The Problem With Humans of New York

Daniel D'Addario · 08/13/14 08:37AM

A girl from the required class for English majors at my college has lately been sharing a lot of posts from the website Humans of New York. I was inclined to dismiss it all as dumb clickbait—this was, after all, a girl who'd responded to the novels of J.M. Coetzee by asking about the South African head of the state "Madea," whom she knew Morgan Freeman had played in "Invictus"—but something more pernicious was at work. Turns out the site is actually popular.

The Atlantic City Dream Is Dead

Gabrielle Bluestone · 08/12/14 07:45PM

The Revel Hotel and Casino—better known as the Jersey Shore's last, desperate attempt to hide its stale cigarette smell with a spritz of cloying eau de toilette—lost big today. The still-shiny-and-new $2.5 billion property plans to shut down next month, confirming once and for all that the Atlantic City dream is dead.

Hamilton Nolan · 08/12/14 04:28PM

Nassim Taleb, the author of The Black Swan and one of the most original and provocative thinkers in the fields of economics and risk management, is not good at Twitter.

Welcome to Guitar Center, a Nightmare from Which You'll Never Escape

Andy Cush · 08/12/14 04:20PM

When you first step inside the Times Square Guitar Center, perhaps you hear the opening arpeggios of "Stairway to Heaven," floating across the sales floor like a spring breeze. Then, the "Crazy Train" solo adds a dissonant but not altogether unpleasant counterpoint, followed closely by the "Layla" chorus riff, as if in fugue. By the time "Enter Sandman" starts, slow and lumbering, things are starting to sound ugly.