the awl
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Holiday Tales
Whether you’re heading to your childhood home or staying put in your studio apartment, The Awl has a couple stories to get you in the holiday groove. Check out Amy Jean Porter’s illustrated “Home For the Holidays” and Edith Zimmerman’s…
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The Unblinking Eye
At The Awl, Blake Butler reflects on attachment to the Internet world (and the machines with which we enter) as well as the meaning of obsession. “It seems too late for any of this to be stopped. Even making aimed…
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Dark Matter
As scientists search for the “God particle,” The Awl explains some things about Higgs and gives us a glimpse into the world of physicists and all their certainty. “Physicists do the most lovely thing: they quantify conviction. They know what…
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Exploring in a Mapped World
The first in a series on exploration and technology, this essay uncovers the discoveries made and archived by the 107-year-old Explorer’s Club, and ponders the ways that exploration has evolved. “And if the age of the explorer as just “man…
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Arrested Reporters
The 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…
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Scott Raab Interview
Scott Raab conversed with The Awl about his new memoir, The Whore of Akron: One Man’s Search for the Soul of LeBron James. Raab provides insight on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop,…
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On Criticism
At The Awl, Maria Bustillos breaks down the back-and-forth between Jonathan Lethem and James Wood over Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude, interpreting both Wood’s original review and Lethem’s recent response. Ruminating on the possibility of improved communication between authors, readers,…
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Literary Almost Deaths
What if J.K. Rowling had killed off Ron Weasley, or Melville had killed of Starbuck, or Fitzgerald had killed off Daisy Buchanan? The Awl explores characters who nearly died in their author’s rough draft, giving us an illustrated glimpse of…
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Tips For Time Travel
This “Dos and Don’ts of Time Travel” manual is chock-full of advice for the imminent time-traveler. The guide explains which direction in time to go first, what precautions to take, who not to bring, and what attitude to have while…
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On Dirty Talk
“To be clear: this isn’t about sexual repression; it’s about the sorry state of sexual expression. When did we forget how to talk dirty? Sexting transcripts are criminally boring. Craigslist ads read like chimp-generated remixes of the same five words.…
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Today In American Things To Fix
Those of us with life-long bridge phobias probably wish we could un-see this news. According to yesterday’s “Transportation for America” report, one in nine bridges in the U.S. are “structurally deficient,” which means that “each day the volume of travelers…
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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…