Will COVID controls keep controlling us?
In January 2022 I came down with mild symptoms of something or other. I was already triple-vaxxed, with a French vaccine passport (“pass vaccinal”) on my iPhone to prove it, and like a true pioneer I had already suffered through a bout of COVID-19 long before, in March 2020.
By Françoise Mouly, Art by Ana Juan, May 16, 2022
It is thought that cats lived alongside people for thousands of years, hunting the rodents that inevitably accompany human settlements, before they deigned to become domesticated—a state that many cat owners can attest feels provisional to this day. One research paper on the history of the house cat observes, “Let us just say that our cats do not take instruction well. Such attributes suggest that whereas other domesticates were recruited from the wild by humans who bred them for specific tasks, ancestors of domestic cats most likely chose to live among humans because of opportunities they found for themselves.”
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how rotten is Russia’s army? France’s re-elected president prepares for a tough second term (10:30) and a struggle over artistic freedom suggests a better way out of the culture wars (15:25).
So far, the invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster for Russia’s armed forces. About 15,000 troops have been killed in two months of fighting, according to Britain’s government. At least 1,600 armoured vehicles have been destroyed, along with dozens of aircraft and the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.
The latest on Russia’s all-out assault on east Ukraine. Plus: Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, Pakistan’s new prime minister and Australia’s new blue plaque scheme.
On the cover of the Innovation & Technology Issue, Christoph Niemann captures the eternal tug of war between the lure of the outside and the joys of technology. Even for a prehistoric cave dweller, the tablet could prove potently absorbing. The dilemma has only grown as the number and variety of technological gadgets has proliferated. We recently talked to the artist about the place of digital tools and good old-fashioned paper and pencil in his creative process.
The war in Ukraine has created the greatest flux of refugees in Europe since the second world war.
We visit Poland, where the response has been remarkably smooth, and a New York neighbourhood that is no stranger to émigrés from the region. And we consider the displaced who are largely overlooked: why are so many Russians exiling themselves in Turkey?
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why Emmanuel Macron’s fate matters beyond France, war crimes in Ukraine (11:05) and we explore the new headset wars between tech firms (16:05).
Boomers Daily 