One of the joys and cringes of being a Las Vegan is seeing how your city of global interest is portrayed in the national media. Here are five of our favorite recent stories:
‘Hell or Las Vegas’
The lefty journal The Baffler devoted much of an issue to our city. Contents include a dismissive take on the “nostalgia-tripping cash grab” of the Punk Rock Museum; a look at the Teamsters-mob relationship in building the city; and an expansive appreciation of sign artist Betty Willis.
‘How Usher Became the New King of Vegas’
Worth another look as Usher winds down his Park MGM residency. “Usher,” we are told, “believes in Las Vegas, like someone who saw the glamorous first hour of ‘Casino’ but not the subsequent stressful two hours of ‘Casino.’ For Usher, Vegas is a place of renewal, a place of rebirth.”
- Context: Our podcast team gabbed about Usher on a news roundup. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
‘The First Magician on the Vegas Strip’
The New Yorker wrote about Las Vegas more than once this year, whether assessing the impact of “Learning from Las Vegas” or tracking an Elvis impersonator surviving the summer of 2023. But we like this piece about vintage performer Gloria Dea.
‘The House Always Wins’
The cosmopolitan weekly newsletter Airmail retells the sordid downfall of Sara King, the so-called “slot whisperer” of Las Vegas, who ran through a lot of other people’s money.
‘Sphere can be bizarre and sublime — or just an ad. That’s what makes it so Vegas’
The L.A. Times offers a thinky take on our big orb, and its mingling of the worlds of art, commerce, and spectacle.
