Ode to joy.
The United States overtakes China to have the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world. 1/20
China will no longer accept most foreign citizens into the country. In Nepal, hundreds of trekkers are stranded on high-altitude mountain trails. 2/20
See also: Virtual reconstructions of Europe’s fortified past. 3/20
Smartphone data reveal which American states are social distancing (Nevada) and which are not (Wyoming). 4/20
Related: “Coronavirus Spreading Faster in Detroit Than Nearly Anywhere in United States.” 5/20
In 2016, the National Security Council created a pandemic response plan. The White House ignored it. 6/20
“The disconnect between Trumpian reality and actual reality has never been on starker display than in the past few days.” 7/20
What Donald Trump's coronavirus briefings are really about: an insecure man needing to feel reassured and praised. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson tests positive. 8/20
Americans are generally slightly more worried, also slightly more satisfied. 9/20
Almost 3.3 million people filed unemployment claims with the Department of Labor last week. 10/20
How the macroeconomics of Covid-19 do and do not resemble those of WWII. 11/20
“I never wanted to learn this much about economics, nor indeed about my husband.” Relationship drama in the time of coronavirus, via stories from the Social Distance Project. 12/20
Some information about attachment theory amid tips on how to stay married. 13/20
Over 20 people talk about how they’re handling sex right now. 13/20
Related/unrelated: Selections from Poetry magazine related to “indoor activities.” 14/20
What flying internationally looks like at the moment. 15/20
What it looks like when a distillery pivots to producing hand sanitizer. 16/20
Yet more stuff to watch: All of the short films that were supposed to debut at SXSW; James Blake playing covers; green sea turtles hatching. 17/20
A social distance walk through empty streets in Rotterdam. 18/20
Even prettier: A walk through empty streets in Amsterdam. 19/20
Members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra play the finale of Beethoven’s ninth from home. 20/20
And now a brief conversation with one of our latest Sustaining Members, Rita V.
Rita, how did you get here? I joined the bookclub, "A Novel Idea," which meets in New York City. We'd read the Tournament of Books winner every year, and after some resistance, I got sucked into the Tournament. This was in 2015.
Five years! Nice. Anything to show for it? So I made a pair of beer steins for the winner of our betting pool a couple years ago. I think I still have an extra somewhere.
Ooh, can we see?
Omgggg
Major thanks to Rita and all of our supporters. If TMN and/or the Tournament of Books and/or this newsletter are your type of beer, please consider becoming a Sustaining Member or making a one-time donation. Thank you.
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