By Drew Grant 10/29/12 4:50pm

Homeland

Brody doth protest too much (Showtime)

Five Essay Prompts about Homeland: 2×5 ‘Q&A’

These questions regard the second season premiere of Showtime’s Homeland. Please answer the prompts with specific examples from SUNDAY’S EPISODE, though supplementary material will be accepted as a secondary source. Please write legibly. No. 2 pencils only. You have an hour to finish this test. See below for questions and sample responses.

1. The title of this episode is “Q&A,” and it is primarily taken up by an interrogation sequence. Compare this interrogation with one of the many famous scenes of interrogation in literature or film (e.g. King Lear, The Birthday Party, Marathon Man). How does Quinn/Carrie’s line of questioning line up against the classics?
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By Charlotte Lytton 10/20/12 1:05pm

The Lady and the Dance

La Maison Cointreau Debuts In NYC With Performance By Dita Von Teese

Q&A: Dita von Teese, Burlesque Star and Fetish-er Extraordinaire, Talks About Her New York Fantasy

On Monday night, America’s classiest stripper, Dita von Teese, left little to the imagination at an intimate party hosted at La Maison Cointreau in the West Village. Later in the week she spoke to The Observer about her dreams of swapping Hollywood for New York City, and how she handles the burden of her international sex symbol status.  Read More

By Michele Narov 8/01/12 2:00pm

Math and Its Problems

Hacker and wife. (Tequila Minksy)

Times Op-Ed Scribe Andrew Hacker Remains Staunch Opponent to Mandatory Math, Finds Reaction By ‘Math People’ To Be Typical

In The New York Times opinion section on Sunday, CUNY professor Andrew Hacker asked readers a question: Is Algebra Necessary? Mr. Hacker eventually reasoned the answer was no. Hundreds of his readers across the country screamed back, “Yes!”

These opinion articles are predisposed to garner strong reactions. Close to 100 readers might comment on an opinion piece on a controversial topic such as American involvement in the Middle East. Mr. Hacker’s article drove 474 commentators to their computers before The Times stopped accepting the respondents.

They weren’t to be halted; they then turned to the open platform of the web. Read More

By Aaron Gell 6/08/12 1:25pm

Quick ’n Dirty

(Getty Images)

Rich Sommer, Quick ’n Dirty

You’ve played Harry Crane on Mad Men since the first season and have two young children. What do you do to make ends meet?
You’re right. Kids are expensive, and I’m on basic cable, so you do what you can. I heard there’s a lot of money in plays, in doing the stage, so I thought I would come here and try that. I may have to try and squeeze in another play before Mad Men starts up again—the ends are still a good several inches apart. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/28/11 10:54pm

a'twitter

La Bloombita.

Meet Rachel Figueroa-Levin, the Soap-Making, Jewryican Stay-at-Home Mom Behind Twitter’s ElBloombito

A few thousand people on Twitter can’t be wrong: The best thing about Hurricane Irene was the appearance among them of @ElBloombito, a sardonic, Spanglish-speaking caricature of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his earnest attempts at becoming fluent in Spanish. (This is actually a typical occurrence at pretty much every press conference, but how many people watch mayoral press conferences on a regular basis?)

The Observer reached out to Rachel Figueroa-Levin, the 25-year-old native New Yorker behind the Twitter feed—she put her main feed in El Bloombito’s bio, never expecting either would become viral smashes—to find out who she was where she got this crazy idea.

Update I: Mayor Bloomberg Responds to El Bloombito >>

Update II: Rachel Figueroa-Levin Responds to Mayor Bloomberg Responding to El Bloombito >>

Like most things on Twitter, it started out as a joke. In an email, she told us, “I live in Inwood with my husband and nine-and-a-half-month-old daughter. I’m a stay-at-home mom and soap maker. We are in the process of buying a co-op in Inwood. (We close early September!) Soap making started as a hobby and turned into a mini business.” What follows is an interview conducted this evening on GChat. (What, you thought we would do a phone interview with an Internet star?) Read More