Aaron Bushnell at his birthday party in 2022.
THIS PAST FEBRUARY, Aaron Bushnell was renting an apartment in a two-story complex in a suburb near Kent State University. He said Ohio reminded him of his hometown on Cape Cod: the red brick, the storm doors, the Protestant steeples. But his building, with its beige siding and modest fitness area, its jungle gym and scattered picnic tables, could have been anywhere. He had lived there for three months, working as an intern in the IT department of a home-improvement company. The job was part of the Department of Defense's SkillBridge program, which transitions service members into civilian life. Bushnell was aiming for a career as a software engineer, perhaps designing video games. He would be out in May, at the age of 25, after his military contract expired.
Knowing nobody in Ohio, Bushnell put unusual effort into meeting his fellow residents, at one point leaving notes at their doors. "Hello neighbor!" they read. "I am Aaron Bushnell (he/him), and I recently moved in at apartment 30. I would love to meet you! I think it's important for us to know our neighbors and build community together." He included a QR code to a Discord server where they could talk as well as his email for those unfamiliar with the platform. On the flip side, in vaguely satanic lettering, he had printed GREETINGS FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD ANARCHIST.
Bushnell texted a photo of the note to an Air Force buddy who gently suggested that his neighbors would see it and imagine murder scenes from The Purge. Bushnell conceded that the font wasn't helping: "I didn't realize it would be that ugly. Also I just spent $30 to print it at the library so this is what I've got."
Denne historien er fra June 17 - 30, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra June 17 - 30, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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THE BEST ART SHOWS OF THE YEAR
IN NOVEMBER, Sotheby's made history when it sold for a million bucks a painting made by artificial intelligence. Ai-Da, \"the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork auctioned by a major auction house,\" created a portrait of Alan Turing that resembles nothing more than a bad Francis Bacon rip-off. Still, the auction house described the sale as \"a new frontier in the global art market.\"
THE BIGGEST PODCAST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR
A STRANGE THING happened with podcasts in 2024: The industry was repeatedly thrust into the spotlight owing to a preponderance of head-turning events and a presidential-election cycle that radically foregrounded the medium's consequential nature. To reflect this, we've carved out a list of ten big moments from the year as refracted through podcasting.
THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - BEST BOOKS
THE BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR
IT'S BEEN a year of successful straight plays, even measured by a metric at which they usually do poorly: ticket sales. Partially that's owed to Hollywood stars: Jeremy Strong, Jim Parsons, Rachel Zegler, Rachel McAdams (to my mind, the most compelling).
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
2024 WAS one big stress test that presented artists with a choice: Face uncomfortable realities or serve distractions to the audience. Pop music turned inward while hip-hop weathered court cases and incalculable losses. Country struggled to reconcile conservative interests with a much wider base of artists. But the year's best music offered a reprieve.
THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR
IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.
THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS
THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.
A Truly Great Time
This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.
The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking
THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.
