{"id":12128,"date":"2020-02-01T16:19:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T16:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=12128"},"modified":"2020-02-01T16:19:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-01T16:19:26","slug":"astounding-science-fiction-v33n02-april-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/?p=12128","title":{"rendered":"Astounding Science-Fiction v33n02, April 1944"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Summary:
\nThis is, at best, an average issue with only two good but minor stories (Malcolm Jameson contributes a \u2018Bullard\u2019 piece called The Bureaucrat<\/em>, and Fritz Leiber provides the short, paranoid, Sanity<\/em>). There is also a \u2018Venus Equilateral\u2019 story from George O. Smith, and work from Clifford D. Simak, among others.
\n[ISFDB link<\/a>] [Archive.org copy<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Other reviews:1<\/sup>
\nAlva Rogers, A Requiem for Astounding<\/em>\u00a0 p. 129-134<\/p>\n

_____________________<\/p>\n

Editor, John W. Campbell Jr.; Assistant Editor, Catherine Tarrant<\/p>\n

Fiction:
\nThe Changeling<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 novella by A. E. van Vogt \u2217<\/strong>
\nThe Long Way<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 novelette by George O. Smith \u2217<\/strong>
\nInvariant<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 short story by John R. Pierce \u2217<\/strong>\u2217<\/strong>
\nThe Bureaucrat<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 novelette by Malcolm Jameson \u2217<\/strong>\u2217<\/strong>\u2217<\/strong>
\nLobby <\/em><\/strong>\u2022 short story by Clifford D. Simak \u2217<\/strong>
\nSanity <\/em><\/strong>\u2022 short story by Fritz Leiber \u2217<\/strong>\u2217<\/strong>\u2217<\/strong><\/p>\n

Non-fiction:
\nCover <\/em><\/strong>\u2022 by William Timmins
\nInterior artwork<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 by Paul Orban (x10), Frank Kramer (x6), A. Williams
\nSuper-Conservative<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 editorial by John W. Campbell, Jr.
\nNot Quite Rockets<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 science essay
\nRocket Artillery<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 science essay by Willy Ley
\nIn Times to Come
\nThe Analytical Laboratory: April 1944<\/em><\/strong>
\nBrass Tacks<\/em><\/strong> \u2022 letters<\/p>\n

_____________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Changeling<\/em><\/strong>, A. E. van Vogt\u2019s novella in this issue, is supposedly a \u2018Pendrake\u2019 story, although I fail to see the connection between this one and the others I\u2019ve read.2<\/sup>
\nThe story opens with the narrator, Lesley Craig, being told by an assistant that he has been with their company for four years. Craig knows this is incorrect and, when he looks in the mirror later on, he sees a face that is thirty-four rather than fifty years old. When Craig subsequently speaks to his wife he gets the impression that she knows what is happening to him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Craig is later kidnapped by a group of young women who have taken the \u201cEqualizer\u201d drug (the story atypically has a war-of-the-sexes sub-theme that runs throughout the story), and they bring him to President Dayles. The President talks about the technological stagnation of society, a radio signal from Mars, experts that are unable to collaborate, and his \u201cAmazons\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cA very curious manifestation, these women. And, I think, a typically American manifestation at that. Once taken, the drug cannot be counteracted; and I regard it as an evidence of the basic will-to-adventure of American girls that some thousands took the treatment.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, it brought them to a dead end, left them futureless. Unequalized women dislike them, and men think they\u2019re \u2018funny\u2019 to use a colloquialism. Their existence did serve the purpose of galvanizing the women\u2019s clubs into undertaking a presidential campaign. But as individuals the amazons discovered that no employer would hire them, and no man would marry them.
\n\u201cIn desperation, their leaders approached me; and just before the situation reached the tragic stage, I arranged a skillful preliminary publicity, and hired them en masse for what is generally believed to be perfectly legitimate purposes.
\n\u201cActually, these women know their benefactor, and regard themselves as peculiarly my personal agents.\u201d
\nJefferson Dayles paused blandly. \u201cI hope, Mr. Craig, that this will explain to some extent the odd method by which you were brought before me. Miss Kay Whitewood\u201d\u2014he motioned to the young woman at the desk\u2014\u201cis their intellectual leader.\u201d
\nCraig did not let his gaze follow the gesturing hand. He stood like a stone, and was almost as blank mentally. He had listened to the brief history of the group of amazons with a fascinated sense of unreality.
\nFor the story explained nothing. Literally nothing. p. 13<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I had that feeling most of the way through this piece, but the story eventually reveals itself as a one about a latent superman (he is in a \u201ctoti-potent\u201d state) and the two sides trying to force him to his final evolution. During this process Craig unearths information about himself (his birth and military service certificates); he (spoiler) tries to escape from his home but injures himself and loses an arm (this later regrows); and he organises an attack on a Women\u2019s march, and is subsequently imprisoned but escapes. Later, an organised group of toti-potents are revealed; super weapons are developed; and, finally, Craig\u2019s mind control powers become apparent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For most of its length this story is fast-paced and reasonably entertaining nonsense, but it goes on far too long, and makes increasingly less sense as it does so\u2014I suspect what we have here is an unsuccessful product of van Vogt\u2019s dream-plotting technique.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Long Way<\/em><\/strong> by George O. Smith is another of his \u2018Venus Equilateral\u2019 stories, and has more of the flaws and less of the strengths of that series. It opens with this:<\/p>\n

