“It is a pivotal moment,” one virologist said. “It is a race with the new variants to get a large number of people vaccinated before those variants spread.”
2. Vaccine development exceeded everyone’s expectations. But doctors still have woefully few drugs to treat sick patients.
A handful of therapies — remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies and the steroid dexamethasone — have improved the care of Covid-19 patients, putting doctors in a better position than they were when the virus surged last spring. But the U.S. government invested far less money in drug development than it did in its vaccine program and neglected any promising drugs, called antivirals, that could stop the disease early.
3. Former President Donald Trump insisted that the radical left was endangering the country as right-wing extremism was building ominously. Federal law enforcement agencies followed suit.
Key resources and domestic security agencies were diverted away from violent white supremacists to focus on cases involving anarchists or those involved with the antifa movement. Some investigators felt pressured to find evidence, which never materialized, that antifa adherents were terrorists.
The scale and intensity of the threat from the right became stunningly clear on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol.
5. Robinhood pitched itself to unsophisticated investors as the antithesis of Wall Street. It didn’t say that it also entirely relies on Wall Street.
Those two realities collided this week when legions of armchair investors on the trading app who had been buying up options and shares of GameStop banded together to squeeze hedge funds by driving stock prices to dizzying levels.
The frenzy forced Robinhood to find emergency cash to continue to be able to trade. The company also stopped customers from buying a number of heavily traded stocks, which prompted rare bipartisan condemnation and a rush by both parties to side with the young traders disrupting the markets.
The story of Robinhood’s distress followed a similar arc to those of Facebook and Google — Silicon Valley darlings that are now caught in the cross hairs of an angry public and lawmakers. Above, Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev, the co-founders of Robinhood, in 2016.
Bitterly frigid air is hitting the Northeast (in some areas dropping well below zero), and snowstorms are expected along the I-95 corridor from Washington to Boston on Monday and Tuesday. Above, ice fishermen in Solon, Ohio, on Friday.
The disturbances in the upper-atmosphere phenomena that can send icy blasts from the Arctic have persisted for an unusually long time this year, and climate change appears to be part of the mix. “The motto for snowstorms in the era of climate change could be ‘go big or go home!’” one climatologist said.
Staying inside this weekend? For the price of $15, watch a Sundance Film Festival screening from the comfort of your couch.
The New York Times
7. Public smears have been around for centuries. But they are far more effective in the internet age.
Two years ago, Guy Babcock discovered that someone had slandered him online. And also his wife. His sister. His brother-in-law. His aunt. His cousin. And many more. He investigated and discovered a grudge that went back 25 years.
The Babcock family had been targeted by a super-spreader of slander, dragged into an internet cesspool where people’s reputations are held for ransom. Theirs is the cautionary tale of the power of a lone person to destroy countless reputations, aided by platforms like Google, Pinterest and WordPress that rarely intervene.
Nolan Pelletier
8. And now for a little magic.
One hundred years ago this month, the magician P.T. Selbit ushered his assistant into an upright wooden box, sealed it, laid it flat and got down to business, sawing the box right down the middle. The show, according to magic experts, was the first time a performer ever sawed someone in half.
As for being the assistant, “when you’re doing it, you’re not a passive person,” one magician said. “It’s claustrophobic, and quite noisy, but such fun.”
Nasuna Stuart-Ulin for The New York Times
9. The orange beef? “Not that good.” The chicken? Don’t bother.
The brutal honesty that the restaurant Cuisine AuntDai uses to describe its dishes has drawn worldwide attention, perhaps striking an evocative chord of humility during the pandemic. The menu at the Montreal eatery also includes a healthy dose of skepticism of North American-style Chinese food.
“We are not 100% satisfied with the flavor now and it will get better really soon,” the menu advises about a cold dish called Mouth-watering chicken, before quickly adding: “PS: I am surprised that some customers still order this plate.”
With traveling largely out of the question, our wine critic selected 20 wines under $20 that can take you on a trip around the globe.
Marzena Skubatz
10. And finally, a plethora of great reads.
The turtle that reignited hope for its species. Monitoring the weather at the edge of the world, above. An organ recital in Britain — with a coronavirus shot. Catch up on these stories and more in the latest edition of The Weekender.
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