Category Archives: New Utopia

HOPE While Bartholomew Countys annual Groundhog Day wont take place in Hope, the event will still feature Hope only in a different way.

Hope is the name of another groundhog who is the understudy for Grubby, a woodchuck that has been the focus of the annual folklore event near the grandstand of the Hope Town Square since 2015.

Hope and her sister, Faith, were born last spring and are residing with Grubby at UTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators, said facility owner Kathy Hershey.

Grubby has to sit out this year because shes suffering from a dental disease called odontoma, which makes certain mammals feel and act as if they have a respiratory infection, Hershey said.

So the 8:30 a.m. ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 2, will instead take place at UTOPIA, located at 18300 E. County Road 200N.

While a number of officials collectively known as Grubbys Groupies will be part of the ceremony, the event will be off-limits to the general public in accordance with state regulations, Hershey said.

You can still watch a virtual presentation of the Groundhog Day festivities with a Facebook Live feed on theUTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators Facebook page, Hershey said.

For more on this story, see Sundays Republic.

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Groundhog Day will feature a new face making the prediction - The Republic

The 2010s were marked by pessimism about innovation. That is giving way to hope

Jan 16th 2021

FOR MUCH of the past decade the pace of innovation underwhelmed many peopleespecially those miserable economists. Productivity growth was lacklustre and the most popular new inventions, the smartphone and social media, did not seem to help much. Their malign side-effects, such as the creation of powerful monopolies and the pollution of the public square, became painfully apparent. Promising technologies stalled, including self-driving cars, making Silicon Valleys evangelists look naive. Security hawks warned that authoritarian China was racing past the West and some gloomy folk warned that the world was finally running out of useful ideas.

Today a dawn of technological optimism is breaking. The speed at which covid-19 vaccines have been produced has made scientists household names. Prominent breakthroughs, a tech investment boom and the adoption of digital technologies during the pandemic are combining to raise hopes of a new era of progress: optimists giddily predict a roaring Twenties. Just as the pessimism of the 2010s was overdonethe decade saw many advances, such as in cancer treatmentso predictions of technological Utopia are overblown. But there is a realistic possibility of a new era of innovation that could lift living standards, especially if governments help new technologies to flourish.

In the history of capitalism rapid technological advance has been the norm. The 18th century brought the Industrial Revolution and mechanised factories; the 19th century railways and electricity; the 20th century cars, planes, modern medicine and domestic liberation thanks to washing machines. In the 1970s, though, progressmeasured by overall productivity growthslowed. The economic impact was masked for a while by women piling into the workforce, and a burst of efficiency gains followed the adoption of personal computers in the 1990s. After 2000, though, growth flagged again.

There are three reasons to think this great stagnation might be ending. First is the flurry of recent discoveries with transformative potential. The success of the messenger RNA technique behind the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and of bespoke antibody treatments, shows how science continues to empower medicine. Humans are increasingly able to bend biology to their will, whether that is to treat disease, edit genes or to grow meat in a lab. Artificial intelligence is at last displaying impressive progress in a range of contexts. A program created by DeepMind, part of Alphabet, has shown a remarkable ability to predict the shapes of proteins; last summer OpenAI unveiled GPT-3, the best natural-language algorithm to date; and since October driverless taxis have ferried the public around Phoenix, Arizona. Spectacular falls in the price of renewable energy are giving governments confidence that their green investments will pay off. Even China now promises carbon neutrality by 2060.

The second reason for optimism is booming investment in technology. In the second and third quarters of 2020 Americas non-residential private sector spent more on computers, software and research and development (R&D) than on buildings and industrial gear for the first time in over a decade. Governments are keen to give more cash to scientists (see Briefing). Having shrunk for years, public R&D spending across 24 OECD countries began to grow again in real terms in 2017. Investors enthusiasm for technology now extends to medical diagnostics, logistics, biotechnology and semiconductors. Such is the markets optimism about electric vehicles that Teslas CEO, Elon Musk, who also runs a rocket firm, is the worlds richest man.

The third source of cheer is the rapid adoption of new technologies. It is not just that workers have taken to videoconferencing and consumers to e-commercesignificant as those advances are, for example to easing the constraints on jobseeking posed by housing shortages. The pandemic has also accelerated the adoptions of digital payments, telemedicine and industrial automation (see article). It has been a reminder that adversity often forces societies to advance. The fight against climate change and the great-power competition between America and China could spur further bold steps.

Alas, innovation will not allow economies to shrug off the structural drags on growth. As societies get richer they spend a greater share of their income on labour-intensive services, such as restaurant meals, in which productivity growth is meagre because automation is hard. The ageing of populations will continue to suck workers into low-productivity at-home care. Decarbonising economies will not boost long-term growth unless green energy realises its potential to become cheaper than fossil fuels.

Yet it is reasonable to hope that a fresh wave of innovation might soon reverse the fall in economic dynamism which is responsible for perhaps a fifth of the 21st centurys growth slowdown. Over time that would compound into a big rise in living standards. Perhaps still more is achievable because many service industries, including health care and education, would benefit greatly from more innovation. Eventually, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and robotics could up-end how almost everything is done.

Although the private sector will ultimately determine which innovations succeed or fail, governments also have an important role to play. They should shoulder the risks in more moonshot projects (see article). The state can usefully offer more and better subsidies for R&D, such as prizes for solving clearly defined problems. The state also has a big influence over how fast innovations diffuse through the economy. Governments need to make sure that regulation and lobbying do not slow down disruption, in part by providing an adequate safety-net for those whose livelihoods are upended by it. Innovation is concentrated among too few firms (see Free exchange). Ensuring that the whole economy harnesses new technologies will require robust antitrust enforcement and looser intellectual-property regimes. If governments rise to the challenge, then faster growth and higher living standards will be within their reach, allowing them to defy the pessimists. The 2020s began with a cry of pain but, with the right policies, the decade could yet roar.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "The roaring 20s?"

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The new era of innovation - Why a dawn of technological optimism is breaking | Leaders - The Economist

Over the last few years, nostalgia has cemented its place within pop culture. Miley Cyrus cover of Blondies Heart Of Glass, scrunchies making a comeback and countless reboots of 1980s and 1990s film and television franchises are just some examples of nostalgia impacting pop culture in the United States.

University of Georgia communications professor Grafton Tanners second book The Circle of the Snake: Nostalgia and Utopia in the Age of Big Tech explores the nostalgia phenomenon and its relationship with technology.

The book serves as a follow-up to Tanners first book, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts, and was released on Dec. 11 through Zer0 Books.

The Red & Black spoke with Tanner about the new book and about the relationship between nostalgia and technology.

The Red & Black: Could you talk a bit about your first book, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts? What did the process of writing that book look like?

Grafton Tanner: That book came out in 2016 probably four or five months before Donald Trump got elected. A lot of what I was writing in that book was critical of what I saw as this enormous nostalgia wave swept through the West but especially in the United States. [The wave] started out kind of harmless, and then suddenly it transformed into Make America Great Again which was this nostalgic rallying cry that a lot of people really liked and that resulted in Trumps election. I was trying to pay attention to what was going on with this emotion and how it was being weaponized politically but also how it was being used in modern media. I took that and coupled it with a general fascination with this music genre called vaporwave. [Vaporwave] comes out of the late 2000s early internet scenes where these producers would get together online and make this really strange music where they would slow down old pop samples and apply all these different effects to make them sound warped. I wanted to analyze vaporwave and position it within a broader trend that I was noticing with nostalgia at the time, so that was sort of where that book came from.

