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50 Conversations People Overheard In New York That Are So Wild People Just Had To Share (New Pics)
"Most cities are nouns. New York is a verb." This quote is often attributed to John F. Kennedy, but even if he didn't say it, it still rings true today. New York is one of the world's most diverse cities, with a population of over eight million people and each one of them is a character all their own.
If you don't believe it, just check out the things Instagram page Overheard New York shares on their page. It's an ever-growing collection of conversation snippets people have overheard from actual New Yorkers. So, if you're curious, scroll down and see the wildest things people in The Big Apple talk about.
More info: Instagram
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#1
CultOfBambi 5 months ago
Deepest sympathies from queer-friendly Brighton, England.
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Thalia Lovering 5 months ago
I live in Greece, we say this all the time when things are rough. "Thank God we don't live in the US".
RELATED:
#2
Michael Largey 5 months ago
I once worked for someone who would unironically brag about his humility.
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#3
Susan Betz 5 months ago
One day the daughter will fully understand it's the parent's job to embarrass their offspring.
The Overheard (OH) project shares conversations from urbanites who live in other big U.S. cities, not just New York. Although The Overheard New York page is the most popular with 1.7M fans (followed closely by Overheard LA with 1.6M), their eavesdroppers operate in five altogether. The other U.S. cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin.
Surprisingly, the franchise also crossed the Atlantic ocean and serves some British humor on the Overheard London page. There's also the Overheard University page, where people share the convos that can only happen in college and university halls and dorms. And if that's not enough for you, you can check out their page that also documents the funniest and most absurd dating mishaps, Overheard Dating.
#4
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#6
But wait, are these actual conversations that people have overheard someone having in one of the cities? We know some of these conversation snippets are so ridiculous it might be hard to believe they're true. The creators of OH don't really give a straight answer, only writing, "Yes, you cynical monster" in their website FAQ section.
Interestingly, the New York account wasn't the one that started the whole franchise. In 2015, LA resident Jesse Margolis created the Overheard LA account after witnessing a ridiculous conversation at Erewhon on Beverly Boulevard. "I wasn't part of the Instagram culture, and I didn't even really know what an influencer was," Margolis told LA Times in 2018. "But I knew this was a cool thing, a reflection of me making fun of the city I love."
#7
Tams21 5 months ago
Back then, working hard meant you had a chance of buying a house and fretting about bills every month.
April Pickett 5 months ago
Back then? I don't think it's changed for the better. The bills are still there, and the deposit for the house - we're working on it.
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#9
In an interview for the New York Times, Jesse said that the Overheard team doesn't exactly have a vetting system. "We aren't journalists — we basically do our best. I think half of the overheard stuff is legit overheard strangers. I think a lot of it is like a group of five friends drinking and talking. And someone spontaneously says something funny and the friends send it in."
#10
David Morgan 5 months ago
"$21 and a promise to not force-feed you the harmonica".
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Vivian McBride 5 months ago
There was a so-called singer like that at the Palo Alto, CA train station. His guitar playing was good, but he absolutely was tone-deaf when it came to singing.
Uncle Panda 5 months ago
I was in a west Mexican town long enough to work out the patterns of the local mariachi band. They stalked. They picked out a likely family and slowly, individually, stealthily made their way until the family was surrounded, which was announced by the onset of the music.
David Morgan 5 months ago
"Clever girl....arghhhhhhh!" (Mariachi music ensues).
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QuincyForrest 5 months ago
I coulda made a lot of money that way. As it was, I had to buy a round of drinks to be allowed to walk away without bruises when I offered to play my guitar in the bar.
QuincyForrest 5 months ago
My most requested song was, of course, "Over the Hills and Far Away". As in "Can you play over the hills and far away? Far, far, away?"
Load More Replies... Michelle C 5 months ago
I’d give him twice that to play for starters. True talent should be encouraged!
David Morgan 5 months ago
If they HAVE talent. A lot don't, but they play anyway.
Load More Replies... Petra Peitsch 5 months ago
In most european cities big enough to having a subway-net, this is forbidden. In 1990s all the subways were like chaotic concert halls.
