Three Years Ago Today

On January 14, 2009, I was laid off as Editorial Director of Sterling Publishing’s Union Square Press, an imprint of narrative nonfiction books I had been recruited to run two years earlier. I recall the anxiety I felt upon being summoned to the office of the HR director; the sick-making sensation that shot through my gut upon receiving the news; that my email was shut off by the time I returned to my office; and the way I was instructed to leave Sterling’s offices for the final time, informed that whatever personal effects I couldn’t grab then would be shipped to my home. If you’ve never had this happen to you, I must say it is not something you can prepare yourself for. Even though I was not surprised to get laid off in the middle of the worst financial crisis in eighty years, it nonetheless registered as a deep shock. Later that dark week, I sent an email to all my contacts, headed “Moving on From Sterling,” for that’s what I had already begun to do. There being no prospect for another staff position anywhere soon, in the weeks that followed I incorporated a business in the state of New York, Philip Turner Book Productions LLC, and began cultivating clients for what would be–perforce–my own editorial services business.

Now, thirty-six months to the day from January 14, 2009, looking back across my self-employment I see I’ve written jacket and catalog copy for publishers; guest-taught five straight years at a graduate school seminar for journalism students in a non-fiction book-writing class; given a fresh professional polish to the résumés and cover letters of many job-seekers, not just my own; published a personal essay about my experience working with William Styron; written, co-written, and re-written manuscripts; and brought out one book as publisher under my own name in an eponymous imprint. I find I’ve also edited a bevy of terrific manuscripts, including a generational novel about the son of a third-generation Italian-American family returning to his family’s historic village; an ambitious novel of ideas about the American presidency in 2025; a true crime thriller about a marijuana dealer marooned in a Cambodian prison; a treatise on why religious believers and atheists both miss the point about the nature of existence; and co-agented the sale to a publisher of a large-hearted examination of how America’s firefighters, cops, emergency service providers, and veterans can heal from the trauma they experience while keeping the rest of us safe and secure.

While I’ve been operating and growing my business amid publishing’s lurching transition from a model exclusively reliant on the printed book to the burgeoning ebook model, I’ve continued to feel the tug of being back inside a publishing house where books are being excitedly sized up and acquired and published with energy and focus. As a result, I’ve put my oar in for more than twenty editorial positions at publishing houses, though the penny has not yet dropped for me on any of these. Recently, I’ve been applying for open positions at political and news websites, an area–given my passion for politics, news, and media–that I’ve long been interested in pursuing. With the skills I’ve gained curating, writing, and building out this website, I feel especially well-suited to a job like that now.

I was reminded of all this early in the past week, when I wrote this post about a New York Times deliveryman in the Bay Area who’d lost his job during the holidays last month. There was also the news that Barnes & Noble, which owns Sterling Publishing, has put the company up for sale. These events have put me in mind of the time I was laid off, reminding me that in April 2009 I was interviewed for this segment on the public radio program “The Takeaway,” about the different ways that people leave jobs. For “Last Letters and Parting Shots: How to Say Goodbye at Work” a correspondent with the charming name of Femi Oke and a musical voice that went along with it, asked me to read from “Moving on From Sterling” for her story. While my part in the eight-minute segment begins at around 5:56, it’s all interesting three years after it first aired.

As I listened to it again today, I realized that in Spring 2009 my lay-off was only a few months old, and  the recession–which I date from the mid-September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers amid the final catastrophic months of the Bush presidency–was only four months older than that. I might have been somewhat fortunate in losing my staff job relatively early in the collapse, though it’s not as if this somehow enabled me to regain a staff job more rapidly. I hadn’t yet begun to really glimpse “the long, strange trip” I was embarked upon, nor that of the rest of the country and the wider world. An uncountable number of my fellow human beings have lost their job since mine went away. Accompanying the chorus of The Grateful Dead’s “Truckin’” I just invoked, my inner musical ear is also hearing the chorus to Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” “Ah, but I was so much older then/I’m younger than that now.” Although I did my best to feel optimistic then, I am more hopeful now than I was then, while chastened by the whole experience.

