Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
Lebron James. Photo: AFP
Meet Maverick Carter, the Man Behind LeBron’s Billion-Dollar Nike Deal – by Mark Anthony Green, GQ
“There is no algorithm. There's simply this: You never get what you deserve, you only get what you negotiate. So if you can negotiate for $99 after making someone $100—that's what you're worth.”
It's New Zealand Music month and no-one cares – by Guy Williams, Stuff
“It was a dream-like blur so I don't remember the story accurately… but I think [Lorde] levitated into the studio. Her feet were not moving, she flew like an ethereal spirit, dressed all in black. I could only stare as she majestically glided towards me, she took a Grammy in each hand, and she smashed them into my face. I wept into her forgiving arms and I solemnly swore to never to criticise NZ music again.”
Surely NZ is better than this – by Mike Wesley-Smith, Newshub
“To witness young children aged under five living in a car for two months was bloody shocking. We were told the family had tried to seek assistance from Work and Income and other agencies, but were told they would have to wait for eighteen months for a state house.”
How Blac Chyna Beat The Kardashians At Their Own Game – by Sylvia Obell, Buzzfeed
“And so the Kardashians, a family often accused of stealing black men, black features, and black culture, got beat at their own game by a black woman. And not just any black woman, but a video vixen who was never supposed to see the inside of the country clubs the Kardashians frequented growing up.”
Why Are So Many Vogue Cover Stories Written by Men? – by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Jezebel
“Vogue has never precisely been about sisterhood, but Wintour seems to espouse liberal politics, relatively speaking, and she is in the business of elevating women by the very nature of her institution. That these impulses don’t seem to extend much to the writing of the most important story in the magazine is confounding, and incongruous.”
Our Brand Could Be Your Crisis - by Ayesha Siddiqi, The New Inquiry
“This was the wave of millennials that took their angst at the strange new world and channeled it toward artisanal goods and an aggressive return to American craftsmanship. They outgrew their devotion to vintage and irony but bought wholly into selling “realness.” They opened Brooklyn farm-to-table restaurants and Portland pour-over coffee shops. No wonder they look at freelance hours and the branded-content generation with skepticism, even as they ape colonial ancestors with their beards, suspenders, and predilection for displacing communities of color and pretending they discovered bean-to-bar chocolatiering.”