R&B: When you were working on the first book, did you know you wanted to do the follow-up book or did that idea come about later?

GT: No, but I knew that I wanted to keep interrogating nostalgia because it didn't really ever seem to go away. I mean you've seen the various series and movies that come out like the Saved by the Bell reboot. It shows that nostalgia is an emotion that has a lot of currency today; it hasn't really gone away. I wanted to kind of keep digging into [nostalgia], but I also wanted to find out what it had to do with digital technology, particularly with the tech companies that are increasingly becoming more monopolistic every year. I've wanted to kind of tie those together, and in fact, I'm still not done. I'm actually currently writing a book about the recent history of nostalgia that will be out sometime toward the end of next year. So, I can't seem to stop writing about this.

R&B: The book focuses on nostalgia and technology why do you think these topics deserve the limelight, especially right now with whats happening in politics and the pandemic?

GT: Well, you mentioned the pandemic, and thats been a major engine for nostalgia. People are nostalgic for January and rightfully so because things have changed so drastically and quickly, which is a natural breeding ground for nostalgia. Its pretty easy to [access feelings of nostalgia] today. We can easily queue up any old movie or old television series or a new series that looks like its set in another decade. If someone has an internet connection and a Netflix account, that's all you really need to kind of indulge. I talk to people all the time who tell me, Oh, as soon as the pandemic hit and we had lockdown for two weeks, all I did was just catch up on a bunch of old movies that Id never seen before. So, I think the reason why [nostalgia and technology] deserve attention is because we use technology to return to old experiences. So therefore media tends to be almost like a catalyst for greater and more intense nostalgic feedback loops.

R&B: What are you looking forward to in the coming weeks and months as people read the book?

GT: Well, I've had sort of a consistent conversation with people over the years after Babbling Corpse came out people who not only want to talk about vaporwave but also talk about nostalgia, media and society in general. I really enjoy that. I look forward just to speaking with people from all over the place about issues with technology in our lives and how big tech can facilitate certain bad things and problems. It's been a fun process to write about and get to speak to other people about [these topics].

The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

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Q&A: UGA professor discusses new book on nostalgia and technology - Red and Black

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin both cast long shadows over the 20th century. One, the leader of Nazi Germany, hoped to create a vast new empire underpinned by his racist beliefs; the other wanted to build the first communist state in the fledgling Soviet Union. But despite the differing nature of their goals, the two men were motivated by the same overarching passion: the desire to create what they believed was a utopia here on Earth. Unlike other dictators, many of whom resemble Mafia bosses, these two each thought that they had uncovered the secret of existence.

Yet as individual personalities, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin could scarcely have been further apart. Over the last 30 years, in the course of writing various history books and making many historical documentaries, Ive met a number of people who knew the dictators personally. And their recollections confirm that it was most certainly not the same thing to walk into a meeting with Stalin as to walk into one with Hitler.

Hitler, unlike Stalin, was the archetypical charismatic leader. Such leaders rely primarily on the power of their own personalities to justify their office, dont fit well into bureaucratic structures and project an almost missionary aura. Ulrich de Maizire, a general staff officer who attended meetings with Hitler in the last part of the Second World War, witnessed the dictators supposed charismatic allure firsthand. He saw men who came to tell [Hitler] it could not go on any longer and even said that to him. And then he talked for an hour, and then they went and said: I want to give it another try He had an enormously strong will, you know, and he had powers of persuasion that could gloss over any rational arguments.

Karl Boehm-Tettelbach, a Luftwaffe adjutant at Hitlers headquarters, agreed that Hitlers persuasive abilities were impressive, saying: He could [take] somebody who was ready for suicide, he could revive him and make him feel that he should carry the flag and die in battle. Very strange. Moreover, in their personal dealings, Boehm-Tettelbach found the Nazi leader to be a respectable person Charming as a host, not wild and shouting.

It is important to remember, however, that you almost always had to be predisposed to support the Nazi regime to be entranced by Hitlers personality. If you were not a staunch believer, then a meeting with Hitler could leave a very different impression. The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, found Hitler unimpressive when they met in 1938 and later described him as the commonest-looking little dog he had ever encountered. Chamberlain thought Hitler a crude and blustering rabble-rouser.

Hitlers inability to listen to others was not a new trait he had been like this since his youth. August Kubizek, who knew him before the First World War, claimed that when Hitler was talking about a book he had just read, he didnt want to hear anyone elses opinion.

Adolf Hitler was known to praise Stalins ruthlessness. The Soviet leader sometimes appreciated Hitlers brutality, too. (Image by AFP via Getty Images)

Indeed, one of the dangers of taking a meeting with Hitler as the Italian Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, discovered was that it could be extremely difficult to get a word in edgeways. Hitler talks, talks, talks, talks, recorded the Italian foreign minister, Count Ciano, in his diary after a meeting in April 1942. Mussolini suffers he who was in the habit of talking himself, and who, instead, practically has to keep quiet. On the second day, after lunch, when everything had been said, Hitler talked uninterruptedly for an hour and 40 minutes, discussing everything from religion to art and history. Thus depending on your point of view Hitler was either a crashing bore or an inspirational visionary.

It would be hard to come away from a meeting with Joseph Stalin feeling either of these extremes. In this respect, he was the reverse of Hitler. For the most part, the Soviet leader wanted other people to talk. He was an aggressive listener, and an even more aggressive watcher.

Stalin was by nature very attentive, said Stepan Mikoyan, who grew up in the Kremlin in the 1930s. He watched peoples eyes when he was speaking and if you didnt look him straight in the eye, he might well suspect that you were deceiving him. And then hed be capable of taking the most unpleasant steps.

Vladimir Yerofeyev, an interpreter who translated for Stalin, said of the dictator: It wasnt entirely safe to work with him because if he didnt like something, there would have been no forgiveness.

Hitler (second left) meets with officials including Joseph Goebbels (centre) and Hermann Goering (left). The German leader tended to trust those in his immediate circle until they clearly acted to deceive him. (Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)

One of the keys to Stalins character, according to Stepan Mikoyan, was that he was very suspicious. Since the Soviet dictator was comfortable lying to and betraying those around him, he saw no reason why his comrades should not behave in a similar manner. Mikoyan said: Hed sense it if you were lying to him. The most terrible thing was to lie to him that for him was the greatest crime of all.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of this insight. Stalin appears to have treated everything and everyone with suspicion. The dominant question in his mind was always: Who could be about to betray me?

Stalin watched peoples eyes when he was speaking and if you didnt look him straight in the eye, he might well suspect that you were deceiving him, recalled one eyewitness. (Image by Getty Images)

Hitler did not possess this level of personal wariness. He tended to trust those in his immediate circle until they clearly acted to deceive him. If he had not been this trusting, the attempt on his life by Count von Stauffenberg in July 1944 would almost certainly never have happened. Surprisingly, Stauffenberg as an officer attending a military meeting hadnt been asked to reveal the contents of his briefcase before he entered Hitlers presence. If he had, the bomb he carried would have been discovered. Indeed, its significant that while there were a number of attempts on Hitlers life, there is not one similar, well-documented attempt on Stalins. An intensely suspicious nature clearly has its benefits.

Stalin was the antithesis of the charismatic leader. Not only was he a less than inspiring orator but, far from shunning the demands of bureaucracy, he embraced them. The Soviet leader had a profound understanding of the power of committee meetings. He presided over a gigantic expansion in the number of people working as administrators in the Soviet system from fewer than 4 million in 1929 to nearly 14 million by 1939.

