<em>The Atlantic Daily</em>: Americans Are Playing Safety Hopscotch

Annie Lowrey explains in her latest:

In the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, Congress provided forgivable loans to small businesses; sent $1,200 checks to most Americans; added gig workers to the unemployment-insurance system; and put a $600 weekly top-up on unemployment checks. “We’d never seen such a rapid and massive amount of stimulus being doled out by Congress, ever,” Gregory Daco, an economist at the international forecasting firm Oxford Economics, told me … The U.S. provided fiscal support equivalent to roughly 12 percent of its GDP, data from Moody’s Analytics show, one-third more than Germany and twice as much as the U.K. Other than Australia, no large, wealthy country did more to support its economy.

Continue reading her piece.

What to read if … you’re looking for practical advice:

Stuck on what to stream? Let us help:

If you decide to watch Netflix’s Hillbilly Elegy, be warned: Our critic calls it one of the worst movies of the year.

And a writer who grew up in Appalachia argues that the film (and the book on which it is based) doesn’t reflect the area.

Today’s break from the news:

Don’t subject your kids to Rudolph, Caitlin Flanagan argues. The world is bleak enough as it is.

Dear Therapist

Lori Gottlieb’s column is off this week, so we’re revisiting this entry from July, in which she advises a reader whose best friend is struggling to find a job:

It hurts me to see her so tense about something so far out of her control, but I don’t know what else to do to try to help.

Read the rest, and Lori’s response. Every week, she answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. Write to Lori anytime at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com.

Thanks for reading. This email was written by Caroline Mimbs Nyce, with help from Haley Weiss and Isabel Fattal.

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Caroline Mimbs Nyce is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic.