Tag Archives: culture

HBO’s "Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden": Way Cooler Than "Zero Dark Thirty"

by Gustavo Stanfield Posted on May 2, 2013

Mother Jones

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Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden
HBO Documentary Films
100 minutes

Forget Zero Dark Thirty. Instead, check out director Greg Barker’s intimate look at the dogged nerds and tough-guy CIA officials who spent decades on Osama bin Laden‘s trail. This doc (based on Peter Bergen’s 2012 book) has the pulse of a Michael Mann thriller, tracing the hunt from long before Al Qaeda became a household name. It offers a fascinating glimpse at “the Sisterhood,” a crew of female CIA analysts who were “borderline obsessed” with nailing bin Laden in the 1990s. Details of their vital desk work are contrasted with interviews with former CIA higher-up (and torture advocate) Marty Martin, who refers to his “gangsta”-like role harvesting intel overseas.

Manhunt premieres Wednesday, May 1 (the two-year anniversary of the mission that killed bin Laden) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Check out the trailer:

Click here for more movie and TV features from Mother Jones.

This review originally appeared in the May/June issue of Mother Jones.

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HBO’s "Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden": Way Cooler Than "Zero Dark Thirty"

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Meet Alvin, the Climate-Change-Fighting Puppet

by wjtydf3g Posted on April 27, 2013

Mother Jones

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Meet Alvin Sputnik, one of the few surviving humans in a world that’s well beyond any scientific predictions for sea level rise. Equipped with a special diving suit, Alvin, a creation of Australian puppeteer Tim Watts, explores the depths, encounters whales, searches for missing loved one, and learns to find happiness in a post-climate-change world. Now in its fourth year of touring the world, Watts recently stopped at New York University to introduce Alvin to an audience of kids, students, and adults; upcoming shows include Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Pinchincha, Ecuador.

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Ooh La La: Sarkozy Gave the Obamas $42,000 Worth of Swag

by DenaeTina858 Posted on April 26, 2013

Mother Jones

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Friday, the Federal Register released a list of all the gifts that foreign leaders gave President Obama in 2011. His haul included a basketball signed by the Toronto Raptors (from the Canadian prime minister), more than a dozen Brazilian soccer jerseys (from the governor of Rio de Janeiro), a pretty sweet-looking eco-friendly bamboo bike (from the ambassador of the Philippines), and an array of rugs, paintings, and statues.

Presumably the president smiled and said thank you to all these presents, because, as the Register dexplains, “Non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to donor and US Government.” Even if Obama liked any of the gifts, he’ll never get to use them: They all go to the National Archives and eventually, to his library and musuem.

French president Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, made the rest look like cheapskates. They gave the first family more than $42,000 worth of French luxury goods including purses, perfumes, goblets, a Lacoste polo shirt, bath robes, and a Hermès golf bag worth $7,750. Some of the more insane gifts the Sarkozys gave the Obamas:

His and hers bathrobes
From the official description: “His and hers white, belted Dior bathrobes with ‘Dior’ embroidered on the breast pocket.”

Hermès…everything
From the official description: “Large, black Hermes golf accessory bag including set of lock and key, and extra strap in bottom compartment, presented in cream colored drawstring bag.”

The Sarkozys are partial to the French luxury brand. Other Hermès gifts: A $7,500 golf bag, a golf “travel bag” (there’s a difference? Apparently there’s a difference.), a travel case, a scarf for Michelle, and a cotton beach towel, which retails for around $600.

Hermés

A $400 lighter and pen
From the official description: “Limited-edition ‘HOPE’ fountain pen and Ligne 8 lighter from S.T. Dupont, each in a cherry blossom design, and contained in a 6.5″ x 6.5″ black box with ‘G8 France 2011’ on the top.” A nod to POTUS’s cigarette habit, perhaps?

AZ Fine Time

Baccarat crystal lamps
From the official description: “Baccarat ‘Our Fire’ clear full-headed crystal table lamps on silver pedestals with silver and crystal lampshades in red presentation box.” Estimated value: $5,500.

Baccarat

Grooming products
More than $800 worth of goodies from the Paris perfumeries Frédéric Malle and Bonpoint.

Frederic Malle

The kicker? Despite its first couple’s lavish taste, France actually spent less on its gifts than Brazil or Gabon president Ali Bongo Ondimba, who gave the president a 14-inch blue mask sculpture worth more than $50,000.
(h/t National Journal)

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Ooh La La: Sarkozy Gave the Obamas $42,000 Worth of Swag

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The Internet Is Actually Surprisingly Good at Fighting Crime

by paczaizmon Posted on April 26, 2013

Mother Jones

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On Monday, three days after Boston police arrested 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, Reddit general manager Erik Martin issued an apology. It had not been the best of weeks for his online community. Law enforcement officials had explained that one of their motivations for releasing surveillance camera footage of the Tsarnaev brothers was to put an end to the wild speculation on sites like Reddit, where anyone with a backpack was being floated as a possible suspect. Redditors never came close to identifying the Tsarnaevs, instead casting their suspicions on a missing Brown University student named Sunil Tripathi. (Tripathi was found dead in the Providence River on Thursday morning.)