Conversely, Hitler was always suspicious of any institutional attempt to restrict him. He did everything he could to dismantle any centralised structure that could potentially usurp him. To that end he allowed the German cabinet to atrophy indeed, Hitlers cabinet never met again after 1938.

But while there were many differences between Hitler and Stalin, they shared one vital quality: they actually believed in something outside themselves and sought to create a new world. They werent even similar to the religiously driven European monarchs of the past who had faith in a Christian god. On the contrary, both of the dictators abhorred Christianity. In private, Hitler remarked that Christianity is an invention of sick brains though, for pragmatic reasons, he largely concealed his true opinion on the subject from the German public.

They were both profoundly post-Enlightenment figures. They believed not only that God was dead, but that he had now been replaced by a fresh, coherent ideology. And millions of those who followed the two dictators also subscribed to this new reality.

Hitler and Stalin, of course, believed in different things. The belief that Hitler proselytised was most certainly not the same as the one Stalin lived by. Equally, neither originated the ideologies that they thought revealed the truth about the nature of life; both adapted them from the work of others.

For Hitler, the starting point was to recognise the crucial importance of race, an idea he developed from a whole series of writers who had gone before him. The core of his belief system was the assertion that the way to assess peoples value was by examining their racial heritage. And it was this conviction that helped fuel his murderous anti-Semitism. For there was to be no place in Hitlers utopia for a whole host of people whom he considered to be racially undesirable the Jews in particular.

In keeping with his belief that his racial hatred was based on modern thinking, Hitler often expressed his prejudice using pseudo-scientific terms. The Jew, Hitler wrote in his autobiography Mein Kampf in the early 1920s, remains the typical parasite, a sponger who like a noxious bacillus keeps spreading as soon as a favourable medium invites him.

Like Hitler, Stalin had also been convinced by the work of others. The most influential was Karl Marx. It was primarily Marxs teachings that had drawn him into the world of revolution. According to Marx, working people whom he called the proletariat were alienated from productive life. Instead of work being, as it should be, a way for people to feel fulfilled, life in the grim factories of the 19th century was destructive to the human spirit.

The trouble was that, while Marx was brilliant at analysing the problem, the solution he proposed was not necessarily so convincing. One difficulty was that he asserted that history was destined to move through certain phases. For instance, there was an imperial phase, a feudal phase, a capitalist phase, a socialist phase and a communist phase. But this formulaic approach could prove problematic when applied to a wide variety of different countries and cultures.

Arguments raged among followers of Marx about exactly what the great man had meant by certain theories, and what was the best way of implementing them. Marxist followers denounced each other for corrupting Marxist teachings, much as medieval Christians had attacked each other for heresy.

There was thus an obvious gulf between Hitler and Stalin in the way that each viewed the world. One was a devout racist, the other a man who thought the environment primarily shaped individuals. One was a believer in the laws of Nature, the other a dedicated follower of Karl Marx. What was more, they each passionately hated the others belief system. Hitler feared and despised Bolshevism, and Stalin detested Nazism.

Similarly, there was a chasm between the two dictators in terms of their ultimate goals, with the communist aim of a stateless society presenting a sharp contrast to Hitlers idea of a giant empire based on violent racism. This clear distinction informs how the two ideologies are perceived today. The type of racial hatred that was at the core of Hitlers thinking is rightly condemned indeed, expressing such beliefs is illegal in many countries whereas there are still a number of people who proudly proclaim they are Marxists. But, in the context of Stalins leadership, there is a problem with this analysis, because the harmonious goal of the Bolsheviks of a state in which government withered away was not realistically achievable under Stalin. And even Stalin came close to admitting as much.

In his address to the 18th Congress of the Communist party in March 1939, Stalin confessed that Marx and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels, had not always been right. Specifically, when Engels had said that once there is nothing more to be repressed then the state withers away, he had failed to mention the international factor. The problem, said Stalin, was that because other countries were not on the road to communism, the Soviet Union needed at its disposal a well-trained army, well-organised punitive organs, and a strong intelligence service to defend itself. In other words, expect the well-organised punitive organs to stay put, because there was no prospect of them leaving unless the whole world went communist, and who seriously thought that would happen in the foreseeable future?

Nonetheless, both Hitler and Stalin offered a vision of a future utopia. They were different utopias, of course, but utopias nonetheless. The road to get there would be hard even, as Stalin admitted in 1939, taking longer than people could possibly imagine but a wonderful goal lay ahead regardless. Both of these utopian visions offered a purpose in life, in a world that could seem meaningless without religious belief.

For Nikonor Perevalov, born in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, the reason for his existence could not have been clearer. He believed he had been put on this Earth to be a conscientious person, to lead the masses to [an] awareness of the need for the victory of socialism and communism. Perevalov subsequently tried to improve the life of the peoples of Russia by joining the Soviet Unions secret police, the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and organising mass deportations to Siberia.

Johannes Hassebroek, commandant of Gross-Rosen concentration camp, gained a similar purpose in life from his membership of the SS: I was full of gratitude to the SS for the intellectual guidance it gave me. We were all thankful. Many of us had been so bewildered before joining the organisation. We did not understand what was happening around us, everything was so mixed up. The SS offered us a series of simple ideas that we could understand, and we believed in them.

One of the simple ideas offered by both of the ideologies preached by Hitler and Stalin was staunch opposition to the values of liberal democracy. Both rejected outright the principles that constitute freedom today. Both condemned free speech; both attacked human rights at every level. Crucially, both sought to destroy your ability to be an individual. You had no right to be the self you chose. You conformed to the new value system, or you were persecuted. Ultimately, this was the reason why the utopias Hitler and Stalin sought could never be free from tyranny because even if the Promised Land had been reached, anyone who openly opposed this new paradise would be punished.

Hitler and Stalin were united, too, by the fact that they were both utterly merciless. They even appear, on occasion, to have admired each others ruthlessness. When, in 1934, Hitler ordered the murder of the leader of the Nazi storm troopers, Ernst Rhm, together with other opponents, Stalin remarked: What a great fellow! How well he pulled this off! And in May 1943, Hitler said he envied Stalin for the way he had got rid of all opposition in the Red Army and thus ensured there is no defeatist tendency in the army. However, the Nazi dictator had not always admired his Soviet opponent. Six years before, when Stalin had been presiding over the murder of large numbers of enemies of the people, Hitler had remarked that Stalin is probably sick in the brain, otherwise you cant explain his bloody regime. Its a bleakly ironic statement, given that Hitler presided over the killing of more people than Stalin did.

During the Second World War, while Stalin deported whole groups of people into exile in the wilds of the Soviet Union, where many died, the core of Hitlers hatred was directed at the Jews. He decided that the Jews as a group men, women and children would be exterminated, many in purpose-built factories of death. The Holocaust, a singular crime in the history of humanity, must be considered the most infamous part of Hitlers legacy.

Crucially, the majority of those who died because of Stalins actions were Soviet citizens, while the majority killed by Hitler were non-Germans. This difference follows from their respective ambitions. Stalin was focused on repression within Soviet territory for most of his time in power, while Hitler dreamed of creating a huge new empire. In that context, it is a common misconception to think that German Jews made up substantial numbers of those who died. In fact, less than 1 per cent of Germans were Jews. It was the countries that the Nazis invaded in particular Poland, Hungary and the Soviet Union that contained large Jewish populations.

