Straight Up | Jan Herman

National Public Radio has caved in to pressure from the Museum of Modern Art and dumped a highly regarded arts reporter, artnet.com reports. The story, which has yet to appear in the print media, begins: Veteran art-news reporter David D’Arcy has been taken off the air by National Public Radio (NPR) after the Museum of […]

Finally something worth reading in TIME magazine. Have a look at this week’s cover package. It’s a story by Jeffrey Sachs, “The End of Poverty,” excerpted from his forthcoming book. But wouldn’t you know it? TIME offers a mere online tease. Access to the complete story is limited to the magazine’s subscribers. Sachs is trying to […]

With the arrival of the Vienna Philharmonic on Friday for three concerts at Carnegie Hall, the orchestra’s historic exclusion of women (not to mention its racist ideology) is to be discussed that afternoon on Soundcheck, the WNYC New York Public Radio talk show about music and culture. Invited to air their views about the orchestra’s […]

Hammond Guthrie points out that the Guardian in London has a weeklong series, beginning today, about Robert Crumb. And Robert Hughes explains his continuing relevance. “It was always such a treat when Crumb would appear late night al fresco at Enrico’s in San Francisco,” Guthrie messages. “If he knew you or recognized you from the […]

I’ve had my say about neocon Sufi Stephen Schwartz, and several Straight Up readers have had theirs. So here’s his say. It arrived in an email message. The header began: “I thought you were dead.” The message itself continued downhill from there. On the evidence I’ve seen, Schwartz has a faith-based belief in wishful thinking — […]

A reader who wrote earlier that the right-wing media has tried to sabotage “Million Dollar Baby” by giving away the ending sends this message: I sent a copy of my comments about the Weekly Standard article on “Million Dollar Baby” to a friend whose brother’s neck was broken in a classic diving board/swimming pool accident […]

Betcha never saw a correction like this one in the mainstream media. And you probably didn’t know who the funniest guys in the room were, either.

For your viewing pleasure: a video clip of Bill Maher, Robin Williams, Leslie Stahl and Joe Biden on male prostitute-cum-White House correspondent Jeff Gannon. It’s old, but it’s good. (Click the DSL link.) If you don’t recall what that’s all about, here’s a reminder.

Frank Rich weighs in on Hunter S. Thompson in a column to run Sunday in the print edition of The New York Times. It’s already on the Times website here. A sample: Read “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72” — the chronicle of his Rolling Stone election coverage — and you find that […]

The item about Stephen Schwartz’s crackpot burial of Hunter S. Thompson continues to resonate: “I read his article on Thompson,” a Straight Up visitor writes. “It brought to mind the sound of an empty garbage can bouncing its way down a very long flight of concrete steps. It just bounced from declaration to declamation. It […]

Gawker took note of the Straight Up item about right-wing navel-gazer Stephen Schwartz laying his dead hand on Hunter S. Thompson. Our staff of thousands says thanks to Gawker for boosting traffic and welcome to all you newbies. So, while we have your eyeballs … “The 80s: 326 Years of Hip,” a group show of […]

James Wolcott puts it aptly in LIPSTICK FASCISM: “Conservatism and sadism have become indivisible.” (The stimulus is Ann Coulter’s comment in re: Gannon/Guckert: “Press passes can’t be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.”) Meantime, Bob Herbert reminds us this […]

So, tonight’s the Oscars? Who cares. Coincidentally, here’s a review in today’s Chicago Sun-Times of one Oscar non-winner’s latest memoir. Not exactly heavyweight reviewing, but it pays for a few groceries. “Lauren Bacall, still salty at 80” begins: When Lauren Bacall writes that her singing voice ranges “somewhere between B minus sharp and outer space,” […]

My gut reaction to “Off the Record: An Investigative Journalist’s Inside View of DIRTY POLITICS, HIGH FINANCE, and CORPORATE SCANDAL,” Jason Leopold’s new book, drew this response from the author and led to an extended exchange of messages. From: Jason Leopold To: Jan Herman Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:35:11 I respect your opinion. However, your review of my book […]

Jason Leopold, whom I don’t know, emailed me a while ago out of the blue: “Jan, Just wanted to pass this along. Feel free to contact me and call my publisher for a review copy.” This was promotional material for his book, “Off the Record,” with blurbs from various authors and journalists. We all know how hard it is […]

As H.L. Mencken wrote, “It is the national custom to sentimentalize the dead.” By now you’ve probably seen Tom Wolfe on Hunter S. Thompson. If you haven’t, you should. It’s terrific. It was fast. And it doesn’t sentimentalize him. Wolfe makes the apt literary connection between Thompson and Mark Twain. Here’s a connection — my thanks to Roger […]