Posts by author
Lisa Dusenbery
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Linear Parks
Linear parks have sprung from abandoned rail lines in cities nationwide. This article looks at the most well-known of these industrial transformations, New York’s High Line park, along with examples of other abandoned railroads, bridges, canals and factories that have…
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Joan Didion On Blue Nights
“What she has written instead is a kind of biography of Joan Didion, and an elusive one at that. Like her novels, it’s more a work of accumulation than of argument, at the end of which Quintana the grown-up remains…
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R.I.P. Dennis Ritchie, Computing Founding Father
Dennis Ritchie created the C programming language (“the basis of nearly every programming and scripting tool”) and co-developed the Unix operating system. His death on October 8th fell in the shadow of that of Steve Jobs, but his work is…
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“Hacktivism and Social Change”
In this Nation Conversations audio interview, reporter Laurie Penny takes a closer look at how digital resistance groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec have enabled protests from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street. She breaks down the relationship between…
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On Publishing and Letting Go
“It’s even possible that there’s something retrospective in the nature of writing itself. Probably every writer’s first piece of writing, if it were possible to excavate such a thing, would be found to look backward. Writing tries to fix the…
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Teens and Themes
This Salon piece offers a compelling argument for why teens should read adult fiction and reminds us that exposure to “mature” themes in adolescence is not only survivable, but also essential to “moral development.” “They’re equipped with a strength and…
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Helen DeWitt Interview
Helen DeWitt conversed with The Awl about her new novel Lighting Rods. Elaborating on influences and stylistic devices, DeWitt opens up about fantasies, detail-orientation, and 18th century satirists. “But as soon as you bring up 18th-century satirists I think: Of…
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An Enduring Paradox
Catch-22 turns 50 this year. NPR explores how and why the the novel’s central paradox still resonates with readers—particularly with “a new crop of young people distrustful of their elders. ” “Catch-22 is a concept everyone can understand. That’s why…
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Occupy Wall Street Roundup
It looks like the protesters will not be allowed to bring their gear and tents back to Zuccotti Park after the planned clean-up tomorrow. The Pew Research Center finds that news about the expanding protests made up just 7% of…
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A Rumpus at Muni Diaries
At the Muni Diaries Reunion Show, our own managing editor Isaac Fitzgerald told a story “about heroics on the D.C. Metro, and why wearing khaki pants doesn’t necessarily make you gangster” (we’re not sure of their use of “heroics” here,…
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Richard Siken Interview
In conversation with Bomblog, Richard Siken talks about activating truth, naming, and skin. The poet and painter reflects on how the concerns of his 2005 collection, Crush, vary from those of his current work. “Crush was concerned with now and…
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Economic Mythology
“The stimulus failed.” “The deficit is our biggest problem right now.” “Lower taxes are the best way to grow the economy.” “Regulatory uncertainty is clogging the economy.” “If you unshackle the rich, they’ll rev up the economy.” According to Mother…