Something is happening this Thursday that, during normal times, Americans wouldn’t need to pay a lick of attention to. Freedom House, the esteemed, D.C.-based research institute that has existed since 1941, is scheduled to release its annual report on the state of freedom in the world. You may have seen one of these at some point or another. There’s the written report— last year’s ran to 30 pages—that describes broad trends. And then there’s the ever-popular clickable map , which gives every