The Week Evening Review
LA fires' effect on insurance, TikTok alternatives, and the housework gender divide

 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

How will home insurance change after LA's fires?

The California fires have devastated Los Angeles County. They have also laid bare an "insurance crisis" in the state, with total losses reaching $250 billion or more, said The New York Times. And even before the fires, climate risks like hurricanes and tornadoes were "pushing up premiums around the country." But big companies were still losing money in some states and even withdrawing entirely in disaster-prone regions. "We are marching steadily toward an uninsurable future," said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner. 

The fires hit amid a big policy change in California. New regulations allow insurers to base premiums on "forward-looking models of climate risk" instead of historical data, said NPR. The trade-off is that insurers agreed to write more policies in fire-prone areas and lower rates where "fire-mitigation efforts" reduce the risk. Insurance can "no longer be an afterthought" in the debate over climate, said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.

What did the commentators say?
The insurance crisis in California is a "warning for America," said The Washington Post. The state's new regulations will create even higher premiums that will be "painful for homeowners." States and cities can keep some of those costs at bay if they "shore up and enforce building codes" to improve fire resistance. What they can't do is make insurance companies lose money with artificially low premiums. Climate change is "crushing insurance markets."

This isn't "just a California problem," said Bloomberg. Other states on the "front lines of climate change" are underinsured too. And the problem has ballooned. There could be as much as $1 trillion in potential losses from "floods and fires alone." It's time to start "reorganizing how society thinks about property risk." Sooner or later, that decision "will be forced on us."

What next?
There are "no easy solutions to the problem," said Dana Nuccitelli at Yale Climate Connections. One option is a "managed retreat" from disaster-prone areas. That's a tough proposal, but it has been done before. After floods in 2017 and 2019, Quebec gave homeowners a choice: Use disaster money to rebuild elsewhere or agree not to take disaster payments in the future. The best option, though, would be "reaching net-zero global climate pollution" to halt global warming. Until then, "extensive efforts" will be needed to keep the insurance crisis from getting worse.

 
 

Statistic of the day

41%: The percentage of deaths in the Gaza war that may have been undercounted by the Palestinian health ministry, according to a study from The Lancet journal. The study found that up to 64,260 people were killed in Gaza between Oct. 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024, far higher than the reported death toll of 37,877.

 
 
THE EXPLAINER

TikTok alternatives surge in popularity

The ticktock of the clock may soon stop for TikTok. The app could soon be prohibited in the U.S. if the Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning it. If it does, TikTok will no longer be available in American app stores starting Sunday. And many U.S. TikTok users are looking for alternatives. 

The app's possible ban stems from its ownership by Chinese company ByteDance and national security concerns over China acquiring data from American users. However, several alternate apps are also developed and run by Chinese companies. 

RedNote
Of the TikTok alternatives on the market, the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, is the most popular. The app launched in 2013 and has become "one of China's fastest-growing social platforms, with a value of over $17 billion," said USA Today. The app is "often described as a Chinese version of Instagram" and allows users to upload photos and videos. 

The app "hits a lot of the right notes for creators looking for a TikTok alternative" and "boasts a number of social shopping features," said TechCrunch. The app has recently picked up more than 700,000 new users, said Reuters. However, the platform, as is typical in China, is highly censored. The "irony that Americans are leaving TikTok for another Chinese-run app has not been lost on many," said NPR.

Lemon8
With separate feeds for different categories such as 'tech' or 'outfits,'" Lemon8 is "like a mashup of TikTok and Pinterest," said The Washington Post. It has much lower engagement, with "videos from popular creators generally getting a few hundred likes."

Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the same company that controls TikTok, raising similar questions about China's ability to garner American data. Despite this, Lemon8 "downloads across iOS and Android tripled last week," said Bloomberg. 

Clapper
Unlike the other apps, Clapper is American-based, with headquarters in Dallas. It "appeals to adults, especially among Generations X and Y," said the Cincinnati Enquirer. Users can "post short-form videos and live streams." The app has been growing in popularity, and even before talk of TikTok's ban was heating up, Clapper was "averaging about 200,000 new weekly downloads," said Deadline. The app is "clearly making a play for TikTok's user base," said Ad Age, and "boasts that it doesn't have any" advertisements.

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

'Our actions — or inactions — have unleashed a modern-day Pandora's box of ills.'

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warning the General Assembly about threats that risk upending "our very existence," including the "raging climate crisis" and "out-of-control technology"

 
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Men only think they are doing their share of housework

The household gender divide is as old as time. Studies show that even in progressive (heterosexual) households, women tend to do more of the housework than men. So is there any hope of change?

Men "seem to think" they are doing their fair share of the chores, said The Washington Post. A YouGov survey revealed that 81% of men living with partners "responded with confidence" that they were pulling their weight around the house. But statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics tell a somewhat different story. Women "cooked, cleaned and did yard work" for nearly two hours a day, according to the study. Their male partners did only half that amount.

Who's responsible for a clean household?
Having a male partner "means more work for women, not less," said The Atlantic, citing a recent study from the Gender Equity Policy Institute. While married women do more housework than single women, married men do about the same amount as single men. 

