5 h. ago The ‘rat person’ trend is here – and I thoroughly approve | Arwa Mahdawi

Do you like sleeping, eating and scrolling? Me too. What if I told you this was also a way to protest capitalism?Somewhere in Zhejiang province, China, a woman is living my dream. She gets up in the morning and then, almost immediately, goes back to bed. She lies prostrate all day long, scrolling, eating some food, opening some packages, showering at 2am, then snoozing again. As a longtime sleep enthusiast – and the mother of a child who thinks that 5am is a good time to start the day, all systems go – I think this sounds like bliss.The woman in Zhejiang is known as @jiawensishi – and also “rat person”. I am not being rude; that’s what she calls herself. There are lots of rat people out there: it’s a whole trend in China. You might have heard of the “lying flat” movement a few years ago, when young people lazed around displaying symptoms of mild depression, and some thinkers, including the novelist Liao Zenghu, theorised that it was a passive-aggressive resistance movement, rebellin...

Politics

6 d. ago Why is the US right so obsessed with the Obamas’ marriage? | Arwa Mahdawi

Conservative commentators can’t stand the idea that people they loathe can live fulfilling livesAn estate on Martha’s Vineyard. A nine-bedroom house in DC. A family home in Chicago. Barack and Michelle Obama own about a gazillion dollars’ worth of property. Turns out they don’t need any of their fancy mansions, however, because they live rent-free in rightwing commentators’ heads. While the right has always been fixated on trying to find fault with former president Obama, they have now become unhealthily obsessed with the idea that Barack and Michelle’s marriage is failing. There’s no evidence to support this, mind you. Just vibes.Picking up on these mysterious vibes is conservative commentator Megyn Kelly, who recently proclaimed on her podcast that she thinks Michelle and Barack “married the wrong people”. Many straws were grasped at to come to this conclusion – including the fact that Michelle once said that she likes going to bed early (wise woman) and her husband doesn’t. Conti...

Politics

1 week ago Why do Trump voters have no regrets? Because the people they hate are getting hurt more | Arwa Mahdawi

Even amid political chaos and rising prices, what matters most to his supporters is a macabre form of payback and vengeanceThe stock market is plunging, prices are rising, federal workers are getting laid off, students are being snatched off the street by immigration agents. The US is many things at the moment, but stable is not one of them. So, amid all this turmoil, how are all the Donald Trump voters feeling? Has buyer’s remorse set in? Are they starting to wonder whether voting in a convicted felon as president – a man who has declared bankruptcy six times – might not have been the wisest move?Not according to the polls. Rather, the US appears to be a nation of Édith Piafs: they regret rien. I’m not saying that disillusioned Republicans don’t exist; do enough digging and you can certainly find a few. And journalists have been doing a lot of digging. During Trump’s first term, there was a steady stream of media pieces profiling the regretful Trump voter. The genre has remained po...

Politics

1 week ago You too can look as good as Donald Trump in your dotage. Here’s how | Arwa Mahdawi

The 78-year-old president is in great shape, says the official White House physician. Must be all those ‘hamberders’Forget yoga, pilates or eating leafy greens. If you want to improve your health, just look to Donald “My Body Is a Temple” Trump for pointers. The US president just had his annual checkup and emerged with flying colours. “President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” White House physician Sean Barbella said in a report released on Sunday.How does the 78-year-old, who is the oldest person in history to be inaugurated US president, stay in such great shape? The report cited an active lifestyle, noting Trump’s many speeches and “frequent victories in golf events”. But if you’re not a golfer, don’t worry. I have put together a four-point Donald John Trump Wellness Plan so that you can be as perky as the president. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Don’t worry, gen Z! A billionaire boomer says your lives are going to be great | Arwa Mahdawi

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase says young people needn’t worry – the future is bright and AI-enhanced. So why does the world feel so precarious?Chin up, everyone. Things may seem grim at the moment but a billionaire has swooped in to reassure everyone – particularly impecunious young people – that everything is going to be OK. Better than OK, in fact. According to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, despite the current economic and political instability, gen Z should be grateful for what will be a very bright and AI-enhanced future.“These kids, anyone who’s depressed – as long as we don’t have nuclear war – they’re going to have an unbelievable life,” Dimon said in a recent interview with Fox News. “People say the next generation’s in bad shape,” he added. “Really? They’re going to inherit a country that’s worth two [or] three hundred trillion dollars. They’re probably going to live to 120; AI is going to cure some cancers They shouldn’t be bemoaning their situation.” Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Gaza is a ‘killing field’ where people are being starved. How long will the world tolerate this? | Arwa Mahdawi

