👓 New York Is Killing Me | The New Yorker

Read New York Is Killing Me by Alec WilkinsonAlec Wilkinson (The New Yorker)
Gil Scott-Heron is frequently called the “godfather of rap,” which is an epithet he doesn’t really care for. In 1968, when he was nineteen, he wrote a satirical spoken-word piece called “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” It was released on a very small label in 1970 and was probably heard of more than heard, but it had a following. It is the species of classic that sounds as subversive and intelligent now as it did when it was new, even though some of the references—Spiro Agnew, Natalie Wood, Roy Wilkins, Hooterville—have become dated. By the time Scott-Heron was twenty-three, he had published two novels and a book of poems and recorded three albums, each of which prospered modestly, but “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” made him famous.

📑 The Unlikely Survival of the Godfather of Rap | The New Yorker

Annotated New York Is Killing Me by Alec WilkinsonAlec Wilkinson (The New Yorker)
A philosopher might miss appointments, but so might someone with a propane torch in his apartment, even if he is a philosopher.  
— Gil Scott-Heron

👓 This Bot Tweets Photos and Names of People Who Bought 'Drugs' on Venmo | Motherboard | Vice

Read This Bot Tweets Photos and Names of People Who Bought 'Drugs' on Venmo (Motherboard)
Venmo transaction data is public by default. But a programmer has taken that data stream and is tweeting the username and photos of users who buy 'drugs'.

📺 Marijuana: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Watched Marijuana: Last Week Tonight from HBO
Under federal law, even legal marijuana is illegal. John Oliver explains why conflicting drug laws pose serious problems.
Our government should spend a bit more time worrying less about flashy headlines and spend more time working on things that will help and improve the lives of the most people. Getting the hundreds of thousands of low-lying marijuana offenders out of the criminal justice system and helping them be productive members of society would certainly help. If we’re going to penalize marijuana users like this we should also do it with alcoholics too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcR_Wg42dv8

He went in to report on crystal meth – before long, Luke Williams was hooked | New Statesman

Read He went in to report on crystal meth – before long, Luke Williams was hooked (newstatesman.com)
The journalist moved into a house of meth addicts to investigate the drug. Within a month, he was using, too.