Re: Flock of Dodos

1. It's seriously awesome. I wish I had "hilarious" commentary about how Jamie leaves the toilet seat-up and "what's the deal with THAT?!" but he's the best work partner in the world. He keeps me motivated and boosts my confidence when I'm convinced the world is out to get me. I never feel like we're competing because he's a comic and I'm a writer, and while he's a great writer, and I occasionally possess the funny, we're not competitors in the same field. So we're able to encourage each other and offer notes without there being conflict.

3. I feel like that won't happen because the news exists to turn a profit. It doesn't just exist to provide information. The news is essentially the stuff around the advertisements, and if the stuff around the ads was criticizing the ads, Wall Street, globalization, and Republicans in general, that doesn't make sense from a business perspective. You need "journalists" and pundits that reenforce the status quo, so we're stuck with David Brooks and Maureen Dowd for the foreseeable future because they don't challenge mainstream ideas, so their presence is tolerated.

4. Chomsky once compared the tea-bagger's misdirected anger at "Socialism" and Obama to how the Nazis got Germans to direct their anger at the Jews. He's also a big fan of the Daily Show, which is adorable. All interesting factoids.

6. Maureen Dowd, without question. She's useless, and she's taking up valuable real estate. I've never read an interesting idea in her columns. All she writes is bad puns when she isn't plagiarizing or repeating gossip. The opposite of Dowd is Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman. Greenwald blogs over at Salon.com, and Amy Goodman's work is up at Democracynow.org and occasionally Alternet. Greenwald is a Constitutional lawyer, who is the most morally consistent journalist I've ever read. He's incredibly thoughtful, compassionate, intelligent, and important. And Amy Goodman is the personification of journalism. She's fearless and wonderful. The Independent's Johann Hari is also great, and he reports issues that the mainstream media completely misses.

7. Peggy Noonan. Every column is a hysterical cry for a man to stick a penis in her and make the world right again. Seriously, she's constantly on the verge of a break-down. Her stuff post-9/11 was disgusting (all about how we need John Wayne again, and wasn't he manly? And fantasies about him carrying her from a burning building). David Brooks is also an old reliable. William Kristol, Jeffrey Rosen, and all of the little boys that like to play soldier from a safe distance with other people's lives.

9. Tough one. I'd have to say The Atlantic, but only because I can't think of a better one right now. Andrew Sullivan is always entertaining, and who doesn't love little Jeff Goldberg and his constant frantic accusations of anti-Semitism?

10. Disappointment implies I expected something different of him. Obama himself never claimed to be a radical, or anything but a centrist, really. He seemed lukewarm from the start (apart from his pretty speeches). I'm more disappointed for young voters, who really invested a tremendous amount of trust and energy in him. They feel betrayed, and rightfully so. I just hope they'll channel their frustration into supporting more progressive candidates and fighting for campaign reform rather than abandoning politics all together.

On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 6:33 PM, jamie kilstein <jamiekilstein@gmail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 17:49:02 -0400
Subject: Re: Flock of Dodos
To: jamiekilstein@gmail.com

Hi, Jamie-

Finally got around to writing up some questions for the two of you; I'll
probably have a couple follow-up questions for you as well.

Thanks,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302

1. Both: I've always wanted to be one half of a creative-class power couple.
What's it like?

2. Jamie: What's an Australian audience like? Do they respond differently to
certain parts of your act than do your typical New York audience?

3. Allison: Do you think that the current crop of youngish, left-of-center
bloggers will eventually wrest control of the nation's mainsteam punditry
from our aging, accountability-free counterparts at *The New York Times *and
*The Washington Post?*

4. Both: What's the most interesting thing Noam Chomsky has ever told you?

5. Jamie: Did Janeane Garofalo join *24 *for purposes of camp or what?

6. Allison: Who's your least-favorite non-conservative columnist? And which
blogger do you think is doing the best job of doing what columnists are
supposed to be doing?

7. Allison: When you're looking for a conservative pundit to make fun of and
you're in a hurry, who do you go to first? (Incidentally, during the
six-month period when I was blogging several times a day and on deadline,
I'd go to Hugh Hewitt).

8. Jamie: Who's the worst successful comedian at the moment?

9. Allison: What's your favorite in-house blog of a pre-existing magazine
(ie. Washington Monthly's Political Animal, The Atlantic's stable of
bloggers, etc.) and why?

10. Both: How disappointed are you in Obama thus far?

11. Jamie: What's your favorite bit you've done?

On Thu, May 21, 2009 at 7:55 PM, <jamiekilstein@gmail.com> wrote:

> Cool man and thanks for the book. We would love to do the interview shoot
> us the questions and we will get on it
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>
> ------------------------------
> *From*: Barrett Brown
> *Date*: Thu, 21 May 2009 19:53:34 -0400
> *To*: <jamiekilstein@gmail.com>
> *Subject*: Re: Flock of Dodos
> Busy tonight, but let me know when the good one to come to would be (or
> I'll just keep an eye on your Facebook announcements).
>
> On Thu, May 21, 2009 at 7:48 PM, <jamiekilstein@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Tonight I'm downtown with garofalo if you want me to list you
>>
>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From*: Barrett Brown
>> *Date*: Thu, 21 May 2009 19:44:22 -0400
>> *To*: jamie kilstein<jamiekilstein@gmail.com>
>> *Subject*: Flock of Dodos
>> The publisher should be sending along a copy soon, but here's a PDF of the
>> book, too. Also, I'll send you some interview questions at some point in the
>> near future, and will try to catch one of your gigs soon as well.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Barrett Brown
>> Brooklyn, NY
>> 512-560-2302
>> --0016e64652fa2fb7e8046a74b960--
>
>
> --0016e644cee01090a5046a74da47--