The Big Read

Page 9
Photos Brianne Kimmel. Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

Once Upon a Time in Brianne Kimmel’s Hollywood

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 1, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments
It was a sunny June day in Los Angeles, and “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu was setting up a shot. The aerialswimming pool arrangement was reminiscent of Chu’s work on “In the Heights,” directing the “96,000” sequence—a musical number so complex it called for 500 to 700 people on set, according to Vulture. This art direction, however, was... It was a sunny June day in Los Angeles, and “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu was setting up a...
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Will Your Cheatin’ Heart Tell on You? As Americans Lose Trust in Each Other, They’re Turning to Tech to Detect Lies

By Zara Stone · Jun 24, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 1 comment
A few months ago, inside a soundproof room attached to his office, Dennis Cates, a retired police officer and founder of Mid Valley Polygraph in Porterville, Calif., cleared his throat and directed his client to answer an awkward question. “Have you ever had sex with your husband’s brother?” “No,” the client answered, clicking false on the... A few months ago, inside a soundproof room attached to his office, Dennis Cates, a retired police...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

San Francisco Is Back. Sort of. Maybe.

By Kate Clark · Jun 17, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 16 comments
Earlier this month, hundreds of Bay Area techies swarmed 5A5 Steak Lounge, a private dining venue blocks from San Francisco’s Ferry Building where patrons feast on Wagyu beef and sip $16 Japanese whisky cocktails. They were there for a spring party put on by Modernist, a members-only club in San Francisco tailored to the tech elite. There was an... Earlier this month, hundreds of Bay Area techies swarmed 5A5 Steak Lounge, a private dining venue...
Art by Clark Miller
Tokens for We but Not for Thee: How a DAO Turned Against One of Its Earliest Investors
By Margaux MacColl · Jun 10, 2022 2:00pm PDT · 3 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Tokens for We but Not for Thee: How a DAO Turned Against One of Its Earliest Investors

By Margaux MacColl · Jun 10, 2022 2:00pm PDT · 3 comments
On May 20, Honey Barrel, whose online bio describes them only as a “vanquisher of non-frens,” woke up and chose chaos. They’re a member of Merit Circle DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization worth over $370 million that loans non-fungible tokens to people who play crypto games but can’t afford the buy-in, according to crypto research... On May 20, Honey Barrel, whose online bio describes them only as a “vanquisher of non-frens,”...
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Let Everyone Else Have Miami: Garry Tan Will Take San Francisco

By Scott Alan Lucas · Jun 3, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 5 comments
It’s often said that politics in San Francisco is like a knife fight in a phone booth: up close, slashing and surprisingly vicious. But there’s a reason for the hand-to-hand combat. The small city—with a mere 875,000 residents, fewer than in Columbus, Ohio—is massively important to Democrats nationally, having produced the current vice president... It’s often said that politics in San Francisco is like a knife fight in a phone booth: up close,...
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

‘All Rippers and No Skippers’: How Taylor Lorenz Became Part of the Story

By Annie Goldsmith · May 27, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 11 comments
On May 18, The Washington Post published a breaking news story about the Biden administration’s newly created and promptly attacked Disinformation Governance Board. The board was to be led by researcher and author Nina Jankowicz, who, The Post reported, “has been subject to an unrelenting barrage of harassment and abuse while unchecked... On May 18, The Washington Post published a breaking news story about the Biden administration’s...
Art by Clark Miller
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Panic at the Discord

By The Information Staff · May 20, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments
The crypto party was as raucous as ever—and then someone turned on the lights. After a year of record-high token prices and newfound support from legacy financial institutions like Fidelity and BlackRock, reality bit hard the second week of May when the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (known as UST) crashed, taking down some $400 billion... The crypto party was as raucous as ever—and then someone turned on the lights. After a year...
Pete Buttigieg Has Become America’s Electric Car Czar. So Why Has He Never Gotten Together With Elon Musk?
By Nancy Scola · May 13, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 19 comments
The Big Read

Pete Buttigieg Has Become America’s Electric Car Czar. So Why Has He Never Gotten Together With Elon Musk?

