IN 2007, New York Magazine launched its "Sex Diaries" column, turning readers into a mass of eager voyeurs getting their jollies by peering into random New Yorkers' bedrooms (or bathrooms, or kitchens, or public restrooms of choice) each week. Over the years, the column has done more than just entertain; it's become an exhaustive, longitudinal catalogue of the ways people fuck in this city-a compilation of primary-source documents deserving of a place in the National Archives, in my opinion.
On December 16, "Sex Diaries" became an HBO docuseries. In anticipation of its TV debut, I took a spin through the archives to see how sex has changed from the days when "Aqueous Transmission," by Incubus, was considered a suitable fuck track and BlackBerrys-with their filthy little rollerballs-outnumbered iPhones.
I read through nights with thirsty finance bros, afternoons with stay-at-home moms having revenge-fuck fantasies, and hours with persevering singles determined to get to the end of a date. I was sometimes turned on, sometimes existentially freaked out, sometimes proud of the way New Yorkers get it on, sometimes sad for humanity, sometimes so sick of reading endless details of masturbation habits that I wept blood tears. Trends emerged, linguistic patterns evolved, demographics shifted. And, sure, the Diarists are a self-selecting group of really-eager-to-share exhibitionists and wannabe Carrie Bradshaws with a surplus of therapeutic vocabulary and a kink for emotional drama, but as I read about all the different kinds of good sex, bad sex, thwarted attempts at sex, sex catastrophes, and occasional occurrences of sex that made people see God, a story about how New Yorkers have gotten down over the years began to emerge, one that revealed what has made good sex (at least good "Sex Diaries" sex) good.
Dirty Talk "Me No Likey" Early-Aughts (But Surprisingly, It Made Sex Fun?)
Esta historia es de la edición December 19, 2022 - January 01, 2023 de New York magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 19, 2022 - January 01, 2023 de New York magazine.
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Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
SLOP started seeping into Neil Clarke's life in late 2022. Something strange was happening at Clarkesworld, the magazine. Clarke had founded in 2006 and built into a pillar of the world of speculative fiction. Submissions were increasing rapidly, but “there was something off about them,” he told me recently. He summarized a typical example: “Usually, it begins with the phrase ‘In the year 2250-something’ and then it goes on to say the Earth’s environment is in collapse and there are only three scientists who can save us. Then it describes them in great detail, each one with its own paragraph. And then—they’ve solved it! You know, it skips a major plot element, and the final scene is a celebration out of the ending of Star Wars.” Clarke said he had received “dozens of this story in various incarnations.”
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On Sunday, September 15, Derell Mickles hopped a turnstile, got asked to leave by cops, then entered the subway again ten minutes later through an emergency exit. This was at the Sutter Avenue L station, out by his mother's house, five stops from the end of the line. Police said they noticed he was holding a folded knife. They followed him up the stairs to the elevated train, asking him 38 times to drop the weapon.
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The Water-Tower Penthouse
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