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<title>24 April, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>COVID-19 Prevalence and Trends Among Pregnant and Postpartum Individuals in Maine by Rurality and Pregnancy Conditions</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective: To estimate COVID-19 diagnosis prevalence and trends among pregnant and postpartum individuals in Maine by rurality and common pregnancy conditions. Methods: We used the Maine Health Data Organization9s All Payer Claims Data to identify deliveries during 2020-2021. We identified COVID-19 during pregnancy (Apr 2020 to Dec 2021 deliveries) and during the first 6 months postpartum (Apr 2020 to Jun 2021 deliveries) using the ICD-10 diagnosis code U071 on medical claims. We used Joinpoint regression software to model trends. We stratified the analysis by rurality of residence (based on ZIP code) and by common pregnancy conditions: gestational diabetes (GDM), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), and prenatal depression. Results: We included 13,457 deliveries in our pregnancy and 9,143 deliveries in our postpartum analysis. COVID-19 diagnosis prevalence among pregnant individuals increased from 0.5% in Apr 2020 to 10.5% in Dec 2021 (Oct 2020 was the start of slope [0.43 per month], p&lt;.01). COVID-19 diagnosis prevalence postpartum increased from 0.9% in Apr 2020 to 3.2% in June 2021 deliveries (slope=0.12 per month, p&lt;.01). Trends in prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis among pregnant individuals living in urban areas were distinct from those living in rural areas (p=.02), with a steeper slope during the first months of the pandemic in urban areas, followed by a later increase among rural residents. Trends among postpartum individuals living in urban areas were distinct from those living in rural areas (p=.03), with a steeper slope for rural residents over the course of the pandemic. Trends in persons with prenatal depression showed a steeper increase in COVID-19 diagnosis prevalence in pregnancy after Dec 2020 (p&lt;.01) and postpartum overall (p&lt;.01) compared to those without prenatal depression. Individuals without GDM and individuals without HDP had steeper increases in COVID-19 diagnosis prevalence in postpartum compared to those without GDM (p&lt;.01) and those without HDP (p=.03). Conclusion: COVID-19 diagnosis among pregnant and postpartum individuals in Maine showed distinct patterns by rurality of residence and select pregnancy conditions. This information can be used for assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and infant health.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.21.23288878v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 Prevalence and Trends Among Pregnant and Postpartum Individuals in Maine by Rurality and Pregnancy Conditions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Assessing Willingness to receive COVID-19 Vaccines, associated factors and reasons for hesitancy among persons aged 13-80 years in Central Uganda. A population-based surveillance Cohort.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Vaccination is essential for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. However adequate vaccine coverage is a critical to the effectiveness of the vaccine at a population level. Data on to acceptability of the vaccine in Urban areas are limited. This study examined the prevalence, factors associated with willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine and reasons for hesitancy in the predominantly urban Wakiso district of Uganda. Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study conducted from March 1st, 2021, to September 30th, 2021 in the urban population-based cohort of the Africa Medical and behavioral Sciences Organization (AMBSO). Multivariable modified Poisson regression analysis was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals of willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Results: A total of 1,903 participants were enrolled in the study; 61% of whom were females. About 63% of participants indicated willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Younger age groups (13-19 and 20-29) were less likely to accept the vaccine compared to the persons ages 40-49 years (aPR=0.79; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.84 for the 13-19 years and 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88, 0.98 for age group 20-29, compared to those ages 40–49 years. Post-primary education (aPR=1.05; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.09 compared to primary level), being a students and government staff (APR=1.13; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.23 compared to construction and Mechanic workers) were associated with willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Some of the reported reasons for hesitancy included; concerns about side effects 154(57.0%), about 64(23.7%) did not think the vaccines were effective, and those who did not like the vaccines 32(11.9%). Conclusion: A substantial proportion of individuals were not willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. More effort is needed to reduce vaccine hesitancy, especially among the young and people with lower formal education.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.19.23288804v1" target="_blank">Assessing Willingness to receive COVID-19 Vaccines, associated factors and reasons for hesitancy among persons aged 13-80 years in Central Uganda. A population-based surveillance Cohort.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effects of previous infection, vaccination, and hybrid immunity against symptomatic Alpha, Beta, and Delta infections</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Protection against SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infection and severe COVID-19 of previous infection, mRNA two-dose vaccination, mRNA three-dose vaccination, and hybrid immunity of previous infection and vaccination were investigated in Qatar for the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants. Methods: Six national, matched, test-negative, case-control studies were conducted between January 18-December 18, 2021 on a sample of 239,120 PCR-positive tests and 6,103,365 PCR-negative tests. Results: Effectiveness of previous infection against Alpha, Beta, and Delta reinfection was 89.5% (95% CI: 85.5-92.3%), 87.9% (95% CI: 85.4-89.9%), and 90.0% (95% CI: 86.7-92.5%), respectively. Effectiveness of two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination against Alpha, Beta, and Delta infection was 90.5% (95% CI, 83.9-94.4%), 80.5% (95% CI: 79.0-82.0%), and 58.1% (95% CI: 54.6-61.3%), respectively. Effectiveness of three-dose BNT162b2 vaccination against Delta infection was 91.7% (95% CI: 87.1-94.7%). Effectiveness of hybrid immunity of previous infection and two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination was 97.4% (95% CI: 95.4-98.5%) against Beta infection and 94.5% (95% CI: 92.8-95.8%) against Delta infection. Effectiveness of previous infection and three-dose BNT162b2 vaccination was 98.1% (95% CI: 85.7-99.7%) against Delta infection. All five forms of immunity had &gt;90% protection against severe, critical, or fatal COVID-19 regardless of variant. Similar effectiveness estimates were observed for mRNA-1273. Conclusions: All forms of natural and vaccine immunity prior to Omicron introduction provided strong protection against infection and severe COVID-19. Hybrid immunity conferred the strongest protection and its level was consistent with previous-infection immunity and vaccine immunity acting independently of each other.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.21.23288917v1" target="_blank">Effects of previous infection, vaccination, and hybrid immunity against symptomatic Alpha, Beta, and Delta infections</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Proposed Process for Risk Mitigation During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Recent executive orders have led some Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) providers to interpret themselves as “essential personnel” during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we argue against a blanket interpretation that being labeled “essential personnel” means that all in person ABA services for all clients should continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe this argument holds even if ABA providers are not in a jurisdiction currently under an active shelter at home or related order. First, we provide a brief description of risks associated with continued in person ABA service delivery as well as risks associated with the temporary suspension or transition to remote ABA service delivery. For many clients, continued in person service delivery carries a significant risk of severe harm to the client, their family and caregivers, the staff, and a currently overburdened healthcare system. In these situations, ABA providers should temporarily suspend services or transition to telehealth or other forms of remote service delivery until information from federal, state, and local healthcare experts deem in person contact safe. In rare cases, temporary suspension or transition to remote service delivery may place the client or others at risk of significant harm. In these situations in person services should likely continue and ongoing assessment and risk mitigation are essential.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/buetn/" target="_blank">A Proposed Process for Risk Mitigation During the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>An in vitro experimental pipeline to characterize the binding specificity of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies</strong> -
<div>
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to over 760 million cases and &gt;6.8 million deaths worldwide. We developed a panel of human neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein using Harbour H2L2 transgenic mice immunized with Spike receptor binding domain (RBD) (1). Representative antibodies from genetically-distinct families were evaluated for inhibition of replication-competent VSV expressing SARS-CoV-2 Spike (rcVSV-S) in place of VSV-G. One mAb (denoted FG-10A3) inhibited infection of all rcVSV-S variants; its therapeutically-modified version, STI-9167, inhibited infection of all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, and limited virus proliferation in vivo (1). To characterize the binding specificity and epitope of FG-10A3, we generated mAb-resistant rcVSV-S virions and performed structural analysis of the antibody/antigen complex using cryo-EM. FG-10A3/STI-9167 is a Class 1 antibody that prevents Spike-ACE2 binding by engaging a region within the Spike receptor binding motif (RBM). Sequencing of mAb-resistant rcVSV-S virions identified F486 as a critical residue for mAb neutralization, with structural analysis revealing that both the variable heavy and light chains of STI-9167 bound the disulfide-stabilized 470-490 loop at the Spike RBD tip. Interestingly, substitutions at position 486 were later observed in emerging variants of concern BA.2.75.2 and XBB. This work provides a predictive modeling strategy to define the neutralizing capacity and limitations of mAb therapeutics against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.20.537738v1" target="_blank">An in vitro experimental pipeline to characterize the binding specificity of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Assessing the accuracy of California county level COVID-19 hospitalization forecasts to inform public policy decision making</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of infectious disease forecasting in informing public policy. However, significant barriers remain for effectively linking infectious disease forecasts to public health decision making, including a lack of model validation. Forecasting model performance and accuracy should be evaluated retrospectively to understand under which conditions models were reliable and could be improved in the future. Methods: Using archived forecasts from the California Department of Public Health9s California COVID Assessment Tool (https://calcat.covid19.ca.gov/cacovidmodels/), we compared how well different forecasting models predicted COVID-19 hospitalization census across California counties and regions during periods of Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variant predominance. Results: Based on mean absolute error estimates, forecasting models had variable performance across counties and through time. When accounting for model availability across counties and dates, some individual models performed consistently better than the ensemble model, but model rankings still differed across counties. Local transmission trends, variant prevalence, and county population size were informative predictors for determining which model performed best for a given county based on a random forest classification analysis. Overall, the ensemble model performed worse in less populous counties, in part because of fewer model contributors in these locations. Conclusions: Ensemble model predictions could be improved by incorporating geographic heterogeneity in model coverage and performance. Consistency in model reporting and improved model validation can strengthen the role of infectious disease forecasting in real-time public health decision making.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.08.22282086v2" target="_blank">Assessing the accuracy of California county level COVID-19 hospitalization forecasts to inform public policy decision making</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evaluation of coronavirus decay in French coastal water and application to SARS-CoV-2 risk evaluation using Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus as surrogate.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