This geographical distribution of the deaths demonstrates one further variant between the two tyrants. Hitlers view was that Germanys only chance of long-term survival was to grow bigger much bigger. As a result of his desire for German expansion, and his steadfast belief in racist ideology, he played the leading role in three of the most consequential decisions ever taken: the decision to invade Poland, which led to the Second World War; the decision to invade Stalins Soviet Union and launch a war of extermination; and the decision to murder the Jews.

As for Stalin, while he did not completely abandon the idea of exporting the revolution to other lands, he had no immense plan of conquest. The European countries that came under his control after 1945 suffered this fate only in the wake of Hitlers defeat. And the territory Stalin snatched in eastern Poland and elsewhere in 1939 and 1940 he gained only as a consequence of the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact, which divided eastern Europe up into spheres of influence between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Nonetheless despite their many differences what united Hitler and Stalin was their desire to create a paradise here on Earth. And because both dictators promised their vast numbers of willing followers that there was a glorious world awaiting them in the future, the problems of the now could be brushed aside as the price of the perfect life of tomorrow. But that tomorrow never came.

Most appalling of all, Hitler and Stalin were prepared to kill millions of people in pursuit of their dreams. And, as a consequence, their actions are a reminder for all time of the destruction that tyrants with utopian visions can inflict upon the world.

Laurence Reess new book, Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War, was published by Viking in October 2020.

This article was first published in the December 2020 edition of BBC History Magazine

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Hitler And Stalin: The Utopian Dreams That United The Dictators - BBC History Magazine

Jan. 12, 2021 -- Theres no evidence that the new vaccines against COVID-19 cause infertility, yet thats a worry thats been cited by some health care workers as a reason theyre reluctant to be first in line to get the shots.

Across the country, significant numbers of health care workers have balked at getting the new vaccines.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a recent briefing that 60% of Ohios nursing home staffers had declined their shots. In Georgia, an infection prevention nurse who coordinates COVID vaccines for the 30,000 employees in her health system said that so far, fewer than 33% had gotten the shot. The rest had decided to wait and see. The nurse disclosed the numbers on the condition that we not reveal what hospital she worked for, as she was not authorized to speak to reporters.

None of this has surprised Jill Foster, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis who has been studying vaccine hesitancy.

With COVID, it was the perfect storm. With COVID, there was already a bunch of people out there saying theres no such thing as COVID, its no worse than the flu, she says. Many of those people gained substantial followings for themselves on social media. When the vaccines came along, they used those platforms to stir up conspiracy theories.

Where did this infertility myth come from?

In early December, a German doctor and epidemiologist named Wolfgang Wodarg, who has been skeptical about the need for vaccines in other pandemics, teamed up with a former Pfizer employee to ask the European Medicines Agency (the European Union counterpart to the FDA) to delay the study and approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. One of their concerns was a protein called syncytin-1, which shares similar genetic instructions with part of the spike of the new coronavirus. That same protein is an important component of the placenta in mammals. If the vaccine causes the body to make antibodies against syncytin-1, they argued, it might also cause the body to attack and reject the protein in the human placenta, making women infertile.

Their petition was picked up by anti-vaccination blogs and websites and posted to social media. Facebook eventually removed posts about the petition from its site for spreading misinformation.

The idea that vaccines could be deployed for population control was also woven into the plot of a recent, fictional miniseries on Amazon Prime Video called Utopia. In that show -- spoiler alert -- a drugmaker obsessed with population control creates the illusion of a flu pandemic to convince people to take its vaccine, which doesnt prevent infection, but human reproduction.

A spokesperson for Amazon Studios says the series is pure fiction.

Utopia premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 25, 2020, the spokesperson said in a statement to WebMD. It was written 7 years ago, and was filmed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series is based off of the original U.K. version, which premiered in 2013, and shares much of the same plot, including the vaccine storyline.

While the show is the stuff of creative writing minds, could something like that happen in real life?

The biological basis for this idea is really shaky, Foster says.

The coronaviruss spike protein and syncytin-1 share small stretches of the same genetic code, but not enough to make them a match. She says it would be like two people having phone numbers that both contain the number 7. You couldnt dial one number to reach the other person, even though their phone numbers shared a digit.

What we know is that they are similar on such a tiny level, Foster says.

Even Wodarg, in his petition, writes there is no indication whether antibodies against spike proteins of SARS viruses would also act like anti-Syncytin-1 antibodies.

Indeed, data from the human studies of the Pfizer vaccine dont bear out this theory. In the Pfizer trial, which included more than 37,000 people, women were given pregnancy tests before they were accepted to the study. They were excluded if they were already pregnant. During the trial, 23 women conceived, likely by accident. Twelve of these pregnancies happened in the vaccine group, and 11 in the placebo group. They continued to be followed as part of the study.

Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, says this idea really crumbles when you consider that more than 22 million people in the United States have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In fact, experts believe that number is much higher because 22 million is just the number who have been tested and found. Most think the real number is at least 3 times that high.

Offit says to consider that 70 million Americans have been infected, or about 20% of the population. If the infertility theory was true, he says, youd expect that the body making antibodies against the natural infection would show up in our fertility statistics. It hasnt.

There's no evidence that this pandemic has changed fertility patterns, Offit says.

He says there are cases where vaccines have caused biological effects linked to a disease. Take measles, for example. After a measles vaccine,you can get little broken blood vessels, called petechiae, as a result of a problem with blood clotting. Its rare, but it can happen. The vaccine causes that phenomenon, he says, because measles, the disease, can also cause it.

If natural infection doesn't alter fertility, why would a vaccine do it? says Offit, who has been reviewing clinical trials behind the vaccines as an adviser to the FDA.

Offit admits that we dont have all the long-term safety data wed like on the vaccines. Thats being gathered furiously right now, as the vaccines roll out to millions of people, and reported by the CDC.

But so far, he says the major issues seem to be a severe allergic reaction that appears to happen very rarely -- in about 11 people for every million doses given. If its going to happen, he says, people generally know right away, when they are still under observation by nurses and doctors. Offit says the reaction, while serious, is treatable. Its one reason why the CDC has advised people who have allergies to any part of the vaccine, including PEG or a related compound called polysorbate, to avoid these first shots.

Bells palsy, which causes one side of a persons face to droop temporarily, may be another rare risk. In clinical trials, this temporary paralysis happened slightly more often in vaccinated people than in those who got the placebo, though cases of Bells palsy were not more common than you would expect to see in the general population. Right now, its unclear whether its a side effect of the vaccines.

Offit says what people should know is that they might feel pretty crummy after their shots. He says he had about 12 hours of fatigue and fever after his recent vaccine. Thats not a side effect, but the body generating a protective shield against the virus.

It was a hit, he says, but again, a small price to pay to avoid this virus.

Jill Foster, MD, pediatric infectious disease specialist, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Paul Offit, MD, director, Vaccine Education Center, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Wodarg, petition to the European Medicines Agency, Dec. 1, 2020.

Pfizer-BioNTech Briefing Document for the FDA, Dec. 10, 2020.

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THE VILLAGES The documentary Some Kind of Heaven provides two life lessons: one on screen for the viewers and another behind the scenes for young filmmakers.

The movie about the imperfect life in the Villages retirement community premieres in theaters on Jan. 8 and at home through Video On Demand starting Jan. 15.

It is 24-year-old director and producer Lance Oppenheims feature documentary debut, but was co-produced by the New York Times and filmmaker Darren Aronofsky of Pi and The Wrestler fame.

You have to make your own luck, said Oppenheim, a native of Fort Lauderdale, about what his success can teach those looking to follow in his footsteps.

On screen, Oppenheim said, viewers will learn about people who move to a place like the Villages to hide from the things in life that will eventually get to you. Things dont necessarily go that way. The only way to really deal with them in a concrete way is to address them and get the help you need.

