Humor

Renee DiResta uses Google's autocomplete feature to understand how Americans "really think about 'those people' in other states." Play with her wonderfully enlightening interactive map to view the top terms associated with each state.

August 14, 2012 - no upside

Accomplished comic author, and orthodontist-in-training, Grant Snider turns his acerbic attention to his neighborhood, and the wonders of "Suburban Planning."

August 10, 2012 - Incidental Comics

Countless street-gazing tourists and residents of New York have wondered what the mysterious markings - one that looks like a blue poker chip, the other a yellow E - embedded in New York's streets signify. Kate Hinds has the answer.

August 6, 2012 - Transportation Nation

An elderly woman in China has implemented an innovative traffic calming measure in her neighborhood. Could sex dolls replace stop signs at an intersection near you?

August 3, 2012 - Boing Boing

Scott Doyon discusses the dangers of simplification and the counter-intuitive soundbite, which work against the creation of partnerships that are essential to solving some of our biggest challenges.

July 31, 2012 - PlaceShakers

For those who thought having to stand to use a Segway required far too much exertion, Honda has introduced the Uni-Cub, a radical new way for humans to avoid ever having to be upright again.

July 27, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In a short video, part comedy/part anthropological study, The New York Times documents "The Subway Shuffle": that "daily gamble" as NYC commuters dash "to victory, or despair" between local and express trains arriving on the same platform.

July 27, 2012 - The New York Times

Sarah Laskow noted a significant milestone this week, the 15th anniversary of Stubbs the cat's election as mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska.

July 20, 2012 - Grist

On the eve of the premiere of the most highly anticipated blockbuster of the summer - "The Dark Night Rises" - Adam Rogers probes the "deeply dysfunctional love story" between Batman and Gotham.

July 19, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

With your indulgence, we'd like to inaugurate "Flush Fridays" by bringing you the latest entry in John Metcalfe's "Toilet Tuesdays" series. This week's deposit focused on Lucas, Kansas, the town in America "most proud of its public restrooms."

July 13, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

A tongue-in-cheek, and somewhat convoluted, infographic produced in association with NPR's "Cities Project" aims to help participants deduce whether or not they live in a city.

July 13, 2012 - Fast Company Co:Design

In case the everyday theater of urban street life isn't quite adequate in an age of $200 million Hollywood blockbusters, a design collective from Auckland, New Zealand has created a way to turn any stoop into a mini cinema.

July 13, 2012 - Architizer

Does riding the subway make you want to burst out into song? For the performers of the 10 ballads deemed by Eric Jaffe to be the best songs about the subway, there may be no greater muse.

July 12, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

In New York City a new project, I Wish I Said Hello, takes Craigslist's 'missed connections' from the internet to the street.

July 11, 2012 - Wired

In response to widespread attention from one short video, MTA repair crews rushed to repair a faulty step at a subway station staircase in "perhaps the fastest response to a customer complaint in agency history," Matt Flegenheimer reports.

July 3, 2012 - The New York Times City Room Blog

One brazen entrepreneur from Detroit is looking to raise funds to bring his "zombie theme park" concept to life, Sarah Cox reports.

June 29, 2012 - Curbed

Just as Mayor Bloomberg had opened a striking new front in America's war on obesity with his ban on oversized soft drinks, a revolutionary "crisp-crusted, ooey-gooey" weapon of mass seduction has been unveiled, writes Rene Lynch.

June 22, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Shelby Brown has collected a humorous and fascinating look at the common gripes of the ancient Roman city dweller. From from traffic jams to fashion requirements, many of these complaints will sound eerily modern.

June 19, 2012 - The Iris

You're probably itching for a change of pace from relentlessly humorous stories we bring you every Friday. So, this week we're changing it up a bit, with the help of our friends at The Atlantic Cities.

June 15, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

From pickles to beef-jerky, Brooklyn takes its hand-crafted products seriously. But with a wave of artisanal parking tickets appearing on windshields in Park Slope, has the borough gone too far - or just far enough?

June 8, 2012 - Grist