The Upshot
Analytical journalism in words and graphics from The New York Times. Our newsletter: nyti.ms/18RPqny
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How the Trump Era Has Strained, and Strengthened, Politically Mixed Marriages
Fewer people want to date those with different political views. But couples are also talking through political issues more.
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The Upshot
There’s evidence that the heightened partisanship has — paradoxically — led politically mixed couples to understand each other better than before.
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How Quickly Will Your Vote Be Counted? A State-by-State Timeline
In a year when absentee ballots are surging, not all states are providing election officials enough time to process them before Election Day, and some do not allow them time at all.
Trump Took $70,000 in Tax Deductions for Hair Care. Experts Say That’s Illegal.
It’s a small but telling detail in The Times’s exposé on the president’s taxes.
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The Upshot
Courts have ruled that hairstyling, even for someone on a TV program, is a personal expense that cannot be deducted.
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The Pandemic Has Hindered Many of the Best Ideas for Reducing Violence
That may be one part of this year’s rise in violent crime.
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The Upshot
The pandemic has frayed all kinds of institutions that hold communities together -- some that simply give young people something to do.
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Poll Finds Voters in Two Crucial States Repelled by Trump’s Debate Behavior
Biden is ahead by seven points in Pennsylvania and five points in Florida, according to the Times/Siena survey.
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The Upshot
By overwhelming margins, voters in Pennsylvania and Florida were repelled by President Trump’s conduct in the first general election debate.
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In ‘Power Grab,’ Health Secretary Azar Asserts Authority Over F.D.A.
Experts said the memo will make it more difficult for the F.D.A. to issue new rules, but it’s unclear how it would affect the vetting of coronavirus vaccines.
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The Upshot
"Outside observers were alarmed by the new memo and worried that it could contribute to a public perception of political meddling in science-based regulatory decisions."
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Polls Have Shown Voters Prefer Biden to Pick Next Justice
In surveys before Justice Ginsburg’s death, he led by a slightly wider margin on choosing the next justice than he did over all against President Trump.
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The Upshot
There’s a common view that the vacant Supreme Court seat helped Republicans in the 2016 election by motivating religious conservatives who otherwise were not fans of Mr. Trump.
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How the Fed’s Quick Action May Have Given Congress Cover for Inaction
By doing its job of stabilizing the financial system, it has reduced the sense of urgency for lawmakers to help ordinary Americans.
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The Upshot
A bizarre two-tiered economy: The number of workers filing new jobless claims each week remains higher than at its peak during the Great Recession, while the portfolios of wealthy Americans are in great shape.
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Is the Mail Getting Slower? We’re Tracking It
What 8 million letters can tell us about how the post office is doing
A New Theory Asks: Could a Mask Be a Crude ‘Vaccine’?
Scientists float a provocative — and unproven — idea: that masks expose the wearer to just enough of the virus to spark a protective immune response.
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The Upshot
Masks protect the people around you. Could they also benefit the wearer by increasing the chance of a symptom-free infection? A provocative new commentary argues yes — and theorizes that these mild infections could drive immunity, too.
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Vaping Links to Covid Risk Are Becoming Clear
Researchers are starting to home in on the ways in which the use of e-cigarettes raises the chances of catching the virus, and suffering its worst effects.
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The Upshot
Researchers are homing in on the ways the coronavirus can capitalize on the fragile lungs of vapers and smokers.
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What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?
Right-wing influencers are dominating the political discussion on Facebook, raising questions about whether it will translate into electoral success in November.
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The Upshot
"But what sticks out, when you dig in to the data, is just how dominant the Facebook right truly is."
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Tracking Coronavirus Cases at U.S. Colleges and Universities
Large new outbreaks emerged on campuses as students returned for the fall semester.
C.D.C. Now Says People Without Covid-19 Symptoms Do Not Need Testing
The revision prompted confusion and alarm from experts, who called the move “potentially dangerous.”
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The Upshot
The C.D.C.'s new, more lax approach to coronavirus testing could delay crucial treatments, experts said. It could also obscure or even hasten the virus's spread in the community.
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The Fine Line Between Choice and Confusion in Health Care
Part of the U.S. debate over health care is really a debate over the definition of freedom.
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The Upshot
For some, freedom to choose is freedom from tyranny. But too much choice without enough guidance can be overwhelming.
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For Quick Coronavirus Testing, Israel Turns to a Clever Algorithm
Inspired by a mother’s question, the new method will be introduced across Israel this fall, just in time for flu season, and could be coming soon to the U.S.
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The Upshot
Faster, cheaper and still accurate: Israeli immunologists have developed a Covid-19 testing procedure using pools of as many as 48 samples. It's rolling out to labs across the country. And a scientist's mother came up with the idea. By @halbfinger
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A Detailed Look at the Downside of California’s Ban on Affirmative Action
Ending racial preferences in a state university system harmed Black and Hispanic students while not lifting whites and Asian-Americans, a study asserts.
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The Upshot
The study used an anonymized database of every student who applied to eight campuses in the University of California system from 1994 to 2002, including high school grades, demographics, income and SAT scores.
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The Unique U.S. Failure to Control the Virus
Slowing the coronavirus has been especially difficult for the United States because of its tradition of prioritizing individualism and missteps by the Trump administration.
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"When it comes to the virus, the United States has come to resemble not the wealthy and powerful countries to which it is often compared but instead to far poorer countries, like Brazil, Peru and South Africa."
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‘It’s Kitchen Sink Time’: Fast, Less-Accurate Coronavirus Tests May Be Good Enough
Experts are revising their views on the best methods to detect infections, setting aside long-held standards so that the spread of the virus can be more quickly tracked and contained.
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The Upshot
“Our backs are against the wall, and it’s Hail Mary time,” one expert said of endorsing less accurate, but faster antigen tests to ease the protracted delays in getting Covid results, both for patients and for those tracking U.S. outbreaks.
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In These Neighborhoods, the Jobless Rate May Top 30 Percent
New maps show how the virus has severely deepened economic inequality within cities.
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"In New York City, it’s as if parts of the Bronx were experiencing the Great Depression while the Upper East Side faced only modest drops in employment."
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