I don’t know at what temperature my parents kept the childhood house, but I do remember that in winter, sheets, ironed by the mother, were very cold when I got between them at bedtime. I would lie as still as possible to warm the spot where I lay. I knew that if I moved, I would encounter those icy places that had not been warmed by my body. Even so, I never considered wearing socks to bed. That was just not done. Thus, my mortification when I had perhaps my only sleepover at John N.’s house. I walked across his room to the bed with my socks on. I was going to sit down and take them off, but before I got there, Johnny said authoritatively, “In this house, we don’t sleep with socks on.” I told him my intentions, which were true, but the protestation sounded lame even to me. That unjust shame has stayed with me ever since.

I have mocked the spouse many times for wearing socks to bed. But, in one of my many acts of marital devotion, I have always allowed her to warm her icy toes and heels on me. However, I have now seen stories, which must surely be fake, that wearing socks for sleeping is a good thing. Of more concern: there have been a few nights when my aging feet would not warm up under the covers, and I have had to put on socks to sleep. I have not yet said as a result, “Death Take Me Now,” but, really, this is totally unacceptable.

Perhaps it is still too early, but I would like to see a good study of the varying responses to the Covid pandemic, not just assertions by ideologues. States and localities differed in mask, social distancing, vaccination, and other requirements and practices. How did these correlate with outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths? The rates of vaccinations varied. How much, if at all, did hospitalizations and deaths also vary? Different localities had different school policies. Have school test results varied in sync with the different policies? What side effects correlate with vaccinations? How frequent and severe are they? I would like good information on these topics, but it is sad but true, I don’t expect our present government to provide any.

Patrick McGee in his thought-provoking book, Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company (2025), explains how Apple became enmeshed in China. Apple did not outsource in a traditional sense. It did not simply contract with Chinese companies for a product or a service. Instead, Apple, obsessed with quality and efficiency, sent design engineers and product designers into Chinese suppliers’ facilities often inventing new production processes and designing new custom parts in the process. The Chinese gained new practical know-how that they now use for more than Apple products.

McGee’s book follows in the footsteps of Erich Schwartzell’s, Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy (2022). Schwartzell documents how American filmmakers took things out of movies and put things in to satisfy the Chinese. The practices became so important and internalized that Americans were willing to change their product without being told to or being asked. Meanwhile, the Chinese film industry was being built and strengthened with America’s unwitting help.

More than the film and tech industry have tried to satisfy China. Many enterprises abide by Chinese censorship rules. For example, the NBA apologized when a team executive tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters who had been kicked out of an NBA exhibition game in China. A reporter was not allowed to ask the players how they felt about this. There are many more examples of U.S. companies kowtowing to the vast Chinese market, but these shall remain for another time.