Not every designer in Brooklyn is conceptual. The borough is also home to woodworkers, glassblowers, and potters, making objects that don’t need to be anything more than beautiful.

Brooklyn design events for May 2006.

And other notes from Brooklyn’s design boom.

Alicia Keys pours her personal ordeals into a strong, satisfying new batch of pop songs.

We asked six music obsessives to pick a recent album they can’t stop listening to.

50 talked to Ben Williams about the difference between himself and Eminem, the art of beef, and Dubya.

Take a lowly item. It could be cultural (hunting stuff) or just broken (old furniture). Add expensive materials—gold, leather—and a dash of irony. Presto! A high-design piece that subverts and satisfies consumer culture.