SARS-CoV-2 in infected patient mainly display pulmonary and oronasal tropism however, the presence of the virus has also been demonstrated in stools of patients and consequently in wastewater treatment plant effluents, questioning the potential risk of environmental contamination (such as seawater contamination) through inadequately treated wastewater spill-over into surface or coastal waters. The environmental detection of RNA alone does not substantiate risk of infection, and evidence of an effective transmission is not clear where empirical observations are lacking. Therefore, here, we decided to experimentally evaluate the persistence and infectious capacity of the Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), considered as a coronavirus representative model and SARS-CoV-2 surrogate, in the coastal environment of France. Coastal seawater was collected, sterile-filtered, and inoculated with PEDv before incubation for 0–4 weeks at four temperatures representative of those measured along the French coasts throughout the year (4, 8, 15, and 24°C). The decay rate of PEDv was determined using mathematical modeling and was then used to determine the half-life of the virus along the French coast in accordance with temperatures from 2000 to 2021. We experimentally observed an inverse correlation between seawater temperature and the persistence of infectious viruses in seawater and confirm that the risk of transmission of infectious viruses from contaminated stool in wastewater to seawater during recreational practices is very limited. The present work represents a good model to assess the risk of transmission of not only SARS-CoV-2 but may also be used to model the risk of other coronaviruses, specifically enteric coronaviruses.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.18.23288060v1" target="_blank">Evaluation of coronavirus decay in French coastal water and application to SARS-CoV-2 risk evaluation using Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus as surrogate.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Genetically diverse mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection reproduce clinical variation in type I interferon and cytokine responses in COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Inflammation in response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection drives severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is influenced by host genetics. To understand mechanisms of inflammation, animal models that reflect genetic diversity and clinical outcomes observed in humans are needed. We report a mouse panel comprising the genetically diverse Collaborative Cross (CC) founder strains crossed to human ACE2 transgenic mice (K18-hACE2) that confers susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. Infection of CC x K18- hACE2 resulted in a spectrum of survival, viral replication kinetics, and immune profiles. Importantly, in contrast to the K18-hACE2 model, early type I interferon (IFN-I) and regulated proinflammatory responses were required for control of SARS-CoV-2 replication in PWK x K18-hACE2 mice that were highly resistant to disease. Thus, virus dynamics and inflammation observed in COVID-19 can be modeled in diverse mouse strains that provide a genetically tractable platform for understanding anti-coronavirus immunity.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.460664v3" target="_blank">Genetically diverse mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection reproduce clinical variation in type I interferon and cytokine responses in COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Optimality of Maximal-Effort Vaccination</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It is widely acknowledged that vaccinating at maximal effort in the face of an ongoing epidemic is the best strategy to minimise infections and deaths from the disease. Despite this, no one has proved that this is guaranteed to be true if the disease follows multi-group SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) dynamics. This paper provides a novel proof of this principle for the existing SIR framework, showing that the total number of deaths or infections from an epidemic is decreasing in vaccination effort. Furthermore, it presents a novel model for vaccination which assumes that vaccines are distributed randomly to the unvaccinated population and suggests, using COVID-19 data, that this more accurately captures vaccination dynamics than the model commonly found in the literature. However, as the novel model provides a strictly larger set of possible vaccination policies, the results presented in this paper hold for both models.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.12.22275015v3" target="_blank">Optimality of Maximal-Effort Vaccination</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Establishment of a screening platform based on human coronavirus OC43 for the identification of microbial natural products with antiviral activity</strong> -
<div>
Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) cause respiratory tract infections and are of great importance due to the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Human betacoronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is an adequate surrogate for SARS-CoV-2 because it infects the human respiratory system, presents a comparable biology, and is transmitted in a similar way. Its use is advantageous since it only requires biosafety level (BSL)-2 infrastructure which minimizes costs and biosafety associated limitations. In this report, we describe a high-throughput screening (HTS) platform to identify compounds that inhibit the propagation of HCoV-OC43. Optimization of assays based on inhibition of the cytopathic effect and virus immunodetection with a specific antibody, has provided a robust methodology for the screening of a selection of microbial natural product extracts from the Fundacion MEDINA collection. Using this approach, a subset of 1280 extracts has been explored. Of these, upon hit confirmation and early LC-MS dereplication, 10 extracts were identified that contain potential new compounds. In addition, we report on the novel antiviral activity of some previously described natural products whose presence in bioactive extracts was confirmed by LC/MS analysis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.20.537680v1" target="_blank">Establishment of a screening platform based on human coronavirus OC43 for the identification of microbial natural products with antiviral activity</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Overburdened Bureaucrats: Providing Equal Access to Public Services during COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Discriminatory treatment of minorities by bureaucrats remains a serious challenge. A dominant explanation argues that bureaucrats discriminate because of high workloads in public organizations, but few empirical studies test this outside of the lab. In this study, I investigate whether workload matters for discrimination in a real-world public service context during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark in 2020. I document that unemployment services experienced a substantial increase in workload due to a 20% rise in unemployment and exploit the fact that the increase happened suddenly and spread asymmetrically. I use micro-level register data on bureaucrat-client interactions on more than 380,000 unemployed and examine whether bureaucrats provided fewer services to citizens of non-Western descent. The finding reveals that the substantial workload associated with the COVID-19 pandemic did not lead to increased discrimination. I discuss the special circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the possible role of organizational structure and professional norms.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/zmt5y/" target="_blank">Overburdened Bureaucrats: Providing Equal Access to Public Services during COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Human olfactory neuronal cells through nasal biopsy: molecular characterization and utility in brain science</strong> -
<div>
Biopsy is crucial in clinical medicine to obtain tissues and cells that may directly reflect the pathological changes of each disease. However, the brain is an exception due to ethical and practical challenges. Nasal biopsy, which captures olfactory neurons and their progenitors, has been considered as an alternative method of obtaining neuronal cells from living patients. Multiple groups, including us, have enriched olfactory neuronal cells (ONCs) from nasal biopsied tissue. ONCs can be obtained from repeated biopsies in a longitudinal study, providing mechanistic insight associated with dynamic changes along the disease trajectory and treatment response. Nevertheless, molecular characterization of nasal biopsied cells/tissue has been insufficient. Taking advantage of recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies at the single-cell resolution and related rich public databases, we aimed to define the neuronal characteristics of ONCs, their homogeneity, and their utility. We conducted single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing, analyzed and compared the data with multiple public datasets. We observed that the molecular signatures of ONCs are similar to those of neurons, distinct from major glial cells. The signatures of ONCs resemble those of developing neurons and share features of excitatory neurons in the prefrontal and cingulate cortex. The high homogeneity of ONCs is advantageous in pharmacological, functional, and protein studies. Together, the present data solidify the utility of ONCs in studying molecular mechanisms and exploring objective biomarkers for brain disorders. The ONCs may also be useful in studying the potential link between the olfactory epithelium impairment and the resultant mental dysfunction elicited by SARS-CoV-2.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.23.509290v2" target="_blank">Human olfactory neuronal cells through nasal biopsy: molecular characterization and utility in brain science</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Machine learning detection of SARS-CoV-2 high-risk variants</strong> -
<div>
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved many high-risk variants, resulting in repeated COVID-19 waves of pandemic during the past years. Therefore, accurate early-warning of high-risk variants is vital for epidemic prevention and control. Here we construct a machine learning model to predict high-risk variants of SARS-CoV-2 by LightGBM algorithm based on several important haplotype network features. As demonstrated on a series of different retrospective testing datasets, our model achieves accurate prediction of all variants of concern (VOC) and most variants of interest (AUC=0.96). Prediction based on the latest sequences shows that the newly emerging lineage BA.5 has the highest risk score and spreads rapidly to become a major epidemic lineage in multiple countries, suggesting that BA.5 bears great potential to be a VOC. In sum, our machine learning model is capable to early predict high-risk variants soon after their emergence, thus greatly improving public health preparedness against the evolving virus.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.19.537460v1" target="_blank">Machine learning detection of SARS-CoV-2 high-risk variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Mobilisation and analyses of publicly available SARS-CoV-2 data for pandemic responses</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen large-scale pathogen genomic sequencing efforts, becoming part of the toolbox for surveillance and epidemic research. This resulted in an unprecedented level of data sharing to open repositories, which has actively supported the identification of SARS-CoV-2 structure, molecular interactions, mutations and variants, and facilitated vaccine development and drug reuse studies and design. The European COVID-19 Data Platform was launched to support this data sharing, and has resulted in the deposition of several million SARS-CoV-2 raw reads. In this paper we describe (1) open data sharing, (2) tools for submission, analysis, visualisation and data claiming (e.g. ORCiD), (3) the systematic analysis of these datasets, at scale via the SARS-CoV-2 Data Hubs as well as (4) lessons learned. As a component of the Platform, the SARS-CoV-2 Data Hubs enabled the extension and set up of infrastructure that we intend to use more widely in the future for pathogen surveillance and pandemic preparedness.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.19.537514v1" target="_blank">Mobilisation and analyses of publicly available SARS-CoV-2 data for pandemic responses</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 utilization of ACE2 from different bat species allows for virus entry and replication in vitro</strong> -
