DEATH OF A BOOKSTORE
A sign left by a distraught reader on the windows of the just-closed Lincoln Center branch of Barnes & Noble in Manhattan.
Media
“A NATION UNTO THEMSELVES”
The new issue of The Atlantic features an exceptionally good article by the impressive Chrystia Freeland called “The Rise of the New Global Elite.” The excellent article describes a new aristocracy whose power reaches across boundaries, whose ability to act in its own self-interest is probably impervious to national governments, and, perhaps most alarmingly, whose …
ENOUGH REPREHENSIBILITY TO GO AROUND
In the Times today, David Brooks takes on those in the media who would lay the acts of an apparently quite mad Jared Loughner at the door of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, et al. “These accusations — that political actors contributed to the murder of 6 people, including a 9-year-old girl — are extremely grave,” …
“TELL THEM, `SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER”’
One of the hardest things to do is to explain to a young person what it was like when something that has become established and famous was brand new. This clip of Mel Brooks appearing on The Dick Cavett Show offers a small bit of what it was like when he was first rolling out …
JOURNALIST OR TERRORIST?
I was sorry to see government officials like Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton overreacting to last week’s Wikileaks’ data drop, but it’s appalling to see CNN trying to poke a reaction by asking “Is Julian Assange a terrorist or a journalist?”, which the network did on a December 12th broadcast. FBI profiler Greg McCrary toed …
THE NIGHT CAVETT KO’ED MAILER
In his recent review in The New Yorker of a number of books about the entity known as late-night television, Louis Menand recounts the famous evening when Dick Cavett hosted Gore Vidal, Janet Flanner and a drunken, obsteperous Norman Mailer. I don’t recall if I saw the original program in 1971 (my senior year of …
BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS!
Yesterday morning, driving in the midst of an drenching rainstorm, I heard “Christmas Rapping” by the Waitresses on the radio, and with that, my holidays had officially begun. (For more than 20 years, I mark the start of the season by the first appearance of that irresistible piece of pop perfection. In 2008, I never …
FANTASTIC FRED TOMASELLI
I came upon a portfolio of collages by Fred Tomaselli in the December issue of Harper’s yesterday, and man, they blew me away! He has a whole series of these headline-based paintings, and I think they are just fab. He is my new favorite artist.
THANKSGIVING REMEMBRANCE
The Two Great Classes, by Winslow Homer for Harper’s Weekly, Thanksgiving 1860
TAKE IT AWAY!
I had the pleasure of appearing this morning on the National Public Radio program The Takeaway to talk about the Disunion blog I’m doing for The New York Times. The hosts were John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee. The most highly motivated among you may feel free to listen.