Smithsonian: Just Put the Art Back

Express

The Smithsonian has made a mistake. The institution responsible for preserving and celebrating American history has chosen to selectively edit that history to appease the wishes of a cultural fringe movement.

Will the DOE Test for PCBs?

Local

You’ve got to hand it to the public relations firm hired by the New York City Department of Education. The tag line they’ve come up with—“Children First. Always.”—is exactly what a school system should be championing.

QURRATULAIN HYDER: Voice of the South Asian Frontier

Express

Hyder’s fiction reveals that the barriers separating seemingly distinct groups—Christians, Muslims, and Hindus; Europeans and Asians—are in fact hazy.

PETER SAUL with Irving Sandler and Phong Bui

Art

On the occasion of his recent survey Fifty Years of Painting, at Haunch of Venison Gallery (November 5, 2010 – January 8, 2011), the painter Peter Saul stopped by Art International Radio to talk with Rail Consulting Editor Irving Sandler and Publisher Phong Bui about his life and work.

JOE ZUCKER with Phong Bui

Art

While preparing for his two one-person exhibits at the Mary Boone Gallery (A Unified Theory at 541 West 24th Street and Box Paintings at 745 Fifth Avenue, January 8 – February 5, 2011), the artist Joe Zucker welcomed Rail publisher Phong Bui to his home and studio in East Hampton to talk about his life and work.

KENNETH FRAMPTON with Carlos Brillembourg

Art

On the occasion of his recent 80th birthday celebration, Kenneth Frampton, the legendary architect, critic, historian, and Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, where he has taught since 1972, stopped by Carlos Brillembourg’s SoHo studio to talk about his work.

The Rail's PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2010

American politics has been a Grand Guignol stage in 2010. A horror show full of headless bodies, witches, and Mama Grizzlies ended with a shellacking, making one long for the sober docu-drama of a year ago.

KILLING IN THE NAME OF: Notes From the Chicago Indie Lit Scene

Books

The questions are as follows: what makes for an indie lit scene, and does Chicago have one? The first person I ask is Zach Dodson from Featherproof publishing, because this is Chicago, and you sort of have to start with Featherproof.

Diggin’ the Gaps: How Ahmad Jamal Re-Tooled Jazz

Music

Miles Davis wasn’t exactly the most appreciative guy, but if you like your bile served straight you might want to check out his autobiography, which snipes and broods like few other tell-alls have done.

Mothers Courage: Brooklyn Theater Mamas

Theater

Theater moms may be the most incredible group of cats you ever tried to herd into one place at one time, to use a phrase my own mother might.

Night Crime

Fiction

It was Christmas Eve. Henri Duchemin sat on a worn-out bench in a restaurant, waiting for the rain to stop. The holes in his trouser pockets and the long hair tickling his ears were constant reminders of his poverty.