Nancy’s Reviews > THE NEW GILDED AGE > Status Update

Read essays 15/33: "Landing From the Sky" by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is the basis of her 2003 book "Random Family. Essay was a snapshot of an extended family in the Bronx as they navigate poverty, drug dealing, abusive relationships, teenage motherhood, and repeated incarceration over more than a decade. Excellent writing....

Read essays 14/33 "The Quarter of Living Dangerously (24.04.2000) by D. Denby. It feels that the world has shifted in 2000 to the "New Economy". It produces "...a new kind of personality —the man or woman who is morally promiscuous, whose character has the liquid properties of cash.."

Read 13/33 essays: Today's essay by Malcom Gladwell about Lois Weisberg (Chicago) ...was the best read so far! This profile was the basis for his book The Tipping Point: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
EXCELLENT ...writer M. Gladwell!

Read Essay: 12/33: "No Man's Town" about Willard Rouse. Who??
Exactly...this was the MOST boring article I've read/skimmed in a long time. A recipe "how to boil an egg" is more interesting! Bah.

Read 10/33 essays: Today is a look at Mary Meeker (1959) "The Girl in the Bubble". Who? In 1990s She was celebrated for her stock-picking acumen. Now, Mary Meeker digests vast amounts of data to highlight the unprecedented pace of AI adoption and innovation and how businesses can create an explosion of wealth. Mary just keeps on ticking...like the Duracell bunny!

Read 9/33 essays: "Kids in the Conference Room" (1999) looks at management consulting jobs that were once a top aspiration for college graduates, prestige, high pay, fast-track career growth. By reading about the past I wondered if AI could replace these young people? AI reinvents consulting as higher-value..but does not make it obsolete. Nothing can replace empathy.

Read 7/33 essays - Reading Malcolm Gladwell "Clicks and Morters" is like reading ancient history. MG delights in the benefits of e-commerce (barcodes, internet web stores, tracking packages) but still wants to highlight that 'people' are still necessary for business. Poor MG he did not see AI chat customer service, robotics in warehouses and...drones ...coming! Fun to look back to 1999, ancient history!

2 essays "The Gilder Effect" (about George Gilder, who?) and Hard Core Bill Gates Microsoft vs the Government trial.. Interesting at the time (1998)...but pales in comparison to the tech-bros of our times. The only thing that kept me awake were the " Pre New Years " fireworks that are currently exploding in my neighbourhood! 2025......If ever there were a year whose end could not come soon enough, this was it.

Read 4/33 essays:

The post enjoyable so far is Mark Singer's essay 1997 "Trump Solo". I had to laugh at one quote from Trump:
"Whatever complicates the world more, I do,”
Aint' that the truth!

Read: 2/33 essays and am impressed by Larissa Macfarqyhar! Staff writer at the New Yorker since 1998 and is known for her sharp, insightful profiles. She interviewed Jason Calcanis (Internet entrepreneur. I'd like to find her essays on Hilary Mantel and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the magazine's archive. NETFLIX docs (2025) New Yorker 100 years is excellent!