This week, the prospect of 2015 became worrisome after we met the Baby New Year.
- Old Print Articles: Chuck Connors, “Mayor of Chinatown,” passes away (1913) + Elektro and other robots to be at the World’s Fair (1939).
- Recently Posted on NYC’s Craigslist: “Cash and carry” has never sounded grosser + Apartment as dirty as his mind + Somewhere, George Lucas cries.
- James Fallows takes a long look at the problems of the U.S. military.
- Stefan Simchowitz, Google Era anti-gallerist, has the art world aghast.
- Tulowitzkis, like tulips, are prone to overheated markets.
- William McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, now lives in poverty.
- Ken Kalfus argues against trying to put humans and colonies on Mars.
- Even the deceased aren’t safe from identity theft.
- Margaret Atwood on the prophetic nature of The Handmaid’s Tale.
- In every way, the U.S. torture program did more harm than good.
- The surviving principals discuss 1974’s brilliant California Split.
- Because he’s Alan Dershowitz, Alan Dershowitz comments on Serial.
- Magazines in any form now seem to be beside the point.
- A controversial psychologist bit back at the self-esteem movement.
- Ai Weiwei is watched even more than the rest of us.
- The Peer Economy proliferates in America.
- Richard Stallman doesn’t want you to use Uber.
- AI and Deep Learning are, perhaps, set to mature at a blinding pace.
- Paul Thomas Anderson is unsurprisingly coy about Thomas Pynchon.
- Pedro Almodóvar is father to many of TV’s desperate characters.
- Billie Whitelaw, Samuel Beckett’s go-to actor, passed away.
- In the 1990s, Los Angeles was the world’s bank-robbery capital.
- NASA is researching putting a floating airship city above Venus.
- Airbnb is now bigger than the largest hotel groups.
- The issue of autonomous-car lawsuits may be overrated.
- Chinese companies give their products bizarre Western names.
- A brief note from 1901 about an exploding cigar.
- A brief note from 1888 about a thirsty man.
- A brief note from 1922 about an owl hat.
- This week’s Afflictor keyphrase searches.