Imagine you’re doing an activity that’s full of restrictions and limitations. Is it fun? Are you enjoying this activity? Did you imagine you were … playing a game? Probably not. Surprisingly, games — things synonymous with play, freedom and joy — depend on what I’ve described: a series of rules and limitations. So why do…
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Here’s what you need to know: ImageConstruction workers in Manhattan returned to work during the first phase of reopening on Monday.Credit…Brittainy Newman for The New York Times ECONOMIC ROUNDUP Stocks fall, 1.5 million more U.S. workers file for unemployment, and Congress is divided on extending aid. Stocks on Wall Street suffered their sharpest daily decline…
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On June 6, in Philadelphia’s Logan Square, outside a hotel that wasn’t even open and in the middle of a Black Lives Matter march, Michael Gordon was waiting for his wedding to begin. He heard shouting, and then cheering, clapping and whistling, and the wedding participants — 21 in all, the women in white and…
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A familiar soundtrack of police choppers, emergency sirens and rhythmic chants could be heard outside the Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany on June 6 in Philadelphia, where Brad Luna and Adam Ouanes had just been married by the Rev. Robert Smith, an Episcopal priest. Mr. Luna, 43, and Mr. Ouanes, 31, walked out…
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Plastic pollution isn’t just fouling the world’s oceans. It is also in the air we breathe, traveling on the wind and drifting down from the skies, according to a new study. More than 1,000 tons of tiny fragments rain down each year on national parks and wilderness areas in the American West alone, equivalent to…
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The playground padlocks are starting to come off. Now that all 50 states have begun to reopen, children in some areas are once again zipping down slides and swinging from monkey bars after months of waiting. A handful of states, including Massachusetts, Colorado, Ohio and Iowa, announced in June that playgrounds could start reopening, though…
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Riot helmets, ballistic vests, shields, batons — fully decked-out police officers have become staples in New York City as the protests against racism and police brutality approach their third week. But increasingly, one piece of equipment has attracted attention with its absence: the face mask. On any given day, any corner, any group of officers,…
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Last week, Gushers and Fruit by the Foot, two fruit candies from the 1990s, now manufactured by General Mills, joined forces on Twitter to announce a deep commitment to … something. “Gushers wouldn’t be Gushers without the Black community and your voices,” the brand’s tweet read. “We’re working with @fruitbythefoot on creating space to amplify…
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A young woman whose lungs were destroyed by the coronavirus received a double lung transplant last week at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, the hospital reported on Thursday, the first known lung transplant in the United States for Covid-19. The 10-hour surgery was more difficult and took several hours longer than most lung transplants because…
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Over the last two weeks, the number of Americans who have downloaded Signal, an encrypted messaging application, has skyrocketed. Many are using the app to organize and participate in protests against police brutality (without being spied on by law enforcement). The week before George Floyd died on May 25, about 51,000 first-time users downloaded Signal,…
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