a game about urban riots included in The New Yorker, circa 1971?

[lord of the mark]

Ok, this was before Id ever played anything by SPI or Avalon Hill.

There was an article in the New Yorker (the elite oriented, liberal magazine of culture and current affairs) that included a game - you could play as the mayor, the police, the poor, or as "outside agitator" You played different cards representing different degrees of toughness, etc. in different interactions. The cards were included as inserts in the mag. The outcomes were "riot" "repression" "reconciliation" or something like that. This being the upper class liberal New Yorker, the middle class residents of the city were not considered players.

For most of the readers the point of the article was about riots, and the conditions that led to them. For one young person who was new to the New Yorker, it was the GAME that was fascinating.

Anyone remember this, or have a link, or something? Anyway to search an archive of New Yorker articles?

[DrSpike]

Sounds like a new FG.

[:) Smiley]

Do you remember the issue date, or what else was in the issue, or the title of the article?

I'll be back at school in a few days, the library has got some sort of database that has this kind of stuff.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Smiley
Do you remember the issue date, or what else was in the issue, or the title of the article?

I'll be back at school in a few days, the library has got some sort of database that has this kind of stuff.

geez, no, I was just a kid, probably saw it at the dentists office (i dont think my parents were getting it at the time) Heck, it may have been an old copy lying around - could have been 1966, 67, etc (more likely than 1971 now that i think about it)

Its gnawing at me now. And its not findable on the net. I think simply going through back issues would work, though, and I'll try next time im at a decent library.

[snoopy369]

I'd say it's probably 1969-1971, after the Stonewall riots perhaps (June 1969)?

[:) Smiley]

hmm, the microfilm room here is closed until the end of the month, perhaps you can try contacting the magazine's publisher.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I'd say it's probably 1969-1971, after the Stonewall riots perhaps (June 1969)?

No, the stonewall riots were gay riots (and pretty exceptional, being that) the article was concerned with RACE riots, of the kind that troubled american cities every summer from 1964 to 1967, and again in spring of '68 after the MLK assasination. The Rodney King riots were an echo of those.

While the regular cycle of riots pretty much burned out by 1969, I dont now that that was clear at the time. So Id say anytime from 1966 to 1970 or so is possible.

I have been to the library in the last few days, or id look myself.

[lord of the mark]

Ok, so i was at the library over the weekend, and tried to find it.


They had the New Yorker on Microfilm upto 1970, and microfiche beyond that.

Id forgotten what a pain microfilm is too use.

To go through each issue looking for this is just to big a pain.

New Yorker is only party indexed in Readers Guide to Periodical Lit. I tried likely subjects, from 1972 back to 1965, and didnt find it. Public online indexes of the New Yorker dont go back before 1980.

New Yorker offers to sell a database of all the articles. But i dont need that, only a citation.

Only recourse, I suppose, apart from buying their database or spending days wrestling with microfilm, is to email the New Yorker and see if theyd be kind of enough to point me in the right direction.

[DrSpike]

One other possibility is bumping this thread and seeing if 7 months to think about it helps jog peoples' memories.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike
One other possibility is bumping this thread and seeing if 7 months to think about it helps jog peoples' memories.

I wouldnt want to deprive y'all of the chance to follow this dramatic search