by Matthew Friedman | Jul 13, 2019 | Essays
I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! *** MAD Magazine is gone – or at least it will be soon. The magazine announced on July 3 that it will...
by Matthew Friedman | Jun 17, 2019 | Essays, Reviews, Television
Joseph Heller’s tragicomic novel Catch-22 ends on a strangely hopeful note. Having just learned that his comrade Orr, missing in action after crashing his B-25 Mitchell bomber in the Mediterranean, successfully rowed to Sweden in a life-raft, Captain Yossarian runs....
by Matthew Friedman | Jun 11, 2019 | Essays, History
I. Prologue They stood on the stage of the Great Hall at the Cooper Union in New York City in the spring of 2006, where in 1860 Abraham Lincoln had publicly committed himself to the destruction of slavery. “Let us have faith that right makes might,” the future...
by Matthew Friedman | May 22, 2019 | Essays, Photo Essay
It’s late enough in the afternoon that the shadows from the New Jersey Turnpike overpass have started creeping toward the westernmost basket. It’s early enough that the five young men on the court aren’t yet thinking about wrapping up the game. They’re from the...