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in Playboy
by
Tracy Ringolsby, May 2008
The steroid and HGH scandals are behind us, and with the new season it's time to forget about the past and let baseball enjoy a fresh start... like every other season. Ringolsby follows this positive (and more-than-vaguely naive) sentiment with summaries of where last season left us, what happened off season, a prognoses for 2008, and young stars to watch, for each team. The bias begins with the "Playboy's Picks" graphic: the Mets are chosen for the NL East & National League champs, with the Angels winning the Series. Zzzzzz.
Posted 8:50, 26 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Brehm
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
David Sheff, May 2008
The foreign policy wunderkind’s optimistic view of the America's future as a superpower is surprising -- his book, The Post-American World, begins with a run-down of categories where America is no longer #1. The journalist/editor drops seven pages of knowledge while chronicling his journey from son of a politician-journalist couple in India, to Reagan Republican, to hyper-intellectual writer for Foreign Affairs, to the Newsweek gig, to the “Muslim Cary Grant”. The combination of Zakaria's refreshing belief that the media is obligated to contextualize the news, and his faith in the resilience of America as a people and a Nation, makes Jon Stewart’s man-crush understandable.
Posted 8:36, 26 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Brehm
and edited by Brijit.
In this tragic excerpt from The Chris Farley Show, a new biography co-written by Chris's brother Tom Jr., the drama of larger-than-life comedian Farley's last year is told through stories of friends, family, and co-stars like David Spade, Chris Rock, and Brian Dennehy. The death of the 33-year-old came after many stints in rehab and continual relapses, and kept Farley from completing what many believed would be his best work: a dramatic role as Fatty Arbuckle, and one as the voice of Shrek. Eventually played by Mike Myers, Farley's original Shrek was a character not unlike himself, "born of frustration and self-doubt" with an undeniable good-heart and a lingering sadness.
Posted 3:29, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Brehm
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Eric Alterman, May 2008
Alterman, author of the book Why We're Liberals, sarcastically skewers the political attacks conservatives make on lefties. Starting with quotes from Mitt Romney's speech backing out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Alterman offers a list of what he considers right wing canards. Included: liberal bias in the media, liberal fiscal irresponsibility, being soft on terrorists, and sexual permissiveness. In each case, he argues entertainingly that Republicans are guilty of what they complain about. Amusing enough, even if you've probably heard it all before.
Posted 3:16, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Carl Lowe
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Laura Kipnis, May 2008
Hillary Clinton is often less a presidential candidate than a test of male anxiety, Kipnis writes in this analysis of several Clinton biographers. While delving into the Freudian aspects of their inner turmoil, Kipnis reports the overbearing hatred and downright weird fascination that writers Carl Limbacher, Edward Klein, John Podhoretz and R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. seem to have for Clinton. The men have attacked her (occasionally imagined) personal quirks, her marriage, sexual appetites and, yes, ankle size. In hard-to-beat arguments, Kipnis suggests these authors (and others) bash Clinton to assuage their own self-loathing. What she doesn't do is make any serious effort to suggest that these men don't represent all the rest.
Posted 12:52, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Matthew Cate
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Robert Levine, May 2008
Libertarian presidential candidate William Redpath gives a quick history of his party before explaining the difference between himself and "rebel paleolibertarianist" Ron Paul. Redpath sounds like other also-rans, touting his policies as the only option to save us from terrorism, a failing economy, and regulatory irresponsibility, and compares the Libertarian Party to Prohibitionists, claiming they achieved their goal just by being in the 1916 presidential race. There are a few amusing sound bites here -- "If people thought Google was going to start abusing them through information gathered from their Internet usage, they could use Ask.com" -- but overall it's fairly predictable.
Posted 2:13, 16 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Brehm
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Eric Spitznagel, May 2008
If there even is a line between morals and comedy, Danny Tanner -- er, Bob Saget -- knows exactly how to blur it. He describes this in Eric Spitznagel's article as, “Taint ass nor balls. It’s somewhere in the middle,” which sums up the tenor on this piece. From donkey erections to sexual innuendo regarding dolls, Saget discusses his self-loathing about his crude humor and his ability to offend even himself. Readers get a close look at the revamped Bob Saget and an understanding of how the man behind America's Funniest Home Videos has turned into one of the dirtiest yet most entertaining comedians in show business.
Posted 11:23, 16 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Mike Librett
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Steve Morgenstern, May 2008
If you have $10,000 burning a hole in your bank account, you can get yourself a home theater system that's probably superior to getting charged $10 at the multiplex by the mall. Playboy mixes components from different manufacturers, and ends up dropping $17,000 on an amazing "future-proof" set-up. Some notables include a 50" Panasonic plasma with a memory card (but for what?), an amp by Denon with Wi-Fi, and the HP MediaSmart Server. Chances are most readers are unaware that at least one item on that list has been invented, though there's no word on the cost of a high-tech popcorn machine.
Posted 11:20, 16 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Jonathan Brehm
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Kurt Vonnegut, April 2008
Anticipating next month's posthumous release of writings by Kurt Vonnegut, Playboy gives him a curtain call in his role as America's favorite absurdist with a previously unpublished essay about his experience in Dresden during WWII. Vonnegut was a POW working in a labor camp in the German city when Allied bombers carpeted it with explosives, leveling hospitals, museums, churches, and schools. In all, over 100,000 women, and children were killed; meanwhile, the railroads that were the ostensible targets of the assault were barely scathed. His impassioned essay -- which serves as something of a primer for the novel Slaughterhouse Five -- looks candidly at the complex mathematics of warfare, a regrettably topical subject.
Posted 10:23, 28 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Matt Munkacsy
and edited by Brijit.
in Playboy
by
Susan Jacoby, April 2008
Jacoby contends that the US "is an increasingly aliterate nation, in which good books, magazines, and newspapers are being killed not by censors but by an indifferent public." She decries the fact that 40 percent of Americans never read books for fun, people don't read newspapers, and children spend about three times as much time watching TV and videos as they do reading. All fair enough, but she stretches when she discounts the value of reading online, and the piece ends up as more plaintive whining than actual argument.
Posted 1:39, 26 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Bryan Keefer
and edited by Brijit.