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Alec MacGillis Profile picture
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3 Oct, 5 tweets, 2 min read
The Schwebebahn, which carries people through the German city of Wuppertal upside-down over the Wupper River, is one of the greatest things in public transit and it was invented *120 years ago.*
And key point: it runs for more than *eight miles*. It isn't some tourist lark. It's the main transit through a heavily urbanized river valley.
This 1902 film of the Schwebebahn is extraordinary and captures its splendor so well. h/t @torylynn
Another clip, from another station:

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More from @AlecMacGillis

Alec MacGillis Profile picture
26 Sep
After having covered the US presidential elections of 2000 & 2016 it's pretty wild to now be witnessing another country's narrow outcome where the stakes are "what will the coalition be" instead of "who will rule everything and start wars and shape the Supreme Court for decades."
It's almost as if the US doesn't have the best constitutional system.
One side benefit of the lower stakes is TV election coverage that is comically more restrained and low-budget compared to the BOOM-KAPOW-YOWZA extravaganza in the US.
Read 4 tweets
Alec MacGillis Profile picture
10 Sep
A key point in this @jimtankersley article: the Delta variant's economic impact has been strongest in the states with higher vaccination rates and lower case rates. People are reining in their activity in response to rising rates in other parts of country.
nytimes.com/2021/09/09/us/…
"Biden’s inability thus far to break through vaccine hesitancy...has become a psychological spending drag on those in highly vaccinated areas. That is because vaccinated Americans appear more likely to pull back on travel, dining out and other activity out of fear of the virus."
"In some heavily vaccinated parts of the country — including liberal states packed with Mr. Biden’s supporters — virus-wary Americans have pulled back on economic activity, even though infection rates in their areas are low."
Read 4 tweets
Alec MacGillis Profile picture
7 Sep
"How small are the chances of the average vaccinated American contracting Covid? Probably about one in 5,000 per day, and even lower for people who take precautions or live in a highly vaccinated community." @DLeonhardt:
nytimes.com/2021/09/07/bri…
"Here’s one way to think about a one-in-10,000 daily chance: It would take more than three months for the combined risk to reach just 1 percent."
"In Britain, many people have become comfortable w/ Covid risks. The vaccines make serious illness rare in adults, and the risks to young kids are so low Britain may never recommend that most receive vaccine. Letting the virus continue to dominate life, OTOH, has large costs..."
Read 4 tweets
Alec MacGillis Profile picture
5 Sep
Olaf Scholz, candidate of Germany's unexpectedly resurgent SPD (center-left), getting some serious presumptive-victor treatment in Berlin's largest newspaper today, three weeks before the election.
A striking moment in the long interview that accompanied that big front-page spread: Scholz says politics has never made him cry, but that what *did* make him cry was reading Hillbilly Elegy: "It stirred me deeply." plus.tagesspiegel.de/politik/spd-ka…
Rough translation: "[The book] stirred me very deeply. It always stirs me when it comes to people's dignity and hopes. That's why I became a politician, to work to protect dignity and to ensure that no one is helplessly consigned to a bleak fate, that they can have hope..." 1/2
Read 5 tweets
Alec MacGillis Profile picture
1 Aug
"Teenage loneliness was relatively stable between 2000 and 2012, with fewer than 18 percent reporting high levels of loneliness. But in the six years after 2012, rates increased dramatically." nytimes.com/2021/07/31/opi…
"To test our hypothesis, we sought data on many global trends that might have an impact on teenage loneliness...The results were clear: Only smartphone access and internet use increased in lock step w/ teenage loneliness. The other factors were unrelated or inversely correlated."
This is key: the phone doesn't change your own behavior, it changes the social context in which we move and operate.
Read 4 tweets
Alec MacGillis Profile picture
31 Jul
"American’s technology superstars have launched into a completely different stratosphere than even other wildly successful companies in tech and beyond." Some incredible figures in this @ShiraOvide column: nytimes.com/2021/07/29/tec…
"The current stock market value of the Big Five ($9.3 trillion) is more than the value of the next 27 most valuable U.S. companies put together, including corporate giants like Tesla, Walmart and JPMorgan Chase."
"Apple’s profit just from the past three months ($21.7 billion) was nearly double the combined annual profits of the five largest U.S. airlines in prepandemic 2019."
Read 5 tweets

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