric noise,” said Joe Young in No Depression. Marcus King was going through a hard time when he recorded his sophomore album, and for anyone who likewise needs a bit of rock catharsis, “this thrilling concoction delivers fast relief, and then some.” The acclaimed electric-blues guitarist downplayed his virtuosity on 2020’s El Dorado. But here, the 26-year-old South Carolinian punctuates each track with a crackling solo. “As strong as many songs are, his inventive shredding invariably makes them better.” King’s lyrics here “pack a desponding wallop,” said Melinda Newman in Billboard. He chronicles a bad breakup and descent into addiction. But he also celebrates new love on the single “Hard Working Man,” and…

Baloray Lunch Tote This 10-inch-wide polyester tote bag “fits more food than you’d think.” The insulated, foil-lined interior keeps its contents cool, and it’s “super easy to wash.” A phone or wallet can fit in the front pocket. $16, amazon.com Source: Good Housekeeping Hydro Flask Lunch Box For teenagers who love Hydro Flask’s water bottles, the brand’s popular lunch box won’t disappoint. The double-insulated hard-shell container won’t bend or fold, and it keeps food cool for hours. It’s available in three sizes. $45, hydroflask.com Source: People L.L. Bean Lunch Box Made from the same durable materials used in L.L. Bean’s backpacks, this well-insulated soft lunch box “will last for years.” An all-ages option, it comes in eight solid colors and many kid-friendly patterns. $20, llbean.com Source: Forbes W&P Porter…

Downtown The 1912 landmarked Fischer Studio Building was originally a concert hall with music studios and housing for musicians. This three-bedroom top-floor 1970s apartment, renovated in 2016, features the preserved tiled foyer; carved-wood doors; an open main space with 15.5-foot ceilings, French glass doors to Juliet balconies, and wood-burning fireplace; a chef’s kitchen with granite counters and extensive cabinetry; and a second suite with kitchenette and loft. Pike Place Market is five minutes’ walk away. $1,750,000. Victoria Odell, Windermere Real Estate/Luxury Portfolio International (206) 850-0756 Northlake The Haida Bird, a 555-square-foot houseboat, rides at the end of a dock on Lake Union. Built in 2005, the one-bedroom home has a main living space with wood-clad ceilings, wood floors, a wood-burning stove, and stained-glass doors to the deck; a large galley…

Despite the West’s sanctions, sales are booming in Russia’s oil export market. Russia has earned $20 billion in average monthly sales this year compared with a $14.6 billion monthly average in 2021. The country exported 7.4 million barrels of crude oil, diesel, and gasoline each day in July, down only about 600,000 barrels a day since the start of the year. The Wall Street Journal More than $150 billion of mergers and acquisitions have been scrapped or stalled since the beginning of June. KKR & Co. last week abandoned a $14 billion bid for an Australian hospital chain. Bloomberg A 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card graded in mint-plus condition sold for a record $12.6 million, becoming the most valuable piece of sports memorabilia to be sold at auction. The previous…

Only 10 percent of people in South Sudan have access to basic sanitation, and fewer than 60 percent are drinking clean water. Since 2003, Water for South Sudan (waterforsouthsudan.org) has provided villages across the country with access to safe water, while also working to strengthen hygiene and sanitation practices. Over nearly two decades, Water for South Sudan has drilled more than 570 new wells. Water for South Sudan’s founder, Salva Dut, was one of 20,000 “Lost Boys” separated from their families during the Sudanese Civil War; some, like Dut, were eventually resettled in the U.S. Dut led a group of more than a thousand boys hundreds of miles to Kenya, a journey that inspired the novel A Long Walk to Water. Each charity we feature has earned a four-star…

Kevin Roose The New York Times AI has suddenly turned from a “fun party trick” into a profound transformation in how we relate to machines, said Kevin Roose. “Five years ago, the biggest story in the world of artificial intelligence was AlphaGo, a deep-learning model built by Google’s DeepMind that could beat the top players at the board game Go.” Now Google has used AI to solve the crucial protein-folding problem that “had vexed molecular biologists for decades”—predicting how molecules in 200 million proteins fit together, a seismic advance for drug development. I’ve been playing around with DALL-E 2, an app developed by OpenAI that turns text descriptions into images. “I spent hours thinking up weird, funny, and abstract prompts to feed the AI,” and within seconds, DALL-E 2…