The tax loophole Fifa imposed on the World Cup’s developing nation host country was what originally attracted me to this piece. As I read more though, the post became less about “the Death Star that is Fifa,” as David Smith of South Africa’s Mail & Gardian put it, and more about how bad of an idea it was [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Literature’
Will The World Cup Be An Economic Own-Goal For South Africa?
Posted in The New Republic, tagged Africa, Finance, Literature, Sport, Taxes on June 22, 2010 |
The Freaky Science of SuperFreakonomics
Posted in Mother Jones, tagged Environment, Literature, Media, Religion, Scandal on October 14, 2009 |
The original title, which my editor changed in the last revision, was “SuperFreakonomics: Constructing Straw Men, Misrepresenting the Science, and How NOT to Sell Books.” It’s a little play on the actual title of the controversial follow up to Freakonomics and much more indicative of how I feel about the chapter-in-question. Oh well, below is [...]
“Heavy Rotation”: Soundtracks That Changed Lives
Posted in More Intelligent Life, tagged Literature, Music on July 28, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This is a personal post entwined with a book review inspired by a radio interview. In other words, it was a good excuse to write about the Beastie Boys and score a free collection of essays that I was interested in reading. Next up is packing for the move to DC into what I hope [...]
“Public Enemies”: Just What the Banks Need
Posted in More Intelligent Life, tagged Film, History, Law & Order, Literature, Minnesota, New York, Recession on July 13, 2009 |
This is a fun little post about a movie I have yet to see. I hope to change that soon. Over Independence Day weekend Michael Mann, acclaimed director of such films as “Heat”, “The Insider” and “Collateral”, released another beautiful crime drama about an infamous Midwestern bank robber, John Dillinger. Over the course of [...]
The Q&A: Lewis H. Lapham, Writer, Historian
Posted in More Intelligent Life, tagged Advertising, Business, History, Language, Literature, Politics, Recession on June 16, 2009 |
I was tremendously lucky to get this interview and, as you’ll see below, it went very well. Mr. Lapham’s wonderful assistant Ann Gollin allotted a half-hour of his time but he let the conversation go on for nearly two hours, putting off a call to Dave Eggers in the process. I had a tremendous amount of material to work with (nearly 6,500 [...]
The Crisis of Conservatism
Posted in TheNation.com, tagged Literature, Republicans on June 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I needed to get a picture of the editor and publisher on the blog before I’m out the door. Check that one off the list. And, as far as the video goes, she actually does a very good job of puncturing Scarborough’s idealistic, ideological bubble. Joe Scarborough discusses his book on American Conservatism The [...]
Kai Bird: The Nation’s Foreign Editor
Posted in The Nation, tagged Britain, Foreign Policy, Literature, New York, Travel on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Although The Nation is legally registered as a for-profit company, it has lost money for nearly all of the magazine’s 144 year history and has only survived through the unwavering support of what are now some 30,000 Nation Associates. This profile was written for The Associate, the quarterly newsletter that goes out to all those rabid Nationistas. [...]
Ballad Days Are Here Again
Posted in More Intelligent Life, tagged Literature, Music, New York, Recession on March 20, 2009 |
Rejected titles included “Postcard From the New New York” and “The Good Old Bad Days Are Here Again” When I moved to New York, one of the first tasks I set out for myself was to find a few good novels to augment the limited knowledge I had of my new metropolis. The first book [...]