Don Channing stood back and admired his latest acquisition with all of the fervency of a high school girl inspecting her first party dress. It was so apparent, this affection between man and gadget, that the workmen who were now carrying off the remnants of the packing case did so front the far side of the bench so that they would not come between the director of communications and the object of his affection. So intent was Channing in his adoration of the object that he did not hear the door open, nor the click of high heels against the plastic flooring. He was completely unaware of his surroundings until Arden said:
\n\u201cDon, what off earth is that?\u201d
\n\u201cAin\u2019t she a beaut?\u201d breathed Channing.
\n\u201cJilted for a jimcrank,\u201d groaned Arden. \u201cTell me, my quondam husband, what is it?\u201d\u00a0 pp. 67-68<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The device turns out to be a transmission tube built by Terran Electric that Channing wants to modify to enable two-way communications between Venus Equilateral<\/em> and in-flight spaceships. The problem is that the device comes with an engineer and a lawyer: the former is affable enough, but the lawyer insists on such restrictive conditions that Channing and crew eventually resort to building a solar power generation array to give them leverage over Terran Electric. Channing figures that if he threatens to put them out of business he\u2019ll gain unfettered access to the transmission tube.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The explanations of how the the transmission tube and the solar generator work are unintelligible, and I wonder how many Astounding<\/em> readers understood them:<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that, but the driver cathode disintegrates at a rate of loss that is terrific compared to the loss of emitting surface in the transmission tube.\u201d
\n\u201cThe driver cathode is worth about two hundred G-hours. But remember, there is no input to the driver such as you have in the transmission tube. The power from the driver comes from the disintegration of the cathode surface\u2014there isn\u2019t a ten thousandth of an inch of plating on the inside of the tube to show where it went. But the transmission tube has an input and the tube itself merely transduces this power to some level of radiation for transmission. It is re-transduced again for use. But the thing is this: Your tube is the only thing we know of that will accept subelectronic energy and use it. If the driver and the transmission tubes are similar in operational spectrum, we may be able to detect driver radiation by some modification.\u201d\u00a0 p. 73<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story is a typical engineers-outsmart-the-others piece (the \u201cothers\u201d are usually politicians, lawyers or bureaucrats).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Invariant<\/em><\/strong> by John R. Pierce is an okay piece about Homer Green, whose experimental immortality treatment has (spoiler) left him with memories that are as \u201cinvariant\u201d as the other cells in his body. This becomes apparent during an interview conducted by a man from 2170, who tells Green (spoiler) that it isn\u2019t 1943 anymore\u2014even though he will shortly forget that information.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bureaucrat<\/em><\/strong> by Malcolm Jameson is one of his \u2018Bullard\u2019 series (the eighth of nine) and, by this point in his career, he is the Admiral in charge of the Bureau of Spatial Strategy (essentially the C-in-C of Space Command). Bullard only appears at the beginning and end of this story, however, and the protagonist is a young lieutenant called Benton, who manages to get an appointment with him (Benton\u2019s father served with Bullard):<\/p>\n

