Alex Burns

Neo-cities : When do people start new cities vs. reforming existing ones? Is Singapore an urbanist paradise or technofascist dystopia? What can the US learn from Special Economic Zones? Can you do urban renewal right? What’s the difference between Esmeralda and California Forever? Why do most charter cities fail? How might they succeed?

When the press tour for Madame Web began at the start of the year, lead actress Dakota Johnson was placed under such scrutiny that it became an absurdist tale of how clicks and engagement are farmed. One of the earliest examples is a quote she gave to Entertainment Weekly about working in front of a bluescreen, in which she said, “I’ve never really... See more

Creators should organize into a series of cooperatively owned ventures. Some have already done this - notably Defector, Maximum Fun, and 404 Media. There are others. But there are so many more opportunities to do this. Everyone who has been laid off recently can reorganize into cooperative groups. They can create governing bodies for themselves and... See more

In November 2014—only seven years after the Tim Donaghy betting scandal—he shook up the sports world with his New York Times editorial declaring “sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight.” That made Silver the only commissioner to support legalized sports betting. A decade later, virtually all pro sports league... See more

But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the o... See more

John Updike line, “Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face.”

Now, Mr. Burback goes months between posts. The videos tend to be either sprawling, deeply researched video essays — about the state of late-night television, ghost kitchens or the Apple Vision Pro — or strange travelogues, taking him on road trips to every Rainforest Cafe or Margaritaville in the country.

His viewers have responded, with his ghost ... See more