Rosecrans Baldwin’s French Experiments

Rosecrans Baldwin moved to Paris and wrote a book about it.  With Sarkozy ousted, Baldwin’s memoir Paris I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down, serves as a perfectly timed ode to the France he knew.  It’s also a heartfelt and enjoyable account of an American artist living abroad in the 21st century that never feels like a tourist guide to a city that has been written about over and over a thousand times. 

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How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Mike Daisey

Last year, when I decided to train for a marathon, I was stymied by the prospect of being on my own for hours with nothing but my thoughts. Equally stressed by the option of recruiting an in-the-flesh running partner, I looked to podcasts and audiobooks to push me along as I covered the miles. This American Life was consistently and perfectly qualified for the job. I mean, you know what I’m talking about — the program has a dependable structure […]

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Shooting Grouse Near Brontë Country

If you want to win a city council election in the area that includes the area named after the Brontë sisters, you have to make the decision if leasing a piece of land between the “Glorious 12th” of August and the end of December to Red Grouse hunters is a good financial decision, or bad for the environment. Even though a good portion of the area is made up of gritstone, there are “swathes of wild grass and heather” full of the […]

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Morning Bites: Ezra Pound’s gross legacy, Pazz & Jop, Downton rocks, protest SOPA, Gertrude Stein gets new editions, and more

Ezra Pound’s daughter wants to take the poet’s legacy away from fascists. Google, Wikipedia, and other websites protest SOPA. The 39th annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll is out, and two Vol. 1 editors voted: Jason Diamond and Tobias Carroll. “Alice B. Toklas baked for her.” – Rosamond Bernier has led a sweet life.  NPR discusses her new memoir, Some Of My Lives. Speaking of Alice B. Toklas: Gertrude Stein gets the Yale treatment. Sara Levine talks to Chicago Magazine about Treasure […]

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