The documentary begins by detailing the activities and luxuries available to those residing in the Villages.

Some describe it as utopia. But the 83-minute story pivots to another point of view on what is billed as the nations largest retirement community. The Villages spans Lake, Sumter and Marion counties and is home to 120,000.

No matter how perfect the layout, the Villages cannot provide shelter from lifes imperfections.

The film invests in the dreams and desires of a small group of Villages residents, reads a news release, who are unable to find happiness within the communitys pre-packaged paradise.

Those residents include Reggie Kincer, who turns to drugs in search of a spiritual breakthrough, and his wife, Anne, who questions whether they should remain married following her husbands arrest for cocaine possession.

There is also Dennis Dean, described in the documentary as former handyman to the stars. He lives in his van while seeking a woman for financial security.

We actually lived in the Villages on and off for about 18 months of actual shooting that wrapped in the summer of 2019, Oppenheim said of his filmmaking team. And I spent a few more months there before shooting, living without a camera to get access to the personal lives of residents.

How he got to that point is a story of persistence.

When other kids were trading baseball cards and comic books, Oppenheim said, I was obsessed with documentaries, specifically the stuff the New York Times was doing.

The newspapers website features Op-Docs, short documentaries made by independent filmmakers.

I made it my mission to get in touch with them. I submitted all kinds of crappy short documentaries in high school and college, said Oppenheim, a graduate of Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale and Harvard University. He then added with a laugh, Finally, I just wore them down.

His first Op-Doc was Long Term Parking. It premiered online in 2016 and told of a Los Angeles International Airport parking lot used as a motor home park for pilots, flight attendants and plane mechanics.

In 2018, Oppenheim produced the Op-Doc Happiest Man in the World about a man living on the same cruise ship for two decades.

Some Kind of Heaven was supposed to be a short Op-Doc doubling as Oppenheims college thesis. But after spending 15 days in the Villages, he realized this story needed to be a feature documentary. The New York Times agreed.

It was this organic kind of natural progression, he said.

Oppenheim brought Aronofsky into the mix in the same way he did the New York Times.

I badgered him, he said.

Aronofsky has a fascination with aging. The Wrestler and The Fountain deal with the topic.

Both those films were huge to me, Oppenheim said. I was obsessed.

Oppenheim began sending emails to Aronofskys office while still in college.

They mostly said how much I appreciated his work and would love advice, he said. I sent those for five years.

Once the New York Times agreed to produce Some Kind of Heaven, Oppenheim sent Aronofsky a more substantive email that detailed the project.

To my surprise, he wanted to get together, Oppenheim said. I was pinching myself.

Aronofskys advice on notes on five edits of the movie, Oppenheim said, was critical to its success.

The film hes made is a timeless look at love and fulfillment in ones later years, Aronofsky said via a news release. I believe it will resonate with people across all stages of life.

The Villages, Oppenheim said, is known for being skeptical of outside reporters and artists because that can generate negative attention.

So how did he get access?

Again he asked.

He asked to rent a couples Airbnb room in their house.

I hung around with them and they introduced me to people and showed me around, Oppenheim said. I just started showing up to places, sometimes uninvited, and would introduce myself. And that was how it started.

The documentary is not an indictment on the Villages, Oppenheim said. The unhappiness and uncertainty the subjects face occur everywhere. But the Villages is the perfect backdrop to prove that even the coziest of surroundings cannot stave off personal demons.

The film looks at how some seniors exist in an environment where everyone is so constantly engaged in revelry and fun and optimism of the place, and yet they dont fit in, Oppenheim said.

For that reason, he said, his subjects should be heralded.

Its incredibly brave what they did, he said, by letting outsider young filmmakers come in and bear witness to the stuff they were going through.

The following Tampa Bay area theaters will screen the movie beginning Jan. 8: CMX Cinebistro at Hyde Park in Tampa, Tyrone Luxury 10 in St. Petersburg, Countryside 12 in Clearwater, Xscape in Riverview, Lakeside Village 18 in Lakeland, Studio Movie Grill in Seminole and Touchstar Cinema Spring Hill 8 in Spring Hill.

For Video On Demand streaming options, visit somekindofheaven.com.

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Documentary on the Villages shows it is not a utopia for everyone - Tampa Bay Times

Nature, in truth, is not just something external on which we work, but also within us. We too are nature. My tears well up, wrote the German Romantic poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Earth, I am returning to you. Adorno took our overawed sensations when confronted with the magnitude of untamed nature as a signal of an awareness of our natural essence. The sublime whether encountered in the world or in art provokes in us tears, shudders and overwhelming feeling. Our ego is reminded of its affinities with the natural realm. In our collapses into blubbering wrecks, eyes wide and wet, we become simultaneously most human and most natural.

For someone associated with the abstruseness of avant-garde music and critical theory, Adorno was surprisingly sentimental when it came to animals for which he felt a powerful affinity. It is with them that he finds something worthy of the name Utopia. He imagines a properly human existence of doing nothing, like a beast, resting, cloud gazing, mindlessly and placidly chewing cud.

To dream, as so many Utopians do, of boundless production of goods, of busy activity in the ideal society reflects, Adorno claimed, an ingrained mentality of production as an end in itself. To detach from our historical form adapted solely to production, to work against work itself, to do nothing in a true society in which we embrace nature and ourselves as natural might deliver us to freedom.

Rejecting the notion of nature as something that would protect us, give us solace, reveals us to be inextricably within and of nature. From there, we might begin to save ourselves along with everything else.

Esther Leslie is a professor of political aesthetics at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the author, most recently, of Liquid Crystals: The Science and Art of a Liquid Form.

Now in print: Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments, and The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments, with essays from the series, edited by Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley, published by Liveright Books.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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Opinion | Are We the Cows of the Future? - The New York Times

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At one point or another, most of us have resolved around January 1 to exercise more, eat better or focus on our health somehow. Though its a tricky resolution to start and even more challenging to keep up some preparation and the right tools can help set you up for a year of healthy exercise.

Whether youre looking to start exercising or to take your routine to the next level, you need the right at-home workout gear to motivate you to move frequently and consistently. If you need some extra motivation to head to the gym, treat yourself to some new sweatproof Bluetooth headphones like the AirPods Pro. And if youre trying to improve your diet? Kitchen gadgets like a Vitamix blender make meal prep quicker and easier, and the results yummier.

To help determine the best products to invest in heading into 2021, weve chatted with health and fitness experts to uncover their secrets. After all, if the professionals swear by them, you know theyre good. Below, find our favorite picks to meet whatever wellness goal youre focusing on for the next lap around the sun.

Trx All-in-One Suspension Training: Body Weight Resistance System ($149.95; amazon.com)

Trx All-in-One Suspension Training: Body Weight Resistance System

PHOTO: Amazon

If you dont have a ton of space but want to work up a major sweat, personal trainer Miriam Fried recommends this TRX suspension training kit. As she explains, you can easily work out your entire body without building out an entire gym. Win-win!

Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Exercise Bike ($228.33; amazon.com)

Exerpeutic Folding Magnetic Upright Exercise Bike

Building out a home gym or investing in substantial at-home fitness equipment doesnt have to cost an arm and a leg either. If youre looking for a super-solid bike option that wont take up too much space, this editor-favorite option has 14,000 reviews on Amazon.

Ativafit Yoga Wheel ($45.99; amazon.com)

Ativafit Yoga Wheel

PHOTO: Amazon

Regardless of whether or not youre a yogi, this wheel will increase your flexibility and range of motion and release minor aches and pains, according to Dani Schenone, a holistic wellness expert for Mindbody.

