When I requested an interview from Barbara Browning to talk about her new novel, The Gift, she agreed and asked if I had a favorite song she could cover for me on the ukulele. Browning possesses many gifts—she is an accomplished dancer, novelist, performance artist, theorist, teacher, and self-described amateur musician—and The Gift is a […]
...more
Our house, we believed, was a microcosm of that country. Every month, we’d gather at the kitchen table for our house meeting, where we, like politicians, unveiled our big plans for change.
...more
John Freeman, Executive Editor at Lit Hub, talks with Suzanne Koven about his new print-only literary magazine Freeman’s, the difference between between criticism and editing, and his fear of flying.
...more
In the imagined scenario wherein my apartment burns to the ground and I lose all my worldly possessions, there are just a few things I would miss—family photographs (of course), an old wooden trunk my grandmother reupholstered and that I used to store my toys as a child, and the book, John Black’s Body. I discovered […]
...moreRumpus contributor Adam Wilson sat down with Tobias Carroll over at the Tottenville Review to discuss Wilson’s latest collection of stories, What’s Important is Feeling. Wilson reveals his interests in Occupy Wall Street and social class, observing: And then I went away to college and went, “Oh, wait–I really do come from this incredibly privileged […]
...moreOccupy, once again, has devised a clever way of thwarting Wall Street. The Rolling Jubilee is an organization created to “free debtors from their debt” and claims: “We buy debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish it. We cannot buy specific individuals’ debt – instead, we help liberate debtors at random […]
...more“No matter how you feel about the whole thing, what can’t be denied is that millions of people feel betrayed. The people held up their end of the bargain and rightly feel that they got sold out.” At Guernica, Matthew Newton interviews Sean Stewart, former owner of the now closed Babylon Falling, a radical bookstore and […]
...moreThe band Aeroplane Pageant and novelist, musician and Rumpus contributor Rick Moody have collaborated on a new version of a song from the band’s recent album, Float Above the Yard. Moody’s remix of the song “Big Little Wolfs” is ambient and drifting without being lulling, a place (near the docks) as much as a […]
...moreOn Thursday, November 17th, thousands of students gathered in Union Square Park as part of a mass strike in solidarity of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
...moreThe Awl assembles a list of the 26 reporters arrested (so far) covering Occupy Wall Street stories and reveals what they do and who they are. “Only seven of the 25 arrested are full-time employed traditional news-gathering employees. A number were student reporters; a few were interns; a larger number were freelancers. Some work for […]
...moreAfter this morning’s eviction of Zuccotti Park, the 5,000 books that encompassed the People’s Library have depressingly ended up in a dumpster. However, writers are planning to restock the People’s Library this evening in Liberty Plaza. “Authors will bring their books, readers will bring their favorite books to donate and together we will rebuild to […]
...moreYesterday was Veterans Day and the American Occupation of America was focused on its members who have served in the armed forces. In the hot front city of Oakland, Scott Olsen, the first veteran seriously injured when police fired ordinance against their fellow American citizens, was released from the hospital, and much more is going […]
...moreThe demands on Occupy Wall Street far outnumber the demands by Occupy Wall Street — because occupiers don’t demand, they exist and they triumph by using their existence to overwrite the host. But unlike an invading army, we don’t have to win over hearts and minds because we are the hearts and minds.
...moreOur own Kevin Thomas has posted an insightful #OWS comic over at OccupyWriters.com. You can check it out here. Enjoy!