#11
Adrian 5 months ago
What most people don't realize is it was the end of the last millennium not the beginning of the new one
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GrowingThruConcrete 5 months ago
This is my line every time someone asks if I want to go with them to walmart
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
I think I've said similar things about going to Times Square. Last time it was "I'd rather gouge out my eyes with a spoon". When I was a kid, you we didn't go there because it was a seedy part of town. Lots of strip joints and crime. Now you don't go there because it's full of tourists not paying attention to where they're going. I only go there on the subway when I have to travel between Grand Central and Penn Stations.
Belladonna Wexhome 5 months ago
First person - visiting New York - Second Person - Actual New Yorker.
Princess Possum 5 months ago
It's the giant mirrored ball that lowers in the New Years Eve countdown in Times Square. Crazy packed crowds for hours.
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#12
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 5 months ago
I live in Bradford (originally from London)
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Doug Moyer 5 months ago
I remember working in Changwon, South Korea in the 90s. Every few feet a different smell. Some amazing, some revolting. The City of Many Smells.
The creator of OH Margolis doesn't really want the fame that comes along with owning such a franchise. Until today, there's not much information online about him, except that he was a casting director for documentaries and reality TV shows in LA. "I think assigning an ego and a personality to the brand just diminishes it. It's just a much bigger idea if it's not about a person."
#13
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
I mean, maybe his dad is a VP at a trading company or his mom is a major real estate investor. I know a 25 year old who has his own apartment in the Upper West Side. It costs $6000/month, but his dad pays the bills. The apartment is in his dad's building.
David 5 months ago
I know dozens of people who did this, and not even big earners, most of NYC is affordable for even working class. To non-New Yorkers, there is more than just the few "hot neighborhoods" in Manhattan and to recent transplants, more than that and Long Island City in Queens, and the 3 areas in Brooklyn you looked at. You can live with kids, before 30, in NYC, in very safe middle class and working class areas. I live in one, know people who live in others. Remember, there are 5 boroughs that are also 5 counties on their own, with 145 Zip Codes making up over 200 neighborhoods (if you go by micro-neighborhoods it can be 350). You just need to look.
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Sue User 5 months ago
Oh god. Flashback to when I got sick. Some days my feet would swell really bad. I could leave the house and two hours later my feet were two sizes different. The only shoes I could wear were these sandals with adjustable straps. Hence sandles with socks.
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Rachel Pelz 5 months ago
I am offering you an opportunity to explain to your kids that some adults do stupid things.
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
It could have been worse. He and his children could have been wearing Crocs with socks.
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
In NYC, people who wait for walk signs are a hazard to navigation. Don't be that person
In a previous interview for Bored Panda, the representatives of Overheard said that their criteria about what conversations to feature mostly depends on whether it's a shared experience. It can be about "dating, finance, spirituality, food, or local knowledge," their spokesperson said.
#16
Family's_disappointment 5 months ago (edited)
Sounds like something I would do... (Don't downvote me. It's just the way I'm. Necessity over Luxury.)
Nikole 5 months ago
I didn’t even realize she was talking about engagement rings until I read these comments.
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Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
Yeah... Not going to ever get one. Especially since they can be hacked or the company may access and distribute your video data, without your consent.
#18
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
"Engine 5, Engine 7, Engine 11, Engine 21, Truck 7, Truck 8, Tower 16, Rescue 4, Rescue 6, Med 1, Med 3, Med 9, Battalion 10, Battalion 12, Chief 5; We have a Five Alarm fire..."🔥
Interestingly, there's a website of the same name and a similar mission. Started around 2005, it's a project that even has its own Wikipedia page and other spinoffs like Overheard in the Office, Overheard at the Beach, Overheard Everywhere, and Celebrity Wit. This and similar websites use the format popularized by the website In Passing, which also documents snippets of conversations.
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Family's_disappointment 5 months ago (edited)
To me it's sounds like an adorable exchange. Something they might get stuck in their memories. In the best way possible.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Like the time I heard my daughters laughing at something on TV. I called through from the kitchen to ask what they were watching and the youngest called back 'F*cking Legging'! 'No, darling, his name is Foghorn Leghorn'.