Martin was contrite. “Some of the activity on reddit fueled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties,” he wrote, referring to a smaller sub-community, or subreddit, on his site that was devoted to catching the Boston bombers. “The reddit staff and the millions of people on reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened.”

Redditors have, for years, worked to use the resources of crowds as a force for good. There’s an entire subreddit dedicated to Redditors ordering pizzas for families and raising money for surgeries. But Boston represents a reality check. Can Reddit harness its greatest asset—the tireless brainstorming of millions—while reining in the speculative impulse that makes the site tick? And even if Reddit could solve crimes, would it be worth it?

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The Internet Is Actually Surprisingly Good at Fighting Crime

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Tig Notaro: You’ll Laugh, You’ll Cry

by N0bodyh56 Posted on April 26, 2013

Mother Jones

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One evening last August, comedian Tig Notaro sat at home in Los Angeles, wondering what she’d tell the crowd at the Largo club. Five months earlier she’d fought off pneumonia only to be waylaid by a gut infection that siphoned 20 pounds off her scrappy frame. Then her mother died and her relationship crumbled. Through it all, she had managed to keep people laughing, but a diagnosis of stage II breast cancer the day before had left her at wit’s end. When the solution finally dawned on her, she couldn’t stop laughing. That night she bounded onstage, waving: “Good evening! Hello. I have cancer! How are you?”

What followed “was one of the greatest standup performances I ever saw,” wrote Louis C.K., who posted the set on his website. Soon Notaro was everywhere. She did a segment on This American Life, landed a book deal, released a live recording, and, after a double mastectomy, appeared on Conan and teamed up with comedian pals Kyle Dunnigan and Amy Schumer to write Inside Amy Schumer, a new series that debuts April 30 on Comedy Central.

She’s also set to commence a tour with Dunnigan and comedian David Huntsberger, doing a live version of their popular weekly podcast, Professor Blastoff. I spoke with Notaro, 42, about her Huck Finn childhood, turning tragedy into comedy, and what to say to someone who has cancer. But first, listen to her “No Moleste” shtick…

Mother Jones: So how did this motley crew of comedians end up doing a podcast about religion, science, and philosophy?

Tig Notaro: David and I used to live together, and it seemed like he was always talking about that kind of stuff. And then Kyle and I were inseparable and he was talking about the same stuff. It just came about. I ran into Scott Aukerman, who hosts Comedy Bang Bang. He was just starting his Earwolf Podcast Network. I told him I was considering starting a podcast, and he said, “We’d love for you to be on.”

MJ: Give us the basic premise of Professor Blastoff.

TN: The idea is that we stumbled upon a hatch below Kyle’s house and we found all this old radio equipment, and it used to belong to a professor who built a time machine and got lost in space, and we communicate with him through this equipment, and that spins us off into these topics. We bring in guests that are comedians or doctors, specialists, friends, musicians—we just ask that people be knowledgeable or passionate about the topic. We get a lot of things wrong. It’s just a curiosity conversation, basically. I also describe it as if a teacher never quieted down the class clowns.

MJ: What’s the most eye-opening subject you’ve tackled?

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Tig Notaro: You’ll Laugh, You’ll Cry

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Richie Havens’ Passion for Peace, Justice, and Damn Fine Music

by Alison O'neil Posted on April 23, 2013

Mother Jones

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On Monday, celebrated folk singer Richie Havens died of a heart attack at his Jersey City home at the age of 72. The Brooklyn-born musician was famous for his distinctive, husky baritone, and was a skilled and tough guitar player who could turn strummed rhythms into rhapsodies. He recorded and performed some of the best acoustic covers of the ’60s and ’70s, including renditions of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman” and (my personal favorite) George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun.”

Havens dabbled in cinema, including acting alongside comic giant Richard Pryor in 1977’s Greased Lightning, a film about Wendell Scott, the first African-American to get a NASCAR racing license. Quentin Tarantino used his signature song “Freedom” in a pivotal shootout sequence in Django Unchained. Havens toured tirelessly for nearly five decades. But since history has a nasty habit of reducing notable lives into single episodes, Havens will forever be remembered as the man who opened Woodstock ’69 with a mesmerizing three-hour set.

Through all this, he maintained his passion for liberal politics, environmental action, and education. Though he wasn’t the most fiercely political or ideological of his generation of entertainers, his dedication and interest were impressive nonetheless. In 1976, Havens cofounded the North Wind Undersea Institute, an oceanographic children’s museum in the Bronx that reportedly “has a history of rescuing marine animals.” He also formed the Natural Guard, an international organization created to promote hands-on activities that teach children about ecology and the environment. Here he is talking about it in the early ’90s:

“I’m not in show business; I’m in the communications business,” Havens told the Denver Post. “That’s what it’s about for me.” You could feel this in virtually everything he recorded or sang on stage, most evidently in “Handsome Johnny,” a song he cowrote that became a civil rights and anti-Vietnam War anthem. In 1978, his song “Shalom, Salam Alaikum,” written after watching Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, was a huge hit in Israel. And on a lesser note, Havens performed at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration in 1993.

