November 3, 2026·Edition 54
Is a $200 coffee still a little treat?
Internet Microdoses
New York to London in 3.5 hours? Not so fast. Boom Supersonic promised a jet that could fly overseas in half the current time. Passengers were expected in the air by 2029, but United's CEO says that's not happening. The airline agreed to conditionally buy 15 jets, but Boom hasn't completed a single prototype of the passenger jet.
Three of the world's biggest modern art museums are teaming up. MoMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and M+ in Hong Kong will put on exhibitions together and share their collections. Together they attract 10 million visitors a year: think of it as the art world's biggest group project.
Could the right apartment cure your loneliness? Frank Lloyd Wright warned that cities were making us feel isolated nearly 100 years ago. Now, architects are rethinking how we live together. Some have designed building has shared balconies, communal dining rooms, and have cheaper rent for young folks who help their older neighbors. Maybe the problem really does start at home.
Part of London's Oxford Street just banned cars. On October 26, more than half a mile of the tourist destination closed to cars, buses, taxis and bikes, 10 years after the mayor first promised it. Finally, window-shopping without having to dodge a double-decker.
Someone moved a 1950s house to the other end of France. Designed by Claude Prouvé using his father Jean's construction system, the house was built with factory-made parts. When it was about to be torn down, a collector took it apart and rebuilt it among olive trees in the south. Flat-pack furniture could never.
A Kandinsky painting has gone up nearly 100,000% in value. In 1964, the Guggenheim was making space and sold Betonte Ecken to a New York dealer for just $62,000. On November 17, Christie’s expects that exact canvas to fetch between $60 million and $80 million. This is why you should never throw anything out.
