Content Section

Latest Updates

RETREAT

Obama and Xi Jinping Start Two Days of Talks

Jae C. Hong/AP

But will NSA news dominate the conversation?

President Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have repaired to Palm Springs, California, to discuss North Korea, cybersecurity, and other major issues. The two-day desert retreat comes at an interesting time: the news that the Obama administration has been secretly spying on Americans’ phone records might interfere with the president’s effort to confront Xi about China allegedly hacking the U.S. Reporters are expecting Obama to make his first public acknowledgment of the recently revealed NSA program during the trip.

Read it at The Daily Beast

Making the Grade

Our Intern on ‘The Internship’

Phil Bray

Jean Trinh, the resident intern for The Daily Beast, examines the Vince Vaughn–Owen Wilson comedy—out today—to see how relatable it is from an intern’s point of view.

It’s perfect timing that The Internship is released today, near the end of my six-month stretch as an intern for the entertainment bureau of The Daily Beast. I knew watching the film would get me to reflect on my own experience and it would be hard not to compare it to the Google shrine I knew the film would portray. There aren’t too many companies offering free housing and meals during an entire summer internship as the film depicts.Would I find the film relatable and would it make me feel better about taking an unconventional career route? Or would it leave me huddled in the fetal position on my bathroom floor two hours later? After all, the last time I watched Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson pair up it was for the raunchy 2005 hit comedy Wedding Crashers—that was eight years ago, soon after I finished undergraduate school.

RX

26 Is the New 21

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The provision of Obamacare that lets young adults stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26 was supposed to be a fallback. But with the labor market weak, and employers reluctant to provide benefits, kids are hanging on to their families’ policies as long as they can.

In better times, 26-year-olds staying on their parents’ health-insurance plans may have seemed strange. Now children are relying on their parents’ coverage well into their mid-20s, and the use of this crutch is a symptom of the shaky employment landscape for young adults.Obamacare’s dependent-coverage provision, which allows young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until December 31 of the year in which they turn 26, was supposed to be a second option, a fallback plan for early-career turbulence.

CHIMP ART

Monkey Business

Guzelian

How much would you pay for a blurry photograph of Moscow? What if it was taken by a chimpanzee?

Get ready for Instagram feeds to be filled with photos taken from an animal point-of-view. On Wednesday, the collection of pictures by Mikki (pictured above), a chimpanzee, reeled in roughly $75,000 at Sotheby's. Mikki was discovered by contemporary Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid at the Moscow Circus, and they taught him how to take photos. According to Guzelian, his works like the one below of St. Basil's Cathedral, are similar to experimental photography and are an animal's version of the endless number of tourist photos taken daily around the world.

Ex–Zynga Employees Tell All on Reddit

Paul Sakuma/AP

Print really is dead. Now, instead of publishing a tell-all, ex–Zynga employees are taking to Reddit to vent their frustrations with their former employer.

by Cadie Thompson Looks like a few of the folks who got laid off at Zynga earlier this week are coping with the breakup by venting about it on Reddit.Sam Biddle over at Valleywag pointed out the thread Wednesday. The former employees are talking about everything from perks at Zynga to just how long they give the company before it tanks.Some benefits at the gaming company consisted of free food and free gym access, and for some employees, their smartphone and wireless service also came paid for.

Second Coming

Alexander Wang’s Balenciaga Heats Up

Balenciaga

The designer’s resort collection for Balenciaga was inspired by the coast of Spain and featured details found in the house’s rich archives. By Alice Cavanagh.

Alexander Wang presented his first-ever Resort collection for Balenciaga in New York on Wednesday, and it was a modest progression from his Fall/Winter 2013 collection for the house. Most creative directors of the major Parisian houses—such as Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy and Phoebe Philo from Céline—cross the Atlantic to offer their take on the season to the American press. Wang, however, is on home turf.The CFDA winner’s own eponymous line, with its dark palette, street cred, and sportswear influence, has become synonymous with the city —a uniform of sorts for the unquestionably cool and die-hard fashion followers alike.

