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Posts Tagged “
Kurt Andersen
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This Dog Won't Hunt
Kurt Andersen's essay in New York has more cliches than a dog has fleas. Adam Moss, thank your lucky stars he's smart as a whip or you'd be red in the face! [NY Press]
Kurt Andersen's essay in New York has more cliches than a dog has fleas. Adam Moss, thank your lucky stars he's smart as a whip or you'd be red in the face! [NY Press]
not afraid to be servicey
media
Frank Rich Gives Journos False Sense of Hope
So. Times columnist and former theater critic Frank Rich has a sweet creative consulting deal with HBO. They give him a paycheck, and he will sometimes call them up if he has a great idea (and Frank Rich has thousands of great ideas every day). He will maybe read some scripts and give notes. Did we mention he gets a paycheck? We don't begrudge him this cushy gig, but he should BEWARE. Another respected cultural thinker once went down this road, Frank! More »
Poignant Metaphors
Kurt Andersen, co-founder of Spy and former editor of New York, sees a future for print magazines. At last night's WNYC event, he said: "They will be beautiful luxuries, like sailboats in the 19th and 20th centuries."
celebrity-industrial complex
Why Harvey Weinstein Thinks He Owns New York Media
After yesterday's story about a New York magazine critic apologizing to Harvey Weinstein, and the critic's suspect assertion that his apology was independent of the sharp-elbowed former Miramax chief, we heard from a well-placed media veteran who said Weinstein has long loved to brag about his ability to extract such concessions, and in fact about how he effectively owns New York media. It turns out the bragging is not entirely without reason. Said the tipster: "Name any media outlet and there is a 'best friend/recent connection that I [Weinstein] can call to kill stories/get a retraction' from." It didn't take a lot of digging to figure out what the source meant. A quick rundown of Weinstein's top-of-the-masthead connections: More »
books
Stuff White People Like: Ridiculous Book Deals
We give up! 'Stuff White People Like' Book Sold to Random House For At Least $350,000. You win, Internet! Great work, Random House! Oh hey, Spy legend and man white people love Kurt Andersen "has taken an active interest in it and will play a role in its development." Thanks, Kurt! The press release says the book will cover "Whole Foods, Wes Anderson, Starbucks, graduate school, kitchen gadgets, Barack Obama, Apple products, the movie Juno, expensive sandwiches, and vintage t-shirts, to name a few." Looks like white people like New York Magazine! (ALSO: Gotham Books is apparently publishing a book based on "Barack Obama is your new bicycle." Maybe some joker should make a whole album of hilarious Rick Astley songs!) [NYO]
media
Kurt Andersen To Be Embalmed In L.A.
Spy magazine co-founder who didn't make quite as good as the other one Kurt Andersen has been named the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design's "visionary in residence" for the spring semester of 2009. Kurt, admitting that he "should be flattered," admits to actually feeling "embarrassed." Which he should! Because the position is a handy acknowledgment that Andersen has a history of not delivering on his grandiose ideas and has officially wasted his vast potential. That is more or less what "visionary" means, as we understand it. More »
kurt andersen
White People Shouldn't Vote Hillary, Since The Media Will Spin It As Racist, Says Media Spinmeister
Walking omnimedia content factory Kurt Andersen gives Anglos "another reason" to vote for Barack Obama: if you vote for Hillary Clinton instead, the media will "unfair[ly]" count your vote as racist and "perception will be reality" and you will be part of "a depressing morning-after metric rather than a hopeful one." And Kurt Andersen would know: he's got the radio show Studio 360, a column in New York magazine, two books under his belt and an editor at large gig at Random House. Oh, and a blog where he predictably advises you to make personal decisions based on how the media might spin them. [Kurt Andersen]
contests
Find The Errors In Kurt Andersen's 'Heyday' And Win Big!
Boy, has New York columnist Kurt Andersen got a challenge for you! The multitalented author's epic 2007 novel Heyday contained a factual error or two, he says on his blog. Nothing to be alarmed about, don't fret! They've been corrected in December's paperback version. But Kurt is an audience participation kind of guy, so if, dear reader, you're clever enough to track down the slip-ups, you win a prize! Sadly, it's only another copy of the book you had to buy to take part in the Kurt Andersen Challenge '08 in the first place. But it'll be autographed! Yes, by Kurt Andersen. The lucky winner also gets the unabridged 22-disc audio version, poor thing. But hurry, because Andersen's only giving you until April to play. To be fair, we have absolutely no intention of poring over Heyday's 600-odd pages looking for a mis-typed date, so if you happen across the errors, let us know instead. We will reward you by never giving you the unabridged 22-disc audio version of anything, ever.
The 'full disclosure of the week' this week comes from multitasker Kurt Andersen's 'Imperial City' column in New York mag: "I want to see Giuliani's presidential campaign harmed; don't you? (And I'll relish even more any exposure of [Fox News founder Roger] Ailes, who—full disclosure—once threatened to send a camera crew to stalk my 3- and 5-year-old children in preemptive retaliation for a magazine story I was writing about his man Rush Limbaugh.)" [NY]
