Latest news with #HannahWilson
Axios
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
Speed dating gives New Orleans singles a way to meet IRL
When content creator Hannah Wilson hard-launched a relationship to her thousands of Instagram followers, several of them responded to let her know her boyfriend was cheating on her. "It's for the best," she says now. "He looked like a thumb. You can put that in [the story]." Why it matters: The experience prompted her to start NOLA Speed Dating, which Eventbrite says is responsible for New Orleans' nation-leading increase in in-person singles events. The big picture: How people find love in the modern world is changing, according to a report co-produced by the McKinsey Institute and Match, and the media we consume is a big part of that. "Reality TV and Instagram have made love feel more like a highlight reel than a lived experience," said Amanda Gesselman, Match's director of sex and relationship science, in a press release. "The pressure to find something picture-perfect can be paralyzing." Still, most people — 60% — believe love at first sight is still the goal, a whopping 30% jump since last year, the data show. Fun fact: 26% of people are using AI to "enhance" their dating lives, the report says, with nearly half of surveyed Gen Z singles saying they used the tech to build better profiles, come up with stronger opening lines and screen potential matches for compatibility. Zoom in: At 61%, the metro has one of the nation's highest percentages of single people at least 20 years old, but not all daters here are ready to commit, according to the Match report. A quarter of surveyed New Orleanians said they were most eager to find "casual sex that doesn't involve dating." Only Seattle (30%) and Nashville (26%) had higher percentages in that category. And 7% of New Orleans singles said they were most interested in an open or non-monogamous relationship, again putting the city amongst the highest respondents for that definition. Yes, but: TimeOut readers still rated New Orleans among the best places for dating — the only U.S. city to land a spot on the list. For many, NOLA Speed Dating has streamlined the process. "I just wanted to give people another way to meet people," Wilson tells Axios New Orleans. "In these post-COVID times, people are craving that interpersonal connection and so much has changed from that. But people often don't talk to people in the wild." That can be especially hard in New Orleans, a place that might be a "bigger city but feels smaller because everyone knows everyone." By the numbers: NOLA Speed Dating events pushed New Orleans to the top of Eventbrite's 2024 list of cities showing massive growth amongst in-person singles events. The organization fueled an 850% increase from 2023 to 2024 in Eventbrite events targeted for singles, the website says. How it works: Wilson organizes between five and eight events a month, she says, including one targeted at women finding women friends. "Instead of getting ready and going on one date and in two minutes, you're like 'I wanna be home,' you're going on three to 20 dates," she says. "It's a better use of your time." As for Wilson herself, she's dating someone new, though she didn't meet them at any of her speed dating events.
Axios
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
"Jeopardy!" champ spins a yarn: Hannah Wilson's perfect Chicago day
Chicago has had its share of "Jeopardy!" champions over the years, but Hannah Wilson may be one of the most popular. State of play: Wilson, who had an eight-show winning streak in 2023, participated in the show's Invitational Tournament last month. She lost in a nail-biter. Her success on the show helped her open her craft store The Dropped Stitch. What they're saying: "My wife and I used some of my prize money to put a down payment on a condo in Andersonville, a neighborhood which had everything except a good yarn shop," Wilson tells Axios. "Now I spend all day knitting, meeting fellow crafters in my neighborhood, organizing classes and workshops, and getting newcomers set on their way. It's pretty great!" Zoom out: Wilson, who was the third transgender woman to compete on the national quiz show, is well positioned to take advantage of the closing of the national craft store Joann. The Dropped Stitch is now one of only a handful of dedicated craft stores in the city. Since Wilson is now an Andersonville celebrity, we wanted to find out what her perfect day in Chicago would look like: 🥯 Breakfast: "When I want to give myself a treat before opening my store, I head down the street to JB's Deli and grab a breakfast sandwich (everything bagel, toasted, with bacon, egg, and swiss cheese). Usually I just grab and go, but today I stick around, read yesterday's Sun-Times, and contemplate the meaning of the "One Of A Few Jewish Delis" sign in the window." 🦜Morning activity: My friend Loren (who is a talented nature photographer) has taken me on some amazing birdwatching walks recently, and I've learned that one of the best places for birding in the region is right in Chicago: the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary. After getting my fill of warblers and thrushes, I make sure not to miss the absurdly acrobatic purple martins living in the cluster of birdhouses in the northwest corner of the harbor." 🌮 Lunch: " All that nature made me hungry, so I'm walking to Uptown for a plate of juicy birria tacos at Birrieria Zaragoza. Two or three of these bad boys covered with onions and cilantro and washed down with a tasty broth will set me up until dinner, and it's fun to sit at the window counter and watch the world go by." 📚 Afternoon activity:"I love hunting for forgotten classics and out-of-print oddities at used bookstores, and luckily this city is full of great ones. I'm spending all afternoon on a used-books crawl across the city: Armadillo's Pillow in Rogers Park (overstuffed, eccentric), Heirloom Books in Edgewater Glen (organized, intellectual), Uncharted Books in Andersonville (with their secret back room and excellent vintage paperback collection), Ravenswood Used Books (mazelike, encyclopedic), and finishing up at Open Books in Logan Square, a literacy nonprofit where I spent some time volunteering during my post-Jeopardy mini-retirement." 🍜 Dinner:"I dozed off in the upstairs armchair at Open Books and miss my dinner reservation, so I Divvy back to Uptown and get Thai food at Immm Rice and Beyond. Gai Tod and a bowl of pad see ew (I'm a spice wimp! Sorry!) with that good char on the noodles, yes please." 🎷 Evening activity: "I walk a couple blocks down to catch the early set at the Green Mill,the only venue in Chicago where you can stumble in on any random night and wind up grooving to an Australian guy who happens to be the world's best jazz flugelhorn player." 🧶 Afterparty: "I'm too sleepy to stay for the second set, so I take the Broadway bus home and crash on the couch with my knitting and an episode of "Columbo." Goodnight!"