By Nancy Scola · May 13, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 19 comments
Pete Buttigieg is thrilled to talk about how electric cars will transform the American transportation landscape. He’s much less attached to the idea of meeting the CEO of the country’s biggest electric-car company. “We were supposed to get together, actually, at South by Southwest,” said Buttigieg when asked if he’s ever spoken one-on-one with... Pete Buttigieg is thrilled to talk about how electric cars will transform the American...
Photo by Brian McConkey. Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

The Haunting of Andy Dunn

By Annie Goldsmith · May 6, 2022 9:00am PDT · 7 comments
On Andy Dunn’s left ring finger, framing his thick silver wedding band, is a scar. It is the smallest of blemishes, hardly noticeable to anyone but Dunn himself. But for him it is a reminder of a terrifying secret and the darkest momentof his life. Dunn has other scars as well—invisible, internal ones, existing in different forms. Marks of... On Andy Dunn’s left ring finger, framing his thick silver wedding band, is a scar. It is the...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

Who Is Ironmouse, Queen of the VTubers?

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 29, 2022 12:00pm PDT
The world’s most popular virtual streamer has entered the chat. “Hello!” Ironmouse bellows in her high-pitched, impossible-to-believe-it’s-real cartoon voice. “Hello, everyone. How’s it going, bros?” Ironmouse—or rather, her pink-haired, devil-horned anime avatar—pauses for several beats, and then several more, as new messages rapidly pour into... The world’s most popular virtual streamer has entered the chat. “Hello!” Ironmouse bellows in her...
Art: Clark Miller. All photographs: Rosie Nguyen
The Big Read

“She Has Always Played Life on Hard Mode”: A Female Founder on Battling Poverty, Online Harassers and Tim Cook

By Margaux MacColl · Apr 22, 2022 3:13pm PDT · 1 comment
“This account is a safe space for horny women,” Rosie Nguyen announced to her 156,000 Twitter followers earlier this week. “You are loved and seen.” The sentiment was actually a bit tame for Nguyen, who’s gained a large and loyal social media following for her often racy tweets posted under the handle @Jasminericegirl. Nguyen broadcasts the... “This account is a safe space for horny women,” Rosie Nguyen announced to her 156,000 Twitter...
Art by Clark Miller
Can Peace Last Between Crypto’s Visionary Rivals?
By Margaux MacColl · Apr 15, 2022 1:15pm PDT · 5 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Can Peace Last Between Crypto’s Visionary Rivals?

By Margaux MacColl · Apr 15, 2022 1:15pm PDT · 5 comments
Last October, an image appeared on Twitter of a crypto Mount Rushmore: a drawing of four men etched in stone, looking out onto a valley of trees. There was Dorian Nakamoto, rumored to be the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. There was the distinct, angular jawline of Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, the world’s second... Last October, an image appeared on Twitter of a crypto Mount Rushmore: a drawing of four men...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

The Cult of Company Culture Is Back. But Do Tech Workers Even Want Perks Anymore?

By Flora Tsapovsky · Apr 8, 2022 12:00pm PDT
Just a couple of years ago, Jesse Ditson, then a software engineering architect at Quip, a subsidiary of Salesforce, was living in San Francisco. Every day he came into the office, where he’d enjoy spontaneous interactions with his colleagues and, sometimes, their adorable pets. He used to attend holiday parties at Foreign Cinema and participate... Just a couple of years ago, Jesse Ditson, then a software engineering architect at Quip, a...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

Jack Dorsey, Marc Andreessen and the Makings of a Crypto Holy War

By Joel Stein · Apr 1, 2022 1:00pm PDT · 13 comments
People in Silicon Valley fight about money constantly. They squabble about startup valuations, executive compensation, pro rata rights and who does and does not have three commas in their bank account. But the bigger fight, the one Americans haven’t had since the battle over the gold standard, is about what money itself should be. Which is why... People in Silicon Valley fight about money constantly. They squabble about startup valuations,...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
The Big Read