But as the machine slid swiftly along gleaming passages, Benton saw that the private suite of the grand admiral was no small place. Through door after door he glimpsed tremendous activities. Occasionally they whizzed through open bays of desks where scraps of conversation could be overheard, while all about were annunciators flashing weird symbols incessantly.
\n\u201cSector 4,\u201d droned a voice, \u201cPegasus<\/em> and Altair<\/em> joining action. . . . Pegasus<\/em> hit. . . . Pegasus<\/em> blows up. . . . Cruiser Flotilla 36 moving in from lower port quarter. . . . Altair<\/em> hit\u2014\u201d
\nAs that faded, the orderly cut across the back of a balcony overlooking a great hall. Far down in the pit Benton could see a huge swirling ball of vapor, glittering with pin points of varicolored lights cast upon it by unseen projectors. That would be the ultra-secret Battle Integrator\u2014the marvelous moving solidograph that resolved six dimensions into four. Stern-faced officers watched it intently, snapping orders into phones, and uniformed girl messengers dashed everywhere. Then Benton was out of that place and passing other wonders.\u00a0 pp. 119-120<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When he finally meets Bullard, Benton tells him that his mother\u2019s wealth has bought him a sinecure on the Vindictive<\/em>, a ship which is stationed over the Manhattan financial district, far from the war, and which has no guns or rocket engines. Bullard displays his files on the screen behind Benton and sees that the ship is full of the influential, the malingering, and the cowardly\u2014and all of whom have the protection of the Secretary of Defence.
\nBullard then tells Benton he is a bureaucrat, and can do nothing. After the young man leaves, however, Bullard summons his aide and issues a general order. . . .
\nMatters proceed pretty much as you would expect (spoiler): all spaceships of Vindictive<\/em>\u2019s specification (although it is the only one still on active service) get orders to go on gunnery exercises. Although the captain and his executive officer, a legal type, try to get an exemption, they fail (there is some back and forth as various agencies get involved, but matters develop an inertia of their own). Benton tours the ship, and starts to get it ready.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the Vindictive<\/em> finally goes on a firing exercise (after they have re-engined the ship and repaired the guns) they manage to hit the target. However, when they fire their guns something strange happens which causes the ship considerable interior damage, and leaves them far away from their initial position. For some unexplained reason the drives have given them a terrific burst of acceleration. Meanwhile, the captain and a number of the officers have abandoned ship, leaving Benton in charge.
\nThe story ends with the Vindictive<\/em> receiving orders from SPAST (Spatial Strategy) to intercept two raiders who have sneaked past Earth\u2019s defences and are headed for Bullard\u2019s headquarters on the Moon\u2014Benton engages the enemy and uses the acceleration effect in the battle.
\nBullard appears again at the end of the story to reiterate to Benton how inappropriate it would be for him to intervene in personnel matters and take Benton off Vindictive<\/em>\u2014before telling him he will have command of the refitted ship.<\/em>
\nThis is formulaic Space Navy material, but fairly good for all that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lobby <\/em><\/strong>by Clifford D. Simak is a story about opposition to atomic power:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years they\u2019ve dreamed about atomic power. Reams of speculation have been written about it. Men have planned for it and banked on it, built future worlds on it. And now that it\u2019s within their grasp, what do people do? Now that they can practically reach out and touch power so ridiculously cheap it would be almost free, what do they say and think? They allow a power lobby and a bunch of crooked politicians to scare them silly with bogey stories about the terrible menace of atomics. They listen to yelping preachers on the street corner who tell them it\u2019s sacrilege to destroy God-created matter, that it\u2019s tempting Providence, asking the lightning to strike.\u201d\u00a0 p. 145<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cobb, who runs the nuclear company, gets a visit from a journalist (which does not go well) and then another from a more shadowy character called Adams. The rest of the story has Cobb take a helicopter to the nuclear plant in Montana to check on its progress but, en route, he sees a blue flash. On arrival he sees the plant has been destroyed (due to sabotage) but that Butler the chief scientist has, with all the research paperwork, survived in a nearby tunnel.
\nAdams joins the two men at Cobb\u2019s house later on, and (spoiler) reveals he is a member of the World Committee. He has evidence of a corrupt senator, and the power company\u2019s involvement in the explosion at the plant.
\nThis is a mediocre story, and the free nuclear power\/world committee worldview is outdated and politically unrealistic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sanity <\/em><\/strong>by Fritz Leiber is a talking-heads story which opens with World Manager Carrsbury speaking to General Secretary Phy in his office. He explains that he has come to a realisation:<\/p>\n

