Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, April 16, and if your social calendar is looking a little sparse, maybe you should download an app to make friends. Our correspondent shares his experience meeting people in New York City through platforms like Bumble For Friends and Timeleft — but more on that soon. We’ve also got a guide to traveling a lesser-known town in Tuscany, as well as a breakdown of what you can learn from experiencing “post-marathon blues.”

Do Friendship Apps Work? One Man Swiped to Find Out.

Our correspondent based in New York City created accounts on the apps Bumble For Friends and Timeleft to see if real pals can be found through the types of platforms previously focused on dating. Meet the platonic contestants of our friendship version of The Bachelor below. (Note: these are not the real names of the people involved):

• Introducing Jason, an artist in his mid-30s. He currently lives upstate but is considering a move down to the city. Over massaman curry, Jason shares that he’s used Bumble For Friends on and off for a year. He’s done the same thing many others do during bouts of frustration and burnout with dating apps: delete it for a while, then reinstall it.
• A meet-up with Mark, a movie lover in his mid-40s. Mark is gay and has been on the app for a year, making two friends, who are also gay, before they matched. Prior to committing to his boyfriend, though, he hooked up with other guys he met on the supposedly platonic app, an outcome that appears to be commonplace across the platform.
• And lastly: Andrew, Derek, Leah, with whom he had dinner with in the Lower East Side. The event was organized through Timeleft, and after dinner, they went and got drinks with two other Timeleft groups also meeting in the area.

Read more about his experience and what he learned by tapping here or the button below.

IN THE NEWS

Can the Great Salt Lake be saved?

The Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry now has a return date in the WNBA.

Tesla’s week was off to a terrible start.

A critically acclaimed film has inspired a yearning for better public restrooms.

MLB pitchers are already in midseason form when it comes to whining.

Excerpt: What Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” Got Wrong About Everest

Released in 1997 the year after he was part of a disastrous Mount Everest expedition that resulted in eight climbers being killed when a blizzard struck near the summit, Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster was a national bestseller and helped earn him the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1999.

In his new book, Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World, award-winning adventure journalist Will Cockrell re-contextualizes Krakauer’s work from nearly three decades ago by interviewing key Everest guiding industry players to see what Into Thin Air got right — and wrong.

As this excerpt from Everest, Inc. points out, Krakauer’s attempt to take take down the then-fledgling guiding industry may have had the opposite effect and instead attracted an entirely new group of climbers to Everest.

A Guide to Lesser-Known Lucca, Italy

Located in Tuscany, Lucca has been, to this point, spared the commercialization that many other, bigger Italian cities have not. Dating all the way back to Roman times, the city is surrounded by Renaissance walls, originally built to protect the city from attacks, that are still intact. (They’ve since taken on a new purpose, serving as a place for visitors to ride bikes or walk for some of the best views of the city and surrounding countryside.) Medieval architecture — towers, palaces and churches chief among them — have all been preserved, making it feel like you’ve entered a living time capsule that drips Italian culture.

So whether it’s the first or last stop on your Italian getaway, this guide to lesser-known Lucca will give you a true taste of this magnificent city.

What Can We Learn From the “Post-Marathon Blues”?

What are the post-marathon blues exactly? What do they feel like? How long do they last? Do they have an antidote? And what can we learn from them — in other walks (and runs) of life? We get into it below.

What do the blues feel like?

As post-marathon blues includes the word “post,” it’s natural to think of the experience as something that occurs firmly after the race. You run 26.2, you celebrate with friends and family, then it’s back-to-life stuff. The glory fades. And post-marathon blues aren’t specific to marathoners, of course. Whatever you train for, a sense of emptiness may creep in a day or two after you cross the finish line.

Why do they happen?

Experts stress that post-marathon blues are a multi-front phenomenon; they manifest in the body, the brain and in our everyday relationship with the physical world.

How to meet the blues in battle?

You'll just have to tap the button below to find out.

Where to Catch New York City’s Best Jazz Shows

Our suggestion? Try them all, and experience the true range that jazz has to offer. Another tip? Arrive to the venues early. Whether you’re bringing a date or a group of friends, you’ll lose the ability to chat as soon as the saxophone comes out of the case. Not only does coming early ensure you the best seats in the house, it also gives you the opportunity to get your bearings (read: cocktails) and catch up before the main act starts.