Culture
The Last Analog Cinema in Queens Refuses to Close
A 220-seat theatre with a 35mm projector, a hand-painted marquee and a landlord who keeps saying no to the developers.
This week's paper · No. 24
Everything we published this week.
Twelve stories across six sections. Filter by section, or read front to back the way we intended.
Showing 12 of 12 stories
Culture
Why the Zine Is Having a Second Life in the Age of the Feed
Stapled, photocopied and defiantly physical — a new generation of makers is rediscovering the cheapest medium ever invented.
Design
The Office Chair That Refuses to Die
Designed in 1963, still in production, still in every waiting room on earth. The anatomy of an immortal object.
Design
Brutalism\u2019s Grandchildren: The New Buildings That Love Ugly
A generation raised in the shadow of brutalist towers is quietly building concrete again — and this time it has better lighting.
Cities
What the Sixth Borough Would Actually Look Like
Every few years the city redraws itself on napkins. We asked a cartographer, a planner and a ferry captain to take the idea seriously.
Cities
The Slow Death of the Corner Newspaper Stand
In one Midwestern city, the last four stands have become de facto community centres — and nobody is quite sure who owns the future of the corner.
Food
Dinner at the 24-Hour Diners of the North Coast
A three a.m. tour of the places that feed the shift that feeds the city. Hash browns, pancakes and the geography of sleep.
Food
The Case for the 3 PM Snack
Lunch is a ritual of the past and dinner is a negotiation. The afternoon snack is the only honest meal left.
Opinion
Let Your To-Read Pile Stay Unread
A defence of the books we buy, shelve, and never finish — and why the pile is not a failure but a promise.
Opinion
The Joy of the Unanswerable Question
We have built an internet that answers everything in under a second. Here is a case for the questions it cannot touch.
Long Read
Twelve Hours With the Night Shift Archivist
The municipal archive closes at five. At midnight, someone has to be there for the boxes. A long read about the people who keep the paper of the city.
Long Read
How a Small-Town Library Became the Center of the Known World
In a county of nine thousand, the library took over the jobs the town had quietly stopped doing. Nobody planned it. Everybody needed it.