Articles / Nico Letters

25th August 2021

Taxi Medallion Crisis Drives Council Candidates Demand for Bold Bailout

Several South Asian candidates seeking office have been shaped by family hardship in New York’s yellow-cab medallion financial collapse. They say only sweeping reform will avoid disaster. They are prepared to lead the charge.

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Featured Articles

25th August 2021

False Claims Tying COVID-19 Vaccine to Infertility Drive Doubts Among Women on Telegram

Telegram’s lax content moderation and encrypted chats make it a convenient platform for the spread of misinformation.

Medium • 13th March 2021

Feed the Frontlines NYC Collects $2 Million in Donations to Feed Hospital Workers and UWS Seniors…

Last March — as novel coronavirus outbreaks ravaged New York City and other parts of the United States — Feed the Frontlines NYC made their first delivery of 40 meals to the emergency room at NYU Langone Tisch Hospital in Kips Bay. The next day, on...

A New York Comedy Club Fights to Bring Back Stand-Up

“Everyone should be allowed to play by the same rules” the co-owner of Stand Up NY said of plans to resume indoor dining this Friday – while live comedy remains sidelined.

The Culture-ist • 17th September 2018

Inside the Life of a Peruvian San Pedro Shaman - Culture-ist

Insulated from the rapid plunders of modernization by vast jungles and mountain ranges, it is still possible to encounter intact shamanic cultures. For these people, plants which bring about visionary trance are the focal point of spiritual life and...

Short Story: The Depressed Who Get To the Bottom of Things

(Published in Z Publishing House's "California's Emerging Writers" series, available on Amazon) On 10 November 2017 it rains. The sky is dim and full of clouds. The clouds are thick and bulbous, like a pregnant belly, hanging beneath the waistline,...

8th November 2017

Why Have Religious Zionists Perpetrated Acts of Violence in Hebron Post-2005?

(Published in U.C. Santa Barbara's Global Societies Journal) Why have Religious Zionists perpetrated acts of violence in Hebron post-2005? Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank settlements in 2005 caused the Religious Zionist...

Business/Tech Articles

Alegria Fresh Unveils Urban Microfarming System at Orange County Great Parks

LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2019 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – On a 2,000-square-foot piece of land inside a park that used to house the El Toro marine air base in Orange County, California, farmers are growing vegetables thanks to an innovation that...

Podcast Digest: Consulting Executives on Emerging Rental Trends

LOS ANGELES, June 12, 2019 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Lesley Deutch and Ken Perlman, both principals at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, discussed notable shifts in the apartment rental market with host Dean Wehrli in a podcast on the company’s website.

Going Paperless? Paper vs. Digital Receipts

(Published by Industry Intelligence, Inc.) Paper receipts are a familiar sight for shoppers making purchases at the checkout line, but many retailers are signing up to use digital receipts—where customers can choose to have their receipt sent to an...

Blue Lifestyle • 29th March 2019

San Francisco’s Salesforce Tower, Symbol of a Skyline Transformed by Tech

The Salesforce Tower, a massive glass and steel skyscraper visible everywhere in San Fransico, was completed in May 2018, becoming the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi River and the tallest in the Bay Area. For a city that has been a...

Lifestyle Articles

Blue Lifestyle • 22nd March 2019

Chef Edward Lee Discovers America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine in "Buttermilk Graffiti"

Edward Lee may be a multi-year James Beard Award nominee and “Top Chef” participant, but the subjects of his new book, “Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine,” aren’t high-flying culinary celebrities;...

The Culture-ist • 6th February 2018

The Sound of Silence: Two Meditation Retreats in Thailand for Budget Travelers

Thailand has long been a haven for spiritual pilgrims looking to remove themselves—even for a short period of time—from the life they’ve become accustomed to at home. Think about it: hours and hours of guided meditation, no distractions, tasty Thai...

Blue Lifestyle • 25th April 2019

Anthony Bourdain Loved Los Angeles; Here's Why

Despite the traffic, oppressive sunshine, and all that sprawl, Anthony Bourdain always kept a little love in his heart for Los Angeles. When the iconic chef, writer, television host, traveler, and beloved media figure visited Los Angeles, in 2016, two...

Blue Lifestyle • 6th February 2019

Master of None's Eric Wareheim is a Master of Wine

Comedian Eric Wareheim doesn’t want to make celebrity wine that is sh*tty. He wants to shock people by how good it is. He wants to make punk rock wine. Well, actually he wants to make natural wine, but Wareheim has come to associate DIY,...

Blue Lifestyle • 7th March 2019

Lowell Herb's Cannabis-Infused Café to Open This Summer In West Hollywood

These days, it’s not difficult to find curated weed parties, exclusive cannabis dinners, pot-infused yoga classes, and all sorts of secret seshes in the Los Angeles area. But this summer, a permanent consumption space will open in nearby West...

Blue Lifestyle • 5th March 2019

Here Are the 2019 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists

Last week, the James Beard Foundation announced its Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists for 2019. The list promises to be more diverse than years prior, with the foundation reporting a 7 percent increase in the representation of people of color...

