Prison Poem: “You stripped away the sea… #11” Prison Poem: “You stripped away the sea… #11”
After stripping me of the seas, a scattering & running start, And giving me instead a foothold of violent earth, What'd it get you? A brilliant retribution: You couldn't seize these lips still stirring. (Translated from the Russian by John High)
Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Osip Mandelstam
Wanted: Political Poetry Wanted: Political Poetry
Are you worried about the election? Do you write haiku? People for the American Way and The Nation invite your entries the McPalin Haiku Hysteria competition.
Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Erica Landau
Lee Atwater’s Legacy Lee Atwater’s Legacy
Rebel. Liar. Attack dog. Bigot. Stefan Forbes's Boogie Man assesses the enduring damage Lee Atwater did to our political process.
Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Antonino D’Ambrosio
Someone Watching Sarah Palin’s Campaign Tactics Imagines How She Might Challenge a Referee’s Call in a Sixth-Grade Hockey Game Someone Watching Sarah Palin’s Campaign Tactics Imagines How She Might Challenge a Referee’s Call in a Sixth-Grade Hockey Game
Push back on the pushy hockey mom.
Oct 8, 2008 / Column / Calvin Trillin
McCain and W. McCain and W.
McCain's not a perfect replica, but Oliver Stone's Bush bio-pic reminds us they're two spoiled screw-ups who divided and conquered the country for their high-rolling pals.
Oct 8, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Robert Scheer
Krapp’s Last Horse Krapp’s Last Horse
With his new play Kicking a Dead Horse, Sam Shepard is still stranded in a prairie of tough-guy cliché.
Oct 7, 2008 / Books & the Arts / Akiva Gottlieb
Saturday Night Live’s VP Debate: With Tina Fey, Queen Latifah Saturday Night Live’s VP Debate: With Tina Fey, Queen Latifah
In an uproarious recreation of the 2008 VP showdown, Fey introduces a flute for the 'talent portion of the debate.'
Oct 5, 2008 / Video / Saturday Night Live
Homer Simpson vs. Electronic Voting Homer Simpson vs. Electronic Voting
The Simpsons character encounters a corrupted electronic voting machine: 'This doesn't happen in America! Maybe in Ohio, but not in America!'
On a Clear Day, I See Vladivostok On a Clear Day, I See Vladivostok
The song of a political visionary--with apologies to Alan Jay Lerner.
Oct 1, 2008 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Paul Newman Paul Newman
He was funny, he was thoughtful, he was committed and, in the end, he was a friend, period.
Oct 1, 2008 / Editorial / Victor Navasky