What is happening is, quite simply, annihilation. Yet our politicians keep funding it and media outlets normalize itWhere do I even start? In recent weeks I’ve sat down to try and write about Gaza and, every time I steel myself to write about one atrocity, another atrocity is committed. Palestinian journalists have been burned alive, babies have frozen to death, medics have been executed and buried in mass graves, kids are being killed in their sleep. Meanwhile, in the US and Germany, speaking out about dead Palestinian babies can land you on a deportation list. Arguing that international human rights law should be respected can put you at risk of being snatched off the street and stuck in a detention centre.I don’t know where to start and I don’t know what is really left to say at this point. After 18 months of endless carnage, it should be clear to everyone that this is not a war. That this is not self-defence. What is happening in Gaza is, quite simply, annihilation. A litany of ...

Events

2 w. ago Please, for the love of God, stop buying supersized cars | Arwa Mahdawi

Why would anyone want a car that’s too big for parking spaces, or that’s a menace to other road users? I have a theoryExcuse me for a moment while I clamber on top of my high horse to deliver an important public safety announcement: stop buying enormous cars! Please, for the love of God, pedestrians and my tiny chihuahua that is just trying to cross the road, stop this cycle of car-brained insanity.I write this from the US, where everything (including the presidential ego) is supersized and where going for a walk means having to constantly peer around one enormous truck to make sure you’re not going to get hit by another enormous truck. Still, at least in the US the big cars have big roads to drive down. The trend for bloated vehicles is spreading to places where they’re even more unsuitable. New research has found that more than 1m cars that are too big to fit in parking spaces are being sold in the UK each year. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Trump’s very beautiful tariffs will fix America, masculinity and the family. It said so on Fox News | Arwa Mahdawi

Let’s stop all the moaning about stock market crashes and soaring grocery prices. It’s time to focus on the upsides!There’s been a lot of doom-mongering about tariffs recently, hasn’t there? Oh no, my life savings are going to get wiped out and I’m never going to be able to retire! Oh no, grocery prices are going to triple! Oh no, it looks suspiciously as if Donald Trump has used ChatGPT to guide his fiscal policy and now we’re going to see another Great Depression! Moan, moan, moan.While it might be true that much of these predictions are coming from highly credentialed economists and people who tend to know what they’re talking about, I’d like to remind you that there are two sides to every story – and it’s always worth looking at both of them. You’ve already heard from voices who reckon Trump’s tariffs are misguided and dangerous. Now it’s time to focus on the people who support the president’s assessment that tariffs are a “very beautiful thing” that will usher in a new golden a...

Politics

3 w. ago Is Usha Vance starting to feel a little sorry for herself? | Arwa Mahdawi

She left her job when her husband got a shot at VP – only for the couple to be met with the frostiest of receptions in Greenland at the weekendThere are a few people to blame for the fact that JD Vance, a staggeringly unlikable man with a supremely meme-able face, has been thrust into such prominence. The first is Peter Thiel: the tech billionaire who bankrolled Vance’s political pivot. The second is Kevin D Roberts, head of the Heritage Foundation and mastermind of Project 2025, who has been an energetic Vance advocate.And the third is Usha Chilukuri Vance, JD’s wife. While Usha kept a low profile during the Trump-Vance campaign, trailing after her other half with a smile on her face and a copy of The Iliad in her hand, JD has made her influence clear. In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, for example, he wrote that Usha helped him navigate Yale and “always encouraged me to seek opportunities that I didn’t know existed”. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Donald Trump is eyeing up a third term – and no one is opposing him | Arwa Mahdawi

So many people and organisations are capitulating to the US president, from Silicon Valley to the Democrats, legal firms and elite universities. How realistic is the prospect of Trump 3.0?Hell is empty and all the devils are in Washington DC. And, what with devils being immortal and all, it looks as if they might stay there indefinitely. Now, before I seamlessly segue from fun devil facts into talking about Donald Trump threatening to run for a third term, the current political climate compels me to make a few things clear. I recently had to submit my US green card for renewal (impeccable timing!) so I’d like to explain to any United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers reviewing my file that the first line of this piece was just riffing on Shakespeare. I’m absolutely not comparing Trump, the greatest man to walk this Earth, to Satan. Nor am I suggesting evil people seem to live long lives.On the contrary, I am thrilled that our 78-year-old president has sugg...

Politics