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Come Back to Greater Kazakhstan
It's always delightful to read about places that one has no temptation to visit and will never, ever see! So today's travelogue of Kazakhstan and its 16-year-old capital, Astana, is fantastic, and as you are a subscriber to the New Yorker, you will have no problem reading it online or in the magazine, yes? Plus there are some excellent and blunt surprises—if, I suppose, corruption and horror and vast wealth going hand-in-hand are ever a surprise—mid-tale for those who are similarly and happily uninformed as I. Gosh, I hope I never live to see this frosty new hell-hole in person.
"and as you are a subscriber to the New Yorker, you will have no problem reading it online or in the magazine, yes?"
This is a funny joke about how impossible-to-use the New Yorker digital edition is, right? Because I'm laughing.
Well, yes, it is very nearly impossible. It is also ungainly, refuses to use cookies properly, and annoys the hell out of me. HOWEVER, I do use it every week, or else what will I do?
My cardinal sin has been not to just suck it up and tattoo my subscription account number on my arm. As much as they like to pretend otherwise, you can't get in without it!
I have long dreamed of visiting Alma Aty.
Jerk.
Over/under on 5 references to Borat?
Delightfully: 0
There's a documentary called "Capital" on Astana and its rapid rise – I saw it at the Full Frame documentary fest last year. Not sure if it has any distro or anything, but it's worth the time if you can find it.