Meeting: Saturday, April 19, 2008

Out of Print

Eric Alterman

What does the Web mean for newspapers?

Q. Gathering news is often labor-intensive, and currently blogs have only a fraction of the editorial resources of newspapers. If blogs become the primary source of news, is that good for democracy?

Penny Dreadful

David Owen

America’s most annoying and useless coin.

Q. Are pennies really a problem? What arguments of Owen aren't refutable? Does he have a solution?

The films of David Lean.

Anthony Lane

Q.

Mine Is Longer Than Yours

Michael Kinsley

One last competition.

Auteur Wars

Richard Brody

The New Wave at fifty.

Patty LuPone in “Gypsy.”

John Lahr

Capital Fellows

Calvin Trillin

London’s outlandish mayoral candidates.

Somebody Has to Be in Control

Ian Parker

George Clooney and the art of fame.

“Dancing with the Stars.”

Joan Acocella

JUST FOR FUN:
Barbara_Smaller, Cartoonist of the month of March

Q. Is Smaller funnier with drawings or prose? Real Estate by-the-cup Monday means? "Never give a man money for a truck, and, if you do, don’t sleep with him for at least a year." Why? Health Care "you'll-feel-a-little-pinch" Friday because?

Meeting: Saturday, April 5, 2008

Nails Never Fails

Ben McGrath

Lenny Dykstra’s guidance for pro athletes.

Q. Let's make two lists. Dykstra's personal pros and cons. The Players Club pros and cons. Why do you think he has a hard time being taken seriously? (by people other than himself and his employees?)

April & Paris

David Sedaris

The pitfalls of animal passion.

Q. What are the pitfalls and perils of animal passion? Why is it different than our concern with humanity? Is it speech? Domesticity? Projection?

Exposure

Philip Gourevitch, Errol Morris

Behind the camera at Abu Ghraib.

Q. What do you think are the authors' opinions of Sabrina Harmon? Are they clear? Deliberately unclear? If so, why might that be? When should reporting be partial?

Fake memoirs and real history.

Jill Lepore

Q. What's the motiviation of each genre's authors? Is history a lie agreed upon? Once again, according to Lepore, what is truth?

“Boarding Gate,” “Taxi to the Dark Side.”

David Denby

Q. Why do you think Denby chose these movies for review? Does his review nudge you away or toward either film? Is there a connection between them?

James Surowiecki on Bear Stearns.

Q. Do you agree with JS's assessment that it's a good thing that Bear Stearns nearly went under? Can we trust Wall Street? Can we trust the Federal Reserve? Is anybody buying gold?

Out of Print

Eric Alterman

What does the Web mean for newspapers?

Q. Gathering news is often labor-intensive, and currently blogs have only a fraction of the editorial resources of newspapers. If blogs become the primary source of news, is that good for democracy?

Penny Dreadful

David Owen

America’s most annoying and useless coin.

Q. Are pennies really a problem? What arguments of Owen aren't refutable? Does he have a solution?

Pomegranate Princess

Amanda Fortini

The marketing eye of Lynda Resnick.

Q. Let's make two lists. Fortini's personal pros and cons. Compare and contrast her to Dykstra. Pomegranates to the Franklin Mint. Is this profile impartial?

The films of David Lean.

Anthony Lane

Q.

David Hajdu’s “The Ten-Cent Plague.”

Louis Menand

Q.

An unusual “Tristan and Isolde” at the Met.

Alex Ross

Q. Is opera just NASCAR with an orchestra? Ross seems to enjoy writing about the recent foibles. Does he have a case of shadenfreude?

JUST FOR FUN:
Barbara_Smaller, Cartoonist of the month of March

Q. Is Smaller funnier with drawings or prose? Real Estate by-the-cup Monday means? "Never give a man money for a truck, and, if you do, don’t sleep with him for at least a year." Why? Health Care "you'll-feel-a-little-pinch" Friday because?