Blue Lifestyle • 18th January 2019

Los Angeles Teachers Strike for Higher Wages and Smaller Classes

Teachers in Los Angeles have been on strike since Monday, Jan. 14, demanding higher pay, smaller class sizes, and more support staff such as nurses, librarians, and counselors. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest in the U.S.,...

Blue Lifestyle • 16th January 2019

How Your Gut Bacteria May Be Contributing to Your Brain Health

The gut has rapidly gained prominence as an arbiter of overall health. It is well known that gut bacteria, also known as the microbiome, can influence digestion, allergies, and metabolism. But these microbes’ reach may, in fact, extend much...

Blue Lifestyle • 29th January 2019

Why Running is Good For Your Health and Wellbeing

The positive relationship between running and psychology continues to gain credibility, with the benefits of getting outside for a jog enriching other aspects of our lives. Psychologists are increasingly viewing running as a tool to improve a person’s...

Blue Lifestyle • 9th January 2019

4 Wellness Trends to Watch in 2019

In 2018, the wellness world transformed. People started having more open and sincere conversations about mental health, intermittent fasting went mainstream, and CBD took over the world (well, sort of). At the same time, people embraced green beauty,...

Blue Lifestyle • 10th December 2018

What Trump’s Prospective AG Pick Could Mean for Legal Cannabis

President Trump confirmed on Friday that he plans to nominate William Barr, a Republican lawyer and former Justice Department official, to replace ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Barr has already served once as US attorney general (1991-1993),...

Blue Lifestyle • 26th October 2018

Part II: Peru's Ancient Geoglyphs

As a single-engine prop plane soars over the high desert of southern Peru, the dull performance of sand and wind-torn rock begins to organize and change form. Distinct white lines gradually emerge from the pale landscape, revealing deep tracks...

Blue Lifestyle • 11th December 2018

10 Best Holiday Events in L.A. This December

Can you believe it? We’re already nearing the middle of the holiday season, which means your schedule is probably packed with parties and seasonal events. From an evening with Fleetwood Mac and a Christmas tour performance by John Legend, an interview...

Blue Lifestyle • 6th December 2018

L.A.’s Best One-Stop Holistic Healing Havens

To many people, there’s a stereotypical idea of what L.A. wellness entails: hikes in Runyon Canyon, whole-body cryotherapy, and virtual reality meditation—whatever that is. But Los Angeles has also become a haven for spiritual pilgrims seeking...

Blue Lifestyle • 3rd December 2018

The Ultimate Dining Bucket List

For better or worse, the idea for The World’s 50 Best Restaurant list was born in a barroom. The goal was to create an annual list that reflected the diversity of the world’s culinary landscape in a way that was unique and revered. Two decades and...

Blue Lifestyle • 20th November 2018

Running on Autopilot: When You Burn the Most (and Least) Calories During the Day

Some of our body’s functions—including burning calories—run according to an internal schedule that has little to do with our lifestyle, a new study finds. No matter whether we stay up all night or maintain a typical sleeping schedule, our bodies have...

Blue Lifestyle • 14th November 2018

What You Can Eat on a Typical Keto Diet & Why It’s Probably Not a Good Idea

Diet fads come and go, but some attract more attention (and longevity) than others. In case you’ve somehow missed it, the keto diet is the latest obsession taking over the weight loss world. Adherents claim the high-fat, low-carb eating regimen has...

Blue Lifestyle • 8th November 2018

California’s 11 Ballot Propositions: Which Passed, Failed?

On Tuesday California voters were given a chance to expand rent control, authorize bonds funding construction at hospitals providing children’s health care, establish new standards for the confinement of farm animals, and repeal a gas tax by way of...

Blue Lifestyle • 6th November 2018

Celebrated Master Whiskey Distiller Dave Pickerell Dies Aged 62

Dave Pickerell, the master behind Vermont’s WhistlePig and one of the biggest names in the modern wave of craft distillers, died on Nov. 1 in San Francisco. He was 62. Pickerell was visiting the city for this year’s WhiskyFest sponsored by Whisky...

Blue Lifestyle • 5th November 2018

7 Best Things to Do in L.A. This Week

From election night parties to a showcase of L.A.’s female culinary talent, an exhibition of paintings by local Chicano artist John Valadez and a premiere event celebrating Cabernet Sauvignon, here are the 7 best things to do in Los Angeles this...

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Academic Articles

BERKELEY FICTION REVIEW • 21st June 2017

Short Story: Worth(less)

I’m seated in a pub on a quiet and unwelcoming Tuesday. I carefully orient myself so I can see only the tattered papers in front of me, the beer I ordered only moments ago. The bartender serving me periodically enters and exits through a vaulted...

Philosophical Implications in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens’ first book of poetry, Harmonium, which contains, “Sunday Morning,” “Anecdote of the Jar,” “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” and the “Comedian as the Letter C,” introduces readers to Steven’s esoteric vocabulary, rigorous care...

11th December 2016

Said is Missaid: Later Beckett, Earlier Wittgenstein

“Wittgenstein book safely arrived. Very glad to have it,” wrote Samuel Beckett in a New Year’s Day, 1971, letter to Mary Hutchinson, thanking her for securing him a copy of the German translation of Norman Malcolm’s Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir. ...