“At the ‘magic Olympics,’ magicians from around the world compete to be deemed the world’s best. To win, they must fool each other.”
Peter Rubin
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s
“How is a discussion about street dancers connected to an exploration of the Bay Area hip-hop sound? It’s important to understand the conditions under which the genre emerged locally.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Chess.com Became ‘the Wild West of the Streaming World’
“While much of the e-sports industry struggles after billions in investments, Chess.com has gone in the opposite direction.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Hellhounds on His Trail: Mack McCormick’s Long, Tortured Quest to Find the Real Robert Johnson
“For decades, the Houston folklorist labored over his biography of the legendary bluesman. Seven years after McCormick’s death, the book is finally out—and so are the secrets long kept by its troubled author.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Dungeons & Dragons’ Epic Quest to Finally Make Money
“Can Hasbro overcome 50 years of D&D business disasters without enraging its fan base?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Journalism Is Struggling. In Atlanta, New Indie outlets Are Finding Ways to Make It Work
“Independent outlets are not only challenging revenue models—they’re changing the way local outlets approach journalism itself.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
“Blurred Lines,” Harbinger of Doom
“How Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I.’s cursed megahit predicted everything bad about the past decade in pop culture”
Posted inEditor's Pick
On the Record, At Last
“My father never got to tell his story at the war crimes trials at Nuremberg—it’s taken decades for the truth to come out.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Brandon Sanderson Is Your God
“He’s the biggest fantasy writer in the world. He’s also very Mormon. These things are profoundly related.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Happens When Sexting Chatbots Dump Their Human Lovers
“People who grew accustomed to sexting with Replika’s AI-powered companions were heartbroken when the company blocked its bots from engaging in racy chats.”