To the very end, he was a gentle soul pushing for peace, justice, and damn fine music.

I’ll leave you with footage of the Transcendent Nation Foundation interviewing Havens in 2008 about “how to save the world”:

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Boy Scouts of America Proposes Dropping Ban on Gay Kids—But Not Gay Adults

by johnsmithwindows Posted on April 19, 2013

Mother Jones

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While the nation’s attention was turned to Boston on Friday morning, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it intends to end its ban on gay members, as long as its board approves the change. The organization would still, however, prohibit gay adults from serving as troop leaders or volunteers.

The proposed new policy states, “No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.” The proposed policy also reinforces the organization’s position that “Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether homosexual or heterosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting.” You can read the proposal here, or the media statement here.

The change would apply only to members; it does not change the policy regarding gay troop leaders or other volunteers. “The BSA will maintain the current membership policy for all adults,” Deron Smith, the group’s spokesman, told Mother Jones via email.

BSA’s long-standing ban on gay members has been a huge source of controversy. In January, the group announced that it was considering whether to allow individual troops to admit gay members but put off making a decision until May. As my colleague Dana Liebelson has reported, the group lost some major funders because of the gay ban. Most recently, a number of high-profile musical acts ditched the Boy Scouts’ annual Jamboree for this reason.

If the Scouts’ 1,400-member board approves the change at its annual meeting in May, it would take effect January 1, 2014.

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Boy Scouts of America Proposes Dropping Ban on Gay Kids—But Not Gay Adults

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WATCH: After Boston, Keep Running Fiore Cartoon

by 0c4g78x Posted on April 17, 2013

Mother Jones

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Mark Fiore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a website featuring his work.

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WATCH: After Boston, Keep Running Fiore Cartoon

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Australia Urged to Formally Recognise Climate Change Refugee Status

by Myrna Posted on April 16, 2013

Refugee Council says new category would protect those fleeing the effects of global warming and warns Australian government to prepare for thousands forced from low-lying Pacific islands. Building beach barriers on Kiribati. Global Environment Facility (GEF)/Flickr Australia, a close neighbour of small, low-lying South Pacific states at the frontline of climate change, should be the first country to formally recognise climate change refugees, the country’s main refugee advisory body has said. The Refugee Council of Australia has told the Australian government that it should create a new refugee category for those fleeing the effects of climate change so that they can be offered protection similar to those escaping war or persecution. The key legal document that defines refugees, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, defines a refugee as a person who has a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland because of their race, religion, nationality of membership of a particular group. To keep reading, click here. Read More:  Australia Urged to Formally Recognise Climate Change Refugee Status Related ArticlesScientists Map Swirling Ocean Eddies for Clues to Climate ChangeCHARTS: ‘Messy’ US Climate Policy is Kinda WorkingCHART: How Climate Change and Your Wine Habit Threaten Endangered Pandas

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Australia Urged to Formally Recognise Climate Change Refugee Status

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"Veep," Season 2: Douchey and Mean-Spirited Like Washington—But Way Wittier

by wqds234der Posted on April 11, 2013

Mother Jones

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“You know, you’re about as annoying as a condom filled with fire ants. How’s that for a fucking metaphor?” Ohio congressman and gubernatorial candidate Roger Furlong snaps at his aide.

“It’s a simile, sir,” the sheepish, twentysomething male aide replies.

“Shut your mouth, you fat girl,” the congressman rejoins, as he fiddles with his smartphone while lumbering out of the vice president’s office.

If you tuned in to any of Season 1, this exchange from the new season should sound thankfully familiar. Season 2 of Armando Iannucci‘s political satire Veep (premiering Sunday, April 14 at 10 p.m. EDT on HBO) is all the things that made the first eight episodes so worthwhile: It’s a roaringly funny, mean-spirited burlesque that plays out like a good episode of The West Wing—if The West Wing were a slur-filled, punk-rock fantasy.

The passionately petty Selena Meyer (played by a pitch-perfect Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is still the American VP who can’t get any love from the press or administration, and can’t get any face time with POTUS. “I’m about to undergo a national ass-kicking, with no legs…and a massive ass,” Selena remarks. Her staff (played by the series regular Matt Walsh, Sufe Bradshaw, Reid Scott, Anna Chlumsky, and Arrested Development alum Tony Hale) help her pencil-push an agenda while clumsily pursuing their own professional self-interest. Veep has a fairly simple vision of American government: All of them (middle-age senators, cynical data crunchers, aloof operatives) are douchey incompetents—vain, power-hungry, self-loathing, foul-mouthed, back-stabbing, and perpetually upset. In this sense, Veep nails down the tone of Washington in the same way that Scrubs painted an honest portrait of medical professionals: It’s an exaggerated, ridiculous depiction that veers on hitting too close to home.

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"Veep," Season 2: Douchey and Mean-Spirited Like Washington—But Way Wittier

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