January 2013 Archives
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TMN Weekender
Pretty Sick
Incidentally, I happen to have a cold, which is apparently much less interesting to the New York Times. What is interesting, however, is this collection of five wonderful pieces about...
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Spoofs & Satire
Mea Culpa, Oprah
Ever since Lance Armstrong told Oprah about his persistent doping, lying, and just plain being mean, celebrities are lining up for their own public confessions. Starting with Breaking Bad’s Walter White.
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Exploring the Language of the Stars
The Beautiful Dark Magic of Lip-Syncing
The year was 1989. The place: Lake Compounce amusement park in Bristol, Conn. Two young warlocks named Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan were performing a complicated lip-sync with their coven, Milli...
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Personal Essays
Fly Girl
Even if you grow up crushing on the jets in Top Gun—and not Tom Cruise—it can be tough to preserve a dream of defending your country from a plane. But some girls do.
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Map Quiz
Map Game
[Answer]
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Gallery
Greece Today
Everyday scenes of Greece in paintings that evoke the quiet fatigue from living with economic uncertainty.
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TMN Weekender
Magic 8-Ball
But, in the interest of looking forward, here are four stories about predicting the future. Ready to read here on TMN or in an e-book you can export to your...
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End Zone
Bye Week Stinks
It’s also a break for the fans, who if they’re anything like me are suffering from playoff-related PTSD. For the next seven days, if I hear...
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The Sports Desk
Game Over
The NFL is an emperor with no clothes, no morals, and vaults of gold. As we prepare for Super Bowl XLVII, author Dave Zirin explains how greed and corruption have ruined the game, endangered players, and fleeced the public.
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Our Foreign Correspondence
Smog of War
More than a decade after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan—now our longest war—most Americans still know next to nothing about the people who live there, and the liberties denied them. Lessons from a rapid education.
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Exploring the Language of the Stars
Three Shades of Celebrity Desire
It was nice, for a while, imagining that love is real. Remember when we knew they were together but they were playing coy? Selena telling Ellen that Justin was like...
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Under the Thai Umbrella
Kluay Buat Chee
Kluay buat chee is a simple Thai dessert made by cooking barely ripened Nam Wah bananas in sweetened coconut milk. In the genealogy of Thai dishes, it’s related...
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Personal Essays
Clenching the Night Away
A mouth guard can do more than save our enamel from nighttime gnashing. It may also shield us from our daily anxieties.
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Map Quiz
Map It Out
[Answer]
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The Nature Desk
Hey, Bear
The great American wilderness is home to hungry stomachs, including some that reside in animals weighing 600 pounds more than you.
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Gallery
America Worked
Pictures of post-war America—views of factories, construction sites, and printing plants—drawn from the career of Ezra Stoller, one of the world’s first and best architectural photographers.
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The College Desk
German Philosophy for Immigrants
The line to speak with a consular official is never so long as when you’re studying 19th-century philosophy and everything you desire exists on the other side of an ocean.
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Announcements
The Morning News Seeks an Intern
Geographic location is unimportant; however, a reliable internet connection is essential to the job. The daily work for this position is unpaid, but you will be compensated for any articles...
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End Zone
Conference Championships Stink
Even missing just last weekend’s games would give you a skewed take on the teams heading into next weekend’s Conference Championships. Take erstwhile backup 49ers QB...
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TMN Weekender
See How They Grow
Originally conceived as a commentary on Britain’s class system, the series grew along with the children into a bigger and more complex exploration of humanity. To mark the...
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Spoofs & Satire
The Petition Response Strikes Back
The White House recently turned down a petition to build a Death Star. More responses from the official rejection pile.
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Exploring the Language of the Stars
The Impossible Expectations for Kim & Kanye’s Baby
For every baby in your life, you had to endure nine months of updates. We’re pregnant! We’re getting the room ready! It’s a boy,...
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The Rooster
Announcing the 2013 Tournament of Books Zombie Poll
Each year in the tournament, 16 works of fiction battle each other in daily contests to win that vaunted literary prize, The Rooster. Along the way, victors advance and losers fall....
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Birnbaum V.
Joan Wickersham
Our man in Boston sits down for an extended chat with author Joan Wickersham about her new story collection, lurking near architects, the wisdom of good editors, how to profit from artist colonies, and the benefits of avoiding the MFA trap.
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Map Quiz
Mapping the Territory
[Answer]
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Gallery
The Weaver’s Dance
Photos that meditate on the link between fabric and movement in India’s textile and dance traditions.
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End Zone
Divisional Weekend Stinks
How else to describe Andy Dalton’s stats at the half last Saturday: four for 10, with three passing yards total. How else to explain RGIII limping off the field...
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TMN Weekender
Chew Thoroughly
If you’re about to gnaw your arm off, why not take a break from the carrot sticks and sate your appetite with four delicious stories about food? Ready...
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Personal Essays
Separate Housewives
A happy cul de sac experiences its first affair. Soon every living room—every computer screen—reverberates with news bulletins. Even for the Facebook generation, divorce comes with surprises.
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The View From the Lighthouse
Right Here Waiting
After frequenting a local haunt where nobody knows his name, a Chicago writer makes new friends, rips on Richard Marx online, and then suddenly lands a real live celebrity musician at their door.
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Cloud of Atlases
Back to the Start
(One clue to get you started: The map doesn’t represent gross national anything.) [Answer]
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Spoofs & Satire
Handicapped Children
All parents like to believe their children are special. But horse breeders know better: Progeny can be unique, but for very particular reasons. How to be more honest about your offspring and their ability to finish in the money.
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Gallery
A Kiss Before You Go
Excerpts from an illustrated memoir of love and mourning after an artist loses his wife to a tragic accident.
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Birnbaum V.
Ben Fountain
Our man in Boston sits down for an extended chat with the author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, covering Kissinger’s travel woes, the beauty of track meets, and the very best place to be a fiction writer in America: Dallas.
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End Zone
Wild Card Weekend Stinks
This is the wild card round, and, as the name would imply, there are a few surprises in the mix. Take the Bengals. After Week 9, they were 3-5. They&rsquo...
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TMN Weekender
Gérard in Russia
Depardieu has not responded to the offer thus far. Perhaps he’s still thinking about it. To help him make up his mind, we present Elizabeth Kiem’s...
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Lunch Poems
J. Y. Strain
J. Y. Strain lives and works in Bloomington, Ill. This poem is dedicated “for my brother, regarding his ride.” I’d Like to See You at Thanksgiving ...
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The Music Box
Playing Johnny Ace
A young crooner’s untimely, macabre death left questions for those who would follow—musicians and fans alike. Was it suicide? Was it a hit? A listener’s query into one star’s place in the history of early rock and roll.
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Spoofs & Satire
This Will Be the Year That Was
Already 2013 has seen America drive off the fiscal cliff, only to freeze momentarily, then either reverse in mid-air or drop straight into the canyon—depending on how you look at it. Here’s more of what to expect over the next 12 months.
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Cloud of Atlases
Here I Go Again
(One clue to get you started: The map doesn’t represent gross national anything.) [Answer]