What Tony Hsieh Got Wrong About Downtown
Tony Hsieh has long been painted as a tortured visionary — most recently in the posthumous biography by two Wall Street Journal reporters dramatically titled “Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.” But longtime Las Vegas locals have observed the last decade of transformations along Fremont East (funded by Tony’s company Downtown Project) with mixed emotions.
Lifelong resident and writer Nicholas Russell recently penned an essay in the Baffler about the problem with mythologizing Tony Hsieh — he and host Dayvid Figler bust some Downtown Project myths, examine Tony’s legacy downtown, and break down just why it was so easy for Tony Hsieh to set up shop in Las Vegas.
How do you feel about downtown Las Vegas? Leave us a message or shoot us a text at 702-514-0719.
We’re also on Twitter! Follow us at @CityCastVegas
Want more Vegas news? Get our morning newsletter at lasvegas.citycast.fm/newsletter
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Stay connected to City Cast Las Vegas and get ready to join the local conversation.
Latest Episodes
Is Nellis Air Force Base Rebranding? Plus, Air Travel Sputters and a Spicy List of Top Restaurants
Nellis Air Force Base – long a fixture at the north end of the Las Vegas Valley – updated its online name this week … kind of. The shift...
Our Favorite Locals Casinos as a Vegas Icon Turns 50
Station Casinos is celebrating 50 years of serving locals, and we're marking the occasion by revisiting one of our favorite conversations...
'Your City Could Be Better': How Denver Is Fixing Its Sidewalks — Presented By City Cast Las Vegas
Just how good are the sidewalks in Las Vegas? The state of a city’s sidewalks can be a good indicator of how healthy that city is — and p...
Zion Murder Case Shocker, a Billion-Dollar Parks Crisis, and Zillow Boss Embraces Vegas Real Estate
A Las Vegas youth pastor accused of murdering his wife on a Utah hiking trail nearly 20 years ago died in custody before his case reached...
The Complicated History of Vegas Drive-Thrus
L.A. may have invented the drive-thru, but Vegas took it to new heights. Whether it's drive-thru weddings, drive-thru betting or drive-th...
What’s Missing on the Las Vegas Strip?
The Strip has a lot to offer. After all, more than 38 million people come to Las Vegas every year, so the city is doing a lot of things r...
Should Vegas Worry About Wildfire Insurance? Plus, Coworker Spat Turns Deadly and a Curve Ball for the A's
Are we witnessing the early stages of an insurance crisis making its way to Nevada? With wildfire-related home insurance cancellations an...
Why Summer Is Getting Hotter in Vegas and How to Survive It
Summer in Las Vegas hits different. And those temps aren't dropping anytime soon. In fact, Las Vegas is one of the fastest-warming cities...
Data Center Expansion Looming, a Vegas James Beard Win Raises Questions, and 'Rocky Horror' at the Sphere
Switch wants to expand its data center campus in the southwest valley, and we dig into whether chasing AI infrastructure is good or bad f...
Did Vegas Dodge a Bullet by Avoiding the FIFA World Cup?
The World Cup is here, but Las Vegas isn't one of the 11 host cities. At first glance that might seem like a missed opportunity, but the...