For a blog essay like this, I would normally have quoted from my email “Moving on From Sterling.” However, in a way that seems oddly apt, my email address was hijacked last March, and I lost all my archived email prior to that date. It caused me a lot of grief at the time, but looking back on it now in regard to this anniversary, I’m not sorry about it. In fact, it seems in keeping with the line I read on “The Takeaway” about leaving the job being a kind of “liberation.” Still, the flip side of that liberation is being “at liberty”–a euphemism for being out of work. The biggest challenge of the past three years has not so much been the unemployment, but more precisely, dueling with the demons of ‘disemployment,’ a word used less frequently, but one that much more viscerally describes the specter of purposelessness, the absence of meaningful work, the loss of collegiality, and the fear of invisibility that laps like the tide at the edges of one’s sense of self.

January 15 update: Since I posted this essay yesterday I’ve gained some additional perspective, seeing now that one of the notable developments of the past three years has been finding my own self as a writer. After so many years of handling other people’s words, it was time I found my own voice. This website and blog are in aid of that. 
April Update: The website Over Fifty and Out of Work has republished this essay on their website under the title Warding off the Demons of Disemployment. A condensed version of the essay has been published in hard copy in a print magazine called NY Underscore.
Share

Browse by Month:

Browse by Category:

Browse by Tag:

"Tuesdays at Mona's" #caponebowl #fridayreads #IdleNoMore #obama2012 #OWS #R3NYNJ #RNC #SmallBizSat #WorldRadioDay 'the dirty war' 9/11 11th Street Bar 2012 election 2012 Presidential Campaign @GoogleLocaLNYC A.B. Guthrie ABC News Abe Reles Abigail Tucker abolition Abraham Lincoln Abrams Books abstract expressionism Abu Ghraib accountability ACLU Acoustic Research Active Space Adele Stan A Diary of the Century Adorno Prize Adrian Glynn adventure fiction Adventures in Solitude A Face in the Crowd Affordable Care Act Afro-Jersey Ahead of Time Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Alana Wilcox Alan Bisbort Alan Lomax Alaska Albert Eisenstaedt albinism album cover art Alexander Gardner Alexander Moulton Alexandra Styron Alex Shoumatoff Al Jaffe Allah-Las Al Pacino Alternative education AlterNet Amazon amazon.com Ambassador Joseph Wilson American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression American Copy Editors Society American history Amerind Ami Greko Amity Beach Amy Helm Ana Egge Andrew Rasiej Andrew Solomon Andrew Sullivan Andy Cobb Andy Griffith Andy MacMillan Anne Trubek Ann Romney Antarctica anthropology antiques Antonin Scalia AP Arcade Fire archaeology Archer Mayor Argentina Ari Fleischer Arkells Arlene's Grocery Arthur Sulzberger Art Modell Artur Davis Ascent of the A-Word As It Happens Associated Press Associate Press Association of American Publishers Attawapiskat Audubon Aung San Suu Kyi author discoverability Auto bailout Auto industry rescue Avalon Publishing Group B. Traven Babe Ruth Bain and Company Bain Capital bait & switch Band of Horses Bank of America bankruptcy Banned Books Week Barack Obama Bard Graduate Center Barnes & Noble Barney Rosset Barry Feinstein baseball baseball books Baseball Project BEA Beate Sirota Gordon Beinecke Library Bellevue Literary Press Bell House Ben