Hopeless

You think your job sucks? Trade with Robert Gibbs. His boss is “methodical.” His workplace is hostile. His job is Sisyphean. And, everyone is blaming him for a communication problem that may hand Washington to the opposition. Inside the woeful world of the White House press secretary

Source: GQ
Published: Oct 26, 2010
Length: 21 minutes (5,305 words)

The Audacity of Nope

With his perma-tan, two-pack-a-day baritone, and natty wardrobe, House Republican leader John Boehner is a backslapping, deal-making throwback to the G.O.P.’s past. But his recent “Hell, no!” anti-Obama strategy, as he seeks to ride the Tea Party wave, may point to an ugly future.

Source: Vanity Fair
Published: Oct 26, 2010
Length: 16 minutes (4,220 words)

Overdrive: Who Really Rescued General Motors?

In February of 2009, Steven Rattner was selected by the Obama Administration to oversee the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. It was not a popular choice. Rattner was a Wall Street financier with no expertise in the automobile business. But, as Rattner makes clear in “Overhaul,” his account of the experience, the critics misunderstood his role.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Oct 25, 2010
Length: 16 minutes (4,200 words)

In the Name of the Law

Mexico’s war on crime and drugs in Tijuana. A colonel cracks down on corruption.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Oct 18, 2010
Length: 28 minutes (7,232 words)

Newsboy

Looking for one last turn in the spotlight, 92 year old Sidney Harman paid his dollar for Newsweek. And Tina Brown was all set to dance. So why did it fall apart?

Published: Oct 24, 2010
Length: 18 minutes (4,649 words)

Why Breasts Are the Key to Future of Regenerative Medicine

To be in the company of Chris Calhoun is to encounter breasts, and encounter the damn things anytime, anywhere—including over a plate of spaghetti in a bustling Manhattan restaurant.

Source: Wired
Published: Oct 20, 2010
Length: 22 minutes (5,632 words)

Interview: Bob Woodward

On his book, “Obama’s Wars.” “Biden says, ‘You’re gonna have to make some goddamn tough decisions, man’ Not ‘Mr. President,’ [Laughs.] but ‘man.'”

Source: Onion A.V. Club
Published: Oct 21, 2010
Length: 16 minutes (4,188 words)

A Question of Fairness

Clarence Thomas is Ronald Reagan’s chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He walks a lonely road, not really agreeing with conservatives or liberals.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Feb 1, 1987
Length: 33 minutes (8,491 words)

Smash

The Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson profiles hardbat ping-pong champ Marty Reisman, who never lost his taste for winning

Source: Tablet Magazine
Published: Oct 11, 2010
Length: 26 minutes (6,683 words)

Glee Gone Wild

Inside “Glee”: “As anachronistically sweet as Bye, Bye Birdie but gayer than Hedwig.”

Source: GQ
Published: Nov 1, 2010
Length: 4 minutes (1,101 words)