<div>
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) is believed to have a zoonotic origin. Bats are a suspected natural host of SARS-CoV-2 because of sequence homology with other bat coronaviruses. Understanding the origin of the virus and determining species susceptibility is essential for managing the transmission potential during a pandemic. In a previous study, we established an in vitro animal model of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and replication in a non-permissive avian fibroblast cell line (DF1) based on expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) from different animal species. In this work, we express the ACE2 of seven bat species in DF1 cells and determine their ability to support attachment and replication of the original SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan lineage virus, as well as two variants, Delta and Lambda. We demonstrate that the ACE2 receptor of all seven species: little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), great roundleaf bat (Hipposideros armiger), Pearson’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus pearsonii), greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), Egyptian rousette (Rousettus aegyptiacus), and Chinese rufous horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus), made the DF1 cells permissible to the three isolates of SARS-CoV-2. However, the level of virus replication differed between bat species and variant tested. In addition, the Wuhan lineage SARS-CoV-2 virus replicated to higher titers (104.5 -105.5 TCID50) than either variant virus (103.5-104.5 TCID50) on pass 1. Interestingly, all viruses tested grew to higher titers (approximately 106 TCID50) when cells expressed the human ACE2 gene compared to bat ACE2. This study provides a practical in vitro method for further testing of animal species for potential susceptibility to current and emerging SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.19.537521v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 utilization of ACE2 from different bat species allows for virus entry and replication in vitro</a>
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</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effectiveness and Safety of Quinine Sulfate as add-on Therapy for COVID-19 in Hospitalized Adults in Indonesia ( DEAL-COVID19 )</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Standard of Care + Quinine Sulfate;   Drug: Standard of Care<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Universitas Padjadjaran;   National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia;   Prodia Diacro Laboratories P.T.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Efficacy of Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exosomes in Treating Chronic Cough After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Long COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: MSC-derived exosomes<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Huazhong University of Science and Technology;   REGEN-αGEEK (SHENZHEN) MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir for Treating Omicron Variant of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Omicron Variant of COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Xiangao Jiang<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study of mRNA-1283.222 Injection Compared With mRNA-1273.222 Injection in Participants ≥12 Years of Age to Prevent COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: mRNA-1283.222;   Biological: mRNA-1273.222<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   ModernaTX, Inc.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>To Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Meplazumab in Treatment of COVID-19 Sequelae</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Meplazumab for injection;   Other: Normal saline<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Jiangsu Pacific Meinuoke Bio Pharmaceutical Co Ltd<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of the RD-X19 Treatment Device in Individuals With Mild COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Device: RD-X19;   Device: Sham<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   EmitBio Inc.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clinical Study for the Efficacy and Safety of Ropeginterferon Alfa-2b in Adult COVID-19 Patients With Comorbidities</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ropeginterferon alfa-2b;   Procedure: SOC<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   National Taiwan University Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Assessment of Immunogenicity, Safety and Reactogenicity of a Booster Dose of Various COVID-19 Vaccine Platforms in Individuals Primed With Several Regimes.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: SCB-2019/Clover;   Biological: AstraZeneca/Fiocruz;   Biological: Pfizer/Wyeth<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   D’Or Institute for Research and Education;   Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation<br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Postoperative Sugammadex After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   General Anesthesia;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Sugammadex Sodium;   Drug: neostigmine 50µg/kg + glycopyrollate 0.01mg/kg<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Korea University Ansan Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2/3 Study to Determine the Safety and Effectiveness of Azeliragon in the Treatment of Patients Hospitalized for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Azeliragon;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Salim S. Hayek<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Mental Disorder in COVID-19 Survivors</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post Acute COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale di Lecco<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Lactobacillus Paracasei PS23 for Patients With Post-COVID-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Dietary Supplement: PS23 heat-treated<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Mackay Memorial Hospital;   Bened Biomedical Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Exploring the Effect of Video Interventions on Intentions for Continued COVID-19 Vaccination</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Vaccine Refusal;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Informational Video;   Behavioral: Altruistic Video;   Behavioral: Individualistic Video<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of Telerehabilitation Practice in Long COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Long COVID-19;   Long COVID;   Post COVID-19 Condition;   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome;   Post-COVID Syndrome<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: Telerehabilitation;   Behavioral: Standard rehabilitation care<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Indonesia University<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rehabilitation Treatment of Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Rehabilitation;   Pneumonia, Viral;   COVID-19;   Quality of Life<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: exercises;   Other: massage<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University;   MEDSI Clinical Hospital 1, ICU<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Design and statistical optimisation of emulsomal nanoparticles for improved anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of <em>N</em>-(5-nitrothiazol-2-yl)-carboxamido candidates: <em>in vitro</em> and <em>in silico</em> studies</strong> - In this article, emulsomes (EMLs) were fabricated to encapsulate the N-(5-nitrothiazol-2-yl)-carboxamido derivatives (3a-3g) in an attempt to improve their biological availability and antiviral activity. Next, both cytotoxicity and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities of the examined compounds loaded EMLs (F3a-g) were assessed in Vero E6 cells via MTT assay to calculate the CC(50) and inhibitory concentration 50 (IC(50)) values. The most potent 3e-loaded EMLs (F3e) elicited a selectivity index of 18 with…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antiviral activities of hemp cannabinoids</strong> - Hemp is an understudied source of pharmacologically active compounds and many unique plant secondary metabolites including more than 100 cannabinoids. After years of legal restriction, research on hemp has recently demonstrated antiviral activities in silico, in vitro, and in vivo for cannabidiol (CBD), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), and several other cannabinoids against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), human…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Prospecting native and analogous peptides with anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential derived from the trypsin inhibitor purified from tamarind seeds</strong> - The study aimed to prospect in silico native and analogous peptides with anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential derived from the trypsin inhibitor purified from tamarind seeds (TTIp). From the most stable theoretical model of TTIp (TTIp 56/287), in silico cleavage was performed for the theoretical identification of native peptides and generation of analogous peptides. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential was investigated through molecular dynamics (MD) simulation between the peptides and binding sites of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rhinovirus-induced epithelial RIG-I inflammasome suppresses antiviral immunity and promotes inflammation in asthma and COVID-19</strong> - Rhinoviruses and allergens, such as house dust mite are major agents responsible for asthma exacerbations. The influence of pre-existing airway inflammation on the infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is largely unknown. We analyse mechanisms of response to viral infection in experimental in vivo rhinovirus infection in healthy controls and patients with asthma, and in in vitro experiments with house dust mite, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2 in human primary…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kv1.3 blockade by ShK186 modulates CD4+ effector memory T-cell activity of patients with Granulomatosis with polyangiitis</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Modulation of cellular effector function by ShK-186 may constitute a novel treatment strategy for GPA with high specificity and less harmful side effects.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kinetics and ability of binding antibody and surrogate virus neutralization tests to predict neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant following BNT162b2 booster administration</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a significant drop in humoral immunity 6 months after booster administration. Anti-RBD IgG and Omicron sVNT assays were highly correlated and could predict neutralizing activity with moderate performance.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>MHC class I links with severe pathogenicity in C57BL/6N mice infected with SARS-CoV-2/BMA8</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our work shows that host MHC molecules play a crucial role in the pathogenicity differences of SARS-CoV-2/BMA8 infection. This provides a more profound insight into the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, and contributes enlightenment and guidance for controlling the virus spread.