Trimming the Times

Analyzing Iowa, Duct Tape Fashion, and Tickets to Outer Space

The Atlantic Wire / Cyril Bousselet's Flickr
Dashiell Bennett 345 Views Jan 4, 2012

Now that The New York Times pay wall is live, you only get 20 free clicks a month. For those worried about hitting their limit, we're taking a look through the paper each morning to find the stories that can make your clicks count.

Top Stories: Tons of Iowa coverage as you might expect: A look at the operation behind the Santorum Surge; how the split in votes mirrors the ideological split in the Republican party; why Mitt Romney's performance makes New Hampshire even more irrelevant: Ross Douthat says Iowa took a weak field and made it stronger (without anointing a king); while the editors say it revealed a "dark and disturbing" picture of the G.O.P. choices.

U.S.: A typical driver in New Jersey could save $3,200 a year by avoiding toll roads (which just got a price hike), but would spend 160 more hours in the car. Atlantic City is betting big on a new $2.4-billion hotel and casino that may be the last gasp for a declining gambling town.

Business: Travel agents and insurance companies are eager to join the space tourism business, selling seats and packages for commercial space flights that could begin this year. (They cost about $200,000 for five minutes of weightlessness.)

Style: Designer duct tape (seriously) is making its way into the fashion world.

Books: Pity the Billionaire is a new book by the author of What's The Matter With Kansas? that examines the conservative response to the economic crisis, but has already been rendered outdated by the rise of Occupy Wall Street during the long lead time required by book publishing. Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That? is more humor book than manners manual, but does offer advice on how to behave in the modern age.

Arts: Five movies you almost certainly didn't see last year, but still should. World music fans may be excited to learn that singer Youssou N'Dour is running for president of Senegal.

Sports: Clemson football fans have a strange tradition of spending $2 bills stamped with their orange tiger paw logo to demonstrate their economic strength on road trips.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dbennett at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

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