May 3, 2021
As the United States emerges from its yearlong slumber, I've found the awakening to be bittersweet. Things are going back to normal—but they'll never really be the same.
New York City's subways will start running 24/7 again on May 17, and the tri-state area, once an early coronavirus epicenter, will let many businesses fully reopen by the end of the month. But even as vaccination rates climb, COVID will likely never completely go away. The vestiges of the pandemic, from seasonal mask-wearing to occasional outbreaks, will linger. The people and places we lost aren't coming back. And the virus continues to surge in countries with less vaccine supply than the United States—notably India, which reported 3,417 COVID deaths on Monday, a likely undercount.
But that doesn't mean that those of us who are fully vaccinated can't enjoy our newfound freedoms. My greatest post-vax pleasure? Sitting down at a bar for a burger and a beer.
—Abigail Weinberg
SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE
The press, where it’s free, is a central nervous system. It sends and receives signals, zaps and regulates information until the pathways are pinched by the malignant forces of misinformation or bad actors, or both.
But there’s good news on World Press Freedom Day, now in its third decade. This year’s theme is “information as a public good,” underscoring what the chief of UNESCO, which founded the day, calls “the indisputable importance of verified and reliable information” secured by journalists accountable to you. Mark the day three ways:
1. Join Nelufar Hedayat’s #DearWorldLive conversation about solutions to the jailing and repression of journalists around the world and the deepening divide between powerful politicians and reporters investigating them. Her guests are Syrian journalist Kholoud Helmi, who co-founded the nonprofit newspaper Enab Baladi, and Maria Salazar Ferro, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ emergencies director.
2. See the strides made by 250,000 petitioners seeking the release of jailed journalists, and thousands more supporting Free Turkey Media, a campaign launched four years ago by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.
3. Forward this Recharge to one person you know. Ask if they’ll sign up for the Mother Jones Daily newsletter if they haven’t. Whether it’s ours or another independent newsroom’s, keep the nervous system, and availability of information, protected.
—Daniel King
It's been 15 years since Americans were this optimistic about the future.
BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN
BY NATHALIE BAPTISTE
BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN
BY JULIA LURIE
BY JONATHAN MINGLE
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