Whether my case was due chiefly to heredity, or to certain unusual accidents of environment, or to both, is unimportant. The point is that a person had been born who was in a position to criticize the present state of mankind in the light of the past, to diagnose its condition, and to begin its cure.
\nFor a long time I refused to face the facts, but finally my researches\u2014especially those in the literature of the twentieth century\u2014left me no alternative. The mentality of mankind had become\u2014aberrant.\u00a0 p. 163<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to explain to Phy that his analysis led him to train a cadre of political leaders \u201cfree of neurotic tendencies\u201d, and that he set up a secret police force to protect himself. Phy counters with a vacuous grin, and the statement that the semi-solid material he has been kneading while listening to Carrsbury came from a hole he cut in his sofa.
\nPhy, though, isn\u2019t as mad as he sounds: he goes on to tell Carrsbury that (spoiler) his attempts to reduce the amount of insanity in the world have been subverted. Phy becomes demonstrative, and one of Carrsbury\u2019s security guards appears. As Carrsbury leaves for an appointment, Phy asks to accompany him, and the three of them end up in an elevator. There, the tables are further turned:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how many floors there are in this building?\u201d
\nCarrsbury was not immediately conscious of the new note in Phy\u2019s voice, but he reacted to it.
\n\u201cOne hundred,\u201d he replied promptly.
\n\u201cThen,\u201d asked Phy, \u201cjust where are we?\u201d
\nCarr opened his eyes to the darkness. One hundred twenty-seven, blinked the floor numeral. One hundred twenty-eight. One hundred twenty-nine. Something cold dragged at Carrsbury\u2019s stomach, pulled at his brain. He felt as if his mind were being slowly and irresistibly twisted. He thought of hidden dimensions, of unsuspected holes in space. Something remembered from elementary physics danced through his thoughts: If it were possible for an elevator to keep moving upward with uniform acceleration, no one inside an elevator could determine whether the effects they were experiencing were due to acceleration or to gravity\u2014whether the elevator were standing motionless on some planet or shooting up at ever-increasing velocity through free space.
\nOne hundred forty-one. One hundred forty-two.
\n\u201cOr as if you were rising through consciousness into an unsuspected realm of mentality lying above,\u201d suggested Phy in his new voice, with its hint of gentle laughter.\u00a0 p. 170<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They eventually arrive at a transparent section of the building that Carrsbury did not know existed. They wait for an aircraft to come and pick Carrsbury up. Phy explains that the only reason that Carrsbury was allowed to do what he wanted was so he could express himself, like everyone in the world, but that now that must stop.
\nAfter Carrsbury leaves, Phy turns to the guard and delivers the story\u2019s neat closing line:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad to see the last of that fellow,\u201d [Phy] muttered, more to himself than to [the guard], as they plummeted toward the roof, \u201cHe was beginning to have a very disturbing influence on me. In fact, I was beginning to fear for my\u201d\u2014his expression became suddenly vacuous\u2014\u201csanity.\u201d\u00a0 p. 173<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not sure this makes much sense as a story to be honest, but its paranoid feel, the switch-around, and the biter-bit ending work well enough.<\/p>\n

The Cover<\/em><\/strong>, once again, is by William Timmins. Paul Orban does a lot of this issue\u2019s Interior artwork<\/em><\/strong> (about two-thirds), and the rest is from Frank Kramer and A. Williams. I am bored with Kramer\u2019s repeated drawings of what looks like a 1940\u2019s Hank Kuttner in a hat\u2014if I\u2019ve seen this illustration once, I\u2019ve seen it a dozen times:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Super-Conservative<\/em><\/strong>, John W. Campbell, Jr.\u2019s editorial, starts with this:<\/p>\n

It has long been maintained that science-fiction is written by, edited by, and read by wild-eyed dreamers, with a raving imagination, and that it consists solely of impossible fantasies. Ask any nonreader. Or\u2014maybe you\u2019d better not, just now. The non-readers have been somewhat shocked very recently, and might possibly be a little less certain of the one hundred percent standing of science-fiction as pure fantasy. The jet-propelled plane comes dangerously close to making a rocket-propelled ship sound almost as though it might, a thousand years hence, be remotely possible\u2014
\nPersonally, I\u2019ve long maintained that science-fiction is conservative.\u00a0 p. 5<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is more of this before Campbell tells us that the rotogravure section of the magazine is made up first, which meant that he couldn\u2019t include a breaking-news article about Dr Felix Ehrenhaft\u2019s supposed discovery of magnetic monopoles and magnetic current. Campbell goes into full messiah mode about this subject, eventually concluding with:<\/p>\n

