9 April 2025

good morning. tariffs are in full swing today, I have art news and an Arcade Fire song for you.

BOO

• dozens of sea lions have been sickened by a toxic algae bloom. they have been having seizures and attacking people at beaches.

• antivaxxers are mad that RFK Jr said the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to combat measels.

• beef tallow is apparently not healthier than seed oils. in fact, it might even be 30% worse for your risk of cardiovascular event, according to experts.

YESS

• “David Hockney 25,” the artist’s largest retrospective yet, opens today at la Fondation Louis Vuitton.

• a four part exposition of drawings of jewelry at the Petit Palais has just opened.

• secretary glasses, with elongated lenses in a style associated with secretaries from the 1950s-70s, are back in vogue in France. i love a woman with the face to pull this off.

• dopamine decor ? maximalists say it makes perfect sense in our chaotic and bleak world.

MONEY

• after China refused to drop its retaliatory tariff, Trump declared the immediate imposition of a 104% tariff on certain Chinese goods.

• yesterday the US stock market has closed down while, by and large, European markets closed up. they are, however, set to open lower today. similarly, Asian markets have taken another tumble today.

• Lawrence Summers warns the US is likely headed for recession, going so far as to say 2 million Americans will be made jobless by the tariffs.

LIT

• the critic Andrea Long Chu’s series of essays Authority.

• Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, an experimental collection of Vauhini Vara’s writing.

• Kevin Nguyen’s My Documents, a fictional story of four Vietnamese-American cousins.

MIAM

• Eater made a list of delicious-smelling perfumes.

• matzo ball soup has made it to Japan, where it has a miso base (!!). it’s taken so long to become a thing there because of what a tiny minority Jews are there- there are 1000 of them in Tokyo, which has a 14 million person population.

BOP

• “Year of the Snake” by Arcade Fire. the new album Pink Elephant is out 9 May.

have a good day ★