Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Worth a Click: 11 Stories You Need to Read Today

By DNAinfo Staff | November 24, 2015 3:36pm 

"Jessica Jones" stars Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter attend New York Comic-Con on Oct. 10, 2015.
View Full Caption
Getty Images/Dave Kotinsky

Sick Passengers Cause 3,000 Train Delays Per Month in New York

Maybe it’s contagious. For unknown reasons, the number of sick passengers causing train delays in New York City have grown from about 1,800 per month in 2012 to roughly 3,000 each month in 2015, according to the MTA.

The most common incidents involve passengers who have fainted or vomited, but some passengers have suffered from more serious illnesses, such as a seizure or heart attack.

The other top reasons for subway delays include equipment problems, overcrowding and bad weather, the New York Times reported. [NYT]

John Oliver Reminds Us Just How Hard It Is to Get Into the U.S. as a Refugee

In a sassy takedown of the coalition of 25 governors who said they would block Syrian refugees from being resettled in their states, John Oliver points out A) how exhaustive the process is already for refugees trying to come to the U.S. and B) that Syrians can get from state to state just like anyone else. “The lines on maps are not crocodile-filled moats,” Oliver said.

A Chicago Columnist Calls Out Spike Lee For Blaming One Part of the City For A Shooting Epidemic

When filmmaker Spike Lee singled out the South Side of Chicago as the root of the city’s most violent crime, DNAinfo Chicago writer Mark Konkol had to refrain from writing a string of curse words in his column over the weekend. Konkol also called out Lee, who was promoting his new film “Chi-Raq” on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” for hosting the film’s premier in wealthy neighborhoods rather than on the South Side, although some may say that criticism is misplaced.  

“But it’s also not fair when people in power — and Lee has plenty of star power — feel compelled to highlight certain neighborhoods as the embodiment of evil in Chicago but fail to show off the pockets of potential and opportunities for hope when it's time to celebrate,” Konkol wrote. [DNAinfo Chicago]

Why the Villain of 'Jessica Jones' Is the Scariest Thing on TV Right Now

Marvel dropped the first 13 episodes of its newest show, "Jessica Jones," on Netflix last week. The show is already setting itself apart from the company's usual superhero franchises as a throwback to gritty noir with a dose of 70s sleaze, featuring a strong but broken female lead who's desperately trying to shake her demons. The show also introduced viewers to Kilgrave, a strong candidate for scariest villain on TV, who manages with one word — "Smile" — to tap into the sexism women face every day while twisting it into something both terrifying and disturbingly relatable. [LA Times]

Trump’s Poll Numbers Don’t Mean a Thing, Stat Guru Says

America’s reigning statistics king, Nate Silver, wants the media to “stop freaking out about Donald Trump’s polls,” as he says in the headline of a thorough essay explaining why no one should fear a Trump presidency just yet. Mostly, it has to do with the fact that those who would give Trump their vote today in Republican-only polls make up between 6 and 8 percent of the overall electorate and, more importantly, hardly any voters are actually paying attention to the election yet, despite what the media would have us believe. [FiveThirtyEight]

Meet the Woman Who Set the Stage for Trump’s Anti-Immigration Fervor

Maria Espinoza has become a star in a seemingly growing movement focusing on the crimes of “illegal” immigrants. Despite being the daughter of a Mexican immigrant herself, Espinoza has championed a hard-line rhetoric when it comes to undocumented immigrants for more than six years — a potentially dangerous, fringe philosophy that’s now getting its moment in the sun thanks to Trump. [Buzzfeed]

Why Nobody Thinks They’re Too Cool for Adele

Adele’s new album has sold 2 million copies in its first three days, leading Slate’s Carl Wilson to wonder why someone who writes songs that he describes as “unabashedly square and hokey” can still seem so cool to so many people — young ones in particular. He points to factors like her embrace of nostalgia, given how easily teenagers and college students can look back wistfully on the simpler days of eighth grade, as well as how many “cool people” no longer feel the need to disparage pop music just because it’s pop music. Also, as SNL recently pointed out, she’s pretty good at curing family tension during the holidays. Thanks, Adele. [Slate]

Want to Donate to the Homeless? Give Socks

A Philadelphia-based organization is collecting socks for the homeless because they find the they are the most important piece of clothing, according to the founder of The Joy of Sox. “One homeless man named Kiwi told me socks are more important than food. He said that he knows of many pantries and shelters where he can get food, but that there’s no way he can walk the streets of Toronto without socks,” he said. With reports of an increasing homeless population, it might be good to think of how to serve them best. [Points of Light]

How Turducken Went From Food of Kings To Poultry of the Populace

Turducken — chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey — may seem like a modern-day development, but it wasn’t the first meaty mishmash to hit the dinner table, according to Atlas Obscura. The blog traced the history of the “meatmanteau,” from its origins as a luxury food item for Roman emperors and Medieval lords, to a seasonal feast available at Sam’s Club. [Atlas Obscura]

Meteorologists All Love This Amazon.com Dress

It’s not easy being a female meteorologist. While their male counterparts can throw on the same couple of suits and head to work, many women in the business feel pressure to abide by a number of wardrobe rules while dressing for their on-air shots — which is why many swap fashion tips in a Facebook group just for women meteorologists. When someone in the group posted a link to a $23 dress on Amazon.com, several bought it, and the dress has been gaining popularity since, leading to this delightful collage of weather reporters from around the country wearing the same dress on-air. [Tech Insider]

Are Millennials Really More Sensitive to ‘Offensive’ Speech Than the Rest of the Country?

As campus protests heat up across the country many pundits have gone hoarse hollering about millennials being too sensitive, and a Pew poll last week showed that 40 per cent of millennials would be ok with the government banning certain “offensive” speech. Before you start wagging your finger at kids today, check out this piece on New York Magazine’s Science of Us blog that suggests the results of that poll aren’t as much of an outlier as they may seem. [NY Magazine]

Photographer Celebrates Diversity of Dominican Culture

What do Dominicans look like? That’s what Colombian-American photographer, Antonio Pulgarin, is set to find out, as he documents the diversity in the country with a series of pictures. Pulgarin says that after the government started deporting non-residents this past summer, he needed to return to his step-father’s homeland to create a different, more positive narrative of the people. [Slate]

This column was compiled by DNAinfo staff members Lisha Arino, Julia Bottles, Jeanmarie Evelly, Gwynne Hogan, Noah Hurowitz, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Carolina Pichardo, Irene Plagianos, Eddie Small, Rachel Holliday Smith, Shaye Weaver and Nikhita Venugopal.