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Discovery and structural characterization of monkeypox virus methyltransferase VP39 inhibitors reveal similarities to SARS-CoV-2 nsp14 methyltransferase</strong> - Monkeypox is a disease with pandemic potential. It is caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), a double-stranded DNA virus from the Poxviridae family, that replicates in the cytoplasm and must encode for its own RNA processing machinery including the capping machinery. Here, we present crystal structures of its 2’-O-RNA methyltransferase (MTase) VP39 in complex with the pan-MTase inhibitor sinefungin and a series of inhibitors that were discovered based on it. A comparison of this 2’-O-RNA MTase…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis of SARS-CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup> inhibitors bearing a cinnamic ester warhead with <em>in vitro</em> activity against human coronaviruses</strong> - COVID-19 now ranks among the most devastating global pandemics in history. The causative virus, SARS-CoV-2, is a new human coronavirus (hCoV) that spreads among humans and animals. Great efforts have been made to develop therapeutic agents to treat COVID-19, and among the available viral molecular targets, the cysteine protease SARS-CoV-2 M^(pro) is considered the most appealing one due to its essential role in viral replication. However, the inhibition of M^(pro) activity is an interesting…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diosmetin alleviates acute lung injury caused by lipopolysaccharide by targeting barrier function</strong> - Acute lung injury (ALI) is an acute and devastating disease caused by systemic inflammation e.g. patients infected with bacteria and viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 have an unacceptably high mortality rate. It has been well documented that endothelial cell damage and repair play a central role in the pathogenesis of ALI because of its barrier function. Nevertheless, the leading compounds that effectively accelerate endothelial cell repair and improve barrier dysfunction in ALI are largely unknown. In…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Molecular Networking Accelerated Discovery of Biflavonoid Alkaloids from Cephalotaxus sinensis</strong> - Four undescribed biflavonoid alkaloids, sinenbiflavones A-D, were isolated from Cephalotaxus sinensis using a MS/MS-based molecular networking guided strategy. Their structures were elucidated by series of spectroscopic methods (HRESIMS, UV, IR, 1D, and 2D NMR). Sinenbiflavones A-D are the first examples of amentoflavone-type (C-3’-C-8’’) biflavonoid alkaloids. Meanwhile, sinenbiflavones B and D are the unique C-6-methylated amentoflavone-type biflavonoid alkaloids. Sinenbiflavone D showed weak…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The 3’UTR region of the DNA repair gene PARP-1 May increase the severity of COVID-19 by altering the binding of antiviral miRNAs</strong> - COVID-19 may cause the release of systemic inflammatory cytokines resulting in severe inflammation. PARP-1 has been identified as a nuclear enzyme that is activated by DNA strand breaks. It has been suggested that PARP-1 has a role in the cytokine storm shown as a cause of mortality in COVID-19, and its inhibition may adversely affect the replication of SARS -CoV-2. We aimed to investigate the relationship between PARP-1 gene polymorphisms and the clinical severity of COVID-19. rs8679 TT…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Integrin β1 is a key determinant of the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the kidney epithelial cells</strong> - The expression of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is altered in multiple chronic kidney diseases like hypertension and renal fibrosis, where the signaling from the basal membrane proteins is critical for the development and progression of the various pathologies. Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors that have important roles in the progression of these chronic kidney diseases by altering various cell signaling pathways in response to changes in the basement membrane…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Myeloperoxidase Inhibition in Heart Failure With Preserved or Mildly Reduced Ejection Fraction: SATELLITE Trial Results</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: AZD4831 inhibited myeloperoxidase and was well tolerated in patients with HF and LVEF ≥40%. Efficacy findings were exploratory due to early termination but warrant further clinical investigation of AZD4831.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Awareness raising and dealing with methanol poisoning based on effective strategies</strong> - Intoxication with methanol most commonly occurs as a consequence of ingesting, inhaling, or coming into contact with formulations that include methanol as a base. Clinical manifestations of methanol poisoning include suppression of the central nervous system, gastrointestinal symptoms, and decompensated metabolic acidosis, which is associated with impaired vision and either early or late blindness within 0.5-4 h after ingestion. After ingestion, methanol concentrations in the blood that are…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Has Black Lives Matter Changed the World?</strong> - A new book makes the case for a more pragmatic anti-policing movement—one that seeks to build working-class solidarity across racial lines. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/has-black-lives-matter-changed-the-world">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Fox News Doesn’t Do Apologies</strong> - Rupert Murdoch may have to pay for Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies, but who’s going to reimburse American democracy? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/fox-news-doesnt-do-apologies">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clarence Thomas’s Friend of the Court</strong> - Thomas claims that Harlan Crow’s extravagant gifts were tokens of friendship. Why do the Justices so often emphasize personal relationships? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/clarence-thomass-friend-of-the-court">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Great Electrician Shortage</strong> - Going green will depend on blue-collar workers. Can we train enough of them before time runs out? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dept-of-energy/the-great-electrician-shortage">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Climate Solutions We Can’t Live Without</strong> - The climate crisis is full of interconnected problems—but some are more connected than others. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-climate-solutions-we-cant-live-without">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Are you a good listener? The answer may surprise you.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Illustration of two tiny figures with large overlapping speech bubbles." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_6cpVPNlpmlUPIE1igkAbEZKRek=/69x0:2001x1449/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72210451/GettyImages_1482133751.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
fStop/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
What we miss when we don’t pay attention to others.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nUCrMg">
Are you a good listener?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4yWiL7">
Most of us probably believe we listen to people all the time. But how much of what we think of as “listening” is really just some form of active hearing where we’re waiting for our turn to say something clever or funny or thoughtful?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5OzRIb">
That’s not really listening. At best it’s a rough approximation, but one that falls short in some crucial ways. The truth is that most of us are quite good at acting like we’re listening. We nod affirmatively and say “uh huh” and “yep” and “for sure.” Sometimes we even bust out the fake laughter to paper over a little bit of awkwardness when we need to.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7FqlAn">
We do these things when people are talking because we know it signals the right thing. It’s polite. But deep down we’re in our own heads. We’re thinking about ourselves or God knows what. In other words, we’re not listening.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c1RFRZ">
To the extent that this is common, and maybe even increasingly common, what price are we paying? What are we losing by listening less and less? To find out, I spoke with Kate Murphy, a journalist and the author of the book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/you-re-not-listening-what-you-re-missing-and-why-it-matters-kate-murphy/6985911?gclid=CjwKCAjw6IiiBhAOEiwALNqncb_zBBmLkrsjOYGYwDiYnLmPRqTvy_27onw6aQyvsSXWRJ0zPzagMRoCYDQQAvD_BwE"><em>You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters</em></a><em>. </em>This book approaches listening through a cultural and scientific lens, and it expresses how critical listening is to being a human. It’s a few years old but it’s as relevant today as it was when it was first published.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Uvio2L">
Below is an excerpt of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. As always, there’s much more in the full podcast, so listen and follow <em>The Gray Area</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-gray-area-with-sean-illing/id1081584611">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/search/vox%20conversations">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6NOJ6IkTb2GWMj1RpmtnxP">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/vox-conversations">Stitcher</a>, or wherever you find podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday.
</p>
<div id="DtkB6b">
</div>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="dXybHc"/>
<h4 id="HYlYaf">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zRi2gd">
How do we know when someone is actually listening to us and how do we know when they’re not?
</p>
<h4 id="FX2gFR">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Slacq">
I think the hallmark of when someone’s listening is how they respond. The questions that they ask, the little details they pick up on. It’s this wonderful dance, and so if you’re moving one way and the other person is standing still, or going way off at another tempo, you know it. We’re not dancing right now.
</p>
<h4 id="qFQQo6">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QJhX3j">
I don’t know about you but I hate cocktail parties.
</p>
<h4 id="uFN6X1">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CpJ8NA">
Oh, I love them though.
</p>
<h4 id="IAo3OJ">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I9R0vg">
Oh God. I hate them, and I’m super uncomfortable with them. I always felt most out of place when I moved to DC when I was at some sort of function like that. And I guess the reason I hate it is I’m not good with small talk.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="geouA2">
It always feels like an exercise in non-listening to me. In these sorts of exchanges, you hear questions like “What do you do?” or “Where are you from?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5ilFM5">
It’s the start of this perfunctory exchange where you’re going through the programmed motions and it seems like no one’s really listening; everyone gets that we’re all here to sort of grease the tracks, as it were, and mingle and network or whatever, but it’s not really listening.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kUh8NZ">
I’m sure there are exceptions, and I’m not saying everyone is an asshole at a cocktail party. It’s what you do in these sorts of environments, but it’s not really listening, right? Or am I being too cynical about that?
</p>
<h4 id="RtC6J2">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8bCPU4">
No, you’re not at all. You’re picking up exactly what it is when people ask you those types of questions — “What do you do?” “Do you have any kids?” “What part of town do you live in?” They’re not really wanting to get to know you or understand you. They’re trying to rank you in the social order.
</p>
<h4 id="BttsH7">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZOGCju">
Yes.
</p>
<h4 id="XmQoUE">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nOd81k">
They don’t really wanna listen to you. They just wanna put you in the right file folder and move on. It isn’t a moment of humanity where you’re really trying to get to know one another.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZX3kpF">
And when I say I love cocktail parties, it’s because I love watching that. I find it fascinating because you learn so much about the other person because everybody is just waiting for your lips to stop moving. What they’re waiting for is to do their PR pitch to you about who they are.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kvsC6N">
The thing I love about it is to get people off script: Who really are you? I know you, this is what you do, and these are your kids, and this is where you went on vacation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QiG3J1">
But to really ask them questions where you start having a meaningful conversation. For me, it’s just like, wow, look at all these people here, and they all have good stories if you ask the right questions. Anybody that you think is boring, you haven’t asked the right question.
</p>
<h4 id="XvKxe8">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iVsJAj">
What’s your trick? How do you get people to open up to you? How do you let them know, “Hey, I’m actually here, I’m listening to you”?
</p>
<h4 id="FNMehf">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BpLpQ3">
Making that eye contact. Your eyes aren’t on your phone, you’re not looking around the room to see who’s more important. You’re not twitchy when you’re talking to them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KDCL2p">
Part of it’s just being relaxed, but also ask them stuff about themselves, but not those ranking questions that we were talking about.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MgBreU">
You’re all there because somebody invited you. Find out now, how do you know the host or the hostess? That’s a story, and it leads to another story, which leads to another story. I always just notice stuff about other people. Get out of your own head and your own nervousness. If they have a piece of jewelry on, every piece of jewelry has a story behind it, you know, even if they got it at a flea market. That’s interesting. What flea market? Do you often go to flea markets? Stuff like that, or, my mom gave it to me or an old boyfriend, we’re not dating anymore. And then you get that whole story and it’s always fascinating, but it’s really not hard.
