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Pop Culture

McSweeney’s to Host Radio Drama Featuring Wayne Coyne

By Caroline Stanley on

GalleyCat just tipped us off to some very exciting news: This weekend Los Angeles’ KCRW will air a radio drama from McSweeney’s that features Wayne Coyne, Will Sheff, Eleanor Friedberger, Ed Droste, and a slew of other indie musicians and writers. Even if you’re not based in LA, you’ll be able to stream… Read More

Books

10 Books to Restore Your Faith in Print

By Emily Temple on

This week marked the release of Chris Ware’s unbelievably wonderful graphic novel Building Stories, which we (and everyone else) have been awaiting with bated breath for many months. The graphic publishing event of the year, the book is truly a world you can get lost in, and decidedly not one that you can appreciate on an e-reader — or even on your computer. Inspired by Ware’s effort, we’ve collected a short list of books that will restore your faith in the power of the printed… Read More

Books

10 Deliciously Quirky Cookbooks

By Russ Marshalek on

It seems pretty straightforward, in essence: a cookbook’s purpose is to provide recipes and instructions on how to properly prepare various dishes. That’s why we were giddy when it was announced, seemingly years ago, that one of our favorite New York restaurants, the vegetable-focused Dirt Candy, would be releasing its first cookbook in the form of a graphic novel. Now that it’s finally out, the book has proven itself to be worth the wait: this may be the first and only cookbook to elicit the amount of joy and tears usually reserved for a compelling piece of literary fiction. To celebrate this truly unique work, we rounded up some of our other favorite quirky spins on the “cookbook” concept. Spoiler alert: you’re gonna get a lot of Harold McGee. Ever used any of these? Did we miss your favorite cookbook oddity/treasure? Let us know in the comments. … Read More

Pop Culture

Congressional Missed Connections From ‘The McSweeney’s Book of Politics & Musicals’

By Emily Temple on

If you’re a fan of The Daily Show, or hey, the news these days in general, you’ll know that American politics can be pretty hilarious — whether intentionally or not. The hilarity, however, is all intentional in The McSweeney’s Book of Politics & Musicals, just released this week, a collection of hilarious political-minded shorts like “Fragments from PALIN! THE MUSICAL” and “Atlas Shrugged Updated for the Financial Crisis.” Below, we’ve excerpted one of our favorites — “Congressional Missed Connections,” by Sloan Schang, which yes, is exactly what it sounds like. Click through to get your congressional Craigslist surfing on, and pick up a copy of the book for more goodies! … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we enjoyed Marco Kaye’s hilarious “What It’s Like Being President, Metaphorically Speaking” over on McSweeney’s. We geeked out over this circuit-board skull by Graham Rudge from the Yukon School of Visual Arts. We saw what Nicki Minaj looked like in music videos before she turned into… Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. The New Yorker’s Ben Greenman has come up with a list of a day’s worth of facts to get you through Wikipedia’s 24-hour blackout. [via McSweeney's]

2. In a move that rivals that woman who was upset that Drive wasn’t enough like a Fast and the Furious movie, some cinemagoers in the… Read More

Partner Buzz

Your Holiday Guide to Secret Santa Gifts That Don’t Suck

By Rozalia Jovanovic on

Holiday-party season is upon us, which means you’ve probably encountered at least one round of Secret Santa, whether it’s at work or among friends. Of course, this also means you’re faced with the conundrum of finding something cool without spending too much. Because we all know that the two things most important with Secret Santa gifts are that 1) they shouldn’t actually set you back financially, and 2) they need to demonstrate your thoughtfulness, creativity, and utter coolness, impressing the pants off the recipient and everyone involved. We already took inspiration from the release of Madden NFL 12 from our friends at EA Sports to give you ideas on how to enjoy the holidays at home; now we’re using it as the jumping-off point to help you find some top-notch gifts that will leave you feeling smugger than Mr. Claus himself. Whether your recipient is a football fanatic, a culture vulture, or a sartorial junkie, here’s a plethora of thrifty gifts that will make you wish your own Secret Santa had this list. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we met 100 of the greatest movie villains. We loved this hilarious Thanksgiving-themed spoof on The Hunger Games from McSweeney’s. We heartily agreed with this Thanksgiving Food Pyramid. We found it incredibly endearing that Cameron Crowe made Matt Damon a really sad mixtape to… Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: McSweeney’s Issue 36

By Tanja M. Laden on

The extremely unconventional 36th issue of McSweeney’s quarterly magazine is a box-shaped head filled with short stories, art postcards, a “lost” work by Michael Chabon, and a tiny scroll.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers founded McSweeney’s independent publishing house as a forum for indie literary-fiction authors to articulate progressive ideas. Issue 36 is a “275-cubic-inch full-color head-crate” filled with booklets and other objects, ripe for the sifting. … Read More

Books

10 Online Lit Mags You Should Be Reading

By Chelsea Bauch on

The so-called death of print has hardly heralded the death of literature. To the contrary, the digital age has actually inspired a resurgence of publications that are committed to literary activity across a variety of styles, genres, and mediums — stuffy academic reviews be damned. Although plenty of established print journals have now fostered an online presence, this new generation of internet-centric periodicals has taken hold of the malleable platform (and the absence of print and distribution costs) to further the creative community. To get your feet wet, here are ten online publications that you should know about — and please share any other recommendations in the comments section. … Read More