“DoorDash has nothing on old-school delivery workers.”
Gig Economy
Posted inEditor's Pick
Waymo Cars and Honey Bears
Gentrification has no shortage of first-order sins: displacement in the name of “progress” is bad enough. But after the displaced have been pushed to the margins, what’s left in their stead is a stunning homogeneity — not simply demographic, but dystopian. Anna Wiener’s latest “Letter From San Francisco” sums up the vague malaise that comes […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away
“When things go horribly wrong during a stay, the company’s secretive safety team jumps in to soothe guests and hosts, help families—and prevent PR disasters.”
Posted inBusiness, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
Instacart: Shop ‘Til You Drop
‘“People are disposable to them,” Rachel says. “They don’t care.”’
Posted inProfiles & Interviews, Quotes, Technology
Man vs. Gig: Doug Schifter’s Last Stand
An important look at a dysfunctional industry, and a master class in profile writing.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Food, Nonfiction, Quotes
To Your Door: The Human Cost of Food Delivery
To earn money during a rough patch as a freelancer, Sam Riches worked as a bike courier, delivering food in Toronto during a six-month period. While the job lacked in pay, it offered one intriguing benefit: a crash course in human nature.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Amazon’s Last Mile
Who delivers Amazon orders? Increasingly, it’s plainclothes contractors with few labor protections, driving their own cars, competing for shifts on the company’s own Uber-like platform.