All this takes a toll on women's mental health, Darby Saxbe and Lizzie Aviv, of the University of Southern California, said at The Conversation. Their research found that women who take on a "disproportionate" share of the household burden report higher levels of "depression, stress, relationship dissatisfaction and burnout." 

Women do not just do more housework. They perform more of the "cognitive labor" of "anticipating, planning, delegating and thinking" about the housework that needs to be done. That "pulls mental energy away from other priorities," which can lead to higher rates of depression and is also bad for relationships, said Saxbe and Aviv.

How can men pitch in more?
Even if the gap is narrowing, there's "still a long way to go," said Motherly. Couples should establish household standards together with a "shared vision of what a 'clean' home looks like." They should also address the "mental load" of tasks like "planning meals or tracking playdates" that are not necessarily on the to-do list. And when possible, they should get their kids involved. "Small changes add up."

 
 

Good day 🦣

… for de-extinction. Biotechnology startup Colossal BioSciences has raised an additional $200 million in a new round of funding to bring back extinct species. The company has plans to bring back the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine (aka Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf). Since launching in September 2021, Colossal has raised $435 million in total funding.

 
 

Bad day 🏦

… for Capital One. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is suing the bank, claiming it failed to pay its customers over $2 billion in interest. The agency claims Capitol One kept the interest rates of a high-yield savings account artificially low while avoiding telling customers about a similarly named savings account that paid out more.

 
 
Picture of the day

A second chance

Elodie Cappe, a French horse breeder, hugs Rillette, a wild boar she rescued as a piglet in April 2023 in Chaource, France. Rillette became the focus of a legal battle after authorities threatened to remove and possibly euthanize her, igniting a wave of protests. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of Cappe, allowing Rillette to remain with her owner.
Stephanie Lecocq / Reuters

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
The Week recommends

That Van Gogh has to stay on the gallery wall. But there's a way to relive your favorite art at home. The following items, available in person at the museums' shops or online, provide a beautiful, tangible reminder of your museum experience.

Author clock (MoMA, New York City)
Keep tabs on the time while expanding your literary knowledge. Every minute, a new quote from a book pops up on this clock's digital display that quite literally spells out the time. There are thousands of quotes, pulled from six centuries worth of tomes, and the quotes are available in English, French, German and Spanish. ($199)

Van Gogh by Franz Collection almond blossom teapot (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
Vincent Van Gogh's "Almond Blossom" oil painting comes alive with this elegant Franz teapot. The white three-dimensional flowers and brown roots pop against the bright blue base, and there's even a 3D bloom on the very top of the lid. ($338)

Telephone wire bowl (Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town)
This bowl, handmade in South Africa from telephone wire, is as bright as it is functional. Use it as a catchall or to hold fruit and vegetables — there are tons of possibilities, and it will look great on any table or counter. The bowls are manufactured by home-based crafters in four South African communities. All of the crafters trained together in KwaZulu-Natal province. ($104)

 
 

Poll watch

Most Americans have little confidence that the Department of Justice will remain impartial during Trump's second term, according to an AP-NORC survey. The poll of 1,147 adults found that only 17% are "extremely" or "very" confident that the DOJ will remain impartial. This skewed higher among Republicans (30%) than Democrats (10%) and independents (11%). 

 
 
INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'Israel never defined its goals' 
Graeme Wood at The Atlantic
The deal between Israel and Hamas is "good but not great: Both groups are relishing what they are getting and choking a bit on what they have given up," says Graeme Wood. There "will be scenes of jubilation and triumph from Gazans and Israelis," but for Israel and Gaza, the "past 15 months have been a miserable failure, and from the perspective of negotiation, the only good news is that both sides taste some of the bitterness."

'Trump's tariffs may not do what he thinks' 
Matthew C. Klein at Politico
President-elect Donald Trump "needs to think harder about the tools he wants to use," says Matthew C. Klein. Several "policies Trump and his advisers have floated, primarily universal tariffs, risk making things worse or, at best, will do nothing to revive American manufacturing or improve the lives of its workers." Prosperity is "not zero-sum, and just because we inflict pain on trading partners doesn't mean we will benefit. More likely, punitive measures will backfire."

'How England's legal system favors grooming gangsters over outspoken citizens'
Abigail Anthony at the National Review
The U.K. "has justice all backward," says Abigail Anthony. Recent "outrage about the 'grooming gangs,' more accurately dubbed 'child-prostitution rings,' has brought attention to the stunning lack of prosecution." People "cared more about preserving the optics of multiculturalism than penalizing the pimps or aiding the young victims who have been mentally, physically and emotionally abused." But "equally infuriating is the suspiciously low jail time that's given in the rare cases that sentencing actually occurs."

 
 
WORD OF THE DAY

matrilocality

A tradition in which women stayed in their ancestral communities and men migrated for marriage. Researchers recently discovered the practice was embraced by a Celtic tribe from southwest England 2,000 years ago, the first time this system was found in European prehistory. 

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Joel Mathis, Summer Meza and Anahi Valenzuela, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images; AP Photo / Andy Wong; Peter Dazeley / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images