Welcome to the July issue of The Highlight

The July issue of The Highlight explores the loss of tactile experiences in a screen-dominated world, with Sara Herschander reporting on the impact on young children and the potential for a return to more physical interactions. Other stories examine the state of the US compared to 1976, religious belief without practice, organ donation's ethical dilemmas, AI-generated content targeting gay men, housing challenges, and defining American novels.

Once upon a time, Sara Herschander writes, going through life meant interacting with the world around you — turning a fiddly key in a lock, scratching out notes on paper, dialing a phone number on an actual keypad. But increasingly, all of those tasks — and many others — feel the same: You just tap at a screen. In this month’s Highlight cover story, Sara explains how we’re losing touch with our sense of, well, touch — plus why young children are suffering the worst effects of all that screen time, and whether a return to a more tactile world is imminent. Also in this issue: Good news about America’s birthday. How organ donation is complicating the line between dead and dying. The rise of extremely convincing AI thirst traps. And the great American quest for the great American novel. Welcome to the July issue of The Highlight The US is better off than it was in 1976. So why does it feel worse? By Bryan Walsh Should you keep practicing a religion even if you don’t believe? By Shayla Love The organ donation boom complicating the boundary between life and death By Pratik Pawar Coming June 30 Why gay guys are falling for AI thirst traps By Alex Abad-Santos Coming June 30 America’s housing was built for a world we no longer live in By Marina Bolotnikova Coming July 1 5 books that define America — for better and for worse By Constance Grady Coming July 1 What we lost when everything became a screen By Sara Herschander Coming July 2 See More: