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[Symposium] Twain Dreams

The enigma of Samuel Clemens

by John Jeremiah Sullivan,

Current Issue June 2025

[Essay] The Reenchanted World

On finding mystery in the digital age

by Karl Ove Knausgaard,Translated by Olivia Lasky, Damion Searls,

[Symposium] For Those Who Would Be Real

James Baldwin’s testimony in images

by Harmony Holiday,

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which the Harper’s Index was first published : 1984

[Harper’s Index]

Number of Index lines that have ever been published : 19,787

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of the earth’s continents on which Harper’s Magazine subscribers live : 7/7

[Harper’s Index]

Number of Harper’s subscriptions registered in Antarctica : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which tourism to the United States is projected to decrease this year : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to display political signs outside their homes : 10

[Harper’s Index]

By which men are more likely than women to do so : 16

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Republicans who say that Americans should have the right to protest : 3/4

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that Americans should have the right to protest Israel’s war on Gaza : 2/5

[Harper’s Index]

Number of bills that would restrict the right to peaceful assembly currently pending in Congress : 5

[Harper’s Index]

In state legislatures : 40

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase this year in seizures of eggs being smuggled into the United States : 48

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in the number of U.S. households that owned chickens : 28

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of American men who are interested in trying lab-grown meat : 59

[Harper’s Index]

Of American women : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase last year in U.S. hospitalizations from food poisoning : 112

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which female physicians are more likely to commit suicide than nonphysician women : 53

[Harper’s Index]

By which male physicians are less likely to commit suicide than nonphysician men : 84

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American aged 18–64 who has been prescribed a stimulant will misuse it : 1 in 4

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who feel comfortable discussing their health with family members or close friends : 81

[Harper’s Index]

Who feel comfortable discussing their bank-account balances : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American will work for one of their parents’ employers before turning 30 : 1 in 3

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage by which those who do so earn higher salaries there : 24

[Harper’s Index]

Number of companies that accounted for half of global carbon-dioxide emissions in 2023 : 36

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated cost to insurers caused by natural disasters worldwide last year : $146,000,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which this cost exceeded this century’s annual average : 51

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of millennial and Gen Z investors who viewed environmentally motivated investing as extremely important in 2022 : 44

[Harper’s Index]

In 2024 : 11

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of corporate executives who say they feel comfortable letting AI make decisions on their behal : 38

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they would defer to AI’s reasoning over their own : 44

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of corporate executives using AI who say they trust its business advice over that of their colleagues : 74

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the word “notable” appears more frequently in AI-generated sentences than in those written by human : 13

[Harper’s Index]

By which the word “esteemed” does : 120

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Americans aged 13–17 who say they have been the subject of deepfake pornograph : 1/17

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they know another minor who has : 1/9

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. tenth graders who say they love school : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of parents of U.S. tenth graders who say their child loves school : 65

[Harper’s Index]

Average amount that an American child received from the tooth fairy, per tooth, in 2024 : $5.84

[Harper’s Index]

This year : $5.01

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Harper’s Art Desk

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Photographs from the book Mal de Mer, by Claudio Majorana, which was published last year by CESURA PUBLISH. Courtesy the artist and CESURA PUBLISH

Betrothal, a painting by Madeline Peckenpaugh, whose work is on view this month at Alexander Berggruen, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Alexander Berggruen

A photograph by Emily Shur, from her book Sunshine Terrace, which was published last month by Deadbeat Club. Courtesy the artist and Deadbeat Club

Night Cemetery, a painting by Salman Toor, whose work is on view through June 21 at Luhring Augustine, in New York City. Courtesy the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York City

Still captures by Jacob Lazarus from his book Frames of Annexation which was published last year by ZONE6. Courtesy the artist and ZONE6

Year in which the Harper’s Index was first published : 1984

Number of Index lines that have ever been published : 19,787

Portion of the earth’s continents on which Harper’s Magazine subscribers live : 7/7

Number of Harper’s subscriptions registered in Antarctica : 1

Percentage by which tourism to the United States is projected to decrease this year : 9

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to display political signs outside their homes : 10

By which men are more likely than women to do so : 16

Portion of Republicans who say that Americans should have the right to protest : 3/4

Who say that Americans should have the right to protest Israel’s war on Gaza : 2/5

Number of bills that would restrict the right to peaceful assembly currently pending in Congress : 5

In state legislatures : 40

Percentage increase this year in seizures of eggs being smuggled into the United States : 48

Percentage increase last year in the number of U.S. households that owned chickens : 28

Percentage of American men who are interested in trying lab-grown meat : 59

Of American women : 38

Percentage increase last year in U.S. hospitalizations from food poisoning : 112

Percentage by which female physicians are more likely to commit suicide than nonphysician women : 53

By which male physicians are less likely to commit suicide than nonphysician men : 84

Chance that an American aged 18–64 who has been prescribed a stimulant will misuse it : 1 in 4

Percentage of Americans who feel comfortable discussing their health with family members or close friends : 81

Who feel comfortable discussing their bank-account balances : 38

Chance that an American will work for one of their parents’ employers before turning 30 : 1 in 3

Estimated percentage by which those who do so earn higher salaries there : 24

Number of companies that accounted for half of global carbon-dioxide emissions in 2023 : 36

Estimated cost to insurers caused by natural disasters worldwide last year : $146,000,000,000

Percentage by which this cost exceeded this century’s annual average : 51

Percentage of millennial and Gen Z investors who viewed environmentally motivated investing as extremely important in 2022 : 44

In 2024 : 11

Percentage of corporate executives who say they feel comfortable letting AI make decisions on their behal : 38

Who say they would defer to AI’s reasoning over their own : 44

Percentage of corporate executives using AI who say they trust its business advice over that of their colleagues : 74

Factor by which the word “notable” appears more frequently in AI-generated sentences than in those written by human : 13

By which the word “esteemed” does : 120

Portion of Americans aged 13–17 who say they have been the subject of deepfake pornograph : 1/17

Who say they know another minor who has : 1/9

Percentage of U.S. tenth graders who say they love school : 26

Percentage of parents of U.S. tenth graders who say their child loves school : 65

Average amount that an American child received from the tooth fairy, per tooth, in 2024 : $5.84

This year : $5.01

June 3, 2025

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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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