By Dana Vachon 3/21/12 12:12pm

The Transom

Ms. Judd

The Ecstasy of Agony: Ashley Judd at the United Nations

Ashley Judd broke from the selling of maternal wrath and vengeance—the primary plot-drivers of her new prime-time spy caper, Missing—to visit the UN last week and discuss her celebrity recovery and humanitarianism memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet.

It describes a youth marred by rape and abuse, an adulthood plagued by thoughts of suicide, paralyzing depression and pervasive hopelessness. And the path of healing that led her to work on behalf of such sufferers of the Global South as Congolese rape victims, Cambodian orphans and Bangladeshi sex slaves.

“I believe the patriarchy is not men,” Ms. Judd told her eager audience. “Patriarchy is a system in which both men and women participate.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/03/11 12:01am

Co-op't

Co-Op Grocer Model Proves Wildly Successful For Brooklyn Food Co-Op

Soy Vey! Could a Hummus Fight Kill the Co-op?

Israel and the Park Slope Food Co-op have a lot in common. Both were founded in part by Jewish socialists. Both are governed by a raucous democracy with laws and rituals to rival the Talmud. Both have a soft spot for hummus and couscous.

And now both are plagued by the Palestinian question. Read More

By Jason Horowitz 9/26/07 4:06pm

Gore at Clinton Conference, Just the Facts

At Bill Clinton’s third annual Clinton Global Iinitiative conference, Al Gore is sitting at the end of a panel next to Bishop Desmond Tutu, wearing his now-trademark shiny black cowboy boots. He plugged Bill Clinton’s book on philanthropy (both men made it clear they donate all profits their books make) and received warm applause for Read More