Pandemic fatigue is fueling a bizarre sense of longing — By Morgan Ome and Christian Paz It’s easy to forget about the toilet-paper shortages, the empty streets, and the disinfected groceries. The first days, weeks even, of the pandemic felt like a twisted novelty. You could try out a TikTok trend: whipping together sugar, instant coffee, and a little bit…

This one is far from over, but the window to prepare for future threats is closing fast — By Ed Yong A year after the United States bombed its pandemic performance in front of the world, the Delta variant opened the stage for a face-saving encore. If the U.S. …

Justices love to proclaim their impartiality, all evidence to the contrary — By Adam Serwer Justice Amy Coney Barrett is offended by those questioning the impartiality of the Supreme Court. “This Court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks,” she announced at a recent event at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center, named for Senator Mitch McConnell. …

Facebook is acting like a hostile foreign power; it’s time we treated it that way — By Adrienne LaFrance In 1947, Albert Einstein, writing in this magazine, proposed the creation of a single world government to protect humanity from the threat of the atomic bomb. His utopian idea did not take hold, quite obviously, but today, another visionary is building the simulacrum of a cosmocracy. Mark…

This has become a common refrain among the cautious — and it’s wrong — By Craig Spencer For many fully vaccinated Americans, the Delta surge spoiled what should’ve been a glorious summer. Those who had cast their masks aside months ago were asked to dust them off. Many are still taking no chances. …

Some of the plots to overturn the election happened in secret. But don’t forget the ones that unfolded in the open. — By Adam Serwer Last year, John Eastman, whom CNN describes as an attorney working with Donald Trump’s legal team, wrote a preposterous memo outlining how then–Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the 2020 election by fiat or, failing that, throw the election to the House of Representatives, where Republicans could…

Eventually we might all have to deal with COVID-19 — but a shorter, gentler version, thanks to vaccines — By Katherine J. Wu Boghuma Kabisen Titanji was just 8 years old when the hyper-contagious virus swept through her classroom. Days later, she started to feel feverish, and developed a sparse, rosy rash. …

Behind shipping delays and soaring prices are workers still at mortal risk of COVID-19 — By Amanda Mull At this point, the maddeningly unpredictable Delta variant has changed the expected course of the coronavirus pandemic so much that it can be hard to know exactly what you’re waiting for, or if you should continue waiting at all. Is something like before-times normalcy still coming, or…

The pandemic disrupted soft work — the gossip, eavesdropping, and casual relationship-building that aren’t a formal part of your job — By Derek Thompson As the Age of Delta scrambles back-to-office timelines, I find myself wondering what offices are good for in the first place. I am pro-office. I miss a good eavesdropping, the promise of midday gossip, the “quick random question” that blooms into a half-hour conversation, and, theoretically, the…