Fountain Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Wheeler Ben Katchor Ben Wheeler Bernie Gunther series Berrett-Koehler Publishers bicycling Bilbo Baggins Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Bryon Bill Clinton Billy Wilder Bird on a Wire birth control Blackie and the Rodeo Kings Blackwell's Bookshop Bloomberg Businessweek Blue Rider Press BMF Media Group BN Review Bob Delaney Bob Dylan Bob Murray Bodleian Library BOMB Boni & Liveright book bloggers Book Camp book collecting Book Court Book Expo America Book proposals books bookselling Books into Browsers bookstores book writing Bowery Ballroom Bowery Electric boxing Boy Kings of Texas bpNichol Brad Blog Bretton Woods Brian Beutler Brian Donlevy Brian Lamb Brian O'Leary bridges Bridge School British Library Brooklyn Brooklyn Folk Festival Bruce Bartlett Bryant Park Budd Schulberg bullying Burma Bushwick Open Studios Buzzfeed.com byliner.com C-Span Cadence Weapon Calvin Reid Canada Canada Day Canada Reads Canadian Blast Canadian indie music Canadian literature Cape Fear Capital One Bowl Capitol Records Cara Posey Carl Franzen Carl Lennertz Carlton Reid Carmen Aguirre Carol Anshaw Carroll & Graf Carroll&Graf Carroll & Graf Publishers Casey Sherman catholic bishops Catl CBC CBC Q CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio One CBC TV CBS News censorship Center for Responsive Politics Chad Childers Chaka Khan Change the Ratio Charles Darwin Charles M. Blow Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Sheeler Chaw Ei Theirn Chester Brown Chic Gamine Chief Theresa Spence child pornography child soldiers China Chinua Achebe Chris Bohjalian Chris Christie Chris Claremont Chris Fischbach Chris Kubicka Christopher Frizzelle Christopher Hitchens Chuck Hagel Chuck Palahniuk CIA Circle Line circus Circus art Citizens United City and Colour City Museum of New York Civil War CJL0 1690 AM Claire McCaskill Cleveland Cleveland Browns Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Indians Cleveland music scene Cleveland Plain Dealer Clifton Hicks Jerrod Paxton climate change Clint Eastwood Clovis theory CMJ Music Marathon CNBC CNN co-opetition Coach House Books coexistence Coffee House Press Colin Linden Colin Powell Collinson Owen Colm Meaney ColorLines: News for Action Columbia Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Comic NY comics Comics Weekly communion Confessions of an Economic Hitman Confessions of Nat Turner Congregation B'Nai Jeshurun Connie Schultz context. Cornbread Mafia Craig Silverman Crazy Horse Critical Mass blog Cross-country travels CT Cuff the Duke CUNY Graduate School of Journalism curation Cursor customer activism D.A. Powell Daily Beast Dakota Tavern Dalia Lithwick Dallas Good Dan Fesperman Dan Froomkin Dan Gillmor Daniel Lanois Daniel Menaker Daniel Pearl Danny Glover Danny Palumbo Danny Whitten Dave Carroll Dave Cullen David Barton David Bernstein David Blomquist David Corn David Dunlap David Gergen David Irving David Petraeus David Plouffe David Roche David Wheeler David Wilk DC Comics Dead Run Deadspin Dean Haspiel Dean Heller death penalty Death Takes a Holiday Deep-sea thermal vents Deep Dark Woods Degrassi Jr. High Democratic National Committee Democratic Underground Denise Campbell Department of Justice depression Derek McCormack Derf Backderf design Desiline Victor Des Moines Register Desmond Morris Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dick Cheney Digital Book World discoverability disemployment DNAinfo.comNewYork DNC Dodge Fiasco Dog Day Afternoon dogs DOJ Domingo Martinez Donald E. Westlake Donald Trump Donald Westlake Douglas & McIntyre Douglas&McIntyre Downtown Abbey Dr. Joseph Greenberg Dr. Paul Epstein Drawn & Quarterly Dreams From My Father Dream Syndicate dressage Drudge Report Duke Ellington Dumpstaphunk Dutton E.B. White Earl I. Turner Earl Turner Earth Institute easing eye strain ebooks economic sanctions Ed Caesar Edith Wharton editors Ed Kennedy Ed Kilgore Edmund Elmaleh education Edward Hoagland Edward Robb Ellis Edward Steichen Edward Thorp Gallery Edwin Black Elaine Dewar Elderhostel Electronic Frontier Foundation Elephant Stone Elia Kazan Elie Wiesel Elinor Lipman Eli Smith Ellen Hunnicutt Ellen Willis Elliott Brood Emily Bazelon Emily Bell Emily Haines ereading devices Eric Cantor Euclid Tavern Euro Cup 2012 Evan McMorris-Santoro evolution Ewan Turner exterminators Exxon Ezra Klein F.lux Fairport Convention Fair use Fales Library fall Farley Mowat Fast Romantics FBI FCC FEMA Femi Oke film noir Fiona MccRae Fireman's Memorial First Nations Florida FOIA foldable bicycles Food for the Dead Foo Fighters Forbes forbes.com ForYourArt FOX FOX News Francine Wheeler Francis Ford Coppola Franconia College Franconia Notch Frank Bardacke Frank Capra Frederic March Frederic Tuten Fred Hiatt Freeman Lewis Free Press Frodo Baggins From Heaven Lake Frontline FunnyBooks Gabby Giffords Gail Kump Gallery 35 genealogy General Eric Shinseki genetics Geoffrey Nunberg Georgette and Lyn Mosbacher George W. Bush George Washington Bridge Gerald Early Gilbert King Giller Prize Ginia Bellafante Giuliani Glasgow Glenn Beck Global Citizen Glynnis MacNicol GoDaddy Goddard Riverside Community Center golf Goodreads Good Roads movement Google Google Places NYC GOP Gotham Grace Kelly Grant Lawrence Grateful Dead Graywolf Press Great Gray Bridge tumblr Green-wood Cemetery Green Couch Sessions Green energy Greenland Greenwich Village Greg MacPherson Gregory Peck Greg Sargent Grove Press Guantanamo Guinness Book of World Records H.G. Wells hank williams Harbour Publishing Hard Case Crime Hard Rain Productions Harold Meyerson HarperCollins Harry Belafonte Harry Jaffe Harry Truman Harvey Pekar Harvey Wang Heavy Crude Video Helen Radkey Hell on Wheels Henning Mankell Henry Hudson Bridge heresies Herman Graf Hey Ocean! Hey Rosetta Hidden Pony Hidden Pony Records Highline Ballroom Hillary Clinton Hill Country Hillman Foundation hiring practices historic preservation Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy hoboes hockey Hollywood Homelessness horses Horst Faas Houghton Mifflin Harcourt House of Mirth Hubris Hudson River Huffington Post humor Humphrey Bogart Hungary Hurricane Sandy ICP Idle No More Igor Volsky Imaginary Cities Impact Inauguration 2013 income inequality Independent Book Blogger Awards independent bookstores independent publishing Inferno Ingmar Bergman In the Night Kitchen Investigative reporting Ion Trewin Iowa Caucuses Ira A. Robbins Iran Ira Nonkin Iraq Iraq War Irish Isi Metzstein Israel J.J. Goldberg J. Michael Orenduff J.R.R. Tolkien Jack Hoffman Jack Holland Jack Lew Jack Reacher Jacob Lawrence Jalopy Theatre Jamell Bouie Jamelle Bouie James Hidgon James Kunen James Lasdun Jame Stewart Jane Friedman Jane Isay Janet Robinson Janny Scott Japan Jason Ashlock Jay Rosen Jay Smith jazz Jeannette Winterson Jeep Jeff Barth for Congess Jeff Gerth Jeff Kinney Jeff Newelt Jeffrey Dahmer Jelly Roll Morton Jennifer Homans Jenny Allen Jeremy Fisher Jeremy Warner Jian Ghomeshi Jian Gomeshi Jill Barber Jim Holt Jim Romenesko