The Week Magazine November 11, 2022

The go-to tactic for downplaying political terrorism and mass shootings is to blame the attackers’ violence on “mental illness.” A person who would crack an 82-year-old man’s skull with a hammer, or shoot up a supermarket, synagogue, or school, is no doubt mentally unwell. But what triggers troubled people to lash out violently? What determines their choice of targets? Those questions become more urgent when you consider that David DePape, the man accused of trying to kill Nancy Pelosi’s husband, shares a belief system with literally tens of millions of Americans: The 2020 election was stolen, Covid vaccination was tyranny, a Jewish cabal controls the world, legions of pedophiles are grooming children, and white men are now our society’s most persecuted victims. “He really believed in the whole MAGA, ‘Pizzagate,’…

What happened The fate one of the world’s most influential social media platforms was up in the air this week, as new Twitter owner Elon Musk plotted changes to the platform, planned major layoffs, and faced an exodus of top executives and anxious advertisers. The world’s richest man last week completed his $44 billion takeover of the social media site, after months of negotiations and legal skirmishing. “The bird is freed,” he tweeted. In short order he dissolved its board of directors, named himself CEO, and fired top officials such as the chief executive and chief financial officer. The self-described “free-speech absolutist” has excited conservatives by suggesting he would loosen Twitter’s content moderation rules and reinstate banned users, including Donald Trump. But to allay fears, he took a cautious approach, meeting…

What happened Tens of millions of voters cast early ballots this week in midterm elections that could return control of both houses of Congress to Republicans. With all 435 seats in the House of Representatives up for election, Republicans need to gain only five to retake control, and they are widely expected to succeed. The party also has a good shot at taking the Senate, since control there is evenly split between the parties, and the GOP would need to gain just one of the 14 Democratic seats in contention. Several Democratic incumbents, including Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), face tight races against their opponents. Democrats do have a chance to snag a Republican-held seat in Pennsylvania, where Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running against…

Tom Gibbs, a bison ranger in southeast England, grew worried when one of the females from his herd went missing in September. Days later, she reappeared with a baby in tow—the first British bison born in the wild in more than 6,000 years. “I wanted to scream it from the rooftops,” Gibbs said. The bison-conservation effort is part of an initiative to reintroduce biodiversity to rural areas of the U.K. Bison help regulate the environment with their nutrient-rich manure and by using their large bodies to carve new pathways into the forest. A keen-eyed passenger spotted a hiker who had gone missing near the Animas River near Silverton, Colo., when the woman, whose leg was badly broken after a 90-foot fall, waved to the passing train. The passenger alerted the railroad,…

Get ready for another “national shock wave,” said Noah Feldman in Bloomberg. The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a pair of lawsuits—one against Harvard University, the other against the University of North Carolina—alleging that both universities’ consideration of race in deciding which applicants to admit constitutes racial discrimination and is therefore unconstitutional. Like Roe v. Wade, affirmative action policies have been part of American life since the 1970s and have repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme Court. But based on the sharply skeptical tone of six conservative justices’ questions this week, it seems certain that affirmative action will join Roe in the dustbin of American history. The ruling would apply only to public colleges and those receiving federal funds, but could have “far-reaching consequences” for the “ideology of…

Good week for: Bees, after British researchers observed them rolling tiny wooden balls around in what appears to be play. Researcher Samadi Galpayage said the “mind-blowing” discovery proves that despite their “tiny brains,” bees “are more than small robotic beings.” Snubs, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was not invited to former President Donald Trump’s rally for Sen. Marco Rubio in Miami. “This is big,” a source within the DeSantis camp told New York, with another calling it “an elbow to Ron’s throat.” Modernity, after organizers of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 indicated they will allow peaceful protests, rainbow flags, and other symbols of LGBTQ rights and even kissing in public, all of which are usually banned in the repressive Arab emirate. Bad week for: Nose pickers, who may be at increased risk of dementia, according…