Sell

CHART OF THE DAY

Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

Fueled by solid economic growth, Turkey’s stock market has been on a fantastic run. The government’s ham-handed efforts to crush protests have caused investors to flee.

The hardline tactics that the Turkish government has taken to crush protests in Taksim Square in Istanbul have taken a toll on the image of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But they’ve also taken a toll on the image of Turkey’s booming corporate sector. In recent years, Turkey has been a bright spot in the global economy. A rising middle class, a stable financial sector, and growing economic integration with Europe (to the west) and the Middle East (to the, um, east) have spurred rapid growth in recent years.

PLAY FAIR, NOW

A-Rod Refused to Pay Bosch

Elsa

Owner of clinic then turned to MLB.

It doesn’t pay to be cheap. The New York Daily News reports that before going to MLB, the owner of the Florida anti-aging clinic—you know, the one that’s busting major players for steroids—went to Yankees star Alex Rodriguez for money. A-Rod, whose image in New York City couldn’t be worse right now, said no. Anthony Bosch was then forced to turn to MLB and agree to cooperate in its steroids investigation. Next up: suspensions for some of the game’s biggest stars.

Read it at New York Daily News

STOP LOOKING AT HIS PROFILE

Study: Facebook Ruins Relationships

Peter Macdiarmid

Excessive use leads to jealousy and rage among couples.

Jealous of your boyfriend’s endless poke war with his “work friend”? That jealousy might be the beginning of the end, according to a new study that says excessive Facebook use can wreak havoc on romantic relationships. The study, which surveyed Facebook users ages 18 to 82, found that individuals who constantly checked their newsfeeds were more prone to Facebook-induced conflict, like arguments about that boy who likes all of your photos. Researchers also found that Facebook use can lead to emotional and in-real-life cheating, since the social network makes it so easy to connect with people from one’s past. Here’s the kicker: the findings applied only to couples who had been in relationships for three years or less, which suggests less mature relationships are particularly at risk.

Read it at MU News Bureau

The Essential Afghan Memoir

‘War Never Stopped Chasing Us’

A carpet seller tells the extraordinary story of his family’s exodus from their home in Kabul when he was a young boy and their subsequent odyssey through Afghanistan, as they see the Taliban and the Americans come and go.

In a few months, it will be 12 years since the U.S. war in Afghanistan began. The date will be marked on White House calendars, with policymakers in the Obama administration talking about 2014 as the “end” of the war. For Americans, this will be another American war wound down but not won. For Afghans, however, there will still be a NATO presence, and they will face strife that for them has dragged on across more than three decades.Qais Akbar Omar, a student in the Master of Fine Arts creative-writing program at Boston University, is also a native Afghan carpet weaver.

Markets React to Fed Tapering

With news of potential Fed tapering, Julie Hyman joins In the Loop with Betty Liu on Bloomberg News to give analysis of market reaction.

  1. Mac Pro 'Looks Like a Trash Can' Play

    Mac Pro 'Looks Like a Trash Can'

  2. Is Streaming Next for Apple? Play

    Is Streaming Next for Apple?

  3. Colbert Rips 'Spreadsheet Error' in Austerity Supporting Harvard Study Play

    Colbert Rips 'Spreadsheet Error' in Austerity Supporting Harvard Study

Quartz_BlackWordmark

Business

Daniel Gross

Asymmetrical Information

Megan McArdle

Building a Better Clinical Trial System

Companies don't publish all their results. How can we get more information into the public domain?

Latest from The Daily Beast

Dolce & Gabbana Sentenced to Jail Time

Dolce & Gabbana Sentenced to Jail Time

The Italian design duo has been sentenced to one year and eight month's worth of jail time, but are expected to appeal the decision.

Getting Closer

Sunset Over Gitmo?

We're So Excited!

Even We Don't Know Baby's Gender, Say William and Kate

Building a Better Clinical Trial System

The Atrocity Exhibition

The Stylish Historian of Infamy