Last Call: Read The Insane, Drunken, Wild History Of Four Loko
If you are of a certain (millennial) age, you may remember Four Loko, a fruit-flavored 12-percent-alcohol malt beverage that also had the caffeine level of a cup of coffee. The result, according to this fascination oral history about the beverage on Grub Street, was a drink that "basically gets you super, super drunk and then gives you the energy to actually act on your poor judgment. It seemed like a very special cocktail in that way." So special, in fact, that the federal government had to get involved after several reports of kids getting injured after drinking too much Four Loko or mixing it with hard liquor. ("It was clearly marketed to young people. This wasn't 55-year-old guys walking into grocery stores and walking out with a 20-something-ounce of high-potency beer.") The whole tale makes for a great read, even as a contributor like Fresh Off The Boat creator Eddie Huang despairs after saving a bunch of the cans for his eventual future wedding, only to have them go bad: "Who knew energy malt liquor had an expiration date?" Reading this may turn you off from attending a Four Loko party in the future. [Gwen Ihnat]
Wow, Jacob Collier
We toss the term "prodigy" around liberally, but this kid Jacob Collier—yes, 24 years old is a kid—is a music prodigy of the most jaw-dropping order. First watch this. Then graduate to this. And then watch him in this WIRED video above riffing on the theory of musical harmony—from a child to Herbie Hancock. God, what talent. [Kevin Pang]