James Frey's Fiction Factory
James Frey is starting a publishing company, paying young writers (very poorly) to reverse engineer a Twilight-esque hit.
James Frey is starting a publishing company, paying young writers (very poorly) to reverse engineer a Twilight-esque hit.
Suzanne Mozes New York Nov 2010 20min Permalink
In Detroit, the aftermath of a reality-TV SWAT raid that killed a sleeping seven-year-old.
Charlie LeDuff Mother Jones Nov 2010 Permalink
Dandenis Muñoz Mosquera, a.k.a. “La Quica,” was one of Pablo Escobar’s top killers. Now he’s in a maximum security prison in Colorado. Here’s the thing: for all his crimes, La Quica may not have committed the one that put him away.
Alan Prendergast Westword May 2001 20min Permalink
How to spend $1.2 million per month on your laundry in Kuwait; the system of kickbacks and non-competitive contracts that made Halliburton/KBR the near-exclusive contractor in the Iraq war zone.
Michael Shnayerson Vanity Fair Apr 2005 35min Permalink
An interview with Douglas Hofstadter, who after winning the Pulitzer for Gödel, Escher, Bach retreated into the lab and published only sparingly in technical journals, on what it would mean if a program could generate humor and/or masterful compositions.
Douglas Hofstadter, Kevin Kelly Wired Nov 1995 10min Permalink
The bizarre tale of how the hiring of a reality TV contestant to greet high-end customers led to the firing of a successful CEO. Plus: a follow-up article.
Adam Lashinsky, Doris Burke Fortune Nov 2010 Permalink
The story that certified Gehry as a genius and the Guggenheim Bilbao as the building of the late 20th century.
Herbert Muschamp New York Times Magazine Sep 1997 20min Permalink
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, oil magnate and once the richest man in Russia, delivers a speech from prison, where he has lived since 2003.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky The New Republic Nov 2010 10min Permalink
The prosecutor in the case of hacker turned F.B.I. informant (but still hacker) Albert Gonzales and his organization Shadowcrew : “The sheer extent of the human victimization caused by Gonzalez and his organization is unparalleled.”
James Verini New York Times Magazine Nov 2010 Permalink
For the last two decades, the varied personalities behind the Vidocq Society—retired cops, sketch artists, FBI agents—have gathered in Philadelphia to tackled cold-case homicides over lunch. They claim to have solved more than half.
Adam Higginbotham The Telegraph Nov 2008 15min Permalink
New technology has historically been a friend to the porn industry, first VHS, then online DVD sales. But free streaming sites like YouPorn have sent the establishment into a tailspin, and due to anonymous domain registration, they don’t even know who their competition is. Will the internet kill porn?
Claire Hoffman Portfolio Oct 2007 20min Permalink
America, China, and the case for coal as a vital weapon in the war against climate change.
James Fallows The Atlantic Nov 2010 35min Permalink
On the religious revival underway in China.
Ian Johnson New York Times Magazine Nov 2010 Permalink
Adapting from his book The Gun, Chivers traces how the design and proliferation of small arms, originating from both the Pentagon and the Russian army, rerouted the 20th century.
C.J. Chivers Esquire Nov 2010 30min Permalink
Notes on a summer spent aboard an industrial fishing boat off the Alaskan coast.
Julia Gronnevet n+1 Nov 2003 10min Permalink
What happens when a decades old video, featuring the artist Larry Rivers’ prepubescent daughters bare-chested, is claimed both as child pornography and as an important part of the archive of a major American painter.
Michael Shnayerson Vanity Fair Dec 2010 25min Permalink
“You can treat a lot of people, and India has,’’ says an epidemiologist working on TB. “But if you have tests that cause misdiagnosis on a massive scale you are going to have a serious problem. And they do.”
Michael Specter New Yorker Nov 2010 20min Permalink
A profile of of Courtney Love.
Eric Wilson New York Times Nov 2010 Permalink
The macabre, ultra-violent plays put on at the Grand Guignol defined an era in Paris, attracting foreign tourists, aristocrats, and celebrities. Goering and Patton saw plays there in the same year. But the carnage of WWII ultimately undermined the shock of Guignol’s brutality, and audiences disappeared.
P.E. Schneider New York Times Magazine Mar 1957 10min Permalink
In the feral communities of Russia’s Far East, tiger poaching is among the few lucrative pursuits. This is the story of a tiger who fought back.
John Vaillant Men's Journal Sep 2010 25min Permalink
The difference between a social network and a movie about a social network, and what it says about the Facebook generation.
Zadie Smith New York Review of Books Nov 2010 20min Permalink
A profile of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson, published at the height of the controversy.
Vicky Ward Vanity Fair Jan 2004 30min Permalink
Anxiety, weight, general well-being—how the first nine months determine the rest of your life.
Annie Murphy Paul Time Sep 2010 15min Permalink
The perpetually underpaid author takes a moonlighting job with Demand Media, publisher of search-engine optimized articles with titles like “Hair Styles for Women Over 50 With Glasses”, absurdity ensues.
Jessanne Collins The Awl Nov 2010 10min Permalink
Best Article Arts Media Movies & TV
The young Woody Allen writes jokes for supper club comedians, decides he will never make it as a performer and then does, idolizes and is snubbed by Mort Sahl, and develops the comic persona which will make him a star.
Kliph Nesteroff WFMU Blog Feb 2010 45min Permalink