Listicles, tweets, your ex’s Facebook status, picture of dogs wearing costumes — the internet offers no shortage of entertaining stuff to look at. But there’s plenty of substantial writing out there, too, the pieces you spend a few minutes reading and a long time thinking about after you’ve closed the tab. In this weekly feature, Flavorwire shares the best of that category. This week, why New York institution East Village Radio had to shut down, Balkan basketball in the 1990s, and more.
The beloved East Village radio station that streamed all over the world suffered from a case of being too popular, and that’s partially to blame for its demise.
“Gilbert Gottfried, New York Punk” by Jay Ruttenberg, The Lowbrow Reader
Did you ever give much thought to Gilbert Gottfried — his comedy, his persona, and his life story? It’s probably not too big of a shock that Jay Ruttenberg of The Lowbrow Reader has, and he wrote a damn fine piece about the most annoying voice in comedy.
“Hitchhiking Through New York City With John Waters” by Mark Yarm, Vulture
John Waters has a new book out about hitchhiking through the US, but there’s nothing scarier than hitching rides through New York City.
“Drazen Petrovic’s Ghost” by Asher Kohn, The Classical
“Yugoslavia, though, is a cautionary tale, and I don’t mean geopolitically. I mean that if there is any lesson from the 1990s it’s that you are never further than two steps from utter and complete ruin.” The Classical shows us again how you can tie together sports, politics, and culture in an intelligent way, and Kohn sums up nicely in one sentence the thing most other sports writers and publications just do not get: “Sports is a metaphor.”