</p>
<h4 id="1JlHmy">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XIXTLl">
You say that you’re suspicious of people who are convinced of their own rectitude; certainly one barrier to listening is being drunk on your own righteous bullshit. It’s hard to listen to anyone when you think you’ve already got everything figured out. And on some level, you can’t really listen until or unless you’ve suspended judgment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zOUU0e">
I heard you talk about this in another interview that you did. You were commenting on the lack of pauses in conversations. Especially in our culture. And boy, that really is a sign that no one’s listening.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h58dFF">
Because if you are really listening, you’re not thinking about what you’re gonna say when someone’s talking. You’re just listening. Therefore, when they’re done talking, you need a second to reflect on that. And if you’ve already got your speech ready, at the hip, then you know they were just waiting for their turn. Apparently that’s a very American thing.
</p>
<h4 id="7N3XZA">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="80Hq4Y">
It is. They’ve done studies in many different cultures. Western cultures were the most guilty of it.
</p>
<h4 id="dZnNde">
Sean Illing
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n0gxW3">
Why is that?
</p>
<h4 id="2dzhKm">
Kate Murphy
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WkjsQ7">
I think it’s because, going back to this [idea of] hospitality, in Asian cultures, there is this idea of serving the other person first and being hospitable to the other person. Culturally, it’s seen as rude to jump in immediately and boast. In places like Finland, it’s really seen as rude that you would automatically jump in, like you are too big for your britches. And there is this sense of anxiety of not wanting to lose face.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9HbdvV">
The quickest way you can lose face is to open your big mouth without having listened to what’s going on. so there is this hesitation before saying anything. That can go too far, of course, but, to me as a journalist, if you’re just quiet, the person will keep talking and usually it’s taken them this long to really figure out what they wanted to say. The most important nugget is what comes in the end after you just allow them to really put their thoughts together and maybe overcome their anxiety and also really figure out, okay, she is listening.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="12itk1">
There’s so many things you’re not hearing because of how you present yourself in the conversation. Or the questions you don’t ask are the things you don’t pick up on or don’t notice by being a poor listener. And it really impoverishes you as a human being, but also in your relationships. Listening is everything in terms of human relationships.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J3EDj4">
<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/you-re-not-listening-what-you-re-missing-and-why-it-matters-kate-murphy/6985911?gclid=CjwKCAjw6IiiBhAOEiwALNqncb_zBBmLkrsjOYGYwDiYnLmPRqTvy_27onw6aQyvsSXWRJ0zPzagMRoCYDQQAvD_BwE">You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters</a><em> by Kate Murphy is available now.</em>
</p></li>
<li><strong>Is this a soft landing or the start of a recession?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An illustration of piggy banks landing in parachutes, one aiming for a red-and-white target." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WUAZK15_OvmhXQA8RFBZd_SBsg4=/43x0:1928x1414/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72210346/GettyImages_1463102247.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Is this what a soft landing for the economy feels like? Maybe. | Afry Harvy via Getty Images/iStockphoto
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
If the economy avoids a recession, it will be in spite of the Fed, not because of it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HrCzew">
What goes up must come down — in fame, in politics, in power, and, like it or not, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2022/6/8/23158436/economy-inflation-recession-odds-stock-market">in the economy</a>. The question is just what the down part will look like. Will it be a crash or a gentle return to earth?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bPrnc9">
For months, the looming quandary has been what will get the United States economy — <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23519248/economy-2023-inflation-recession-federal-reserve-predictions">which has seen surprisingly steady employment numbers and a plague of inflation</a> — back to normal. The conventional wisdom is generally that this necessitates a recession: The Federal Reserve will <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23169673/fed-interest-rate-hike-inflation-recession-stock-market-debt">raise interest rates</a> so much that eventually, they’ll push the economy into negative territory and, in turn, get prices back under control. If that sounds pretty bad, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/13/23188455/inflation-paul-volcker-shock-recession-1970s">it’s because it is</a> — we’re talking millions of people out of jobs here.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HxJ3aF">
There’s another option, which is a “<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23614066/inflation-soft-landing-economy-recession">soft landing</a>,” where the economy cools off without tipping into full-blown recession territory. <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23508155/federal-reserve-inflation-recession-soft-landing">It’s a bit of an elusive scenario</a>, but it’s not off the table.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="ZoGu6t">
<q>“The real question is are we going to continue to see a soft landing, or are we just seeing the beginning stages of a recession?” </q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5xLt8K">
Multiple signals in the economy lately have the landscape looking soft-ish. The labor market is <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">still adding jobs</a>, but at a slower pace than during much of the post-pandemic recovery. Job openings <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/04/jolts-february-2023-.html#:~:text=Available%20positions%20totaled%209.93%20million,10%20million%20since%20May%202021.">are pulling back</a>, wage growth is decelerating, and hiring is slowing down. Inflation appears to be easing as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8AxfZv">
“The real question is are we going to continue to see a soft landing, or are we just seeing the beginning stages of a recession?” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank. “My view is that we are seeing the beginning stages of a recession, but that’s a forecast.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jaBs9s">
The risks are real. The Fed is laser-focused on getting inflation down and has been pretty clear they’re willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that. In fact, Fed economists <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/12/fed-economists-project-recession-this-year-00091710">are projecting a recession this year</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aA0Ifb">
Moreover, Silicon Valley Bank’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/23634433/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-silvergate-first-republic-fdic">collapse in March</a> is another bad card on the table, as it injects more uncertainty into the economy and has <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/feds-beige-book-shows-credit-conditions-tightened-after-svb-failure-194039853.html">led to tighter credit conditions</a>. And there are always potential threats lurking — for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/2/1/23581229/debt-ceiling-crisis-2011">a potential debt ceiling crisis out of Washington, DC</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8F2S0R">
“We’re seeing things slow, they can keep going in terms of slowing more,” said Claudia Sahm, the founder of Sahm Consulting and a former Fed economist. “The problem right now is when you look at the data, when you look out at the world, you can see the good scenario of we’re getting back to normal, we’re getting something sustainable, or we’re going to a bad place.”
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="lroe4M">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DqNfOC">
A near-term recession isn’t a guarantee and could be avoided. The job market has proven quite resilient over the past year, despite the Fed’s best efforts. And the economy’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2022/12/2/23486024/economy-inflation-jobs-report-gdp-stock-market-recession">been so weird lately</a> that, you know, stranger things have happened. Pretty much nobody (correctly) wants to make any predictions or hard declarations, and the default assumption here really is recession. But maybe, just maybe, we could see a soft landing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RH3mSR">
“A soft landing is going to be tricky to pull off, but I think the initial descent is going well so far,” said Nick Bunker, the economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “We’re still not on the ground yet, so I don’t think anyone should be throwing a victory parade.”
</p>
<h3 id="PJtlzj">
Let’s say the glass is half full here for a minute
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9q1RyX">
I don’t think a lot of economists are waking up in the morning and doing a little dance thinking about how awesome the economy is and how it’s going to stay that way forever. But in a lot of ways, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2023/2/3/23584939/jobs-report-economy-federal-reserve-inflation-recession-jay-powell">the current panorama isn’t terrible</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="epYh1S">
At 3.5 percent, the unemployment rate is as low <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE">as it’s been in decades</a>, and the Black unemployment rate is at its <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/07/black-unemployment-rate-record-low/">lowest point ever</a>. The labor force participation rate is by and large back to where it was pre-pandemic. Unemployment claims are ticking up, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-unemployment-claims-tick-245000-low-98721658">but they’re still low</a>; the economy’s still adding jobs, but not as many as it was. People <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/disabled-workforce-expands-thanks-job-boom-long-covid-rcna72803">with disabilities</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-businesses-want-to-hire-people-with-criminal-records-amid-tight-job-market-11665173965">with criminal records</a> have been pulled into the job market. Many <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/wage-growth-income-inequality-labor-market/673277/">low-income workers</a> have reaped the benefits of a tight labor market.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IckH1l">
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/consumer-spending-personal-income-inflation-february-2023-526279fe">Consumer spending has slowed</a>, as have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/economy/march-retail-sales/index.html">retail sales</a>, but the bottom hasn’t fallen out. Many supply chain woes have eased. Most of the government supports put in place during the pandemic, which boosted the economy’s resiliency over the past couple of years, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/06/upshot/pandemic-safety-net-medicaid.html">have been sunsetted</a>. However, there are other potential stimuli in the mix, including the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/7/28/23282217/climate-bill-health-care-drugs-inflation-reduction-act#:~:text=The%20Inflation%20Reduction%20Act%20is,originally%20envisioned%20for%20climate%20action.">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/7/27/23277664/chips-act-solve-chip-shortage-biden-manufacturing">the CHIPS Act</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22770447/infrastructure-bill-democrats-biden-water-broadband-roads-buses">the bipartisan infrastructure bill</a>, all put in place under the Biden administration.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZH27LM">
“We’ve really shored up our economy in a way that we haven’t done in many, many years, and we’re really reaping the benefits of that,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist and managing director of policy and research at progressive think tank the Groundwork Collaborative. “The labor market is in really good shape, and that’s all in spite of the Fed’s efforts rather than because of it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hJqJTz">
Ben Casselman at the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/business/economy/economy-jobs-inflation-recession.html">recently explored</a> the sort of fork-in-the-road moment the economy is in. He noted that a combination of increased supply in the labor force and generally reduced demand as hiring slows should let the labor market find some balance without having widespread layoffs, which is what appears to be happening for the time being.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pmOU9f">
He also spoke with Jan Hatzius, chief economist for Goldman Sachs, who noted that relative to where the economy was a few years ago, this is a pretty decent place to be. “Given the incredible downturn in the economy that we saw in 2020 — with obvious fears of a much, much, much worse outcome — if you actually manage to get back to a reasonable inflation rate and high employment levels in, say, a three- to four-year period, it would be a very good outcome,” he said.