Lack of space now prevents an adequate discussion of this discovery. Next month\u2019s issue will contain photographs, and more detailed reports. For the moment: Dr. Ehrenhaft, having made the most important discovery of this century\u2014I do not except the uranium fission\u2014will most certainly receive that final honorary degree, the degree no college confers, but which is conferred only by the people who find his name forever in their conversation. He will be not Dr. Ehrenhaft to the future, but Ehrenhaft. Probably, as a matter of fact, he will be perpetuated as an ehrenhaft.\u00a0 p. 6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He wasn\u2019t, but more on this next issue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not Quite Rockets<\/em><\/strong> is a short article about early jet aeroplanes (principally the Italian Caproni-Campini and the German Blohm & Voss models):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The article also explains how a jet engine works.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rocket Artillery<\/em><\/strong> by Willy Ley compares the ranges, payloads, and convenience of artillery shells versus rockets. The article also goes into the maths of the latter in some detail, but he primarily talks about powder rockets (the first liquid-fuelled German V2 rockets were fired at England six months later in September 1944).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In Times to Come<\/em><\/strong> plugs a sequel to last issue\u2019s Circle of Confusion <\/em>by \u201cWes Long\u201d (George O. Smith): Latent Image<\/em>. The other story mentioned is E. Mayne Hull\u2019s The Winged Men<\/em>, which sounds like a far-future pulp adventure (an American submarine ends up in 1,000,000 A. D., and has to pick sides in a war).
\nThe Analytical Laboratory: April 1944<\/em><\/strong> was discussed in the review of that issue.4<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brass Tacks<\/em><\/strong> includes a long letter of comment from Chan Davis, a short one from L. Sprague de Camp, and a request for pocketbook reprints from Henry G. Higgins (no address, oddly)\u2014to which Campbell replies that they feel lucky to get the paper they need for the magazine.
\nThere is also a ringing endorsement of fantasy fiction in Astounding<\/em> from Walt Liebscher, of the Battle Creek \u201cSlan Shack\u201d in Michigan:<\/p>\n

By all means, let\u2019s have fantasy in Astounding<\/em>. I haven\u2019t the slightest doubt that \u201cWe Print the Truth\u201d was destined to be the lead novel in an issue of Unknown<\/em>. So, when Unknown<\/em> was obliterated by the paper shortage, you published it in Astounding<\/em>, which resulted in its being voted the second best yarn in the issue.
\nUnknown<\/em> was undoubtedly the greatest fantasy magazine of the last decade. I\u2019ve had my issues professionally bound, for I\u2019m positive that, included between the covers of the thirty-nine issues of Unknown<\/em>, are some of the greatest fantasy stories of our age.
\nSome of your \u201cregulars\u201d write finer fantasy than science-fiction, and it would be a crying shame to hold them down to a type of story not strictly their forte. Surely the most inveterate science-fiction addicts will not begrudge we, who lean towards the fantasy side of imaginative fiction, at least one story per issue.\u00a0 p. 178<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Campbell\u2019s comment, \u201cFantasy\u2014but not the werewolf\u2014vampire type, perhaps?\u201d indicates he is still sounding out the readership.
\nGiven the quality of some of the fiction in recent issues of Astounding<\/em>, I think Campbell made a big mistake in cancelling Unknown<\/em> and not continuing both magazines on a bimonthly schedule\u2014he would have had a much wider pool of writers to choose from, and could have produced two better quality magazines.
\nThe last letter, from George A. Foster of Stoughton, Massachusetts, is an amusing account of a visiting aunt, who, having read a couple of stories in Astounding<\/em>, wonders why her nephew hasn\u2019t built a betatron from the twenty pounds of spare wire in the cellar to zap the mice!
\nI note in passing the teaser advert inadvertently added to this issue (it plugs the van Vogt story):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In conclusion, a poor issue with only two good, if minor, stories.\u00a0 \u25cf<\/p>\n

_____________________<\/p>\n

1. Alva Rogers has this to say about van Vogt\u2019s story:<\/p>\n

There was A. E. van Vogt\u2019s \u201cThe Changeling\u201d which appeared in April and which was probably one of his first important stories revolving around a character with remarkable, unexplained powers gradually realized, who is impelled into action for unknown reasons and by forces of which he has no knowledge. It was a taut story told with van Vogt\u2019s blend of action and bewildering complexity, but certainly not one of his classics.\u00a0 p. 130<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. The Changeling<\/em> underwent \u201csubstantial revision\u201d for van Vogt\u2019s fix-up novel The Beast <\/em>(UK: Moonbeast<\/em>). The ISFDB page for the series is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Van Vogt would apparently set his alarm to wake himself up every 45 minutes (or whatever) throughout the night so he could jot down the contents of his dreams on a notepad.<\/p>\n

4. The Analytical Laboratory<\/em> results for this issue appeared in the July 1944 edition:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

All these results show is, again, that the longest story usually places first, and that Astounding<\/em> readers have an extraordinary tolerance for nonsense plots (the van Vogt) and bad writing (the Smith).\u00a0 \u25cf<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\"rss\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: This is, at best, an average issue with only two good but minor stories (Malcolm Jameson contributes a \u2018Bullard\u2019 piece called The Bureaucrat, and Fritz Leiber provides the short, paranoid, Sanity). There is also a \u2018Venus Equilateral\u2019 story from George O. Smith, and work from Clifford D. Simak, among others. [ISFDB link] [Archive.org copy] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astounding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pcj7-39C","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12128"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12200,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12128\/revisions\/12200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfmagazines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}