The territory’s elections have been postponed, its activists barred from running—police are even targeting them abroad. What next for the democracy movement? We ask whether the global protests about race will affect rampant discrimination in Arab countries, most of which host a minority black population. And the solution to a viniferous mystery that dates back a century and a half. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
Interview with Casey Brinck. Casey is the Director of Policy and Goverment Affairs for The Secular Coalition for America. We discuss the involvement of religion in government. Investing Skeptically: Mail bag. Bonus audio: Christopher Hitchens https://secular.org/
Mike tells Sarah how a silly sports promotion galvanized a reactionary movement. Digressions include “Charlotte’s Web,” Jane Fonda and German-language musicals. Songs are dissected; the honor of David Bowie and late-night salad bars are defended.
Huge thanks to historians Tavia Nyong'o, Eric Gonzaba, Luis-Manuel Garcia and Gillian Frank for helping Mike with this episode!
PayPal hit an all-time high after saying “cash is dead,” but Venmo’s getting all the attention. While the rest of the brew industry douses itself in hard seltzer, Molson Coors figured out how to make beer flourish in the moment. And SiriusXM is a lot like cable TV, but for audio. We hope it doesn’t accept its fate of decline, like cable has.
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The past couple of weeks have seen some alarming developments in the U.S.-China relationship. Among them is how the United States plans to deal with the wildly popular Chinese social media app TikTok. The debate over the social giant has reached the White House and discussions of what to do about it have ranged from an outright ban to Microsoft acquiring U.S. operations of the app.
What makes TikTok a threat to national security? And what does this whole episode say about where U.S.-China relations are heading?
How dangerous is COVID-19 for pregnant women and their babies? The research has been scant and the data spotty. Dr. Laura Riley, the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Obstetrician-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian, explains what we know at this point and what pregnant women can do to protect themselves.
How did a group of charismatic, apocalyptic Jewish missionaries, working to prepare their world for the impending realization of God's promises to Israel, end up inaugurating a movement that would grow into the gentile church? Committed to Jesus’s prophecy—“The Kingdom of God is at hand!”—they were, in their own eyes, history's last generation. But in history's eyes, they became the first Christians.
In When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation (Yale University Press, 2018), Paula Fredriksen answers this question by reconstructing the life of the earliest Jerusalem community. As her account arcs from this group’s hopeful celebration of Passover with Jesus, through their bitter controversies that fragmented the movement’s midcentury missions, to the city’s fiery end in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, she brings this vibrant apostolic community to life. Fredriksen offers a vivid portrait both of this temple-centered messianic movement and of the bedrock convictions that animated and sustained it.
Disruptions and delays to the postal service have prompted concern since so many people are planning to vote by mail this year. We break down what’s behind the delay, and how to ensure your vote is counted.
Congress still can’t agree on how to structure unemployment benefits in the next relief bill. Midwestern states like Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin are emerging as coronavirus hotspots.
And in headlines: NASA astronauts safely return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s shuttle, three hackers charged in July Twitter breach, and over 750 criminal cases are under review after LAPD officers are charged with falsifying documents.
