12th April 2011
Dubai on Empty
“Its skyline erupting from the desert in just two decades, Dubai is a cautionary tale about what money can’t buy: a culture of its own. After gorging on the Viagra of easy credit, the emirate has the world’s tallest building, the world’s most expensive racetrack, and a financial crisis to match. From the Western mercenaries and Asian drones who maintain the gaudy show to 100-odd families who are impervious to any economic reality, A. A. Gill discovers that no one truly belongs in Dubai, where the legacy of oil has made everything worthless.
29th September 2010
Condos of the Living Dead
“An explosion of high-priced glass-and-steel condos is being marketed to New York’s new rich. Inspecting multi-million-dollar marvels of sterility, the author wonders how any real living could possibly take place inside any of them.
(via Longform.org)
10th June 2010
Playing for the World
“Why football—please don’t call it soccer—is the most important sport in history: a lingua franca for 204 countries, an expression of national identity, and a powerful link between multi-millionaire athletes and the man on the street.
