June 2011 Archives
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Sound Advice
No One Commences Like This Anymore
My college graduation speaker really did begin—and end—his speech with “Today is the first day of the rest of your lives.” Did he also...
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Mothers and Daughters
Sorry About Your Generation
Fact: Today’s young women are scared to commit because Mel Gibson may attack them. Fact: Today’s mothers should keep their opinions to themselves.
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Profiles
Defenders of the Faith
We live in the golden age of all-female tribute bands, from Sheagles and Blonde Jovi to AC/DShe and Cheap Chick. Here we present an anatomy of a scene, with Judas Priestess—from women who pioneered stoner/doom rock to teenagers playing Alice Cooper drum solos at Philadelphia’s rock academy.
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Gallery
Home Is Where the Art Is
These meticulous, stylized portraits have the visual lure of advertising, but they’re not selling anything, merely asking you to look.
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Personal Essays
Letters to a Pitchikoo
Shoes, cars, T-shirts—it’s easy for people to become attached to favorite objects. But something is horribly wrong when a girl begins writing fan mail to her ring.
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Spoofs & Satire
Define the Ratio of People to Cake
After the world’s oddest job-interview questions, from companies like Citigroup and Facebook, were revealed, our writer decided to take all of them to prove he’s hirable anywhere.
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Punchlines
Erogenous Gaps
Humor happens when an audience fills in the gaps—at its best, those gaps are packed layers deep with meaning. An explanation of an 18-word Mitch Hedberg joke.
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The Perils of Academia
Trust Me
A century ago food vendors were often confidence men, cutting their products with inedible substances. A study of the history of food adulteration reveals hucksters at every turn.
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Gallery
Fieldwork
Sanna Kannisto’s photographs go behind the scenes of the natural sciences. A test tube full of nectar enticing a bat to pose for the camera is as beautiful and instructive.
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Personal Essays
Where the Choices Are Endless
After a childhood in the country, awaking as a freshman in a college town, where the inhabitants are willing and strange.
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The Non-Expert
What the Fuck Cricket Is
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, we solve one of Earth’s trickiest mysteries involving bats, balls, and scuttlewicks.
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Birnbaum v.
Arthur Phillips, Redux
Our man in Boston sits down with the extremely likeable Arthur Phillips to chat about everything, including his latest novel.
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Gallery
Chinese Sentiment
America primarily knows China as a faraway giant, a country of industrialism and megalopolises somewhere over there. Shen Wei’s monograph and series Chinese Sentiment gives us new views.
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Letters From Tel Aviv
Please Don’t Mflugah the Pn
When you are immigrating to a new country, it’s not always clear which vowels you’ll miss most. After six months of studying Hebrew in Tel Aviv, what it’s like to discover you’re illiterate.
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Man Cites Dog
Cloud Fracas
Once again, our British explorer discusses the latest news with a talking dog while they investigate odd features of the English countryside. This week: iCloud and deadly mud pits.
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Letters From Cairo
Six Cabs to Superior Understanding
Foreign correspondents love to interview local cab drivers for their political opinions. Or sometimes just to hear the best jokes.
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Opinions
Hedgestrong
Accused of fraud and perjury, Lance Armstrong is under fire from federal prosecutors. But, well, Wall Street got off. Options for the cyclist from a banker’s point of view.
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Gallery
Sartorial Anarchy
There is a simmering intensity to Iké Udé‘s photographs. His portraits—which feature subjects ranging from himself, to fashion designer Manolo Blahnik, to financial executive Reggie Van Lee—show a highly stylized world of color, attitude, and object.
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Spoofs & Satire
Incentivize Your Exciting New Death
You’ve died and gone to heaven. Well, unemployment is bad there, too. Sensitivity training, immigration snags, and the smell of bishops in paradise.
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Interview
Matthea Harvey & Amy Jean Porter
Matthea Harvey is the author of three books of poetry and a contributing editor to jubilat, Meatpaper, and BOMB. Amy Jean Porter is an artist who has had solo exhibitions...
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Birnbaum v.
Philip Kerr
Our man in Boston sits down with the author of the “Berlin Noir” trilogy and other books, to talk about detectives, Nazis, and Impressionist writing.