Good morning, Quartz readers!
As the world battles Covid-19, many countries are starting to reopen to tourists. It’s especially tempting to relax restrictions in the Northern Hemisphere, where stretched-out summer days seem like a reward after months of diligent social distancing in the spring.
Except that in the United States, the first week of summer has coincided with two of the highest daily case counts the country has ever seen. Yesterday, president Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force was inspired to meet for the first time in eight weeks.
Some are calling this the second wave of the virus in the US. Not all agree; technically, they say, the first wave of cases hasn’t yet subsided. But something in the last week has shifted. What seems certain is that the US—and perhaps the world, watching on as the country continues to lead the globe in new cases—is experiencing a second wave of grief.
Americans have been here before: They’ve watched, frustrated, as the failure to adequately contain the virus separated them from their loved ones and hobbies. They’ve cleared their calendars as activities they looked forward to were postponed or cancelled over safety concerns. Based on the ominous activity this week, it feels like the country is about to go through it all again.
Like the first period of Covid-19 grief, this one is amplified by uncertainty. In lieu of any uniform state-by-state guidance, individuals have to decide for themselves what is safe for them and their communities. But there is some ground for Americans to stand on: They know what this is, and they’ve gotten through this before. “We find control in acceptance,” David Kessler, one of the world’s experts on grief, told the Harvard Business Review in March.
This advice applies beyond the pandemic, of course, but is critical for those going through the second wave of grief now: You can remember to wash their hands. You can wear masks. You can call their loved ones to check in, and you can practice patience and compassion with one another. You can find moments of joy to keep yourself resilient.
Some of the world will be able to move on from Covid-19 and enjoy the summer months as planned. Others will have to adjust their expectations. No matter what happens over the next few months, it’s a good time to remember that nothing—not even the pandemic—is permanent. —Katherine Ellen Foley
FIVE THINGS ON QUARTZ WE ESPECIALLY LIKED
Jumping into the stock market. Regular people are trading stocks like never before. John Detrixhe’s terrific article on the rise of the retail trader clearly explains why that might be. Easy-to-use investing apps, low trading fees, cheap stocks, and a pandemic that left people with a lot of time on their hands was the perfect combination for a bonanza of new day traders. —Dan Kopf, data editor
Intuitive design can perpetuate racial bias. I’ve often taken it for granted that the best websites and apps are seamless and easy to use. But Anne Quito’s eye-opening story points out that in order to counteract the implicit biases that shape a lot of human behavior, we need design that prompts us to stop and think. Her story on how the Black Lives Matter movement is creating a sea change in UX design ensures that I won’t look at an interface the same way again. —Sarah Todd, senior reporter, Quartz At Work
Is Trump helping or hurting?: The Donald Trump administration has suspended a bunch of work visas for this year, a move that some lawmakers say will free up over half a million jobs for Americans. But, as Ananya Bhattacharya points out, more than 80% of experts from Yale, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Harvard, and Stanford universities doubt that claim. In fact, the move could make the US undesirable for talented international students who are already looking at Canada as an alternative. (✦ Quartz member exclusive) —Itika Sharma Punit, Quartz India co-editor
Consider the lobsters. The US state of Maine used to sell lobsters by the millions of pounds to China. In 2018, the Maine lobster industry invested in itself heavily to prepare for even more demand, but then the ancient crustacean got caught up in the trade war between the US and China, write David Yanofsky and Tim McDonnell. Now with the Covid-19 pandemic, lobster demand has plummeted as customers shy away from cruise ships and fancy resorts. Trump is trying to rescue the industry by including it in a bill to bail out US agriculture, but it’s unclear if the market for these sea spiders will ever come back to its full glory. —Katherine Ellen Foley, health and science reporter
It’s the thought that counts. Patagonia, REI, and The North Face made headlines recently when they announced they would be pulling their advertising dollars from Facebook in protest of the platform’s action (or lack thereof) around hate speech. Marc Bain lays out how the financial impact of such a boycott is more like a paper cut than a critical blow to Facebook, as even during an economic crisis, ads on Instagram are still in extremely high demand. The coalition insists it’s more about getting Mark Zuckerberg’s attention, and only time will tell if he’s listening. —Susan Howson, news editor
One chart from Quartz we especially liked
Half of US primetime dramas are cop dramas. Entertainment reporter Adam Epstein crunched the numbers and showed that the reason it feels like every other show on TV is about cops because, well, they are. Of 69 scripted television dramas that aired on the big four US broadcast networks in the last 18 months, 35 were about law enforcement. An entertainment diet that casts cops as heroes is not unrelated to the US’s delayed reckoning on police brutality: One 2015 study found that viewers of such shows were more likely to believe police misconduct and unnecessary use of force were not problems. —Jenni Avins, senior lifestyle reporter
Fun fact
Cemeteries are an excellent site for urban phenology—the practice of keeping detailed records of the natural world around you—thanks to their abundant greenspace. Both Mount Auburn in Boston and Green-Wood in Brooklyn have volunteer-based observational programs. Phenology has been useful for centuries, but perhaps never more crucial (or grounding) than at this moment. Turn your eyes towards the Quartz Weekly Obsession, then go back to watching flowers grow.
