Yes, People Still Buy BooksThis essay was adapted from Lincoln Michel’s newsletter Counter Craft. Subscribe here. Last week the article “No One Buys Books,” by Elle Griffin, went viral, topping Substack categories and being shared widely on social media. It’s easy to understand why.
McDonald's and other big brands warn that low-income consumers are starting to crackSome of America's best-known corporations are saying their consumers are feeling pinched by inflation as prices continue rising.
The more you earn, the harder it is to find a job right nowOver the past year or so, pretty much everyone who's looked for a job has told me the same thing: The job market is brutal right now. They've applied to dozens if not hundreds of openings, only to get one or two callbacks. No one's hiring, they tell me. I've never seen it this bad.
Exclusive: Employers Are Souring On Ivy League Grads, While These 20 “New Ivies” AscendFor the entirety of America’s existence, the Ivy League has provided an essential service.
Magazines aren’t dying—just ask these indie publishersIndie publications are finding success with an old-school recipe: high-quality print, a tight-knit community, and less advertising.
A Tamarind Tree’s Sweet and Sour InheritanceGifts from ancestors take the darndest forms. Mine included a tamarind tree, the tallest and most magnificent in our yard. My grandfather’s grandfather—a tall, corpulent Indian, prone to indulging in fine wines, fine poetry, and fine art—lived in Delhi and worked for the British.
The age of dangerAt a private dinner a few months ago, a senior European minister explained what will happen if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November and withdraws all support for Ukraine.
The Particular Cruelty of Colonial WarsEven the most well-read World War II enthusiast is likely unaware of one major military operation that happened in 1945. It involved Royal Air Force bombers, 24 Sherman tanks, and 36,000 troops—some of them British, the rest Indian and Nepalese Gurkhas under British command.
How to Read WarsThe young decade of the 2020s has already seen major wars in the Horn of Africa, Armenia, Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen, and Myanmar, as well as sputtering irregular wars across Africa’s Sahel.
How Perfectly Can Reality Be Simulated?On a warm afternoon last fall, Steven Caron, a technical artist at the video-game company Quixel, stood at the edge of a redwood grove in the Oakland Hills. “Cross your eyes, kind of blur your eyes, and get a sense for what’s here,” he instructed.
How do you counter misinformation? Critical thinking is step oneLate last year, in the days before the Slovakian parliamentary elections, two viral audio clips threatened to derail the campaign of a pro-Western, liberal party leader named Michal Šimečka.
A California woman bought a vacant lot in Hawaii and discovered a $500,000 house was built on it without her permissionAnnaleine "Anne" Reynolds had big plans for a vacant lot she purchased in 2018. Unfortunately, she was beaten to the punch when a developer built a house in it.
“Think of Chaos”Alex Garland’s latest fire starter, ‘Civil War,’ builds and builds toward one harrowing crescendo: an uninterrupted 15-minute siege on Washington, D.C. Here’s how he and his team turned the nation’s capital into a war zone. Wagner Moura wanted to feel the sound.
How Capitalism Disordered Our EatingFrom Weight Watchers to Ozempic, big business profits off eating disorders and their treatments. Metaphors for the body abound: a many-horse-powered machine, a delicate ecosystem, a knife-cut sculpture.
Elon Musk Can’t Solve Tesla’s China Crisis With His Desperate Asia VisitElon Musk will be pleased that his surprise jaunt to China on Sunday garnered many glowing headlines. The trip was undoubtedly equally a surprise to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who had been scheduled to offer Musk the red carpet on a long-arranged visit.