Jim Shepard Jim Tully job layoffs Joe's Pub Joe Conason Joe Gunther Joe Jackson Joel C. Turner Joel Plaskett Joel Turner Joe Regal John Cohen John D. MacDonald John Davis John Dean John Ford John Hartnett John Huston John James Audubon John K. Samson John Le Carre John Leventhal John Maynard Keynes John McCain John Ossenmacher John Sayles Jonah Lehrer Jonathan Bernstein Jonathan Chait Jonathan Cohn Jonathan D. Moreno Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Krohn Jon Krakauer Jon Ronson Jon Roson Joseph McCarthy Josh Marshall JP Hoe Jr. Judd Legum Judge David Sentelle Judge Roger Hunt Judith Butler Julia Child Julie Gold K'Naan Karkwa Karl Rove Karoli Kat Edmonson Katharine Weymouth Katherine Boo Katherine Bradford Kathleen Sharp Katie Hafner Kay Ohara Keith Olbermann Keith Thomson Keith Wallman Kem Nunn Kenneth Starr Kent State Ken Ward Kenya Keystone Excel Keystone Pipeline Kickstarter Kids in the Hall Kindertransport kindness kinship KLH Knight Foundation Knitting Factory Kobo Kodansha Kodansha America Kodansha Globe Komen Foundation Kool 100 FM Kris Doubledee Kristen Gilligan Vlahos Kurt Eichenwald Kurt Mattingly Kurt Opsahl Kyle Brennan Kyle Gallup La Cave Lance Mannion Lance Weller languages Lawrence Ellsworth Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Wright lay-offs Leadbelly Leanne Shapton Lebron James Lebron Stinson LeftBankArtBlog Lehman Brothers Lemar Koethe lending right Leonard Cohen Leslie Fratkin Leslie Gore Letters of Note Lev Grossman Levon Helm Lewis Dvorkin Libboo libraries Library Voices Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act linguistics LinkedIn Lisa Christiansen literary agents literary awards littering Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge live jazz live music Local Hero Longreads Louis Armstrong Louisa Waber Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Riel Louis Roule Lou Reed Lower East Side Tenement Museum Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire Ltd. Lu Burke Lucas Wittmann Lucy Wainwright Roche Lynd Ward Lyons Press M.J. Rose MAD Mae West Magellan Media Maggie Roche Manchester Union-Leader Manhattan Manitoba ManitobaMusic.com maple syrup Marc Berger Marc Glassman Margaret Atwood Marina Warner Mark Guarino Mark Helprin Mark Hosenball Mark Owen Mark Twain Marsh Law Martha Moran Mary Jo Bang Mary Norris Mary Pickford mass transit Matt Barber Matthew Barber Matthew Yglesias Matt Mays Matt Taibbi Maurice Sendak Mavis Staples May 4 Mayor Bloomberg McSweeney's Media, Blogging, Internet Media Connect Media error media errors Meet Your Google Neighbor Meir Javendafar Men's health Mercury Lounge Mercuy Ink Metric Metro Theater Metuchen M for Montreal Michael Bell Michael Bloomberg Michael Chabon Michael Connelly Michael Goldfarb Michael Grunwald Michael Jacobs Michael Kenney Michael Lloyd Michael Mann Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger Michael Tomasky Michelle Bachman Michelle Obama Michel Vrana Mickey Cohen middle class Midnight Ramble Mike Dash Mike Shatzkin Mikhail Prokorov Miles Davis militias Miracle 3 Misogyny Mitchell Leisen Mitt Romney MJ Rosenberg modernism Mohsin Hamid MOMocrats MOna's Bar Mona's Hot Four Mona Eltahawy Mona Eltahway Mondoweiss Montreal Mormonism Mormons Mother Jones Mountain Meadows Mountain of Names Movable Type Management Movember Mr. Steve Wise Mr. Stress MSNBC Mt. Washington Hotel MTA Muhammad Ali Mull Multiple Sclerosis Murray Energy Murray Waas music mysteries Naomi Meyer NASA Natchez Trace Nathan Cummings