Category: Summer 2009

It was mid-October 1939 when Gladys Arnold sailed aboard the luxury liner the Washington, on her way back to France. There was a strange atmosphere on the ship. The truth hung low over the almost 300 passengers’ heads; they were sailing into the unknown. Watching land fade into open sea, Arnold wondered whether she would ever… Continue reading A Canadian in Paris

The second-floor workout studio of the Du Parc YMCA in Montreal has four large windows with a view across an alley to a Hasidic synagogue. Built in 1912, the Y is functional, not fancy. It’s a place where strings of toddlers shuffle in and out of play areas throughout the day and teenagers shoot pool… Continue reading Hot Topic

The nightmare that would culminate in such e-mail venom as “I hope your wife gets ovarian cancer” and “Your mother should have aborted you” began on an early summer evening in rural Connecticut. Two middle-aged men sit in the loft of a refurbished barn, riffing off Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” Every Sunday they get high… Continue reading Deconstructing Barry

“Bangalore,” I say. “India.” “Um, okay,” he says, quickly. “I’m just about to go into a news meeting. Can you call me back?” “Yeah,” I say. “How long will that take?” “About an hour.” So I call him back in an hour. And then 15 minutes after that. And then seven more times over the… Continue reading Passages to India

Clive Thompson is burly and about six-two. He’s wearing a full set of chain mail and Soldier’s Wrist Guards of the Eagle and has a large mace-a Giant Mace-strapped to his back like a parade baton. He’s 40, a Canadian expat living in New York, former editor of This Magazine, a journalist and father of two… Continue reading The WoW Factor