Andrew Purcell
The king of New York, at home, in exile.
“The minute you have to raise one dollar, you’re in a world of compromise,” Ferrara says. “But I’m never gonna get to a point in my life where what it costs to shoot a movie is going to determine what it is. The limits of my imagination is the only thing that’s gonna stop me.”
Gay marriage in court
Whatever the court eventually decides – the case is unlikely to be heard until late next year – the broader question is whether a country that considered gay sex a crime less than a decade ago is ready to embrace gay marriage.
Police violence on trial
Can American police officers be held accountable when they kill unarmed civilians? Two shocking incidents are putting the criminal justice system’s capacity to prosecute cops on trial.
The Black Keys take Manhattan
“It’s the Akron curse: you’ve gotta get out to win,” Auerbach concludes. Will he leave too? “Thought about it. Thinking about it. The only thing keeping me there is my family.” At gigs, he makes a point of telling the crowd “we’re the Black Keys, from Akron, Ohio.”
The Jazz Loft Project
A new exhibition at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts offers insights into the midnight ramblings of some of the greatest jazz musicians ever, including Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Zoot Sims, Charles Mingus and Roy Haynes, who were all recorded and photographed by Eugene Smith, as they jammed after hours at his loft.
Oil spill stains Obama
It was first suggested that the Gulf of Mexico spill could be “Obama’s Katrina” long before a drop of oil from the ruptured well hit shore. Five weeks after the Deepwater Horizon exploded, the tar is beginning to stick.
At home with the National
“Anxiety and worry are common mental states,” says Berninger. “But it’s not a mid-life crisis because it never goes away.” Sitting on the sofa with his bandmates, a glass of wine in his hand, it looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
Ground Zero’s forgotten victims
“I suffer badly from night terrors,” says Kenneth George. “When I hear the crickets at night, it brings me back to Ground Zero, because the firemen, when they’re down, they have a response beeper that chirps.”
War without end?
The “war on drugs” has been a cornerstone of America’s criminal justice system ever since President Richard Nixon coined the phrase four decades ago. Three recent developments suggest that policy-makers are finally losing faith in its effectiveness.
Health care reform in the balance
The margins are so tight that a single vote could decide it, here or there. The number of formally undecided Democrats is dwindling by the hour, but still, no-one can be certain if the legislation will pass.
