Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
The New Yorker has published another lengthy feature story — this time about an entrepreneurial “cemeterian” in California named Tyler Cassity — that’s available only in print (the Aug. 29 issue). Tad Friend, author of the 12-page article, discusses it in this online Q&A.
Can Christianity find a place in Hollywood? Christians in the movie business face a high level of pressure to hide their faith, despite the recent resurgence of Hollywood interest in spirituality. Sarah Price Brown of Religion News Service found an inside-Hollywood story that reminded me of some of the work going on in journalism.
Looks like I wasnââ¬â¢t the only one who protested the level of news-play Gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson received for his noisy memorial service last weekend. MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman objected as well:
I had one of those moments of techno-transcendence this morning on the MARC train as I rolled into Washington, D.C.
Congratulations to movie critic Michael Elliott for making his way into Entertainment Weekly‘s feature story on the new movie The Artistocrats. EW quotes producer Paul Provenza on how the documentary is attracting opposition because of its subject matter (a skeleton of a vaudeville joke, onto which comedians add the most vulgar possible premises):
The snail mail is extra, extra late today here in West Palm Beach. So late that it may end up being delayed into the regularly scheduled evening summer thunderstorm.
OK, OK, but for about half of America — for competing reasons — this is a religion news story. Here is the early Los Angeles Times review — by Emily Green — of you know what. Everyone keep their eyes open for religion-angle stories tomorrow and Sunday.
I don’t know what to add to this Associated Press story (hat tip to Rod FOTB Dreher), except to say that we Baby Boomers are not going to go into middle age and beyond quietly. Is this a Godbeat story? Trends in Baby Boomer entertainment rituals? The liturgy of the media?
It appears to be abortion week at GetReligion, so I don’t feel too bad about this shameless plug. Several weeks back, an editor from Beliefnet (host of Blog Heaven) approached me about a project that her website had in mind. There was this new book called Freakonomics, maybe I’d heard of it . . .
