Pieces, Particles V
The following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications -- and now online -- might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.

Adventures in Book Reviewing, by Katha Pollitt, The Nation, April 15, 2002

DC's Virtual Panopticon, by Christian Parenti, The Nation, June 3, 2002
A camera system in the nation's capital is making civil libertarians nervous.

Enron, the Media and the New Economy, by Jeff Madrick, The Nation, April 1, 2002
The notion that information was a company's key asset and that "normal" stock-valuation methods no longer applied sold well. Only problem: It wasn't true.

Exporting New England Style, by Howard Mansfield, Yankee, June 2002
Yale's Vincent Scully has revived the aesthetic of the New England small town.

Faking It, by Liza Featherstone, Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 2002
Sex, Lies, and Women's Magazines

Former Mouseburgers of the World Unite, by Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, June 3, 2002

High School Confidential, by Jill Rosen, American Journalism Review, June 2002
In their efforts to suppress negative news, administrators are increasingly apt these days to censor student newspapers. And the young journalists are fighting back.

Morning in America, by Tony Hendra, Harper's Magazine, June 2002
The rise and fall of the National Lampoon

River Cuomo's Encyclopedia of Pop, by Jenny Eliscu, Rolling Stone, June 20, 2002
How the Weezer frontman cracked the code of the perfect song

Seeing Around Corners, by Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic Monthly, April 2002
The new science of artificial societies suggests that real ones are both more predictable and more surprising than we thought. Growing long-vanished civilizations and modern-day genocides on computers will probably never enable us to foresee the future in detail -- but we might learn to anticipate the kinda of events that lie ahead, and where to look for interventions that might work

The Social Life of Paper, by Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, March 25, 2002
Looking for method in the mess.

Striking It Rich, by John Cassidy, The New Yorker, January 14, 2002
The rise and fall of popular capitalism.

The Televisionary, by Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, May 27, 2002
Big business and the myth of the lone inventor.

To Save An Indian, by Amy Sutherland, Down East, June 2002
The world-famous Skowhegan Indian is in trouble, and everyone in town is wondering what's to be done.

TV Crimedusters, by Tad Friend, The New Yorker, June 3, 2002

Wild Thing, by Vanessa Grigoriadis, Rolling Stone, June 6, 2002
College girls flashing on request is just another day at the office for Joe Francis