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[Memoir] The Conscience of the City

On the life of the garbageman

by Simon Paré-Poupart,Translated by Pablo Strauss,

Current Issue June 2026

[Letter from the Czech Republic] Love Language

The undying dream of Esperanto

by Katie Thornton,

[Miscellany] Hard Rain

The battle over weather modification

by Wyatt Williams,

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount that the United States spent on the first two weeks of its war with Iran : $17,600,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Number of children whose annual childcare this amount could have paid for : 1,340,646

[Harper’s Index]

Of American public-school teachers’ annual salaries : 244,343

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who believe that Trump attacked Iran in part to distract from the Epstein scandal : 27

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of public comments submitted to the Trump Administration on its White House ballroom proposal : 32,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of those comments that were positive : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of non-probationary federal employees laid off since Trump took office who worked in scientific agencies : 35

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Democrats who say that the news usually overstates the severity of expected storms : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Of Republicans who say so : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a scientific paper published in 2004 has been retracted : 1 in 10,000

[Harper’s Index]

That a scientific paper published in 2024 has been : 1 in 500

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which prospective students are less likely to apply to a U.S. college if it’s cloudy during their tour : 5

[Harper’s Index]

If the temperature is below 40 degrees : 6

[Harper’s Index]

If there is precipitation : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American who graduated college last year thinks that their education was worth the cost : 1 in 3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage change in the number of U.S. undergraduates majoring in computer science last year : –8

[Harper’s Index]

In library science : +28

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 18 to 28 who say they would feel comfortable making a phone call to a stranger : 1/3

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who were paid to babysit as teenagers : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they would trust a teenager to babysit today : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans over the age of 65 who regard jury duty as very important for being a “good member of society” : 71

[Harper’s Index]

Number of speeding tickets issued to a single driver in New York City in 2025 : 259

[Harper’s Index]

Total cost of speeding-related fines incurred by this driver since they registered their vehicle in 2023 : $60,800.78

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase in reported cases of credit-card fraud in the United States last year : 54

[Harper’s Index]

Of federal student-loan identity theft : 195

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans who have more credit-card debt than emergency savings : 3/10

[Harper’s Index]

Average annual amount that an American in a household earning $150,000–$250,000 per year spends on food delivery : $323

[Harper’s Index]

That an American in a household earning $30,000–$50,000 per year spends : $427

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of U.S. fast-food workers who report being verbally abused by a customer in the past year : 1/2

[Harper’s Index]

Who report being hit by a customer in the past year : 1/50

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who say that they are afraid of cyberterrorism : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Of not having enough money to pay their rent or mortgage : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Of dying : 29

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of American men who get into physical fights at least a few times per year : 1/20

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who admit to having considered shooting someone : 7

[Harper’s Index]

Who admit to having considered doing so in the past year : 3

Weekly Review

May 27, 2026

All charges against a group of anti–Immigration and Customs Enforcement protestors were dropped as the top federal prosecutor of Chicago discovered evidence of ICE misconduct during the grand jury process; a Florida biologist was awarded a $485,000 settlement after being fired for reposting a meme criticizing Charlie Kirk’s stance on gun control after his death; and a Florida man who discovered $30,000 in the bathroom of a Wawa returned the money. Read More

General Interest

Harper’s Art Desk

View All

A photograph by Curran Hatleberg from his book Blood Green, which was published last year by TBW books © The artist. Courtesy TBW books

Diplomat, a painting by Jens Fänge, whose work is on view through May 30 at Perrotin in New York City © ARS New York, 2026. Courtesy the artist and Perrotin

Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, c. 1910-1920, a lithograph by Kansaripara Art Studio, whose work is included in the exhibition Divine Color: Hindu Prints from Modern Bengal, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Marshall H. Gould Fund

Holding Court: Tire Machèt and the Sea, a painting by Madjeen Isaac, whose work was on view last weekend as part of Picture Theory’s exhibit at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, in New York City © The artist. Courtesy Picture Theory, New York City

Dando de comer a una mesa [Nourrir une table], 1959, a painting by Leonora Carrington, whose work is on view through July 19 at Musée du Luxembourg, in Paris © 2026 Estate of Leonora Carrington/ADAGP, Paris

Estimated amount that the United States spent on the first two weeks of its war with Iran : $17,600,000,000

Number of children whose annual childcare this amount could have paid for : 1,340,646

