Innholdsfortegnelse for 8/13/2021 i Newsweek

1984 “In gymnastics, a piston-driven pixie named Mary Lou Retton tumbled to a perfect golden 10,” Newsweek recapped after the 1984 Olympic Games, where Retton earned perfect scores and was the first American woman to take home the gold in the all-around competition. At the U.S. Classic in May, five-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, who Retton refers to as the “greatest gymnast ever,” was the first woman in competition to attempt—and land—the dangerous Yurchenko double pike. A repeat was eagerly anticipated at the Tokyo Olympics, but Biles withdrew just before competing citing her mental health. 1967 “Simple arithmetic confronted the Johnson Administration last week with some harsh realities,” Newsweek reported as the Vietnam war plunged America into a $29 billion deficit, the highest since 1945. Due to federal spending on…

RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN ARE preparing for the U.S. military to leave Afghanistan at a time of aggravated tensions and soaring violence in the war-torn nation with which they have unique and historical ties. As these plans take form, Newsweek has contacted officials from the three countries with respect to their plans to balance the risks and opportunities associated with the volatile developments in Afghanistan. All three seek to ensure stability in Afghanistan and its periphery while securing their own interests as friendly ties with Kabul are tested by a desire to engage with the powerful Taliban movement that has retaken much of the country. Russia FOR RUSSIA, THIS MEANS STEPPING UP to a longstanding engagement in a country where it has a modern history of intervention and withdrawal. The…

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER says she’s been in a pensive mood lately, having spent time recently writing a victim-impact statement ahead of the sentencing of an anti-government extremist who took part in a plot to kidnap and kill her last year. Her statement, which will be revealed in federal court on sentencing day this month, has forced her, she says, to take stock of what she’s been through over the past year and what it portends for the country going forward. “We’ve come to a dangerous moment in our nation where it’s not just about disagreement, it’s about threats of violence,” she tells Newsweek. A one-time short-lister for vice president on the 2020 Democratic ticket, she’s especially sensitive to the intense, angry and personal attacks visited every day upon the…

“In my experience, there’s no more spiritual moment than an audience laughing. It’s almost as meaningful as prayer.”—TV PRODUCER NORMAN LEAR “I LOVE MY TEAMMATES. I LOVE THE CITY, LOVE MY COACHES. IT IS A LOT OF FUN TO BE BACK HERE.”—QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS ON THE GREEN BAY PACKERS “Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV y’all got the right to be upset, what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies”—DABABY “It is not a welcome piece of news that masking is going to be a part of people’s lives who have already been vaccinated. This new guidance weighs heavily on me.”—CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL DIRECTOR ROCHELLE WALENSKY “AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE’RE HUMAN TOO, SO WE HAVE…

THE MAKER MOVEMENT AND ITS DO-IT-YOURSELF ethic has come to higher education. For years now, empowered by the internet, inventors, artisans, tinkerers and hackers of all descriptions have been coming together to share ideas and techniques and show off their creations. The culture that has grown up around those gatherings, be they online or at the 200 Maker Faires held annually before the pandemic or in the more than 2000 communal makerspaces around the world, is one of learning by doing, complex problem solving, collaboration and entrepreneurialism. Increasingly, those ideas have been picked up by traditional academic institutions. This year for the first time Newsweek has teamed up with Make:, publisher of Make: magazine producer of Maker Faires, to find The Best Maker Schools in Higher Education. These are universities,…

Since there’s been quite a backlash against space tourism for billionaires, why not take science trips right here on Earth? The pandemic has caused many awakenings, and for some it’s about taking concrete action to protect our planet. The first step to awareness and caring about climate change, threatened wildlife and plastic-polluted seas is seeing it firsthand. Growing in popularity, citizen science trips allow everyday travelers a chance to work hands-on alongside researchers on specific projects. From surveying elusive snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, to reintroducing the pangolin—the world’s most trafficked animal—to the wild in South Africa, to training to be the next climate action champions on an Antarctic expedition, these trips are all about making ripples of impact while having an adventure of a lifetime. 01 Monitor Whale…

AS PURVEYORS OF MIS-AND DIS-information related to the 2020 elections have turned their attention to a partisan audit of ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, one website played an outsized role promoting the story and spreading related false claims, The Gateway Pundit. According to NewsGuard’s analysis of data from NewsWhip, a social media intelligence company, The Gateway Pundit, a Red-rated (meaning generally unreliable) conservative news and commentary website with a history of false claims, published 263 articles about the audit of Maricopa County election results between when U.S. President Joe Biden took office on January 20, 2021, and June 20, 2021, making it the most prolific online publisher on the topic. The audit, which was authorized by the Republican-controlled state Senate, reviewed the county’s approximately 2.1 million ballots and found…

THE SUICIDE SQUAD, WHICH opens in theaters and on HBO Max on August 5 features some of the same actors and characters, the same premise (a group of C-list comic book bad guys are brought together by a mysterious government agency) and almost the same name as 2016’s Suicide Squad. So is it a sequel or a remake?. Director James Gunn says, “I just think of it as itself. I think it’s for others to define it however they want. If somebody wants to call it a sequel, cool. A reboot? That’s fine, too. People have also called it a ‘rebootquel.’” Although a box office success, the 2016 movie was savaged by critics. Director David Ayer wanted to make an intense superhero drama like Christopher Nolan’s three Batman movies; the…

WHEN THE L WORD FIRST PREMIERED ON SHOWTIME IN 2004, PORTRAYALS of queer characters were rare and one-sided. “So often the narrative of queer identity is centered in the pain that’s experienced by that otherness,” says Jennifer Beals, star of the original series and the reboot, The L World: Generation Q, entering its second season (Showtime, August 6). “Those narratives are really reductive and harmful. Generation Q primarily centers around romantic love and joy and pain within that.” Part of the longtime appeal of these characters is how well-rounded they are. “It’s like other shows celebrating the characters in their entirety, they’re just as messy as any character in a straight cis soap. That’s huge.” An important part of the reboot for Beals was the inclusion of even more diverse…