William Gibson
Monday, January 16th, 2012Last week, I had lunch with William Gibson and talked about his first-ever collection of non-fiction, Distrust That Particular Flavor. My story ran today.
Moby-Dick in Pictures; Margaret Atwood
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011In today’s National Post I talk to artist Matt Kish about his project, Moby-Dick in Pictures. Yesterday, I hosted a live chat with Margaret Atwood to talk about her new book, In Other Worlds.
Cultural Lessons; Movies of the Year; Avatar; Record of the Year
Thursday, December 31st, 2009A few things in today’s paper: my final cultural lesson — of memes and Mentos; SARS wasn’t the viral hit of the decade after all — appears, as does my list of movies of the year. Also, I take part in this week’s Popcorn Panel. The movie? Avatar, which made my top 10. Also, over on The Ampersand, you can find my pick for album of the year.
3-D; Kobo
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009In Wednesday’s National Post I explore the resurgence of 3-D, and over on The Afterword I chat with Shortcover’s Michael Serbinis about new e-reading service Kobo.
Kindle or Shortcovers
Saturday, November 28th, 2009In today’s National Post, I write about my week with Amazon’s much-hyped e-reader, the Kindle, and sit down with Michael Serbinis, president of Shortcovers, Indigo’s e-book platform.
Google Book Settlement
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009In today’s National Post, I try and make sense of the Google Book Settlement.
Ed O’Loughlin; Digitization roundtable
Friday, July 31st, 2009If you thought — like me — no Canadians were longlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, you were wrong. Ed O’Loughlin, nominated for his debut novel Not Untrue and Not Unkind, was born in Toronto and spent his early years in Edmonton. I spoke to him on Friday, and the Q&A is posted on The Afterword. Meanwhile, over at That Shakespearean Rag, I take part in a roundtable on digitization along with Steven Beattie, Pasha Malla, and Julie Wilson.
Ricky Jay; Dan Baum vs. Susan Orlean on Twitter
Thursday, May 14th, 2009In today’s National Post, I profile sleight-of-hand artist Ricky Jay — there’s a longer version of the piece over on The Afterword. Watch for my review on The Ampersand on Friday. I also take a quick look at the battle that unfolded on Twitter this past between between staff writer Susan Orlean and ex-staffer Dan Baum.
P.W. Singer
Monday, March 16th, 2009Over on The Afterword I’ve posted an interview with P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War. It’s a fascinating read, I think.
Kindle 2.0
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Amazon.com announced the next generation of their Kindle e-book reader at a press conference yesterday. But guess who isn’t getting a Kindle? Canadians! The Post’s technology reporter David George-Cosh and I take a look at the news in today’s National Post.