...moreLatest from the American Occupation of America: The Oakland Occupation is the hot front in the struggle against Corporate Exploitation: an attack by the police that injured Iraq vet Scott Olson led to a general strike and a large and successful march that closed the Port of Oakland. It was followed by a small destructive […]
...moreWell this is going to be something. Oakland’s general strike is today. Organizers are expecting tens of thousands of people. Almost every labor union has endorsed, and students will be walking out all over the Bay Area (solidarity statements here). Businesses throughout Oakland are shutting down (partial list here), including, apparently, Men’s Wearhouse(!) and the Grand Park […]
...moreThe big stories surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement seem to center around police brutality, but in a lot of cities, occupiers and police are working together peacefully. Much of the pushback against the Occupy movement has come in the form of claims that income inequality isn’t really a problem. The Columbia Journalism Review points […]
...moreDahlia Lithwick says one of the best things about #OWS is the way it confuses the media and pundit class. KJ Dell’Antonia asks if Occupy Wall Street is a teachable moment? Scott Olsen, the Iraq war veteran who was in critical condition after being struck in the head by an OPD projectile, has been upgraded […]
...moreMake sure you check out Seth Fischer’s excellent Occupy Oakland roundup from earlier today. One update to that story–Scott Olsen, the Iraq War veteran who was shot in the head with a “police projectile” is in the hospital in critical condition. Matt Taibbi points out that this conflict is more than simply rich versus poor. […]
...moreOakland police cleared the Occupy Oakland camp early this morning, arresting 85, and firing “two or three nonlethal projectiles from a shotgun” as well as lobbing “tear gas at the encampment.” An Open Salon blogger offers this first-hand report of the arrests. The Occupy Maine encampment in Portland had a chemical bomb thrown into it […]
...moreSome Tea Party activists are pushing back on the idea that they have anything in common with Occupy Wall Street. I’ll give them this much–the Tea Party is much better at coming up with sexually explicit nicknames for themselves. Oakland’s occupation is being attacked by right-wingers, and the city has had enough–of the protest, that […]
...moreJ Smooth of Ill Doctrine breaks down the big thing Occupy Wall Street is doing–identifying the ringers in the 3-card monte game. Seems like the efforts to demonize Occupy Wall Street are, for the moment, failing. So is the attempt to cast tax increases on the wealthy as class warfare. Remember how DG Myers said […]
...moreLaughter Against The Machine is putting on a free show this Friday, October 21st (tomorrow!) in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. If you’re in New York, get your laughter on at The Epifaneo (near Zuccotti Park) from 9-11 pm. Plus, LATM will visit the Occupy Together sites in each city left on their tour. So […]
...moreNaomi Wolf tells her story of her arrest at Occupy Wall Street. If you work for NPR, don’t speak publicly about your politics, or you’ll lose your job. So much for the notion that NPR is some bastion of liberal thought. Charles Pierce argues that democracy can refuse to be bought. Another view of the […]
...moreRemember that NYPD deputy commander who pepper-sprayed protesters for apparently no reason at all? He’s facing disciplinary charges which could result in him losing 10 whole vacation days. The Guardian had a debate/conversation between protesters from Occupy Wall Street, London and Frankfurt. I think more people like the guy in this photo need to join […]
...moreThe Atlantic has collected photographs of Occupy Wall Street protests across the world. The 50 photos—taken over the last several days—depict the growing nature of the movement.
...moreThe Occupy Wall Street protests enter their second month, and have started to garner a lot more media attention. One of the people responsible for that attention is NYPD Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona, who spun a protestor around and punched him in the face. The Deputy Inspector is now being formally investigated for his actions. […]
...moreSaturdays may belong to me, but today I belong to Occupy Des Moines. We’re marching to the Wells Fargo building this morning, located at 666 Walnut St. Not making that up. Feel free to post your own occupation stories in the comments today. I’ll be checking in to moderate those from time to time, but […]
...moreLast night, as part of the Occupy SF Art and Performance Series, Foxtails Brigade, Sherilynn Connelly, and others came out to support the protestors at Bierman Park. By pretty much all accounts, it was incredible. Foxtails Brigade—with Laura Weinbach, Anton Patzner (Judgement Day, Bright Eyes), Jo Lewis (Os Beaches, F-Pod B-Pod) and Jascha Hoffman—even played an […]
...moreIt 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 media coverage over the past week. A Help I’m Getting Arrested app might come in […]
...more