Articles Written By Clay Risen
TMN Contributing Writer Clay Risen’s first attempt to build a website fell apart after he learned that risen.com had been bought by a hardcore Christian rock band. Clay is a senior staff editor at the New York Times and the author, most recently, of The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act. He lives in Brooklyn.
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Spoofs & Satire
I, Servant
Admitting you have a problem is a big hurdle to face, but confessing you need help can be even more difficult, especially when you’re forced to choose your own path. So: Will it be robot or monkey?
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Books
Goodnight, Nobody
Faulkner died 40-some years ago, and whether southern literature passed with him has been a hot topic ever since. Regardless of the genre's health, the region has lately produced a...
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Op-Ed
Wrong Way Home
To rebuild the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, Mississippi’s governor picked a panel of vaunted New Urbanists to submit plans. But is their nostalgia for small-town America appropriate, nevermind prepared for the task?
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Music
Cowboy Troy
Next month Troy Coleman, aka Cowboy Troy, will perform at the Country Music Awards in New York City. Cowboy Troy is one of Nashville's hot young stars. But unlike most...
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Op-Ed
From the Ground Up
Even in the face of disaster, life finds a way. But how long can we afford to flout forces beyond our control and live on unsteady ground? And what are we willing to pay? Our writer sends a dispatch from New Orleans.
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Op-Ed
Brothers From Another Mother
Did David Childs really steal his Freedom Tower design from a Yale student? And can you call that stealing, or just the way the business works? Our critic explains how plagiarism exists in architecture, and why there actually should be more of it.
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Magazines
Oxford American Music Issue
Fans of the Oxford American like to hate its editor, Mark Smirnoff. He repeatedly runs the magazine into the ground only to resurrect it after months of radio silence. But...
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Op-Ed
Sincerely Yours LOL!
The recent publication of Robert Lowell’s letters makes us wonder, will someday collections of today’s scribblers’ correspondence include emoticons? A look at the last gasps of letter writing.
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Personalities
Fame!
It’s one thing to be Mario Lopez and have a single claim to the history books, but it’s quite another to distinguish your celebrity with a striking, but unrecognized achievement. OUr writer takes a look at three famous men, not necessarily known for inventing chewing gum or cornering the pencil market.
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The Non-Expert
Cameron’s Physics, Tara’s Slips
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help two readers with vital questions of national security: Can cars backtrack mileage if driven in reverse, and who is responsible for forcing celebrities down our throats?
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Opinions
Beyond Therapy
Which story is front-page material: Kerry’s tan, or his position on loose nukes? Bush’s plans for immigration reform, or a bulge in his jacket? By fluffing rumors and stuffing their shirts, the political media this election season has constantly failed the public.
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Opinions
Concerning My Neighbors, the Hicks
It’s easy for Yankees to see the South as a swamp, full of evangelist in-breds and Fox-fed yokels, when the media reinforces the stereotype.