May 2014 Archives
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Our Passions, Our Day Jobs
Game Face
Even someone who writes erotica for a living has to find ways to get through moments of shame.
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Print Isn't Dead
This Is How I Post
Over the past decade, social media has made us all big communicators, but we’re giving off more noise than signals. An argument for the handwritten note.
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The Arts Desk
Let It Stop
Disney’s Frozen juggernaut has been criticized for “sexy walking.” But the roots of what’s wrong lie in Midwestern pageants, not hip-hop videos.
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Personal Histories
A Country’s Width
Years go by easier when there are 2,000 miles separating a father and son. Then an American flag turns up in your lap.
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Dispatches
Glad I’m Not You
The instinct to applaud boot-strapping and the comeback kid is as American as apple pie. So why does schadenfreude make us feel so good?
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Letters From Beirut
The Cantina Scene
Returning to America after five years in the Middle East calls for a no-sleep jaunt back to Beirut for drinking, partying, and tying up loose ends.
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Gallery
The Chinese Party!
A redacted version of Mao Tse-tung’s Little Red Book, illustrated with photographs of contemporary China, becomes a story for modern times.
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Profiles
Main Street, USA
Sinclair Lewis despised his hometown in Minnesota. It disliked him, too, especially after being lampooned in a bestselling novel that mocked the citizens for their small-town ways. These days, though, he’s all they’ve got.
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Apocalypse Because Humans
Big Water
The California Dream is made possible by old water and big water. Unfortunately, the former doesn’t care about us, and the latter’s running dry. A native reports from the wine country, where fires loom.
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The Music Desk
The Cello Courier
After a death in the family, a precious musical instrument must be transported a thousand-plus miles. Should it break, a lot more is at stake than just music.
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Spoofs & Satire
The Mall of the Wild
Even cable series must adapt to survive. Possible spinoffs of Naked and Afraid explore charted territory.
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Gallery
Paradise With a Limp
Cityscapes as you’ve never seen them before, built from luxury watches, sapphire pools, and other media prescriptions for the perfect life.
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National Colors
Crime Reported
Lawbreaking occurs, a man calls for help, the police detain an endless lineup of men. Sometimes fraud comes as no surprise.