Saturday, February 28, 2009

"You bring dishonour even to the white shirts you wear"

So snarked Michel Houellebecq to Bernard-Henri Levy, proving once more that there's no literary feud like a French literary feud, and that a terrific insult opens the possibility of genuine dialogue. Read it here.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The state of the culture is... scared?

Wall Street isn't the only place with a fearful lack of understanding these days. Whether it's horror in Hollywood or Mumbai, the digital era has become boxed in to the unknown. Read it here.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

"Prophet of the New World, I"

Here's why Louis Riel's defiant stanzas and the battle of the Plains of Abraham deserve to be recited and re-enacted: They're national moments of madness in a country that has precious few of them. Read it here.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Canada: Horatio to Obama's Hamlet

We have the best seat in the house for America's dramas, but for them, we barely register – that's something for Britain to think on. Read it here

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The 2009 alternative Oscars

Esquire's tenth annual heaping of praise for Hollywood's most overlooked. Read it here

Saturday, February 14, 2009

"We are here amidst broad public anger"

Pity the bankers who must prostrate themselves before politicians, but reserve some compassion for the U.S. and Britain as they drive talent away from the institutions that so desperately need it. Read it here.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

"I acted in a youthful and inappropriate manner"

Michael Phelps's lukewarm apology reminds us that marijuana use has become a normal transgression, that athletes can never be role models and that ordinary stupidity is impossible to keep private. Read it here.