</p>
<h3 id="mFTrMm">
Jerome Powell vs. inflation vs. all of us maybe
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hSVF9z">
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/consumerpriceindexhistorical_us_table.htm">Inflation appears to be coming down</a>, and it isn’t nearly as high as it was, say, a year ago. But at <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cpi/">5 percent over the past year </a>as of March, it’s not at the 2 percent long-term target where the Fed wants it to be. Just how aggressive the central bank will be in getting there is the key factor in determining what happens to the economy next, and by all indicators, the Fed is going to be pretty aggressive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T0vDKs">
The Fed has been hiking interest rates in an effort to bring down inflation and cool off the economy since March 2022. Fed Chair Jerome “Jay” Powell has acknowledged the road to getting prices back to normal <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161623217/federal-reserve-jerome-powell-senate-inflation-interest-rates-economy-recession">will likely be long and bumpy</a>.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="bDwnvy">
<q>“A soft landing does require Fed cooperation”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZG6LPZ">
The central bank is well aware of the dangers that come with hiking interest rates, including a recession and job loss, and it’s sticking to its guns anyway. What convinces it to change course is the real X factor here, said Skanda Amarnath, executive director of the advocacy group Employ America. “The soft-landing-hard-landing question is ultimately going to be about what facts persuade the Fed not to unleash certain recessionary consequences,” he said. “A soft landing does require Fed cooperation. We don’t have Fed cooperation right now with a soft landing scenario.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nnjfox">
Fed actions have already arguably had consequences, and their reaction to that is instructive. When Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/23634433/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-silvergate-first-republic-fdic">went under in March</a>, it was in part <a href="https://www.vox.com/money/2023/3/14/23640065/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-fdic-interest-rates-federal-reserve">a result of the Fed’s interest rate hikes</a> (and some banks’ bad planning for it). As the saying goes, the Fed increases rates until something breaks, and it had broken SVB. There was speculation that the central bank might put a pause on further increases until the banking sector settled, which it did not. It upped rates a little less than expected, <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/3/22/23652041/federal-reserve-interest-rates-jerome-powell">but it kept going</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G9uZQP">
The Fed didn’t change course because of banking chaos, meaning it may very well not change course in the face of more expected outcomes, such as labor market chaos or a recession. The Fed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-refocuses-job-market-financial-risks-ease-inflation-remains-high-2023-04-07/">expects the unemployment rate to increase</a> to 4.5 percent by the end of the year, which could add up to some 2 million people out of jobs. Minutes from the central bank’s March meeting <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/mild-recession-now-likely-year-federal-reserve-says-rcna79405">show it expects a mild recession</a> this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qolI9U">
“If a recessionary scenario starts to emerge, they’re not going to lean against it,” Amarnath said. “They are telling you, if we do see a recession, if they see anything that might cause a recession, don’t expect them to stand in the way of it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UMRZXD">
Many of the effects of the Fed’s rate hikes haven’t yet hit the economy, so while the labor market might appear resilient now, that may not last.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fULKOn">
“It could be that some of the economic effects, especially on the labor market, especially from interest rate hikes, haven’t been felt yet,” Bunker said. “Past decisions are potentially going to start catching up with us.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PvMXEz">
“It’s way too premature to say, ‘Good job, Fed,’” Mabud said. As the Fed keeps hiking rates, assuming it does, the situation will become more precarious. “I would be optimistic if the Fed stopped raising rates, to be honest,” she said. “We are seeing some really positive signs, and I worry that with additional rate hikes that come down the pipeline, with the rate hikes that we already have in the system, that’s going to ruin the gains we’ve seen.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2Yz7Bu">
Once things go south, they can do so fast, and there’s no guarantee when they’ll stop. Two million lost jobs, which is a lot of jobs, can become 3 million and 4 million and 5 million.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3qqvZ5">
“We don’t have a lot of evidence of situations where the unemployment rate only goes up a little,” Strain said. “My reading of economic history is that when the unemployment rate goes up a little bit, it just keeps going up.”
</p>
<h3 id="tnjlzF">
A soft landing, if it happens, doesn’t mean a smooth landing
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zf66dm">
If we achieve a soft landing — and, again, that’s an if — and the economy cools off and inflation comes down without slipping into a recession, that doesn’t mean the process is going to be smooth sailing. The path is going to have some surprises, and some of those surprises will put that soft landing scenario at risk.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="e3pvdG">
<q>“We’ve stopped throwing the big rocks, but after you’ve thrown them, there are ripples that come out from it”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i3rgs0">
The fallout from the banking crisis remains unclear, and there’s a question as to whether the crisis itself is even over. In his <a href="https://reports.jpmorganchase.com/investor-relations/2022/ar-ceo-letters.htm">2023 annual letter</a> in early April, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the crisis is “not yet over, and even when it is behind us, there will be repercussions from it for years to come.” Also in April, billionaire investor Warren Buffett <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/12/warren-buffett-says-were-not-through-with-bank-failures.html">told CNBC</a> he doesn’t think bank failures are over.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="41W2GQ">
“Silicon Valley Bank surely is not the only badly run financial institution in the country. Even if we have no more banks fail, no more big ones, the effect that this has had on credit conditions is real,” Sahm said. “We’ve stopped throwing the big rocks, but after you’ve thrown them, there are ripples that come out from it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eUsLTA">
Fallout from the failures, like banks tightening lending standards and becoming more cautious about who they give loans to, is likely to slow the economy down, which could negate the need for the Fed to keep increasing interest rates. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/15/yellen-says-us-banks-may-tighten-lending-and-negate-need-for-more-fed-rate-hikes.html">said as much</a> in a recent interview. The concern is that it rolls into a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-sees-looming-credit-crunch-whats-that-2023-03-24/">credit crunch</a>, where banks really pump the brakes on lending. “If it’s severe enough, how the banks react in terms of their standards, if it really becomes too hard for businesses to borrow or really costly, a credit crunch would be the equivalent of a hard landing,” Sahm said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YjJdGf">
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said she thinks the US is in a sort of “rolling” recession. Certain parts of the economy, such as housing, are contracting, while others, such as services, are not. Whether that ultimately translates to a broad-based recession or soft landing remains to be seen, but she’s not optimistic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Dek0j">
“Before what’s gone on in the banking system, probably the best-case scenario would not really be defined as a soft landing but one where, if the services side started to weaken, maybe the goods side would have started to stabilize and improve, and you would continue to see this roll through the economy without taking the economy down in aggregate to a degree such that it declared a recession,” she said. But now, with the banking system and the tightening she expects to see in credit conditions, “the rolling recession will roll into a formally declared recession.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SYf6XZ">
When it comes to what’s next for the economy, nobody has a crystal ball here … and if they did, they would be very, very rich. A soft landing may not be the most probable outcome, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23508155/federal-reserve-inflation-recession-soft-landing">but it’s happened before</a>, and it’s possible. And hey, plenty of people have been saying a deep recession is just around the corner for months now, and that doesn’t appear to have happened yet. Are we in the midst of a soft landing? The honest answer is it’s just too early to tell.
</p></li>
<li><strong>On Succession, the GoJo deal goes to Norway, with sinister Midsommar vibes</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Three men on a hillside with mountains in the background." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gnIKKoBEeDSZLLTjH_18ePA94-8=/76x0:1783x1280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72209839/kieran_culkin_jeremy_strong_alexander_skarsga_rd.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, and Alexander Skarsgård in <em>Succession</em>. | Graeme Hunter
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Blood is drawn.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xEjMbw">
<em><strong>Note: This article contains spoilers for several </strong></em><strong>Succession</strong><em><strong> episodes, particularly season four, episode five, “Kill List.”</strong></em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fasNPf">
At the start of <em>Succession</em>’s fourth season, Logan Roy laments that nobody tells jokes anymore. It’s a strange observation from a man who never showed a great love of comedy; media critics sometimes muse that <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2014/11/what-horror-and-comedy-have-in-common.html">horror and humor are more alike</a> than we think, but Logan always stood firmly on the line of terrifying. In “Kill List,” the fifth episode of the final season of <em>Succession</em>, while Logan is being readied for a burial — not in a kilt if Connor can help it — we finally apprehend what he meant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="whaszT">
It’s an episode that toes the line between the comic and the sinister, set against the backdrop of the beautiful, eerie vistas of Norway. The entire Roy retinue, including the Waystar C-suite, is embarking on a voyage to the country to iron out the sale of Waystar to GoJo, Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) streaming company, which has been dragging out for months. It’s a relationship that has shapeshifted many times; first Waystar wanted to acquire it, but now it’s Waystar that’s desperate to offload the aging behemoth Logan (Brian Cox) built and collect a fat payout. The episode opens with Kendall (Jeremy Strong), wearing his sunnies, listening to Jay Z’s ferocious diss track “Takeover” in the car, which may just be a portent that he’s feeling overconfident and will somehow be brought down by his hubris soon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ecssn1">
Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin), as the newly minted co-CEOs of their father’s empire, have prepped diligently for the negotiations. They’re journeying to a foreign land before Logan is even in his grave; sealing the deal he started is a kind of send-off. But on Matsson’s turf, our protagonists are never quite sure if they’re being toyed with — is this serious or is it just a bit of amusement for the Swedes? Little do they suspect the <em>Midsommar</em>-lite mind games that await them.
