Andrew Sullivan

  A Happy 4th from Andrew Sullivan: The rise of this type of citizen journalism [i.e., journalism via blogs] has, in my view, increasingly exposed some of the laziness and corruption in the professional version - even as there is still a huge amount to treasure and value in the legacy media, and a huge amount of partisan, mendacious claptrap on the blogs. But what distinguishes the best of the new media is what could still be recaptured by the old: the mischievous spirit of journalism and free, unfettered inquiry. Journalism has gotten too pompous, too affluent, too self-loving, and too…
Conor Clarke and Conor Friedersdorf are guest blogging at Andrew Sullivan's. They also did a Bloggingheads.tv recently. Names matter, that's for sure. I also think that Clarke looked somewhat like the "Gigolo Joe" character from A.I. in the diavlog.
via Nicholson cartoons Veteran, author, and blogger Kelly Williams, who was there, ponders what torture does to the torturers: There have been lots of questions raised -- about the history and effectiveness of these techniques, the impact on those tortured, the larger foreign policy implications -- all of which are important considerations. There is, however, one aspect of the conversation that I believe has been neglected: What does this do to those committing the acts? [snip] Some of those who participated in the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment (please check out that site -- it is totally…
From Andrew Sullivan: I watched the Daily Show with growing shock last night. Did you expect that? I expected a jolly and ultimately congenial discussion, after some banter. What Cramer walked into was an ambush of anger. He crumbled from the beginning. From then on, with the almost cruel broadcasting of his earlier glorifying of financial high-jinks, you almost had to look away. This was, in my view, a real cultural moment. It was a storming of the Bastille. It was, as Fallows notes, journalism. This is truly is something to see, just as Stewart's pieces on Cramer and CNBC, back to his…
Back in October a study found that high testosterone levels were associated with higher levels of financial risk-taking. Now comes the blowback, as Andrew Sullivan notes: Tina Beatie attacks testosterone: ...it is interesting to note that Pope Benedict has recently suggested that there is a close connection between original sin and the greed that has created the current economic crisis. It is also notable that the credit crunch has been created by a profession that is almost exclusively male. In the line-up of failed bankers, not a single woman's name has appeared. Male greed has proven…
1. Andrew Sullivan trashed Bono for his Times column (judge it yourself and summarize it in a contest if you'd like) -- and trashed Bono's lyrics as well. 2. A reader objected, saying Bono's lyrics weren't ALL so bad. 3. Sullivan half-conceded -- and posted this video. Mess not with Andrew.
This makes me think of the old line about fading actors or writers when death brings them renewed attention: "Good career move." My post about leaving Seed's Scienceblogs and the conflict between blogging and more serious work got picked up and pondered by Andrew Sullivan at his Atlantic blogging home, as well as some other blogspots. Apparently this strikes a chord -- dissonant, and apparently in a minor key. It also shot my page-hits up to near-record highs; the only time I got more hits was when I wrote about sex. We won't explore here the possible links between writing about sex and…