Load More Replies... But what is it about eavesdropping that we like so much? Are we just nosy and intrusive by nature? When we're children, eavesdropping is actually a crucial part of our development. One study found that our ability to listen to conversations and glean information from them improves between the ages of 3 and 5. Even if we don't tell kids to listen to others' conversations for instructions, they're able to use the information they overhear to solve problems.
#22
Michael Largey 5 months ago (edited)
New York waiter: "The marinara leaves better stains, madam."
Auntriarch 5 months ago
Absolutely, that's a shocking waste of Alfredo sauce
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BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
I call shenanigans. "Sir, this is New York". Nobody talks like that in the city. More like: "M0therf*cker! this ain't Iowa"
#24
Professor of language science and author of Eavesdropping: An Intimate History John Locke says that eavesdropping is a necessary habit. Sometimes, it can act as a self-preservation method. "We live in extremely complicated social arrangements in which there are lots of people who are competing with us for the things that we want and they want. We have to be somewhat geared up to do eavesdropping."
#25
#26
Queen Boudicca 5 months ago
Restaurants cannot seat people if there aren't enough servers to take care of the tables.
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Jaya 5 months ago
It's BECAUSE the guest didn't know the waiter, that they talked about them as 'they'. That's the original use of 'singular they': a word to use when you don't know someone's gender or when someone's gender is of no relevance to your story. It may depend on which English speaking country you're in, but there are so many people who will ask "Are they okay?" instead of "Is he or she okay?" It's just easier and shorter.
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#27
TFH 5 months ago
I think American Football is the dumbest sport (Jai Alai danger and as boring as Baseball) but Travis Kelce seems like a fine guy, and he did well acting in Grotesquerie and Happy Gilmore 2.
Load More Replies... We're also tempted to eavesdrop because we like to know what people are really like inside. When a person thinks you can't hear them, they're not adhering to their public persona. Locke calls this "intimacy be theft" and can be justified by some as attempts to get to know people. "We love it when we get something that's truly genuinely true about others and so we still prefer taking it, or if not taking it, extracting clues on our own."
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#29
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
My wife says this about me. But, I am from Baltimore.
#30
Nizumi 5 months ago (edited)
Small town Europe will have transportation links to major city centres - buses, trains, trams, whatever. Small town Europe will have everything you really need on a daily basis within walking distance, as well as at least two cafés where they also serve wine / beer. Small town USA and Canada will require you to have a car to drive 30 to 45 minutes to go get basic groceries that you can no longer afford because you had to pay for gas.
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
Because, a lot of small towns here may come with; Banjos, Sundown Signs, Hunting Camo Painted/Wrapped Lifted Trucks, Mullets, Plethora of Churches, and a severe lack of understanding on what the definitions and meanings of; consent, permission, and no, actually are. Although this last one also seems to apply to a significant amount of individuals who live elsewhere too.
What truth about New Yorkers did you get from this list, Pandas? Were some of them relatable, or do you think you have to be a New Yorker to truly get what these urbanites are talking about? Let us know your opinion in the comments! And if you'd like to see more overheard conversations from New York, check out our previous posts here, here, and here!
#31
Belladonna Wexhome 5 months ago
That's how expensive cigarettes are in NYC now? When I left they were 14 dollars a pack.
#32
Family's_disappointment 5 months ago (edited)
Who overheard me? 🤨🤨 How dare you expose my secret!!🤨
#34
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
Ahhh... now there are so many ways to that this conversation could have ended a potential friendship/relationship.
#35
Tucker Cahooter 5 months ago
Therapy for a cat? Maybe it just needs to be confused -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzi3k7K0lFA
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
I just keep mine addicted to catnip. It is cheaper.
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
No, if your cat isn't doing ok, YOU'RE the problem. If he could talk, he'd tell you
#36
Family's_disappointment 5 months ago
Awwwwww ❤️❤️ "Babe." Out of context but that sounded so sweet
#37
Krd 5 months ago
Ugh, and that is what late stage capitalism looks like. When things go bad you try to profit off it. Disgusting.
Tom Brincefield 5 months ago
So instead we should buy when it's high, that way we lose money when it goes down? Somehow I think you're missing the point.
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Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
Hmph... My dad was only teaching me the fundamentals of self defense and survival, when I was four.