</p>
<h3 id="g5ASIZ">
Boomers versus Zoomers
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="et6OPY">
Things are notably tenser between the children and the Waystar executives — Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Frank (Peter Friedman), Karl (David Rasche), et al — and Shiv (Sarah Snook), annoyed at their constant questions and reminders, makes a joke about how old they are. They might be decades her senior, but that also means they have decades more experience. Ken and Rome quickly flash how green they are; when Matsson insists that they attend GoJo’s retreat in Norway, he sends a detailed list of everyone he wants in attendance, and the kids flap around a bit like headless chickens. It’s been all of a few days since Logan’s death. It’s the old guard that puts Matsson’s demand into perspective. “Cultural compatibility check,” Frank surmises. “It’s early but it’s smart,” Gerri says. What would the kids do without Logan’s inner council still whispering in their ears?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HKEGlo">
Though Roman and Kendall have prepped, the nervous energy electrifies the brisk Norwegian air. They’re surrounded by serene mountains and waterfalls, but there’s something deeply surreal and menacing about the environs, and everyone feels a little like prey being lured into a trap dressed up as a relaxing camp for media and tech executives. You can practically hear Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” blaring in the background. The Waystar crew is freaked out about how stacked Matsson’s team is — intellectually as well as physically. One of them was an Olympic ski jumper.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bY5Sv3">
Gerri offers a pep talk. “Sure, they’re young and they’re fit — but they’re European,” she says with disdain. “They may think they’re Vikings, but we’ve been raised by wolves. Exposed to a pathogen that goes by the name of Logan Roy.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2XctL8">
It turns out that Matsson is equally malignant. On the way up to meet him via cable car — he’s set it all up so that he’s the warlord sitting atop the mountain, demanding the villagers pay him tribute — Karl gives some last-minute advice to Kendall and Roman, saying that Logan often opened negotiations with a joke. Kendall isn’t listening; he boils the matter down to getting above a number, literally scribbling it on a clipboard: above $144 billion, it’s a win. Roman refers to Matsson (who may or may not have been drawn with shades of Swedish Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, among others) as a “little Elon bitch.” They think this is going to be easy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I6v37j">
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” Shiv says sagely, with just a hint of a sneer. She won’t be in the room with her brothers, after all, and maybe there’s a part of her that would relish watching them lose a few teeth in the brawl.
</p>
<h3 id="vs2in8">
The meeting of the families
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9wUfh6">
The Waystar and GoJo clans have come together for the first time on what could have been beautiful, neutral ground — GoJo is a Swedish company. There’s plenty of food and entertainment to enjoy, like ax throwing and archery. But the meet-and-greet is contrived, mostly because the Waystar faction feel small and can’t relax.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NpXXw8">
Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) introduces himself to one of Matsson’s inner circle. “Oh, Tom — of Siobhan?” the man asks. “Yeah … and of ATN,” Tom replies uncomfortably, already feeling somewhat made fun of. Later, the Swedes announce it’s time for the sauna. The Americans don’t handle the heat very well; their rivals stare at them superciliously while they sweat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GEzaXQ">
From the moment that Matsson and the Waystar CEOs have their first sit-down, Matsson makes clear that he’s the one in control. They bring up their father’s recent death, and rather than offering condolences, Matsson bizarrely one-ups them with a grisly tale about finding his own father dead in a car. It throws off Kendall and Roman, who start babbling anxiously — which Matsson mocks. The brothers say their practiced lines, but the two aren’t in sync, accidentally talking over one another. Matsson interrupts with a bombshell.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="13Uwgn">
“I would like to propose an offer,” he says gravely. “I want to buy your entire operation for the price of one single dollar.” Kendall and Roman respond with complete silence.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VvWnyw">
Then Matsson cackles. He’s the one who starts negotiations with a joke.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sE9hxn">
He tells the two stunned brothers that he wants the company’s news network, ATN, back in the deal — no carveout. The Roy siblings had been planning on creating a Frankenstein’s monster of a media giant by buying rival company Pierce Global Media and somehow melding it with ATN. ATN is also an “emotive” issue, as Kendall describes it, because the right-wing network was Logan’s baby, and he had big plans to revamp it. Roman immediately chirps his displeasure at the idea. “I’m not sure that it works,” he protests.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MElFiY">
“It works,” Matsson says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IRLExk">
“Okay, well, we’re not sure that it does work,” Roman replies. The shift from “I” to “we” is not unnoticed by anyone in the room, but he doesn’t get the support he wants from his brother. Kendall asks for a price. “You like it a little bit, don’t you?” Matsson says with a creeping smile, realizing he might have found his mark.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ntKcB">
The CEOs report back to the Waystar executive team, which takes a shine to the offer, too. It means more money — not $144 billion, but suddenly more than $180 billion. Shiv is eager, calling the Fox News-esque ATN a “toxic asset.” Roman is the only one with a sentimental objection to giving up ATN, knowing that his father wanted to keep it for himself. Even more infuriating, Matsson says outright that he thinks of the company as little more than parts to be ruthlessly taken apart.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JdGF3L">
“We can’t navigate by Dad maps,” Kendall says. “He’s not here.” It’s a good point, but also the height of hypocrisy from someone who is trying to wear Logan’s pants, including using his patented strategy of feeding negative stories to the press, as Logan once did to Kendall.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vqc8mU">
Meanwhile, Shiv suspects that something is off about the sudden media coverage of Logan being a bad father. Kendall tries to distract her by offering her a choice cut of meat on a silver platter: “We could cut Tom’s throat,” he suggests. Meaning: They could fire him from ATN, or just torture him professionally. Shiv looks tempted, yet passes on the brotherly kindness. But as she passes Tom later, she can’t help but smile like the cat who got the cream.
</p>
<h3 id="VCvrqQ">
Bloodletting
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ItAgER">
Norway is the first time that Matsson and Shiv meet, and there’s an immediate, weird sexual frisson between them. It’s as if they understand each other on a level that the brothers couldn’t. Shiv, like Logan, knows how to have a little fun with business — to relish in the flirtations and tricks, blurring the line between teasing and actually going in for the kill. When Matsson hugs her brothers in greeting, he asks her, “Am I going to get a lawsuit if I hug you?” She doesn’t miss a beat. “Want to find out?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qxmjeh">
On the first night of the Waystar-GoJo conclave, Shiv and Matsson enjoy a private drink in his quarters. He says he’s bad with boundaries — that this is proof of it right now. Throughout the episode, he confesses to a lot while leaving his true nature and motivations a mystery: To Kendall and Roman, he implies that he found his dad dead by suicide in his car. To Shiv, he tells a story about how he sent his ex half a liter of his frozen blood after they broke up — as a “nasty, friendly joke.” It’s one thing to keep a <a href="https://www.insider.com/billy-bob-thornton-angelina-jolie-blood-necklaces-marriage-2018-6">vial of your partner’s blood around your neck</a>. But half a liter? Is this man taking iron supplements? “I just kept doing it, again and again and again,” Matsson says, “and it became not a joke, and then a joke again, and now it’s apparently not a joke.” Then he confesses that the ex to whom he’s been sending his bodily fluids is Ebba (Eili Harboe), his head of comms. The person in charge of his public image.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vpknfb">
This is terrible news for the pending Waystar sale — if the media found out that the company’s new CEO was some bloodplay freak, not to mention a sexual harasser, they would never let it go. But far from being disturbed by this admission, Shiv, a former political strategist, is savvy enough to tell Matsson she can give him “informal advice” on avoiding a PR disaster. She, apparently, sees the spark of humor — or something else — in Matsson’s mischief.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rRNt31">
The next time she spots Tom, she’s unnecessarily aggressive. She mocks his white sneakers and rubs dirt on them. “This is why people don’t take you seriously,” she says with vicious gusto. She may have turned down Kendall’s offer to cut Tom’s throat; but, not unlike Matsson, she’s intent on at least drawing blood. But Tom strikes back for once, flicking her ear hard enough that she cries out. And he murmurs possibly the strangest thing anyone has ever said on the show: “Your earlobes are thick and chewy. Like barnacle meat.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ltl27V">
This is a game for them, one that maybe they both enjoy. Tom mentions Shiv’s chat with Matsson. Is he jealous? “He’s boring — but he’s very conventionally attractive,” Shiv replies. She doesn’t tell her brothers about her conversation with Matsson, either; Matsson’s fetish could be good leverage for them. She keeps his secret, like she enjoys that, too.