What I love most about it is the support it offers in spinal extensions, giving my heart center all the expansion it needs, she explains. However, its not just for the spine. The yoga wheel is excellent for developing better balance, improving inversions or amplifying any pose too. I pull out my yoga wheel weekly, and it has transformed my yoga practice, she says.

Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves (starting at $27.04; amazon.com)

Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves

PHOTO: Amazon

Sometimes say, every week of 2020 you just feel the need to punch something. If you have a boxing bag at home, you need gloves that allow you to cross, hook, jab and uppercut your stress away. Travel and fitness guru Cacinda Maloney recommends these lightweight training gloves. They wick moisture, so your hands wont feel sticky and you can keep moving.

Bala Bangles ($49; dickssportinggoods.com)

Bala Bangles

PHOTO: Amazon

Youll be impressed by how adding a little more resistance to your daily workouts or chores can shape your stamina and overall fitness level. Danielle Cote, the director of training operations at Pure Barre, recommends these functional and fashionable bangles that fit snug on your wrists or ankles.

Whether you are wearing them during your favorite sweat session, while youre out for a walk or cleaning around the house, these 1-pound or 2-pound weights pack in a sneaky punch to your day, she says.

Gaiam Yoga Mat ($23.98, originally $29.98; amazon.com)

Gaiam Yoga Mat

PHOTO: Amazon

For yogi and founder of Sequential Body Emilie Perz, theres no better yoga mat than this pick from Gaiam.

My favorite features include the cushioned rubber backing for joint support and stability, the dry-wicking surface that absorbs moisture and prevents yogis from falling during a mega sweat sesh, and the thick backing that adheres to the floor so that the mat doesnt crinkle, curl or move across the room while flowing, she explains.

Plus, its made with natural rubber, so it wont peel like a synthetic mat.

TriggerPoint Grid Foam Roller ($44.96, originally $59.99; amazon.com)

TriggerPoint Grid Foam Roller

Foam rollers are a real game changer when it comes to post-workout recovery. They work to loosen up muscles and act as a massage after a trying session, plus youll be able to work on your quads, calves, lats, back and much more with this top-rated option.

BalanceFrom Neoprene-Coated Dumbbell Set ($45.24; amazon.com)

BalanceFrom Neoprene-Coated Dumbbell Set

PHOTO: Amazon

This set of classic dumbbells is available in two weight levels, a 32-pound set with weights of 3, 5 and 8 pounds or a 50-pound set with weights of 5, 8 and 12 pounds. Each set features six weights coated with neoprene (which prevents slipping) and a convenient storage stand.

Buddy Lee Aero Speed Hyperformance Jump Rope ($39.95; amazon.com)

Buddy Lee Aero Speed Hyperformance Jump Rope

PHOTO: Amazon

Jump rope: It may be one of the simplest workouts, but its an effective one. Fitness and wellness coach Gideon Akande says this is an ideal product for anyone who wants to turn up their cardio speed. Thanks to the weight of the rope, the ergonomics and comfort of the handle and the swivel-bearing technology, he says youll have a perfect turn each time you hop.

This high-quality rope takes a beating and lasts! This is a must-have in any home gym or fitness travelers luggage, he says.

Dynamax Soft-Shell Medicine Ball Standard (starting at $85; amazon.com)

Dynamax Soft-Shell Medicine Ball Standard

PHOTO: Amazon

If youre looking for a medicine ball, Akande says to look no further. Its perfect for core work and sport-specific training, he explains. These medicine balls are impact-absorbing, built to handle high velocity. Plus, theyre just fun to toss around.

AmazonBasics Medicine Ball ($34.99; amazon.com)

AmazonBasics Medicine Ball

This cheaper medicine ball option is a classic, featuring a textured finish thats easy to grip and a rubber build so you can bounce the ball off hard surfaces.

Sunny Health & Fitness Magnetic Mini Exercise Bike ($116.90, originally $155; amazon.com)

Sunny Health & Fitness Magnetic Mini Exercise Bike

PHOTO: Amazon

As a podiatrist who frequently works with athletes, Dr. Velimir Petkov knows what aids a workout routine and what can cause injury. If youre a fan of indoor cycling but dont have the space for a Peloton, he says to try out this at-home bike.

It is relatively light and portable but also sturdy enough to stay in one place while being used, he continues. It does have a digital monitor and various levels of resistance in order to make even the most passionate exercise aficionados happy.

Ab Roller Wheel ($21.97, originally $24.97; amazon.com)

The ultimate tool for building up ab strength, this roller is well loved on Amazon for its high quality and low price point. It comes with a knee pad and two bonus e-books that cover everything from ideal diets to different types of ab workouts.

Hyperice Hypersphere Mini ($99; amazon.com)

Hyperice Hypersphere Mini

PHOTO: Amazon

Since you only have one body, its vital to protect and nurture it, which is why a vibrating massage ball like this one is so important. As fitness manager for Red Mountain Resort, Kim Watters says using this before a workout can help prepare muscles and soft tissue around the joints, and after a workout it helps in the recovery process.

It fits easily around/close to joints like in the pocket between the chest and the shoulder joint or in the hip crease. Its also handy in those hard-to-reach areas like around the shoulder blades or SI joints, she explains.

Gruper Thick Yoga Mat (starting at $33.99; amazon.com)

Gruper Thick Yoga Mat

PHOTO: Amazon

Whether youre going through a vinyasa yoga flow or doing a 10-minute core series, you need a sturdy mat to keep you in place and focused on movement not slipping. Thats why Jeremiah Maestre, a certified personal trainer for Performix House, recommends this thick mat. Not only can you use it indoors, but its suitable for outdoor workouts too!

NutriBullet 1,200-Watt Full-Size Blender ($99.99; nutribullet.com)

NutriBullet 1,200-Watt Full-Size Blender

PHOTO: NutriBullet

Tommy Duquette, the co-founder of FightCamp and a former USA National Boxing Team member, reminds us that nutrition is one of the essential components of a healthy lifestyle. In fact, you could work out all day, every day, but if you dont focus on a balanced meal plan, you wont see the results youre hoping to achieve. For those times when you dont have the time or energy to dedicate to meal prep and cooking, Duquette recommends this blender.

If I know that I have a full day of meetings after filming my workouts, I will blend up organic fruits and vegetables, coconut water and protein powder for an easy-to-drink smoothie, he explains. This NutriBullet is big, so I put it in the office fridge and keep refilling my glass until I can get a full meal.

Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer ($25.97, originally $27.99; amazon.com)

Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer

Healthier eating resolutions often call for few to no carbs. The Spiralizer vegetable slicer enables you to turn vegetables into noodles for your next spaghetti dinner and stay true to that keto or paleo diet. The Spiralizers revamped blades are even stronger than before and can cut through hard root vegetables like sweet potatoes and turnips for unlimited vegetable-noodle possibilities. Check out our full review.

Dash Rapid Egg Cooker ($16.99, originally $19.99; amazon.com)

For the egg lovers out there, theres no easier way to scramble, hard boil, soft boil or poach eggs than with this Dash egg cooker. It has an auto shutoff function, so your eggs will never overcook and you wont have to babysit them if youre short on time. Whether its for a quick breakfast or a protein-packed snack, cooking eggs has never been this over easy.

