Author: jasonboog
Internet Connected Toys
February 23, 2016
Before the holidays, I wrote an essay about Hello Barbie and Internet-connected toys for Salon. Check it out: “My stomach hurts when I think about some computer-stuffed doll replacing my role in her imaginary games. Every morning, I follow in my daughter’s wake during these epic play sessions, carried back to the imaginary places I […]
Sad Men Podcast: James Agee & Johanna Skibsrud
November 29, 2015
I just released a new episode of the Sad Men Podcast. This edition explores LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN, a Depression-era book by the great James Agee. Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud joins us for the podcast, explaining how Agee’s work influenced her novel, QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME. I created this podcast, telling the stories […]
The Spirit of 1934
November 10, 2015
I just published “Belabored Empires” in The Awl, an essay about how a ragtag group of journalists built the newspaper unions that still stand today. Here’s an excerpt: “In the darkest days of the Great Depression, Heywood Broun, a sportswriter more famous for his gambling exploits during the Roaring Twenties and for sneaking shots of gin […]
Sad Men Podcast
November 6, 2015
I’ve started a new podcast project, telling the stories of how a generation of men and women writers survived the Great Depression. You can find the Sad Men Podcast for free at iTunes and at SoundCloud. My first episode ponders the bloody legacy of the great horror radio writer, Arch Oboler. It is a companion piece to my […]
Star Wars Wars
May 23, 2015
After visiting the Star Wars Celebration convention with my daughter, I wrote an essay for deviantART about the hundreds of stories lost when Disney decided not to include the Expanded Universe in the upcoming films. Thousands of fans were hurt by the revelation, and I interviewed a few Expanded Universe fans to find out how they […]