Of American public-school teachers’ annual salaries : 244,343

Percentage of Republicans who believe that Trump attacked Iran in part to distract from the Epstein scandal : 27

Estimated number of public comments submitted to the Trump Administration on its White House ballroom proposal : 32,000

Percentage of those comments that were positive : 1

Percentage of non-probationary federal employees laid off since Trump took office who worked in scientific agencies : 35

Portion of Democrats who say that the news usually overstates the severity of expected storms : 1/3

Of Republicans who say so : 1/2

Chance that a scientific paper published in 2004 has been retracted : 1 in 10,000

That a scientific paper published in 2024 has been : 1 in 500

Percentage by which prospective students are less likely to apply to a U.S. college if it’s cloudy during their tour : 5

If the temperature is below 40 degrees : 6

If there is precipitation : 8

Chance that an American who graduated college last year thinks that their education was worth the cost : 1 in 3

Percentage change in the number of U.S. undergraduates majoring in computer science last year : –8

In library science : +28

Portion of Americans aged 18 to 28 who say they would feel comfortable making a phone call to a stranger : 1/3

Percentage of Americans who were paid to babysit as teenagers : 56

Who say they would trust a teenager to babysit today : 11

Percentage of Americans over the age of 65 who regard jury duty as very important for being a “good member of society” : 71

Of those aged 18 to 29 who do : 45

Portion of Americans who view their fellow citizens as morally good : 1/2

Of Canadians who do : 9/10

Number of speeding tickets issued to a single driver in New York City in 2025 : 259

Total cost of speeding-related fines incurred by this driver since they registered their vehicle in 2023 : $60,800.78

Percentage increase in reported cases of credit-card fraud in the United States last year : 54

Of federal student-loan identity theft : 195

Portion of Americans who have more credit-card debt than emergency savings : 3/10

Average annual amount that an American in a household earning $150,000–$250,000 per year spends on food delivery : $323

That an American in a household earning $30,000–$50,000 per year spends : $427

Portion of U.S. fast-food workers who report being verbally abused by a customer in the past year : 1/2

Who report being hit by a customer in the past year : 1/50

Percentage of Americans who say that they are afraid of cyberterrorism : 56

Of not having enough money to pay their rent or mortgage : 45

Of dying : 29

Portion of American men who get into physical fights at least a few times per year : 1/20

Percentage of Americans who admit to having considered shooting someone : 7

Who admit to having considered doing so in the past year : 3

May 27, 2026

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May 31, 2026

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The Data-Center Divide

Why

Strangers on a Train

Past Issues

Harper’s Finest

From the Archive

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Microplastics were found in sixty-two of sixty-two human placentas from a biobank in Texas.

Toxicity has remained a consistent feature of online interactions since 1989.

Humans are losing their ability to digest cellulose.

A metal scar on the surface of the white dwarf WD 0816-310 indicated that it has cannibalized other bodies in its orbit.

An orca acting alone killed a great white shark and ate its liver.

Genomic analysis indicated that psychedelic mushrooms emerged around the time of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic mass extinction.

The playing speed of a metal guitarist directly correlates with his intrasexual competitiveness but not his mating success.

Depression in humans is correlated with higher body temperature, and cold-water swimming mitigates menopause symptoms.

Researchers warned that, as temperatures rise, humans should prepare for more diarrhea.

Off the Five Finger Islands, a team of cetologists aboard the Glacier Seal conducted an extended conversation with a female humpback named Twain.

Astrophysicists argued that the development of advanced alien technology requires an atmosphere composed of at least 18 percent oxygen.

Onshore wind turbines severely deter German bats from foraging.

An AI that was fed the employment and health data of six million Danes turned out to be more accurate than existing sociological methods at predicting if a given person was about to die.

A mother is 4.6 percent more likely to give birth in the same month she was born, and adjacent siblings are 12.1 percent more likely to be born in the same month as one another.

Electric eel discharge transforms the DNA of zebrafish larvae.

True crabs independently evolved to live out of the ocean up to seventeen times.

The average American girl born in 2019 will take prescription drugs for more than half her life.

Scientists were not certain whether the globally synchronized waves observed in the brains of wakeful rats on ketamine or LSD were a cause or a symptom of hallucinations.

Geoscientists were confident that, given access to the oldest barnacles on the flaperon of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, they could help pinpoint its crash site.

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