Peter Richardson has written critically acclaimed books about Hunter S. Thompson, the Grateful Dead, Ramparts magazine, and radical author and editor Carey McWilliams. His essays have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles...
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The History of Rock ’n’ Roll in Ten Songs
Aug 29, 2014 Author Greil Marcus doesn't explain these 10 songs (including one sung by Amy Winehouse, shown) or their power to thrill him; he tries to re-create in prose how it might have felt to perform them.Author Greil Marcus doesn't explain these 10 songs (including one sung by Amy Winehouse, above) or their power to thrill him; he tries to re-create in prose how it might have felt to perform them.
The Divide
Apr 18, 2014 Matt Taibbi's new book is more Lincoln Steffens than Hunter Thompson, dropping most of the histrionics to explore why Wall Street bankers are seemingly exempt from criminal prosecution.
The Watchdog That Didn’t Bark
Mar 16, 2014 When the press failed to anticipate the most catastrophic financial crisis in 80 years, reporters were focusing on the wrong things, responding to the wrong incentives and writing the wrong kind of stories.When the press failed to anticipate the most catastrophic financial crisis in 80 years, reporters were focusing on the wrong things, responding to the wrong incentives and writing the wrong stories.
The Science Delusion
Jun 21, 2013 Are the humanities -- literature, history, art, religion and philosophy -- useless? Some scientists would have you think so.Author Curtis White considers the handiwork of those who seek to discredit humanistic inquiry to better establish science’s monopoly on truth.
Digital Disconnect
Mar 27, 2013 "The ways capitalism works and does not work," Robert McChesney writes in his new book, "determine the role the Internet might play in society The problem is that [Internet] celebrants often believe digital technology has superpowers over political economy" The expansion and consolidation of Internet power pose grave risks to our key democratic institutions, including a free press, Robert McChesney argues in his new book.
Game Over
Jan 16, 2013 Dave Zirin, in "Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down," returns to his favorite topics: race, gender, unions, the corporatization and corruption of sports, and athletes willing to speak out on any of the above.Dave Zirin, in "Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down," returns to his favorite topics: race, gender, unions, the corporatization and corruption of sports.
Reagan and Hoover, Sittin’ in a Tree
Aug 15, 2012 "Subversives" shows how the two men and their allies sabotaged the careers of law-abiding citizens, defended reckless police violence and exploited an appalling double standard in the political use of FBI intelligence.Author Seth Rosenfeld's "Subversives" tells how the two men and their allies sabotaged the careers of law-abiding citizens, defended reckless police violence and exploited an appalling double standard in the political use of FBI intelligence.
How to Build a Quagmire
Jun 22, 2012 If you're wondering how $31 billion of US taxpayer money could be lost to fraud and waste in Afghanistan and Iraq, "Funding the Enemy: How U Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban" by Douglas A Wissing is for you If you're wondering how $31 billion of U .
Dugald Stermer Wanted to Change the World
Dec 5, 2011 Dugald Stermer, illustrator and visionary art director of Ramparts magazine, the legendary San Francisco muckraker, died last Friday after a long illness He was 74The visionary art director of Ramparts magazine died last Friday after a long illness.