Cosori Air Fryer ($119.99; amazon.com)

Cosori Air Fryer

PHOTO: Amazon

There are plenty of rave reviews for air fryers and many loyal fans of the devices, like Cote. In fact, she says she uses this for everything: frozen food, fresh produce, creative recipes or go-to basics. It provides a necessary crunch to healthy food while using little oil, ultimately resulting in 85% less fat than deep-fried food.

Until I bought this, I had never considered all of the things that you could use it for, she says.

Utopia Kitchen Glass Food Storage Container Set ($32.99; amazon.com)

Utopia Kitchen Glass Food Storage Container Set

PHOTO: Amazon

When it comes to food prep, storage sets like this option from Utopia Kitchen are a must-have.

Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison (starting at $14.99; amazon.com)

'Anti-Diet' by Christy Harrison

PHOTO: Amazon

Schenone says this one read changed not only her understanding of health and wellness but her life. If youre someone who has struggled with body image, yo-yo dieting and weight loss, this can provide the fundamental shift you need.

It provides a historical look at the diet industry and uses scientific research to combat common beliefs about the body and health, she explains. It also offers usable strategies to reclaim your life and find true personal health and wellness.

Vitamix E310 Explorian Professional Grade ($349.95; amazon.com)

Vitamix E310 Explorian Professional Grade

PHOTO: Amazon

Hands down, Schenone says, a Vitamix is the best kitchen investment shes given herself. I love being able to make myself a nutritious smoothie in the morning, some nut butter on sourdough toast for lunch and a hot, hearty vegetable soup for dinner all with the same appliance, she says.

Besides coming with a plethora of recipes and active Facebook groups you can follow for advice and secrets, itll also allow you to easily cook good-for-you meals. And it self-cleans, so you can spend less time scrubbing and more time focusing on your health.

SodaStream Jet Sparkling Water Maker ($79.99; amazon.com)

SodaStream Jet Sparkling Water Maker

PHOTO: Amazon

Though we all know how vital it is to drink plenty of water, sometimes good old-fashioned H2O gets boring. To spice it up and still remain hydrated, Perz recommends this sparkling water maker. You can add natural flavors or fresh fruit to create yummy and healthy beverages.

Also, you can feel good buying this because by creating sparkling water with this product youll be limiting plastic waste, she adds.

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Health and fitness essentials to help you tackle your New Year's resolution - CNN

Woman reading book in hammock

The future is bright? Hard to believe perhaps, especially since we are still in the middle of the worst recession ever and face a global pandemic that just doesnt want to stop. But the fact is that, despite what we feel and despite how we believe things are, the world, we, and the future are in much better shape than it seems. The only problem: hardly anyone believes this because it sounds to good to be true. But true it is.

Of course there are problems, and they are major. There is the Covid-19 pandemic, there is climate change, there is inequality, there is global unrest, and so on. However, historically, we live in the best time everdespite the problems. And what is more, things are not getting worse, they are getting better.

The evidence is overwhelming. It is not just one study or a handful of studies showing this. It is hundreds, or even thousands of studies providing fact after fact showing how well things are going. And they dont just show that the world is doing well and getting better. They also show that we, as human species are doing well. As it turns out, we arent quite the selfish profit-maximizing homo economicus that our self-fulling theories and management tools assume. We are much more social and kinder than that. We care. And that gives all reason to be hopeful and optimistic about the future.

The results of these numerous studies have been put together in five masterful, hopeful books that everyone on this planet should read. They are already bestsellers, and they are praised by some of the worlds most influential persons, including Barack Obama and Bill Gates. Individually, they are convincing in and of themselves. But together, they tell a truly important story that corrects much of what we believe and gives all reason to be optimistic.

The first, and oldest book of the five is Progress by Johan Norberg. It is the most fact-based and straightforward book. Page after page, it provides overwhelming and astonishing data showing how the world has made more progress in the last 100 years than in the 100,000 years beforeand regarding virtually every aspect of live that matters: food, sanitation, life expectancy, poverty, violence, the environment, literacy, freedom, equality, and the next generation.

The main message: let the data speak for itself and base your worldview on the facts, not on incorrect beliefs.

A very similar book to Progress, but based on more than a decade of new data, and written in a more eloquent style providing a deeper analysis of why things have become so much better. It adds additional aspects of life that have dramatically improved on top of the ten from Norberg, including quality of life, knowledge, democracy, and happiness. Next to that, its main addition is a profound analysis of what has caused this astonishing improvement: reason, science, humanism and progress as key values of the Enlightenment. The main message: we should use our faculties of reason and sympathy in moving forward.

Once again a fact-based book, written by the founders of the Gapminder Foundationan initiative aimed at fighting devastating ignorance with a fact-based worldview. Like the first two books, it is full of facts, data, and figures showing how things have become much better over time, all over the globe. What it adds is an analysis of why we have such a hard time believing all the facts. It is not only ignorancethe fact that we dont know the facts. There are no less then ten important human biases (instincts) at play that hinder us: the gap instinct, the negativity instinct, the straight line instinct, the fear instinct, the size instinct, the generalization instinct, the destiny instinct, the single perspective instinct, the blame instinct, and the urgency instinct. The main message: we should control these distorting instincts and rely on the facts instead.

While the first three books focus on correcting our beliefs about the state of the world, Humankind focuses on correcting our beliefs about ourselves. As Bregman shows very convincingly in this book, we are not the selfish species we think we are and civilization is not a thin layer of veneer that will crack as soon as put to the test. On the contrary, when analyzing the true story of the famous Standford Prison Experiment and many other stories, it turns out that we are a social and decent species. Like a puppy, it is our friendliness, playfulness, trust, cooperation and compassion that have made us so successful. The main message: it is time for a new realism based on believing the fact that humans are good.

The last book in the list is also by Bregman and written before Humankind. The previous books all look backward to correct our view about the world and ourselves based on facts. Utopia for Realists is an equally hopeful, but more forward looking book. Based on the same realism as the other books promote, it takes a remarkable perspective. Bregmans main claim in this book is: compared to any time before, we live in paradise and our main problem is that we dont have any concrete dreams anymore about how things could even be better. In other words, because we live in Utopia, we have no reason to get out of bed anymore. Largely focusing on how we could better spend our wealth, it explores a number of fresh and simple but evidence-based ideas for improvement. The main message: dare to dream again and have the guts to trust the facts in making the world a better place.

The future is bright? According to these five books, and the overwhelming evidence they provide, it is. With close to 2000 pages altogether, they are quite a read. But there is no better start of the new year to correct our worldview by a fact-based, optimistic realism about the great world we live in and our ability to make it even better.

