Concerts and Levers

The Rise Of The Overprepared Concertgoer

Cassidy Sollazzo | Paste | 9th November 2026

A subset of concertgoers now come to shows having memorised not only the concert’s setlist but also their exact order, transitions and designated surprise moments. Is this a way to maximise what Durkheim called “collective effervescence” by anticipating every minute of a concert? Or is this a way to establish preeminence as a fan, perhaps motivated by the fear of looking like a fake? (2,700 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

Pulling The Lever In A Subway Problem

Jeff Kaufman | 9th November 2026

In which the author examines his decision, post-facto, to pull the emergency brake on the subway because he saw what appeared to be someone’s arm caught in the door — a lower-stakes variant of the Trolley Problem. “It’s hard to think very far ahead in an emergency, but morality problems suggest a frame of mind where we have time to fully reason out the likely effects of each of our options” (1,500 words)