Feb 12 Watch Transcript of Lincoln Inspires Poem for 16th President Poet and journalist Cynthia Zarin often writes poems inspired by news articles. In 1989, she came across a story about a handwritten transcript found in a shoebox. It recorded a case in which then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln successfully defended a man… Continue watching
Feb 12 Transcript of Lincoln Inspires Poem for 16th President By Margaret Myers Poet and journalist Cynthia Zarin often writes poems inspired by news articles. In 1989, she came across a story about a handwritten transcript found in a shoebox. It recorded a case in which then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln successfully defended a man… Continue reading
Feb 12 The Many Faces of Che When Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is asked "How does it feel to be a symbol?" in Steven Soderbergh's new movie about him, Guevara replies, "A symbol of what?"… Continue reading
Feb 11 Watch Detroit Program Aims to Provide Job Training, Hope in Tough Times Eleanor Josaitis co-founded the Detroit program Focus: Hope more than three decades ago to provide job training and other opportunities to the city's residents. With the U.S. mired in a recession and the auto industry future uncertain, her group is… Continue watching
Feb 11 ‘Wendy and Lucy’ Explores Landscape of Loss The new film, "Wendy and Lucy," co-written by Jonathan Raymond, is a quiet reflection on personal catastrophe, and is especially relevant now, as real families and individuals are struggling through hard economic times. Continue reading
Feb 10 Amazon Unveils the Kindle 2 On Monday, Amazon introduced the latest version of its electronic book reader, the Kindle 2, which is thinner and lighter than the original, has an added joystick, more battery life and a function that reads books aloud. Continue reading
Feb 10 Rekindling the Electronic Book’s Future: Amazon Unveils Updated Reading Device By PBS News Hour Despite Amazon's unveiling of the latest version of its electronic reading device, the Kindle, to the delight of many bookworms Monday, it appears that bookshelves, libraries and backpacks have not been rendered obsolete -- at least not yet. Continue reading
Feb 09 Watch Valentine’s Day May Mean More to Retailers Than Lovers Guest Essayist Nancy Gibbs of Time magazine reflects on the true meaning of Valentine's Day, and determines that it isn't about greeting cards, chocolates, diamonds or flowers. Continue watching
Feb 09 Jeffrey Brown Recaps the Grammy Awards With the New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones By Arts Desk The 51st Grammy Awards were held last night in Los Angeles, and there were some clear winners: New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne took home best rap album and rap song, British rockers Coldplay won best rock album and song of… Continue reading
Feb 09 Weekly Poem: ‘Apology’ Mary Szybist is the author of "Granted," which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In February, Poet Laureate Kay Ryan chose Szybist and Christina Davis for the 2009 Witter Bynner Fellowships. Continue reading