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The Future Is Bright. These Five Books Show Why - Forbes

Preorder: Bandcamp

TBD

About six months after she told fans that the death of her dog Pearl had disrupted the timeline for a new album, Lorde returned with brighter news in May, sharing that shed been working on new material with Jack Antonoff. Although the COVID-19 pandemic further scuppered their plans to collaborate, she promised fans, The work is so fucking good, my friend, in her newsletter, adding, I am truly jazzed for you to hear it. The singer-songwriter instead released a photo book documenting her 2019 trip to Antarctica to tide fans over in the meantime. Allison Hussey

January

Old friends Otis Jackson Jr. and Kieran Hebden decided to rejoin forces over dinner one night. Hebden, aka Four Tet, had floated the idea of a Madlib solo album of tracks that could all flow together, rather than beats for rappers. Whether or not he was volunteering himself, Hebden was deemed perfect for the job, and Jackson proceeded to send him hundreds of unfinished tracks to arrange, edit, manipulate, and combine into a full-length. The result, preceded by the fiendishly addictive Road of the Lonely Ones, will be the first extensive collaboration between the pair, and follows Four Tets 2005 EP of Madvillainy remixes. Jazz Monroe

Temporary Residence / Rock Action Records

February 19

Mogwai have been a band for 25 years, but the process of making their tenth studio album, As the Love Continues, presented the Scottish group with a new set of challenges. Separated from producer Dave Fridmann by the COVID-19 pandemic, the band holed up in Worcestershire, England to record the followup to 2017s Every Countrys Sun. Guests on the album include saxophonist Colin Stetson and Nine Inch Nails Atticus Ross. With live shows on hold for the foreseeable future, the bands Stuart Braithwaite hopes the album can be transforming, unless you are somewhere really amazing and then why are you listening to some weird music like this?, as he says in a press release. Quinn Moreland

Preorder: Bandcamp

TBD

The follow-up to Room 25 feels long-awaited, even if its predecessor came out just over two years ago. This might be because its fate has hung in the balance: Over the past two years, the beloved rapper has shied from the spotlight after amassing a giant following as both an artist and public figure, launching her own book club and using her Twitter feed to patiently highlight the ills of modern capitalism. Her latest transmission lasts just 70 seconds, but Song 33swells with the sort of understated wisdom and world-weariness that most legacy rappers would gape (or balk) at. Jazz Monroe

January 22

Art-punk trio Palberta recorded their fifth album Palberta5000 in Peekskill, New York. The follow-up to 2018s Roach Goin Down is, at least partly, pop-inspired, with Lily Konigsberg telling Stereogum, I kind of only listen to pop music. Ani Ivry-Block added, The way we play and our production will always be weirder than mainstream pop allows. Allison Hussey

TBD

It had seemed as though the Frenchmen of Phoenix were stirring again with the August release of Identical, a new song recorded for Sofia Coppolas comedy On the Rocks. The track even came with a video directed by Roman Coppola. But despite scoring the film, Phoenix have otherwise kept quiet on their plans for more music. The bands most recent record was 2017s Ti Amo, and, in 2019, they released a book about their development titled Phoenix: Libert, galit, Phoenix!. Allison Hussey

TBD

Rihanna gave us a crumb of fresh material in March, joining PARTYNEXTDOOR on his PARTYMOBILE track BELIEVE IT. Otherwise, its been a long few years without any new music from the singer, who issued ANTI in 2016 and has focused her attention on her lingerie and makeup enterprises of late. In 2018, she insisted that she was working on a reggae album that would arrive the following year; she has yet to update the public on her progress. Allison Hussey

January 15

Drunk Tank Pink is the second record from the English rock band Shame, who made their debut in 2018 with Songs of Praise. The James Fordproduced album includes Alphabet and Water in the Well. Frontman Charlie Steen wrote much of Drunk Tank Pink in a small pink room that he called the womb. Allison Hussey

February 5

UK rapper slowthais 2019 album Nothing Great About Britain was nominated for a Mercury Prize, resulting in a spectacle where the grime rapper hoisted an effigy of Boris Johnsons severed head at the awards ceremony. In February, hes back with more rabble-rousing on TYRON, which includes nhs and feel away, featuring James Blake and Mount Kimbie. Skepta, A$AP Rocky, Denzel Curry, Deb Never, and Dominic Fike all make guest appearances elsewhere on the double-disc record. Allison Hussey

TBD

The last time we heard new music from St. Vincent, she delivered a pair of radically different albums. There was 2017s MASSEDUCTION, which found Annie Clark teaming with Jack Antonoff for the most immediate and danceable music of her career. And then there was the companion album, 2018s MassEducation, which reimagined those songs in stark, solo piano arrangements. Her as-yet-untitled follow-up appears to be another reinvention, with Clark citing Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and Martin Scorseses 1976 classic Taxi Driver as influences. Cant wait for you to hear it, she teased. The feeling is mutual. Sam Sodomsky

TBD

Since releasing her breakout Ctrl in 2017, SZA has kept to collaboration, working with a roster thats included Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake, the Weeknd, Post Malone, DJ Khaled, and more. But, in September, she returned with Hit Different, a Neptunes-produced track featuring Ty Dolla $ign, along with a video she directed herself. The video teased another new song, which turned out to be Good Days, released on Christmas. Although the singer had tweeted and deleted posts about having a tense relationship with her label Top Dawg Entertainment, it seems like more music will get released, one way or the other. Allison Hussey

March 5

The first album in five years from Teenage Fanclub is also their first without bassist and vocalist Gerard Love. In his place, the group recruited Euros Childs of the Welsh band Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. The whole process of making this album was very invigorating, guitarist and vocalist Norman Blake said in a press release. After a 2018 vinyl reissue series put many of their iconic albums back in print, Endless Arcade looks to be another welcome reintroduction to Scotlands power-pop giants. Sam Sodomsky

TBD

Having completed 2019 with his JACKBOYS label compilation, Travis Scott spent 2020 collaborating with just about everybody: Kanye West, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, Rosala, Christopher Nolan, LeBron James, PlayStation, McDonalds. By fall, Scott had teased that his fourth studio album was on the way. Likely titled Utopia, with a to-be-determined release date, it could include his singles HIGHEST IN THE ROOM and FRANCHISE, which features M.I.A. and Young Thug. Allison Hussey

January 8

Stockholm six-piece Viagra Boys look to cement their reputation as the raucous post-punks du jour with Januarys Welfare Jazz. After the slightly calmer Common Sense EP, recent single Aint Nice (about a long-term relationship, taking drugs every day, and being an asshole, according to lead grunter Sebastian Murphy) doubles down on the snark and rascalry of their debut, Street Worms, using gags to conceal a reputed social consciousness. In the singles videoa send-up of the bewigged bourgeoisie and Swedish polite societya scootering Murphy is engulfed in flames, and a shopping cart mysteriously sinks into a giant swimming pool. What does it all mean? Stay tuned for answers, maybe. Jazz Monroe

February 5

After she finished touring in support of 2017s The Weather Station, singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman engaged in local climate-change activism, which led to a new set of songs that address the turmoil of reckoning with environmental devastation. The result, Ignorance, is her fifth full-length as the Weather Station and her first on Fat Possum. Lindeman composed most of the songs on piano rather than her usual guitar, once again writing string arrangements, too. She also self-directed the videos for the first two singles, Robber and Tried to Tell You. Allison Hussey

TBD

The only thing we know for sure about Weyes Blood LP5 is that its on the way. Natalie Mering recently revealed that shes been locked away the past few months in a new studio, taking psychedelics and working on the follow-up to Titanic Rising. Last years Fear of Death, her collaborative album with comedian Tim Heidecker, tapped into the 70s singer-songwriter vibe for which Mering has become known. And given that shes been listening to everything from King Crimson to Lionel Richie while in isolation, we should expect some surprises on her next solo record. Noah Yoo

February 19

Wild Pinks sophomore album, 2018s Yolk in the Fur, cemented their reputation for contemplative lyrics in the style of early Death Cab for Cutie melded with the surrealistic highway anthems of the War on Drugs. The New York bands follow-up, A Billion Little Lights, enlists producer David Greenbaumwhos won Grammys for his work on two Beck albumsas well as a host of guest musicians. Julia Steiner of Chicagos Ratboys lends a lilting vocal harmony to breakup strummer You Can Have It Back, while The Shining But Tropical has a trippy majesty, like if Tame Impala remixed a vintage E Street Band outtake. Fittingly, frontman John Ross has said, I wanted to have something very lush and just bigger than anything that Id done before. Marc Hogan

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