‘Home’: Toni Morrison’s Taut, Triumphant New Novel
There are topics you may think you’ve had enough of — racism, slavery, antisemitism, the Holocaust — but then you read a book like Toni Morrison’s new novel and realize, as Samuel Beckett put it, “All has not been said and never will be.” Home is gorgeous and intense, brutal yet heartwarming — and could [...]
Long-Term Investments On Shaky Stocks: ‘New Girl’ And ‘Smash’ End Their Seasons
As the networks are currently rolling out their plans for the future courtesy of their upfronts, it just so happens that they’re also winding down the current season of shows, the ones that they touted last year at this very time. It’s a good time for television viewers to reevaluate the investments we’ve made in [...]
Pounding Away At America’s Obesity Epidemic
The numbers are staggering: One-third of Americans are obese; another third are overweight. Some 26 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes. An additional 79 million more are pre-diabetic. Thanks to these figures, the children of today have a good chance of becoming the first generation of Americans to die at younger ages than their parents. [...]
Johnny Carson Gets The ‘Masters’ Treatment
Johnny Carson walked away from The Tonight Show, after 30 years at the top of the late-night ratings, of his own volition. And except for a few fleeting TV appearances after he retired, he never looked back — and never went back. When filmmaker Peter Jones would send an annual letter to Carson, asking for [...]
NBC Upfronts: Six New Shows, And ‘Community’ On Fridays
“What are the upfronts, exactly?” People who write about television get this question a lot. And we’re getting it a lot right now, because this is upfronts week for the major networks. The primary purpose of a network’s “upfronts” presentation is to announce its fall schedule and get advertisers interested in buying time on the [...]
Mamma Mia! A Mother Tougher Than The Godfather
Zoe Ferraris’ latest book is called Kingdom of Strangers. I grew up in frank adoration of The Godfather, entranced by Don Corleone’s dark charisma. He reminded me of the Italian men in my own family, the kind who could silence you with a dead-eyed look and who seemed to have some deep, silent, absolute authority. [...]
Exclusive First Read: ‘Gone Girl’ By Gillian Flynn
Darkly funny, suspenseful and cunningly plotted, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl will be published June 5. In this exclusive selection from the book’s opening, we meet Nick and Amy, the seemingly perfect couple whose alternating chapters soon reveal them to be unreliable narrators — and spouses. NICK DUNNE THE DAY OF When I think of my [...]
Even Under Threat, Syrian Artists Paint In Protest
In Syria, anyone who speaks out against the regime of President Bashar Assad risks harassment, detention and sometimes worse. One famous cartoonist who’d lampooned Assad was pulled out of his car last summer by pro-regime thugs and had his hands broken. Public figures like singers and actors are under much pressure to keep silent. Even [...]
Johnny Carson: ‘King Of Late Night,’ A Man Unknown
Fifty years ago, Johnny Carson became the host of The Tonight Show. During his 30 years as host, he reached a nightly audience of 15 million people and became one of the most trusted and famous men in America. But Carson was intensely private off-screen, and very few people — including members of his own [...]
Lessons In Counterterrorism From The Octopus
In 2002, Rafe Sagarin was working in Washington, D.C., as a science adviser. It wasn’t long after the Sept. 11 attacks, and Sagarin started paying attention to the security measures on Capitol Hill. “I’d watch these other Capitol Hill staffers and I noticed that they’d just put their hand over the keys in their pockets [...]
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