qz

Taipei, Taiwan Most statues of authoritarian rulers eventually have their day of reckoning. In Taiwan, the largest one of former dictator Chiang Kai-shek may see that day soon. Last week Taiwan’s culture ministry announced plans to repurpose the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, one of Taipei’s top tourist attractions, in a project could entail the removal […]

China made its threats, and now it’s following through. Over the past few months, Beijing has been pressuring Lotte Group, a major South Korean conglomerate, to not sign a land-swap deal with the military. The arrangement would give the company land near Seoul in exchange for a golf course, which would host an antimissile system […]

From Tiffany & Co.’s robin’s-egg blue to Coca-Cola’s red, it’s common for global brands to license signature colors to protect their brand. Japan has recently embraced this idea and is now granting trademarks for combinations of colors associated with commercial products and services. In a March 1 bulletin, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry […]Read More

Another day, another black mark on Uber. Recode reports that Uber this morning asked Amit Singhal, the senior vice president of engineering it hired in January, to step down after learning he failed to disclose a “credible” sexual harassment allegation from his time at Google. Uber confirmed the report to Quartz. The allegations against Singhal […]

Towards the beginning of Raoul Peck’s excellent documentary I Am Not Your Negro, Dick Cavett asks James Baldwin, “Why aren’t black people more optimistic?” Black people, Cavett says in the 1968 interview, have made great strides. They’re on films—they’re even, he notes, on television commercials. Yes, there are still problems, he acknowledges, but shouldn’t these […]Read More

Here’s the problem with getting ready for school when you’re an American teenager living in France: nothing makes sense. You drink coffee in bowls instead of mugs, eat a breakfast of baguettes with jam instead of fried eggs and bacon. Maybe you can take the train to school, but only if the SNCF isn’t on […]Read More

Could your job be done better by a robot? That’s the question posed to 16,000 employees by British insurance company Aviva. If you think anyone would be crazy to tell their employer “yes, I’m obsolete,” consider this: According to the Sunday Times (paywall), Aviva is offering to train employees for alternative jobs in the company […]Read More

Dozens of Hollywood hopefuls are likely polishing off their acceptance speeches for the 89th annual Academy Awards. Today, the gracious winners will fight back tears, smiles, or breathless enthusiasm while hurrying to thank the Academy, colleagues, and loved ones before being are cut off by the teleprompter. Throughout the history of the Academy Awards, there’s […]

It’s silly, but it’s true. I am in a croissant club. The club’s mission is straightforward, find the best croissant in New York City by going from place to place as a group and rating its offerings on a scale of one to five across six categories. We judge for flakiness, softness, presentation, color, greasiness, […]Read More

The New York Times is running a new commercial that portrays itself as an arbiter of truth in a confusing political environment. “The truth is more important now than ever,” declares the ad, which will debut during the Oscars. It’s the newspaper’s first television commercial since 2010, but longtime readers, particularly in New York, will […]Read More

US entitlement programs, specifically Social Security and Medicare, have been political hot buttons for years and president Donald Trump has pledged to keep them. Many projections suggest that as baby boomers retire, such programs will become so costly—mainly to millennials who will have to support them—that they will need to be curtailed. Speaking on the […]

Every now and then a scientific paper makes a real splash. We had one recently, to judge from recent headlines. “Moon rises to claim its place as a planet” said The Sunday Times on February 19, while the Mail Online asked “Is this lunarcy?”. The articles were among many responding to the humble paper: “A […]Read More