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Clique

By Margaux MacColl · Mar 18, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments
“Did you see our NFT stunt on Fallon that went viral this week?? Ha,” venture capitalist Carter Reum joked over email. Reum was referring, of course, to his wife, Paris Hilton, and her Jan. 24 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Perhaps you saw it. The “stunt” opened with Hilton, glittering in a lime-green minidress,... “Did you see our NFT stunt on Fallon that went viral this week?? Ha,” venture capitalist Carter...
Photograph by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.
The Other Sunny Balwani
By Anita Raghavan · Mar 11, 2022 12:00pm PST · 5 comments
Photograph by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.
The Big Read

The Other Sunny Balwani

By Anita Raghavan · Mar 11, 2022 12:00pm PST · 5 comments
It was a spring day in 2018 outside the Newark, Calif., campus of Theranos. Within months, the company’s founder, Elizabeth Holmes, and its president, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, would face felony charges of conspiracy and fraud and the doomed blood diagnostics company they built together would become a Silicon Valley morality tale. While taking a... It was a spring day in 2018 outside the Newark, Calif., campus of Theranos. Within months, the...
All photographs courtesy of the subjects.
The Big Read

‘Defend the Country, Defend the Truth’: How 16 Ukrainian- and Russian-Born Tech Workers Are Responding to a Nightmare

By The Information Staff · Mar 4, 2022 11:00am PST · 2 comments
“My entire family is still there, in Kyiv,” says New York–based entrepreneur and investor Constantin Kogan. “When I’m communicating with them, I am feeling like this is the last time I’ll talk with them in my life.” For thousands of people in the tech industry, abject fear for their loved ones has dominated life over the past week. More than a... “My entire family is still there, in Kyiv,” says New York–based entrepreneur and investor...
Photography by Robert Ascroft /Showtime
The Big Read

Becoming Travis Kalanick: To Play the Pugnacious Ex-Uber Boss, a Star Taps Into His Animal Nature

By Josh Duboff · Feb 25, 2022 12:00pm PST
“Dude, it’s so fun.” Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on the phone from Los Angeles, describing what it was like to play against type as the notoriously volatile Uber founder Travis Kalanick in Showtime’s upcoming “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.” Though channeling that kind of character was fun for Gordon-Levitt, it wasn’t always comfortable. “... “Dude, it’s so fun.” Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on the phone from Los Angeles, describing what...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
The Big Read

The Bunnies Have Left the Mansion: Inside Playboy’s Quest to Reinvent Itself as a Tech Company

By Annie Goldsmith · Feb 18, 2022 1:00pm PST · 4 comments
Mia Khalifa would be an obvious choice for a Playboy Playmate of the Month, if such a thing still existed. Instead, one of the biggest names in adult entertainment just signed up for its digital equivalent. Khalifa, a social media influencer and former porn star with 27 million Instagram followers, is set to join Playboy’s new subscription... Mia Khalifa would be an obvious choice for a Playboy Playmate of the Month, if such a thing still...
Art by Haejin Park.
Crypto’s Town Square Has Become “a Scammer’s Paradise.” Why Isn’t Discord Doing More to Clean It Up?
By Margaux MacColl · Feb 11, 2022 1:00pm PST · 3 comments
Art by Haejin Park.
The Big Read

Crypto’s Town Square Has Become “a Scammer’s Paradise.” Why Isn’t Discord Doing More to Clean It Up?

By Margaux MacColl · Feb 11, 2022 1:00pm PST · 3 comments
Kat Heart’s home was on fire. It was July 2021 and Heart, a part-time outdoor education instructor, was 3,000 miles away in White Plains, N.Y., teaching children how to forage for food and survive bear encounters. Meanwhile, an electrical flame crawled up the walls of her duplex in Arlington, Wash., collapsing the roof and destroying almost... Kat Heart’s home was on fire. It was July 2021 and Heart, a part-time outdoor education...