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FOR MEMBERS: Let’s talk TV
Hands up if your TV queue has reached an unparalleled level of importance. Apple TV+ has been around for eight months, and hasn’t wowed viewers with a show that could become part of the zeitgeist. By contrast, Disney+ launched the same month with The Mandalorian—a show that not only drove sign-ups to the platform, but potentially convinced users to stay there, providing hope for more content of a similar quality.
Apple’s new series, The Foundation, is based on Isaac Asimov’s 1951 book series of the same name, and if the trailer feels like it has a Game of Thrones vibe, that’s very much intentional. Will the show finally make Apple a regular guest in our living rooms? (✦)
✦ Winter is coming, and you’ll want to make sure you have enough to read. Before it gets here, try out a Quartz membership for a week, on us.✦
FIVE THINGS FROM ELSEWHERE THAT MADE US SMARTER
Speaking of Apple… Apple takes 30% of all App Store sales and in-app purchases. This was once a great deal, as retailers often kept 50% or more from physical software sales. But in 2020, the fee is under fire. This article is brave enough to stick up for the world’s most valuable company, arguing that developers are buying their users in the same way that, say, advertisers buy an audience from Spotify. Randy Picker’s counterpoint in ProMarket is an intriguing defense of Apple’s cut. —Max Lockie, deputy news editor
The US is the least popular kid in school. In this insightful piece from The Atlantic, London-based reporter Tom McTague interviewed European diplomats, government officials, politicians, and academics about how they view America’s global standing in an age of Donald Trump, George Floyd, and coronavirus. What emerged, he writes, is a picture “in which America’s closest allies are looking on with a kind of stunned incomprehension…largely bound together with angst and a shared sense…that America and the West are approaching something of a fin de siècle.” —Annabelle Timsit, geopolitics reporter
Kashmir is still burning. It’s nearly a year since the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s status as an autonomous region, shutting down communications and intensifying its forceful occupation. For Harper’s, Sonia Faleiro reports on the tragic situation on the ground, tracing back the historical and ideological roots of the conflict in Kashmir, and how the state became the emblem of the Hindu nationalist repression of Indian Muslims. —Annalisa Merelli, geopolitics reporter
Staring the past in the face. As Confederate statues topple around the US, white Americans are being forced, many for the first time, to confront the nation’s founding contradiction: a promise of freedom alongside a commitment to the enslavement and torture of African Americans. “All that can save you now is your confrontation with your own history… which is not your past, but your present,” said author James Baldwin in 1968. Writing for The New Yorker, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. looks at how the author of The Fire Next Timesought to expose the American paradox so the country could achieve its original promise, replacing old statues with new values. —Michael J. Coren, senior climate reporter
Whose objectivity? Black journalists have had it up to here. They have to navigate fewer opportunities and lower pay than their white colleagues, as well as daily disrespect in America’s newsrooms. In this thought-provoking essay in The New York Times, Pulitzer-winning reporter Wesley Lowery argues for a new, inclusive standard of journalistic objectivity in place of “selective truths [that] have been calibrated to avoid offending the sensibilities of white readers.” —Hasit Shah, deputy editor, global finance and economics
Need a soundtrack for your weekend?
🌈 We’ve been busy on Spotify again. This time, it’s a perfect playlist of music made by and for the queer community to celebrate Pride Month.
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, gripping trailers, and playlist addition suggestions to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Katherine Ellen Foley, Katie Palmer, and Susan Howson.