Before the gig economy consumed a third of the workforce, it was mostly musicians who worried about gigs. There are debates about the origins of the word—some believe it derives from an eighteenth-century term for horse-drawn carriages that may have doubled as stages for performers, while others contend that it was adapted from a Baroque dance called the gigue

In the 2010s, affiliate marketing became a dominant strain of online business models. The Wirecutter, which sold to the Times in 2016, made money by driving its visitors to retail Web sites like Amazon or Best Buy, taking a small cut from any purchase of items it recommended.

DUE TO server issues over the weekend and The Shop’s relaunch early in the week, our usual Weekend Links feature became Midweek Links. We did, however, manage to publish two newsletters…

Computers don’t actually do anything. They don’t write, or play; they don’t even compute. Which doesn’t mean we can’t play with computers, or use them to invent, or make, or problem-solve.

In the golden hours of autumn, when sunlight slants through branches at just the right angle, the world takes on a burnished glow. Virginia Woolf once observed that “autumn seems to cry for a million golden quills to paint it”. Indeed, it’s a season that gilds everything it touches—from the last lingering leaves to the quiet sophistication of a perfectly tailored camel coat in the crisp morning air.

Dear readers, We’re gradually migrating this curation feature to our Weekly Newsletter. If you enjoy these summaries, we think you'll find our Substack equally worthwhile. On Substack, we take a closer look at the themes from these curated articles, examine how language shapes reality and explore societal trends. Aside from the curated content, we continue to explore many of the topics we cover at TIG in an expanded format—from shopping and travel tips to music, fashion, and lifestyle. If you've [...]