Headlines Edition

Wednesday headlines: We are virus.

Dr Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, warns of "a disturbing surge of infection" and "increased community spread" in many southern and western states. 

The CDC’s director says Covid-19 has "brought this nation to its knees." 

The US has handled the coronavirus so poorly, Americans may be barred from traveling to Europe.

India reports record numbers of new coronavirus cases almost every day.

People are drinking less alcohol during the pandemic, and global alcohol consumption isn’t expected to return to pre-lockdown levels until 2024.

The lockdown proves how underprepared economies are for dealing with novel threats to national security—like the climate crisis.

Saudi Arabia announces drastic curbs to numbers for annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Barcelona's Liceu opera opened on Monday for its first concert since mid-March—to a full house of 2,292 plants.

Opera performers offer Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved) as a live, one-on-one phone encounter.

A comedian relates what it was like to watch her mother die from Covid-19 on an iPad.

Racial justice activists postpone demonstrations in South Carolina after at least 13 protesters test positive for the coronavirus.

Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries: “the left, the right, the wait.”

A survey of more than 1,800 people between the ages of 13 to 21 finds the majority don’t identify as either conservative or liberal.

See also: “Gen Z Is Making Fun Of Millennials And Honestly We Deserve It.”

Racial inequality in America, in charts. Did you know Black girls are four times more likely to be arrested in school than white girls nationwide?

Racist stories from Black students at New York’s legendary arts-focused LaGuardia High School.

Eric Umansky saw a police car hit a kid on Halloween, and subsequently learned how NYPD impunity works.

Cops frequently single out trans people for violence, particularly Black trans Americans.

A video essay explains how modern policing was set up to protect the powerful from a "criminal underclass."

"Let us find time to speak of other cakes, the ones made with wheat flour." Nine recipes from ancient Greece and Rome.

Director Werner Herzog recommends reading widely. Which reminds us of some classic satire of Herzog’s personal diaries.

Sometimes New York Times decorating articles read like satire of a privileged, tone-deaf monoculture.

In case you've got the space, how about a prefabricated, sculpted wooden orb for a glampy backyard workstation?

The minimum number of people required to feasibly settle on another planet has been calculated. The result is 110 individuals.