</p>
<h3 id="VZmDM5">
Are we having fun yet?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eiW9lg">
Tom and Greg (Nicholas Braun) trade intel (more like gossip) about the GoJo crew. Greg reports that Matsson wears noise-canceling headphones when having sex. They’re standing right next to a display of pigs being roasted over a spit, and a kind of metaphor — they’re on the menu, even if they don’t feel the heat yet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XcUQ7k">
The off-kilter undercurrent of the retreat slowly builds as the day goes on. The Waystar clique has offered firm handshakes and made unwavering eye contact, but they still can’t help but feel outnumbered and cornered. Matsson’s the one with a penchant for mind-altering drugs, but it might as well be their crew that’s on shrooms. This lurking dread comes into sharp relief when Matsson finds out that Greg is another of Logan’s blood relations. He and his entire crew double over in laughter, speaking in Swedish about what an incestuous little family operation Waystar is, probably. It’s a scene in which Matsson drives home that he doesn’t respect the Roys at all. He wants to save ATN; Logan’s kids wonder, save it from what? “It’s a lot of yelling. Small men, big veins,” Matsson says imperiously. He wants to make ATN simpler and cheaper. “IKEA’d to fuck,” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iE4Ick">
“Gotta say, I just think fundamentally you’re wrong,” Kendall tells him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x7ANFj">
Matsson goes for the jugular. “I don’t care what you think. You’re a tribute band,” he retorts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A4gtZV">
It’s the moment that he impugns Ken’s honor. It’s one thing to try to hardball him on an offer, it’s another to humiliate him. Kendall admits to Roman that he wants to tank the deal, after Roman sighs that it’s hard to tell whether they’re winning or losing. Kendall makes it sound like it’s just not a good deal for them, and is even honest about the allure of staying on as CEO. Doesn’t Roman want to keep doing this too?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EvJXiB">
“What do you think he would do?” Roman asks.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="79cFbz">
“I think exactly whatever the fuck he wanted,” his brother assures him. They devise a plan to make Matsson think it’s his idea to walk away from the sale, because if it’s clear that it’s their idea, the board will get wind of it and that, well, might land them in hot water with the SEC. But Kendall and Roman’s maneuvering is clunky, too obvious. The next morning, they put on a three-hour screening of a forthcoming movie they’re producing, knowing the film is a mess and hoping to freak GoJo out. Ken leaks to the media that the “deal vibes are bad.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jMKSwS">
Matsson sees right through it. “Are you fucking Scooby Doo-ing me here?” he asks them. “Are you tanking the deal?” He tells them Logan was a prick, but he would be embarrassed if he saw them now. It’s enough to make Roman’s blood boil, and he lays into Matsson for the cruelty of forcing them to come to Norway days after their father’s death. “Do you remember when you asked me when my dad was going to die?” he asks. Matsson tells him that, too, was a joke.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JV00XP">
Roman calls him an “inhuman fucking dog man” and closes the door on the sale. Matsson doesn’t look all that worried. What he knows, which Logan’s sons fail to realize throughout “Kill List,” is that if you can’t tell a joke, then you’re the butt of one.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pt4YM7">
As they make their way home, Matsson outmaneuvers them once and for all— he ups his offer to buy Waystar to a mouth-watering $192 billion, but tells Frank when they’re on the plane back to the States so the kids can’t keep it a secret. Everyone else celebrates, congratulating the CEOs for wrangling such an amazing deal. At least, until they get Matsson’s list of who’s not coming along for the ride — the kill list. Hugo (Fisher Stevens) is out; Karolina (Dagmara Domińczyk) and Gerri still in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pb28P8">
The Roy kids have always known it’s important to win — Logan drilled it into them — but winning isn’t just about the biggest number. That’s missing the forest for the trees. It’s about never being the humiliated one, the boar on the floor. The path to power is climbed by stepping on someone else. Maybe Kendall and Roman are so used to suffering countless indignities under their father that they’re completely artless at swerving this kind of embarrassment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JeGEKK">
Shiv, meanwhile, not only avoids humiliation in Norway, but metes it out. Shiv gets a call from Matsson. He wants her to send a photo of her brothers’ mortified faces. It’s not a joke. Or, it’s the ultimate joke: They insisted on keeping her out of the halls of power, and now they’ve shot themselves in the foot. Shiv snaps the photo for posterity and gets the last laugh.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pakistan, China confirm Asian Champions Trophy participation</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wrestlers threaten to approach Supreme Court, seek support from all quarters</strong> - The Sports Ministry, meanwhile, stalled the WFI election scheduled on May 7 and asked the IOA to form an ad-hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the federation; protesting wrestlers said they have nothing to do with the polls</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL 2023 | You get a chance to learn many things when you play under Dhoni: Rahane</strong> - Rahane feels the opportunities he got in the yellow jersey have helped him flourish in the shortest format.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Gates named after Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara unveiled at Sydney Cricket Ground</strong> - The unveiling also took place 30 years after Mr. Lara made his famous innings of 277 against Australia at the SCG in 1993 and the West Indies great was thrilled to receive the honour.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Book review of Boria Majumdar’s ‘Sachin <span class="citation" data-cites="50">@50</span>: celebrating a maestro’</strong> - From Gavaskar to ‘forever fan’, everyone wishes the ‘lil fella’, who impressed Sir Donald Bradman</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trade unions in T.N. plan to go on strike on May 12 opposing move to increase work hours</strong> - We did not expect it from the DMK government, says A. Soundararajan, leader of the CITU.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Government doctors in Kerala call for overhaul of VIP duty system</strong> - In the system, they are asked to accompany entourage of dignitaries visiting the State in ambulances to ensure emergency medical care</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Uttarakhand CM Dhami orders probe into death of official at helipad in Kedarnath</strong> - Amit Saini, who worked as a finance officer with the UCADA, was killed on the spot after being hit by the helicopter’s tail rotor</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>PM Modi blames previous Congress governments for meting out ‘step-motherly’ treatment to villages</strong> - PM Modi also took a veiled jibe at MP Congress chief Kamal Nath by speaking about lack of development in Chhindwara, adding that the blame lay with the thinking of some political parties.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pay ₹25 lakh as compensation to kin of people who died due to heat stroke in Maharashtra, says Congress leader</strong> - Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan also claimed the number of deaths is 50 and “not 14 as mentioned by the authorities” and asked for a judicial probe “to fix responsibility”</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>China disowns ambassador’s remarks questioning Ukrainian independence</strong> - China’s ambassador to Paris Lu Shaye has questioned the sovereignty of countries of the former Soviet Union.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nikolai Peskov: Putin spokesman’s son ‘joined Wagner in Ukraine’</strong> - But some in Russia cast doubt on claims that Nikolai Peskov actually served with the mercenary group.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Primo de Rivera: Spain to exhume fascist Falange leader</strong> - The remains of the fascist leader who inspired General Franco will be removed from a giant mausoleum.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Michael Schumacher: Magazine editor sacked over AI-generated ‘interview’ with seven-time F1 champion</strong> - The editor of a German magazine that published an artificial intelligence-generated ‘interview’ with Michael Schumacher has been sacked.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vladimir Kara-Murza: Family’s heartbreak at Putin critic’s jail term</strong> - Vladimir Kara-Murza’s wife Evgenia does not know if she or their children will see him again.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Universe sucks: The mysterious Great Attractor that’s pulling us in</strong> - We’re headed toward something we can’t clearly see—and we’ll never get there. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1933708">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>From the original series to Picard, we’ve ranked every starship Enterprise [Updated]</strong> - In honor of this week’s <em>Picard</em>, a list so exhaustive that it’s a little silly. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1929356">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How physicist Sameera Moussa went from a role model to a target</strong> - Research success and “Atoms for Peace” activism left Sameera Moussa a murder victim. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1932091">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A warmer planet, less nutritious plants and … fewer grasshoppers?</strong> - Higher levels of carbon dioxide are changing micronutrients in grasses, trees, and kelp. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1933765">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In the end, Picard became the fan-service TNG reunion it always should have been</strong> - Final season finally gives the <em>TNG</em> crew a better send-off than 2002’s <em>Nemesis</em>. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1932606">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A women goes to the doctor because her butt hurts…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Doctor: " Where does it hurt exactly?"
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Women: " At the entrance."
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Doctor: “Well lady if you keep calling it an entrance then it’s going to keep hurting”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Amart1985"> /u/Amart1985 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wzup3/a_women_goes_to_the_doctor_because_her_butt_hurts/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wzup3/a_women_goes_to_the_doctor_because_her_butt_hurts/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I feel like, in mythology, Neptune is just a copy of Poseidon</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Like whoever created Neptune literally read what Poseidon’s main powers were and was like “Ctrl C”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JoeyRobot"> /u/JoeyRobot </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wvzal/i_feel_like_in_mythology_neptune_is_just_a_copy/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wvzal/i_feel_like_in_mythology_neptune_is_just_a_copy/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I arranged a threesome last night</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Had a good time even though there were two no-shows.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/breck"> /u/breck </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12x4ym5/i_arranged_a_threesome_last_night/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12x4ym5/i_arranged_a_threesome_last_night/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>how do you get from sweden to russia?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
you cross the finnish line
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Showerheadsex25"> /u/Showerheadsex25 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wpucj/how_do_you_get_from_sweden_to_russia/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12wpucj/how_do_you_get_from_sweden_to_russia/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My girlfriend kept going “Sssshhh” while we were having sex last night.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I think she may have a puncture.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/heyandy1"> /u/heyandy1 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12w9f1c/my_girlfriend_kept_going_sssshhh_while_we_were/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12w9f1c/my_girlfriend_kept_going_sssshhh_while_we_were/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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