Foundation National Book Awards National Book Critics Circle National Book Foundation National Critics Book Circle National Review Navy Seals NBA NBCC Neil Gunn Neil Hope Neil Young Neoconservativism net neutrality Nevada 2012 Senate Race New America Foundation New Directions Publishing New Hampshire New Inquiry New Jersey New Republic New School Graduate Writing Program News Corp newspapers Newsweek/Daily Beast Newtown New Year's 2013 New York City & Bicycling New York City parks New York City Parks Dept. New York Daily News New Yorker New York Post New York Times New Zealand NFL Nicholson Baker Nick Lowe Nick Webb Nigel Nicolson Nixonian No Easy Day NOIR Magazine Nora Ephron Norman Corwin Norte Maar North Beach Novartis NRA NXNE NY1 NY Observer NYRB Classics NYU NY Underscore offshore investments Ohbijou Ohio Olympics ombudsman online abuse Online identities Open Culture Open Road Integrated Media Open Road Media opera Osama Bin Laden Out of the Past Over Fifty and Out of Work Oxford University Palestine Pam Geller Panorama City Papa Joe Jones Paper Bag Records Parody PassKontrol Pat Buchanan Pat Garofalo Patricia Neal Patrick Fitzgerald Patrick Watson Patti Smith Paula Broadwell Paul Krugman Paul Robeson Paul Ryan Paul Strand PBS PBS NewsHour peace pediatric cancer PEN PEN American Center Penguin PEN Literary Awards Penn Station PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature Personal Democracy Forum Pete Hamill Peter Beinart Peter Canby Peter Elkas Peter Evans Peter Jackson Petermann Glacier Peter S. Goodman Peter Stampfel Peter Winston Peter Workman Philip Kerr Philip Turner Book Productions Philip Turner Book Prouctions LLC Philip Weiss philology photographic forgeries photography photojournalism Picador Pierre Berton plagiarism Planetary Group Planned Parenthood Plants & Animals Plants and Animals Plum Line Poets & Writers Political Animals political skills Politico politics Portage& Main Pot Thief mysteries Powell's Books poynter.org President Obama press ethics Prime Minister Stephen Harper Prince Edward Island Princeton Architectural Press Pro Publica ProPublica PTSD Public Assembly Public Domain Review public health Publishers Group West Publishers Weekly Publishing for President Obama Publishing Perspectives Pulitzer Prize PW Comics World Queen's Gambit Quill & Quire Rabbi Marshall Meyer Rachel Maddow Rachel Sklar Raconteur Books radio Radio City Music Hall Radio Iowa Rage Against the Machine Rah Rah Ralph Vaughan Williams Ransom Center rats Ray Bradbury Ray Chapman Ray Harryhausen Raymond Bonner recess appointments record stores ReDigi Regret the Error regrettheerror.com religion religious intolerance Republican convention Richard Ben Cramer Richard Engel Richard Ford Richard Gerard Kennedy Richard Nash Richard Pyle Richey Piiparinen Rick Danko Rick Ungar Riddley Walker Ride Rishi Dhir Riverside Park Robbie Robertson Robert Caro Robert Creamer Robert Gray Robert Henry Adams Robert Luskin Robert Mitchum Robert Moses Robert Wiersema Rob Sheffield rock n' roll Rock Shop Rockwood Hall Rockwood Music Hall Rolling Stone Romare Bearden Romare Bearden Foundation Roméo Dallaire Ron Suskind Rosanne Cash Roscoe Bartlett Rose Cousins Ross King Royal Pacific Motor Inn Rudy Giuliani Rupert Murdoch Russell Hoban Russia Rust Belt Chic Ruth Ann Steinhagen Ruth Gruber Rwanda Ryan Reilly Sabrina Eaton Sally Kohn samizdat literature Samuel Freedman Sam Zell Sandy Hook San Francisco Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Sarah Silverman Sarah Weinman