Monday Medley

What we read while Warren Buffett slept soundly…

• Paul Ryan’s controversial statements about poverty and inner city black men set off a larger discussion between Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jonathan Chait, and others about the way political figures talk about America’s racial history.

• On Duke losing. Also, the NCAA Tournament bracket by tuition.

• Will Citi Bikes survive the winter?

• The first excerpt from Jonah Keri’s new book on the Montreal Expos.

• A profile of Matt Taibbi and a his new online magazine.

• Tracking anonymous quotes in the Times.

• A giant interview with Dan Harmon on his return to Community.

• Surviving in the “gig economy”.

• The most you’ll ever like Justin Bieber.

Advertisements

Monday Medley

What we read while adding “infallibility” to our résumés…

• A fascinating story about the soldier who shot Osama bin Laden.

• Yesterday was Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday, and Wright Thompson turned in a great profile on his life after basketball. Sports Illustrated published an oral history of his most famous dunk, but really it was a moment to reflect on Space Jam. Craig Ehlo on what it was like to guard Jordan.

• The Pope announced his retirement. How will he be remembered? And how does that crazy conclave work?

• Elizabeth Warren wondered why there have been no prosecutions of Wall Street banks. Matt Taibbi says that some banks are now simply too big to prosecute. Instead, they are still getting bailouts. And in other news of a corrupt banking industry, credit reports are apparently full of errors.

• Something is ruining steak.

• Grantland looked at Dan Harmon’s life after Community.

• On Ken Pomeroy. And Pomeroy on why you shouldn’t be so quick to foul up three late in the game.

• Some analyses of the legal and ethical defenses of the American drone program. Is it worse than torture?

• A tragic story on the death of a Nazi (it’s not what you think).

• The coolest winner of the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament.

• Could New York City cut its carbon footprint by 90%?

• An analysis of Darth Vader’s terrible plan in the Battle of Hoth.

• How to win Monopoly in four moves.

‘Twas 2012: Top Ten Television Episodes of the Year

Here are the best episodes of 2012. Obviously this contains spoilers:

10) “Argentina” — Dexter

One of the nicest surprises on television this year was Dexter’s renaissance in quality. After some misguided years and a true nadir of a season in 2011, Dexter finally embraced a real progression in the story—having Debra find out about her brother’s “hobby”—and was all the better for it. The tension between Deb and Dexter led to some of the show’s best scenes ever. And since Dexter didn’t spend the entire season chasing his usual Big Bad Guy, Season Seven actually had decent subplots, including great guest performances from Ray Stevenson and Yvonne Strahovski. In “Argentina,” the show was even able to address the weirdest element of last season—Deb’s crush on her brother—in an impressive and compelling way.

Top Ten Things To Be Excited About For the Fall TV Season

Every year this list gets harder and harder to write. After a spring of Mad Men, Girls, and Veep, followed by asummer of Breaking Bad, Louie, Wilfred, and Pretty Little Liars, fall is starting to look like the worst part of television’s year: another round of network shows destined to be cancelled after a few weeks, or so broad and grating that they’re hard to watch. Nevertheless, there’s usually something to be excited about, even if I have to dig deep to round out the list:

10) Ben & Kate Premieres September 25 on FOX

I’m throwing this on the list because it felt wrong not to include any new comedies, even if this year’s batch seems particularly uninspired. At least this one has Jim Rash’s writing partner, Nat Faxon, in it. Plus a cute kid…

Monday Medley

What we read while Usain Bolt ran fast…

• Some very sad news on a great comic, Tig Notaro, the voice behind the great Taylor Dayne story.

• More on Obama’s kill list, the secrecy surrounding the list, and Glenn Greenwald on how extremism gets normalized.

• Giancarlo Esposito talks about being nominated for an Emmy for Breaking Bad.

• When exactly did Sandy Weill change his mind on Too Big To Fail? And who is reviewing bank foreclosure procedures?

• Mitt Romney’s economic advisor is not advising properly. Also, on Rob Delaney’s causing problems for the candidate on Twitter.

• Ten lessons on voter ID laws.

• Ex-Community showrunner Dan Harmon signed an unlikely deal with CBS.

• Bill Barnwell of Grantland explains why he’s leaving Las Vegas.

• Language Log details an empirical method of detecting misquoting.

• Even George Will is on the anti-football bandwagon, which John S hopped on a while ago.

• The 50 worst Chick-Fil-A tweets.

Monday Medley

What we read while they protested Mark Zuckerberg’s wedding in Chicago…

• Though Community was picked up for a fourth season, Dan Harmon will no longer be the showrunner. Despite the prayers of cast members and fans, Sony did not renew his contract. It also does not sound like Harmon is open to returning in a lesser capacity. Can the show survive without its primary creative force (not to mention those leaving out of loyalty to Harmon)?

• What new shows look the most promising?

• A New York judge blocked part of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act for chilling speech. Also, a judge from the Ninth Circuit questioned the government on the existence of the “No Fly” List. In other judicial news, the origin story of the Citizens United case.

• Noam Chomsky compares Obama and Bush.

Monday Medley

What we read while accidentally occupying Main Street…

• The Occupy Wall Street protests are heating up, with Matt Taibbi offering his uncharacteristically reasonable advice. Meanwhile Mike Konczal does a statistical analysis of the “99%” that’s interesting whether you sympathize with the protests or not.

• The lost notebooks of Hank Williams (it’s the good one, so there are no Obama-Hitler comparisons).

• Jeffrey Eugenides new novel is sort of about David Foster Wallace, kind of!

• Dan Harmon clarifies some stuff about the latest confusing episode of Community, while this chart breaks down the multiple timelines.

• The NBA officially cancelled two weeks of games as the owners look for a bailout.

• A college basketball documentary to get excited about.

• In baseball news, Michael Schur reacts to the Boston Red Sox fallout, Joe Posnanski breaks down the worst contracts in baseball, and the Florida Marlins announce the most beautiful thing in history.

• The last hope for believers in true love dies…