#38
Uncle Panda 5 months ago
Right? For a Great Dane, you'll need a shovel and a strong Hefty bag; for a microdog, you just hold it out the window and squeeze.
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Daniel Atkins 5 months ago
I think it was Demetri Martin who said Owning a dog while living in an apartment Is saying that your need for companionship far out way your disgust of picking up poop.
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
Or you don't care if your dog is happy. I used to work across from Lincoln Center and I saw somebody walking a Newfoundland every day. That's not a city dog
#39
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
OMG, can you imagine living next to the guy with the Husky? Very sweet dogs, but they don't shut up
Joshua David 5 months ago
My 13 year old passed away in November. I miss him yelling at me to take him out, feed him and follow him. He was a true foodie and would randomly want snacks from the kitchen. No dog treats ever. He didn't know it but I bliught the baby carrots just for him. What i miss is the way he looked at me. Many people noticed this look and commented on it. Ohhhh look how he looks at you. I miss him so much. In April I decided it was time for another and happened to find a Huskydoodle at a no k**l shelter and this baby is like he (Harry) was sent to me by Tux (the husky). I'll always love my baby boy Tux.
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Angela B 5 months ago
I paid cash for a coffee the other day. In notes and coins The young person serving held the money in their hand and simply stared at it, for quite a few seconds.
Sue User 5 months ago
Or: Me: Oh , it $11.20 , let me give you $21.20. Girl said: you gave to much and gave me back the 1.20 and started to make change for the 20.
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Biofish23 5 months ago
It could be worse. My mother still insists on buying groceries with checks. I was with her yesterday as she baffled a poor teenage cashier who I don't think had ever seen a check before, and had to call over a manger.
Sue User 5 months ago
Last two times I wrote large checks to contractors, the bank called for verification.
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Lowrider 56 5 months ago
I remember buying something for like $2.25 giving the cashier a $5 bill and a quarter. they had no idea what to do.
Sarah Belt 5 months ago
Moved from the West Coast of the US to the East Coast and work in retail. Went from about one cash transaction a day on the WC to mostly cash on the EC. I probably look like an ahole sometimes counting out, but you can get in a lot of trouble at some jobs if you're off by even one cent in your register. Honestly, I'd rather folks just use cards.
#41
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
A lot cheaper, provided as part of the service for the building, easily recognizable, and compliments you more. Plus, tipping them feels better.
#43
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
And... why is it your business, how they use their sick time? They could have been sick in Mykonos, and did not want to just stay in the hotel.
#44
Erik Biesemeier 5 months ago
Brooklyn was famously a working class area for a long time, and has in recent years become trendy with the children of the wealthy. As demonstrated by all three of them being the children of bankers.
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#47
The Goo King 5 months ago
It's kinda silly when you edit out the actual punchline. It this a "make your own joke" sort of post?
Andy Frobig 5 months ago
It's Match Game 2025, but without Gene Rayburn and Brett Somers, this is as good as it gets
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Alison Peters 5 months ago
I’m going to assume since he said they use “proper words”, she wanted to call him a d**k but being proper, used the word ‘p***s’. Just my assumption? Lol.
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Moonie Pinkslip 5 months ago
ARE A FÚĆĶÍŃG WHAT, YOU FÚĆĶÍŃG ÍDÍOT MOTHÉRFÚĆĶÍŃG BP CÓĆĶŚÜĆĶERS??? Yes that took a little longer but BOY IT FELT GOOD. Eat THAT, you loșéṛ BP sub humans
Don Adams 5 months ago (edited)
Why is it s shame if you p***k your finger, but a scandal if you finger your p***k? Edit - p r I c k
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#48
Savannah greenleaf 5 months ago
I miss reading the physical paper. At least the days I got to it before my dog chewed it up on the porch.
Maggie Fulton 5 months ago
That big papery news thing that you always intend to read but mostly piles up in a corner of your house.
#49
Sue User 5 months ago
Thanks. I am usually good at BP wordle but for some reason my mind read " dentist"
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Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
Okay... I understand. I really thought that BP had censored the word Donut or the word Dîmẅît (which actually is), there for a second.