Scholastic Writing Awards science Scooter Libby Scotland Scott Turow Scott Young SCTV secondhand records Senator Sherrod Brown Sensata September 22 Seán Collins Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Sheldon Adelson Shelf Awareness Shelf Awarenss Shelley Berkley Sherman Alexie Shotgun Jimmie Shred Kelly Siberia Sidney Hillman Foundation Sidney Lumet silent film Simon & Schuster Simon Wiesenthal Sketchbook Project skunks Skyhorse Publishing Slate slavery Sloan Small Demons Smithsonian Smithsonian Magazine snowstorms social networks Soledad O'Brien Sonny Mehta SOPA Speakerfile speech and developmental impairment St. Louis Post Dispatch Stan Bevington Statue of Liberty Steinway Pianos stereo speakers Sterling Publishing Steve Conte Steve Jobs Steve Sebelius Steve Wynn stop motion animation Stopmotionsolo StorefrontBushwick Studio at Webster Hall sturgeon subway tunnel construction sugar Suite for Calliope Superman Superstorm Sandy Supreme Court Susan Cahalan Susan MacDougal Susan McDougal Susan Swain suspense novels sustainability Suzzy Roche SXSW Sylvia Shiff Turner Ta-Nehisi Coates Taegan Goddard Tamas Dobozy Tara Grescoe Tauchnitz Press taxes tax returns TCM teaching Teddy Kumpel Tere Tereba Terre Roche The Atlantic The Baby Thief The Band The Barber's Conundrum The Black Angels The Canary Sang But Couldn't Fly The Crisis of Zionism the Danks The Double Game The Drongos The Godfather The Golden Gate The Great Gray Bridge The Great Recession The Great Schlep The Hobbit The Little Red Lighthouse The Living Room THEM The Magnificent Sevens The Mantle The Matinee The Men Who Stare at Goats The New Yorker The New York Times Theodoric Meyer The Onion The Pack A.D. The Pimps of Joytime the Plum Line The Politics of Truth The Power Broker The Roches The Sadies The Takeaway The Visitor The Weakerthans The Well ThinkProgress Think Progress Third places Thomas Durant Thomas Edison Thomas Jefferson Three Years Ago Today Thurgood Marshall time time-keeping Tim Holt Todd Akin Tolkien Tom Morello Tom Reiss Tom Watson Tom Wilson Tony Hillerman Tony Judt tools Tools of Change Toronto Tosca Cafe TPM Tracks on Tracks trains Travis McGee Treasure of the Sierra Madre trees Tribune Media Company Trouser Press truth tuberculosis tumblr TuneIn Radio Turk Pipkin Turtle Diary Twitter Two Coats of Paint Tyler Drumheller U.S. State Department U.S. unemployment rate unconference Undercover Books undersea life Under the Banner of Heaven Underwear bomber Union Square Press United Healthcare upper west side Urban Life Urban Life & New York City Urban Life & New York City urban wildlife US Armed Forces used ebooks US Treasury Library Valerie Plame Valobox Vanguard Press Verizon veterans Vietnam War Vikram Seth Village Voice Vince Foster vinyl LPs Virginia Virginia Quarterly Review Virginia Woolf Vish Khanna VJ Day Vladimir Putin Vol. 1 Brooklyn Voter ID voters Voting rights Voting Rights Act Voynich manuscript W.N.P. Barbellion Walker & Company Wall St. Journal Walter Huston Walter Tevis Walt Whitman Washingtonian Washington Monthly Washington Post Washington Times Watkins Glen 1973 Weakerthans wealth We Are the City Wendell Potter Wendy Weil WGBH whistleblowers Whitehorse Wilco Will Eisner William Blake William Styron Willie Nelson Will Schwalbe Will Storr Winnipeg winter WNYC Woody Guthrie Workman Publishing World Book Night World Radio Day World Trade Center WWII Yale Yep Roc Records Yukon Blonde Yuval Diskin Zach Gray Zadie Smith Zerlina Maxwell Zippy the Pinhead Zola Books zyzzva