AltWeeklies Wire
Newport Jazz Comes Back With a Bangnew
The biggest news made by the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals the past two weekends was that they happened at all.
Boston Phoenix |
Jon Garelick |
08-12-2009 |
Music
What's Behind Rupert Murdoch's Paid-Content Push?new

News Corp. head honcho Rupert Murdoch recently announced he'll begin charging for online content at his company's news sites. Is this a desperate move to help the bottom line, or a last-gasp grab at journalistic respectability?
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
08-12-2009 |
Media
The Race to be Boston's Number Twonew
City councilors Sam Yoon and Michael Flaherty are battling to bring change to Boston. Can Mayor Menino be moved?
Boston Phoenix |
David Bernstein |
08-12-2009 |
Politics
Can Chris Kattan be a Bollywood Hero?new
Here's something Chris Kattan probably rarely hears in real life: "In Night at the Roxbury, you were awesome!" Such, however, is the encomium proffered by two young Indian fans in IFC's new mini-series Bollywood Hero, which finds the former SNL cast member traveling to the subcontinent to star in a saffron-colored, jasmine-scented music-and-dance extravaganza.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
08-07-2009 |
TV
WFNX/Phoenix Best Music Poll 2009new
The Phoenix newspapers announce the reader-selected local and national winners of this year's Phoenix/FNX Best Music Poll.
Boston Phoenix |
Staff |
08-06-2009 |
Music
Champion Lockpicker Schuyler Towne Can't Be Stoppednew
It's too bad Skip Gates didn't have Schuyler Towne's cell number on that fateful day last month. If he did, the Somerville-based lockpicking champ likely could have gotten in to the good professor's home in no time at all, and a national controversy (and international beer summit) might have been averted.
Boston Phoenix |
Ian Sands |
08-06-2009 |
Culture
The Gates Case Isn't About Racenew
The weeks-long hubbub over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. by the Cambridge Police Department has centered on race, understandably. But the racial façade of the story has obscured two other bottom-line truths that should govern the "Gates-gate" conversation.
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate |
08-06-2009 |
Civil Liberties
Comic-strip author declares war on Jambanew
While the Shepard Fairey–AP showdown was busy raising the public-domain bar, a new case concerning intellectual property recently cropped up on the Internet. This one pits David Rees and his defunct Get Your War On (GYWO) comic strip against national smoothie giant Jamba Juice.
Boston Phoenix |
Leor Galil |
08-06-2009 |
Media
Life in Prison...For Punching a Man in the Facenew

Nearly 17 years ago, Joe Donovan initiated a tragic chain of events with a brutish act of machismo. But should he be in jail for life?
Boston Phoenix |
Chris Faraone |
08-06-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Judd Apatow on the Making of His 'Citizen Kane'new

The director talks about what it's like casting his preteen daughters in a comedy with so many penis references, why comedians are such dicks and his hard-on for Steve Martin.
Boston Phoenix |
Lance Gould |
07-29-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
ESPN's Odd Double Standard On Sexnew
Sports-media behemoth ESPN rightfully balked when one of its broadcast stars, Erin Andrews, was victimized by a pervert with a video camera, and moved quickly to suppress the footage. But did it apply a double standard when it refused to cover the sexual-assault case of NFL star Ben Roethlisberger?
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
07-29-2009 |
Media
Social Networking is Ruining Your Summernew

Warm weather is supposed to be about perching on a saggy lawn chair during a backyard barbecue, swatting at mosquitoes and waiting for a turn at the beer-pong table. Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to balance my beer between my knees and my overstocked paper plate on my thigh as I furiously poke at my BlackBerry.
Boston Phoenix |
Sara Faith Alterman |
07-23-2009 |
Tech
Meet the Awesome Foundation for Arts and Sciencesnew
What if Eli and Edythe Broad, two seminal financial backers of MIT and Harvard, had gone batshit crazy back in the early '00s and decided to go in a different direction with their philanthropy?
Boston Phoenix |
Ian Sands |
07-23-2009 |
Culture
About That Maddening Healthcare Debatenew
If the idea of thinking about the ongoing push for health-care reform gives you a headache, you are not alone. Before this thing is over, Washington will set some sort of record for expending the maximum amount of hot air for a minimum sort of result.
Boston Phoenix |
Staff |
07-23-2009 |
Commentary
The Belated Glory of Anvilnew
The recent success of the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil has brought the mostly obscure, longtime metal band Anvil more mainstream attention than they've ever enjoyed.
Boston Phoenix |
Daniel Brockman |
07-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews