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Island Reliant Upon Debauched Visits From Thirsty Saudis Looks to Clean Up

Over a bowl of soup with another older Jewish man, the Curb Your Enthusiasm auteur discusses the Seinfeld curse (“so annoying”), acting for Woody Allen (“very daunting”), and hitting his peak (“no one wants to see this old man on TV”).

And Other Thoughts From New York Times Columnist David Carr on the Pursuit of Truth … and What Happens Next

Paul Graham’s business school and investment fund, Y Combinator, has launched 145 companies — for a lot less money than you would think

As summer begins, what better way to measure Wall Street’s health than a real-estate tour of the Hamptons? For every mansion on the sales or rental market, there’s a story—sometimes involving Bernie Madoff—and brokers are shell-shocked. The author surveys the deals, no-deals, lawsuits, divorces, and teardowns that characterize this strange, dark season.

We are sympathetic to the extraordinary challenge President Obama faces, but if we’ve learned anything at all two years into the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes, it is that a capital-markets system this dependent on public confidence is a shockingly inadequate foundation upon which to rest our economy.

In a personal essay, the acclaimed singer recalls the origins of her childhood stutter, the lengths she went to overcome it, and the boy who made it all OK.

An American kid hired as an assassin for a Mexican drug cartel sits in a safe house in Laredo and brags about his hits and the one he’s planning next — only this time Texas police are watching.