Each week, a different Vox editor curates their favorite work that Vox has published across text, audio, and video. This week’s recommendations are brought to you by editorial director of tech, Future Perfect, climate, and world Bryan Walsh.

So how was your week? If you’re like me, you’re watching your 401K the way that I watch the way-too-realistic Max medical drama The Pitt: through your fingers, unable to look away but trying to miss the goriest parts.

President Donald Trump’s trade policy has made it a rough one for everyone from American gamers who suddenly can’t get their hands on the new Switch console to the unfortunate penguins of McDonald Island in Antarctica, who will apparently now be under 10 percent tariffs. What’s clear is that the economy, or whatever is left of it, will be the story in the coming weeks and months, and Vox writers are on it.

I was a particular fan of senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp’s piece this week that attempted to answer a basic question: not, why in the world is Trump doing this, but rather, why in the world is Trump allowed to do this? Zack sees Trump’s tariffs as a sign of democratic decline. With Congress unable and unwilling to take on its role as a co-equal government branch, the path was opened for a president who will simply do what thou wilt. And there appears to be little that can be done now to stop that.

Another great piece getting into the psychological factors behind the tariffs was senior correspondent Eric Levitz on the influence of nostalgia in Trump’s thinking. Avoiding the “sanewashing” of Trump’s trade policy, Eric argues that Trump is trying to forcibly bring back the manufacturing-heavy economy of the 1950s — not because it will make us richer (it won’t), but because he thinks it will bring back the conventional social and family structure of that time. (It also won’t do that.)

Tariffs weren’t the only story of the week, even if it felt that way. Here are some Vox other articles, videos, and podcasts that I particularly loved this week, and think you will too.

—Bryan Walsh, editorial director of tech, Future Perfect, climate, and world

TOP PICKS THIS WEEK

How to buy a year of happiness, explained in one chart

As the Beatles said, you can’t buy me love, or happiness. But as senior reporter Sigal Samuel writes, pulling data from the new World Happiness Report, it turns out “your money can buy happiness — for other people.” If you donate your money to the right kind of charity — a question that Vox’s Future Perfect section, which Sigal writes for, is all over — you can make a huge difference in someone else’s happiness. Which, in turn, will make you happier!

This little-known company is a major funder of right-wing politics. You’ve probably eaten their chicken.

Senior reporter Kenny Torrella has the curious tale of Montaire, the fourth-largest chicken company in the US that no one has heard of, and its equally obscure CEO. It turns out that the company channels millions to hard-right politics, including anti-LGBT work. Consider it one of many reasons to cut out chicken.

🎧 Stop comparing yourself to AI :

The Gray Area is a podcast, which means it’s audio, which means unfortunately you won’t see the guest in this episode, Jaron Lanier, a tech pioneer-turned-critic who has truly glorious Predator-style dreadlocks. But that’s OK, because what Lanier has to say is fascinating enough. From the weirdness of AI-human relationships to the danger of untrammeled tech power, Lanier has words of warning for us as we enter a new age of AI.

🎧 Why are young people getting cancer?

One of the more worrying health trends in recent years has been the growing number of young and middle-aged adults who are being diagnosed with cancer — something that has been far more common among the old. Senior correspondent Dylan Scott went on Today, Explained to shed some light on what might be causing the rise of cancer among the young.

📹 RFK Jr. is in charge of vaccines. What now?

What now, indeed? You might have missed it with the vaporization of the economy, but this was the week when vaccine skeptic and all-around health oddball Robert Kennedy Jr. really took over American health. This great Vox video shows the damage he could do to one of the most important weapons in our health armory: vaccines.

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