I’m hopeful about what she will show us, but let’s face it, nothing about Harris just now justifies her being treated as some kind of once-in-a-generation phenom or savior. This is not about substance, but optics. Harris is being received on the basis of a category she fits into rather than who she is as an individual. The thing sweeping so many people up is the idea that her being Black — and a Black woman at that — would in some resonant way shape her presidency. That it would be somehow significant that the president “looks like America.” That Harris’ Blackness would be a meaningful part of “not going back.”

“Our surprising findings at Abric Pizarro show how adaptable Neanderthals were. The animal bones we have recovered indicate that they were successfully exploiting the surrounding fauna, hunting red deer, horses and bison, but also eating freshwater turtles and rabbits, which imply a degree of planning rarely considered for Neanderthals,”