BookFanatic 5 months ago
That's pretty much how my dad proposed. Pulled the box out of his pocket and said "Well? What do you think?" So romantic. Lol
#50
XenoMurph 5 months ago
She's thinking notes, cute. In reality it would be pennies. Smashing windscreens, injuring people, blocking roads with tonnes of copper, that's now worthless. I know how life treats us dreamers.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
'Pennies from Heaven' are not the blessing they are made out to be.
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#51
royal crablets 5 months ago
It's magical how so many people who live around trees all year 'round spend thousands to stand in the cold to look at a tree.
#53
David Morgan 5 months ago
Yeah, you aren't dating, you're just hooking up. Accept it or ditch now before you waste time.
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#56
ColdSteelRonin 5 months ago (edited)
Boo is a corruption/slang of beau. The word beau was common in the 18th century, and it was a term used to describe an admirer. When the French colonized the Caribbean islands, the word evolved into “boo” and gained popularity, eventually reaching most of the world.
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#57
quentariel 5 months ago (edited)
But girls going to bar bathroom together is more practical, not to mention safer. Friends are there to hold my purse if the place it's dirty, see that I can do my business in peace without worrying about anyone interrupting, possibly helping closing that last inch of a stubborn dress zipper and check that I look presentable afterwards. And then after ten minutes we do the whole thing again the other way round. (I go to bars really rarely, but when I do, never without a good friend(s).)
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
Bathrooms in a lot of older city bars tend to be very small. Like the size of a closet, and not a walk-in closet.
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#60
Midoribird Aoi 5 months ago
"At 6'9", you can beat me and keep me from my friends and family, and I would still marry you." /s
Michael Largey 5 months ago
At 6'5" I'm not in love with any of my exes - which they would readily verify.
#61
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Equal? Your mom will be back to normal eventually. But Absolute Bagels is absolutely gone!
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#67
Kathy Brooke 5 months ago
An old Anglo saxon insult rhyming with suggesting an unwell bear (sick ted)
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BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
I'd actually say the opposite. A NYC 21 is an everywhere else 30. 1) They have way more experience with people from around the world than the average person from elsewhere. 2) The amount of smog has done serious damage to their skin. Now a Miami 21 is an everywhere else 45, simply because of the skin damage. An LA 30 is an everywhere else 21 totally because of the plastic surgery and utter lack of social skills
Samantha H 5 months ago
I lived in NYC and yes most of the people I met were very smart.
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#69
Edward Finger Hands 5 months ago
It was in reference to the fires we had in LA at the start of the year
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George S Gurchinoff III 5 months ago
Having a high tolerance does not absolutely equal alcohol abuse
Krd 5 months ago
Technically true. But the vast majority of people with a high alcohol tolerance are alcoholics. For every 1 person with a natural tolerance, there are thousands who are addicts.
Load More Replies... Rachel Pelz 5 months ago
What's supposed to be funny about this one? Ah, I forgot...if it's alcohol, substance abyse is accepted and funny.
#73
#75
Vivian McBride 5 months ago (edited)
All Americans abroad, "Oh, I'm from, (insert state or ciythere)."
#76
Michael Largey 5 months ago (edited)
If you ask for a Gemini, blame yourself if you get twins.
Rosecrucian Roeth 5 months ago
Even if you only get 1 baby, you still get 2! I know, I married a Gemini:(
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What do you think ?
Janissary35680 5 months ago
So many of these would be New Yorker magazine cartoon captions. Some of them probably are.🗽
Mimi M 5 months ago
Even better: https://www.nytimes.com/column/metropolitan-diary (use archive.is if you get paywalled). Also this story: https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-making-of-a-new-yorker and this modern take on the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIRBd05eYrM&pp=ygUhdGhlIG1ha2luZyBvZiBhIG5ldyB5b3JrZXIgb2hlbnJ5
Janissary35680 5 months ago
So many of these would be New Yorker magazine cartoon captions. Some of them probably are.🗽
Mimi M 5 months ago
Even better: https://www.nytimes.com/column/metropolitan-diary (use archive.is if you get paywalled). Also this story: https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-making-of-a-new-yorker and this modern take on the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIRBd05eYrM&pp=ygUhdGhlIG1ha2luZyBvZiBhIG5ldyB5b3JrZXIgb2hlbnJ5
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