“For 25 years one neighborhood has remained New York’s most crime ridden, most polluted, most neglected, most hopeless — cut off from Brooklyn’s emergence as the hippest place on earth.” From Digg and The Big Roundtable, a four part podcast and a longform read. What The Hell Happened In East New York?

+ “Until recently, vain actors were limited to makeup, flattering lighting, corsets, plastic surgery, Botox, crash diets, personal trainers, steroids, muscle suits, color grading, lenses and filters, body doubles, and spray-on abs. Now they also have software.” From NY Mag: How Hollywood makes actors look they way they look: Plastic Surgery With a Mouse Click.

+ “America is being watched from above. Government surveillance planes routinely circle over most major cities — but usually take the weekends off.” From Buzzfeed: Spies in the Skies.

+ From The Guardian: Renting hell in New York City: how my hoarder landlady ruined my life.

+ “Hamilton is really two phenomena: an extraordinary piece of theater, created by the composer, rapper and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a commercial behemoth powered in part by scarcity.” NYT Magazine: The C.E.O. of Hamilton Inc.