In April 2024 Jackie Barba, a mother of two girls, heard about Alpha School, a new, artificial intelligence–supported educational institution that was slated to open in her home city of Miami for the 2024–2025 academic year. At $50,000 per year, the school’s cost rivaled that of high-end private institutions found mainly in New England. But unlike its legacy rivals, Alpha (which was founded in Austin, Texas) promised a more modern and real world–applicable learning platform,

Resale alerts. Proxy services. Secret WhatsApps. This is what it takes to buy the best—and most coveted—clothes. The White Stripes’ anthem “Seven Nation Army” never fails to have a Proustian effect on Bianca Jebbia. Every time she hears it, Jebbia flashes back to the first time she walked into the Marni boutique on Mercer Street in New York. More than two decades later, she recalls entering a futuristic gallery of fashion, with clothes suspended from chrome rails as seriously