Can You Hear Me Now? “Every indicator of mental health and psychological well-being has become more negative among teens and young adults since 2012 … The trends are stunning in their consistency, breadth and size.” The truth about teens, social media and the mental health crisis. “In the most recent data, 22% of 10th grade girls spend seven or more hours a day on social media.” (And still, we try to pretend that’s not part of the problem.)

+ OttawaTF “And then the firings began. Gone was the lawyer who had represented Ottawa County for 40 years. Gone was the county administrator who oversaw a staff of 1,800. To run the health department, they voted to install a service manager from a local HVAC company who had gained prominence as a critic of mask mandates.” WaPo (Gift Article): In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself. “Across America, county governments provided services so essential that they were often an afterthought. Their employees paved roads, built parks, collected taxes and maintained property records. In an era when Americans had never seemed more divided and distrustful, county governments, at their best, helped define what remains of the common good. Ottawa County stood out for a different reason. It was becoming a case study in what happens when one of the building blocks of American democracy is consumed by ideological battles over race, religion and American history.”

+ Heat Waves: “This month, the global sea surface hit a new record high temperature. It has never warmed this much, this quickly. Scientists don’t fully understand why this has happened.” Recent, rapid ocean warming ahead of El Niño alarms scientists.

+ Lux Crux: LVMH: Europe’s first half-trillion-dollar company couldn’t have made it without China.

+ Day Low: “Harry Belafonte, the actor, producer, singer and activist who made calypso music a national phenomenon with ‘Day-O’ (The Banana Boat Song) and used his considerable stardom to draw attention to Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights issues and injustices around the world, has died. He was 96.” In addition to all the other aspects of his life, he was half of a great American friendship. Inside Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier’s Lifelong Friendship: Pair Were ‘Closer Than Brothers.’

+ Life Imitates Art: “‘You get an hour to do a route,’ said Kwiatek in a recent interview at his cramped garment district studio, referring to one of the museum’s seven sections. “I would do a route in maybe 40 minutes, and then I would have 20 minutes to focus on one piece. I got to know some paintings pretty well by doing that.'” Great, inspiring story: Making Art by Day, Guarding It at the Met by Night.