"No Secrets: Julian Assange's Mission for Total Transperency" - Raffi Khatchadourian

Title:  No Secrets: Julian Assange's Mission for Total Transperency
Author: Raffi Khatchadourian
Source:  The New Yorker
Date: June 7, 2010

An especially timely article written a few months ago on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

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thanksgiving "you should read this" spectacular

three thanksgiving related bits and bobs.

for the turkey:
Title:  Butterball Help-Line Help Line
Author:  Alysia Gray Painter
Source:  McSweeneys

read here

for the pilgrims:
Title: Let us now give "Thanks" some praise
Author:  Sarah Vowell
Source:  Salon
Date: August 5, 1999

read here

for the day after shopping:
Title:  Sweatpants in Paradise: The Exciting World of Immersive Retail
Author:  Molly Young
Source:  The Believer
Date: September 2010

read here

"The Secret World of Lonelygirl" - Joshua Davis

Title: The Secret World of Lonelygirl
Author: Joshua Davis
Source:  Wired
Date: December 2006

i must have completely missed out on this phenomenon when it happened back in 2006, but it's fascinating nonetheless. 

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"The Last American Man" - Elizabeth Gilbert

Title:  The Last American Man
Author:  Elizabeth Gilbert
Source:  GQ
Date:  February 1998

Excerpt:  Of course, some New Yorkers took him for Daniel Fuckin’ Boone, but everyone had something to say about this curious visitor, who moved stealthily through Manhattan wearing handmade buckskin clothing and carrying a mighty knife on his belt.

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"How to Make a Good 'Great Gatsby' Movie: A Guide for Baz Luhrmann" - Adam Eaglin

Title:  How to Make a Good 'Great Gatsby' Movie: A Guide for Baz Luhrmann
Author:  Adam Eaglin
Source: The Atlantic
Date: November 9, 2010

here's something a bit interesting....i'm curious about the casting....

read here

"All Programs Considered" - Bill McKibben

Title:  All Programs Considered
Author:  Bill  McKibben
Source:  The New York Review of Books
Date:  November 2010

This American Life, WBEZ and other innovative radio programming.

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"Something's Got to Give" - Darcy Frey

Title:  Something's Got to Give
Author:  Darcy Frey
Source:  New York Times
Date:  March 24, 1996

"In a windowless room just outside of New York City, overworked air traffic controllers manage the world’s most-trafficked piece of sky—until all those blips on the screen become too much."

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"Funeral for a Friend" - Virginia Heffernan

Title:  Funeral for a Friend
Author:  Virginia Heffernan
Source:  New York Times Magazine
Date: October 29, 2010

"Mourning the Analog Telephone"

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"Redeeming the Almanac" - Molly McCarthy

Title:  Redeeming the Almanac
Author:  Molly McCarthy
Source:  Common-Place.org
Date: October 2010

"Learning to Appreciate the iPhone of Early America"

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"Inside Think Geek, Where Mythical Meat can Make Millions" - Mathew Honan

Title:  Inside Think Geek, Where Mythical Meat can Make Millions
Author:  Mathew Honan
Source: Wired
Date: September 27, 2010

"Liotta takes another slug of coffee as he types on his MacBook Pro. 'What happened to my shipment of mini unicorns?' he mutters."

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"Life Aboard the International Space Station" - Ian Sample

Title:  Life Aboard the International Space Station
Author:  Ian Sample
Source:  The Guardian
Date: October 24, 2010

"It's 10 years since the first crew entered the International Space Station 220 miles above the Earth. But what is it like aboard a big tin can travelling at 17,500mph?"

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"The Chameleon" - David Grann

Title:  The Chameleon
Author:  David Grann
Source:  The New Yorker
Date: August 11, 2008

The story of serial French child imposter.

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"TV Review - NBC's 'Outsourced'" - Daniel Fienberg

Title:  TV Review - NBC's "Outsourced"
Author:  Daniel Fienberg
Source:  HitFix.com
Date: September 23, 2010

A well-worded review about why this show is so completely terrible.

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"This Side of Ultima Thule" - Jeffrey Tayler

Title:  This Side of Ultima Thule
Author:  Jeffrey Tayler
Source:  The Atlantic
Date:  April 2004

"A dispatch from eastern Siberia, a realm of steel-shattering cold, nullifying vastness, and withered hopes, which is sometimes called “the white hell.”

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"My Friends Shame" - Charlie Brooker

Title:  My Friends Shame
Author:  Charlie Brooker
Source:  The Guardian
Date: May 22, 2004

"As Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Phoebe and Joey leave the building, Charlie Brooker reveals how he tried - really tried - to loathe them"

Since Mr. Brooker shall no longer be writing his Screen Burn column, here's a good one from a few years ago.

read here

"The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp" - R. A. Radford

Title:  The Economics Organization of a P.O.W. Camp
Author: R.A. Radford
Source: Economica
Date: 1945

An amazingly detailed description of the economic workings of a WWII P.O.W. camp.

read here

"Why Do People Hate Hipsters?" - Alex Rayner

Title:  Why Do People Hate Hipsters?
Author:  Alex Rayner
Source:  The Guardian
Date: October 14, 2010

a cultural analysis of the very complicated word, "hipster."

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"The Most Widely Read Magazine in the World" - Joel Meares

Title:  The Most Widely Read Magazine in the World
Author:  Joel Meares
Source:  The New York Review of Magazines
Date: May 13, 2010

"...It’s the first Saturday of March and a perfect day for Jehovah’s Witnessing. The sky is clear, the air is crisp and a fresh copy of The Watchtower, stamped March 1, 2010, is ready to be distributed."

Was reminded of this article when a copy of The Watchtower appeared on my kitchen table.

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"Azzam the American" - Raffi Khatchadourian

Title:  Azzam the American
Author:  Raffi Khatchadourian
Source:  The New Yorker
Date:  January 22, 2007

In case you were listening to NPR this morning, you may have caught the segment about Adam Gadahn.  If you did, here's more backstory.

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"The Eccentric Englishman"- a book review by Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn

Title:  "The Eccentric Englishman"
Author:  Deidre Foley-Mendelssohn
Source:  The New Yorker
Date:  September 15, 2010

Review of a new book which details the pranks of an early 20th century Englishman who tested the rules of the Royal Mail by mailing everything from turnips to crocheted postcards to himself.

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"The Gentle Art of Poverty" - John Brooke

Author:  John Brooke
Title: "The Gentle Art of Poverty"
Source: The Atlantic
Date:  October 1977

Subtitle: How to live in Southern California on $2000 a year

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"Letting Go" - David Sedaris

Title:  Letting Go
Author:  David Sedaris
Source:  The New Yorker
Date:  May 5, 2008

david sedaris on smoking, not smoking and other smoking related things

read here