THE BIG STORY

200,000 people in the US have now died of the coronavirus

Six months after states began shutting down over the pandemic in March, we've arrived to a grim milestone: on Tuesday, the US surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Public health experts say that figure is a significant undercount of the actual number. Meanwhile, more than 6 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the US so far, also widely viewed as an undercount.

200,000 people is an overwhelming number. Perhaps it’s too much to take in all at once. Reporter Amber Jamieson looked into how despite the enormous figure, there has been no official national mourning. No minute of silence, no plans for a memorial to be erected in their honor, no collective grieving.

She spoke to a historian who studies mourning. He told us, “If you actually recognize the horrific toll this is taking, then you’re acknowledging the weight of the problem and the failure of the response.”

Relatives of COVID-19 victims drive next to their images displayed in a drive-by memorial at Belle Isle State Park on Sept. 2 in Detroit. Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Day 3 of the FinCEN Files

On Sunday, we published our largest investigation ever. The FinCEN Files investigation reveals how criminals used famous banks to finance terror and death.

There are still more stories to come.

On day 3 of The FinCEN Files:

The banker was a spy. The Russian bank VEB has long operated in the United States — despite dozens of suspicious activity reports outlining concerns that it was a threat to national security. A FinCEN Files investigation.

SNAPSHOTS

Mitt Romney supports replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election. Romney is a closely-watched swing vote. His position means Republicans are now almost guaranteed enough votes to replace the late justice before Nov. 3.

Americans overseas say trying to vote in this year’s election is a “massive shitshow.” Americans who are living abroad and eligible to vote told BuzzFeed News about the lengths they are going to in order to vote in November.

Volunteers are coming out in droves to support Planned Parenthood after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights groups are mobilizing droves of new volunteers and running TV ads to elect Democrats after Ginsburg’s death.

Vanessa Bryant is suing the LA County Sheriff's Department over graphic photos of Kobe Bryant’s crash that were shared. The lawsuit alleges that sheriff's deputies shared cellphone photos of the victims of the helicopter crash, including the NBA star and his teenage daughter.

ALL COME TO LOOK FOR AMERICA

Looking for a big American ideal at the end of a pandemic summer

We’re further away from pre-pandemic life, and not particularly closer to post-pandemic life. It’s safe to say that the coronavirus pandemic has unsettled a lot of ideas of what it means to be American.

Katherine Miller takes all of those ideas and meditates on where the US is at the end of its pandemic summer, and how “it feels un-American to end up like this, people whom events have befallen.”

Here’s a taste: “...In a pandemic like this, the metal grate drops to the concrete on even the romantic, illusory idea that anyone could pick up tomorrow for some other life. Even if I can’t be there, I like the idea that the places I’ve been far away are still bustling and healthy, available to pass freely in and out of without guilt or fear.”

ONE WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS

A first-year NYU student accidentally offered lube to others as hand sanitizer but this story has a happy ending

Earlier this month, Andrew Huang accidentally threw a bottle of lube in his backpack, thinking it was hand sanitizer.

The first-year NYU student said he then accidentally “lubed” five other first-year students he came across as they were all trying to figure out how to socialize during a pandemic.

Huang made a TikTok of the embarrassing story, and it immediately went viral. The nice ending is: the people Huang “lubed” are now his new friends at his new school. And they're gonna have a fun answer for “how did y'all meet?”

Do something that connects you with your joy today,

Elamin