All stories published by The Awl on October 19, 2009

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All Stories published by The Awl on October 19, 2009

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2009

October

chris.lehmann in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

The Rich Rehab Differently, Like by Hugging Horses

Celebrities flock to Sundance, Utah, of course, to flaunt their Q ratings and take the measure of the great entertainment imperium in the heady mountain air. But the rich and famous are also notoriously inclined to get a little too heady when…

The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Footnotes of Mad Men: The Liberation of Betty Draper — Or Not

by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Choire Sicha in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Does Paying Sources Even Work?

There’s a segment of the journalism and media-product-making world that believes that paying sources for their exclusive version of events is a great business technique. It’s competitive, it’s efficient and it’s not usually terribly expensive. (Unless you are talking about…

Amy Jean Porter in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Chainsaw on a Stick!

The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Two Weeks Out: Dress Up and Stay Home

by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

It’s so difficult to create an American movie hero for mass consumption! The marvelous Pauline Kael, generally a sturdy populist when it came to American movies, wrote in 1964: “we don’t want to see the image of…

Choire Sicha in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

James Cameron, Loon, To Make Lots More Money Soon

This profile of James Cameron reveals that he is a fabulous crazy person who basically talks like Tony Soprano, which you probably already knew, what with the five wives, the insane budgets, the love of hot death and the run of box office…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Stay Away From Asian Ladies

“But if you try laughing and it doesn’t work, the next step might be simply to try avoidance. Easier said than done, of course, if your wife has masses of Asian friends and you are completely steeped in Asian women, but if it’s just a matter of your going all funny when you see…

Choire Sicha in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

AIDS Activist Is Upset

The AIDS Vaccine Conference begins today in Paris, and so we are treated to this AIDS vaccine op-ed in today’s Times on the topic of that recent study we’ve been ignoring. It’s not a crazy argument that the writer-who is Mr. Let’s Make a Vaccine Foundation-is making: that we shouldn’t…

Dave Bry in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Intentional Pedestrian Splasher Nabbed Through YouTube

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Rapist Fowl Infecting Everything They Can Stick Their Little Penises Into

Tiny-dicked ducks with rape on their minds are spreading bird flu through sexual transmission, according to a study by Hungarian scientists.

Most ducks form monogamous pairs but…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Is Contrarianism Dead?

Nobody tell the folks at Slate: “Here’s the thing: as history progresses, things change. And societies try to adapt to those changes. Experts come up with solutions to the problems the societies face. Those solutions often entail discomfiting established interest groups. And the solutions…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

RFI: Secession

Despite all the scorn and mockery, the GOP’s new website seems to be attracting some very engaged users. Here’s the beginning of one exciting forum conversation: “I was wondering if anyone could help me on this subject..what it would take for a state to succeed from the union? I know with joining the…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Rudy: “Vote For Mike Or Very Bad Things Will Happen. I’m Not Gonna Say What, But You Know.”

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

“There Appears To Be A Rabbi On The Court”

Make of this one what you will: “The New York Knicks beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 106–91 on Sunday in an exhibition game that featured a bizarre delay in the third quarter when Maccabi coach Pini Gershon refused to leave the floor after he was ejected. The game…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Stalling for Time This Morning

Wow, hey, did you guys see that sporting event/filmed entertainment/piece of news? That was one crazy field goal/inning/plot twist/stunt casting/family/dictator! Also, boy is it ever cold and/or not cold out.

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Silvio Berlusconi Disapproves Of Your Socks

Never underestimate Silvio Berlusconi! Just when you think, okay, this is about as outrageous as he can get, he’ll never top this, the man rises to a whole new level. Take the story of Raimondo Mesiano, the magistrate who fined Berlusconi’s holding…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Assload Of New Planets Discovered

NEWS FROM SPACE: “Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside the solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop. Scientists using European Southern Observatory telescopes did not find any planets quite the size…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

The Corrections

Interesting piece about a group of j-school students on a fact-checking mission: “Each morning, the students gather in a room to review the day’s news and identify stories that seem questionable. Then they go to work, hitting the phones and other sources to pull suspicious stories apart and see if…

Alex Balk in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

Sportswriters: Who Needs Them?

Can a web-crawling algorithm generate a readable sports story? Yes, more or less.

Choire Sicha in The Awl

Oct 19, 2009

‘NYT’ To Ditch 100 Editorial Staffers

The New York Times is cutting 100 more newsroom jobs. They will be doing this through “buyouts,” which they do not consider “lay offs,” which is incorrect.