The Awl

http://www.theawl.com/

New to me blog that is apparently supposed to be better than other blogs? The writing sure seems better, and the comments are actually worth digging through.

Does anyone else read this? Thoughts?

i read it all the time

its better than about 99% of blogs out there, partly because a lot of smart, talented people write for it, partly because the bar for blogs is not particularly high

i literally read five blogs total, and they are one of them

unless leak blogs count, but i don't really "read" leak blogs

What are the other four?

Don't you read music blogs for work? Or are you just talking about non-music stuff?

other five actually:

gawker, gothamist, village voice sound of the city, nymag vulture blog and brooklyn vegan

most music blogs i just follow on twitter to see what they're talking about since i don't want to accidentally give them traffic

i wish whenever you opened the awl, it autoplayed this youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIoNaAs-KGg

I don't blame you for not wanting to give a lot of the music blogs traffic. This is the newest story on Stereogum right now:

Blonde Redhead Score Dungeon Masters • The moody New York trio wrote the score for Keven McAlester's Dungeons & Dragons documentary The Dungeon Masters (2/2, Amazon VOD). Affix your elf ears and check out the trailer, nerd.

For music blogs, my Google Reader tells me I'm subscribed to . . . Simon Reynolds's blog, Last Plane to Jakarta, Tom Ewing's Tumblr, nabisco's Tumblr (which isn't really a "music blog"), SFJ's New Yorker blog, and Sound of the City. Recently removed everything else, because it was a total waste of time.

Why is Gawker so popular? The writing?

no, the pictures

i think it's the HTML coding actually

Thanks.

I'm not super familiar with Gawker. Just curious why a lot of people praise it.

definitely the pictures and html coding

i like the rss of it

generally classic, 'updates on black people twitter' DUD

i do think its kind of interesting/noteworthy that some writer over at a hueg blog is obsessed with "black people twitter" enough to provide updates to a bunch of media nerds

i thought this referred to What This Awl Means.

kstreetteam

I'm not super familiar with Gawker.

lmao

I've read some Gawker posts, and I've read a little about it, but I haven't followed it as closely as I've followed other publications. I sincerely wanted to know why Gawker is so popular and seemingly well-regarded, because I don't know.

ks, check out this thread: KILLFILE 2.0

instant ignoring of irritating posters (requires Firefox and some plug-ins)

http://www.theawl.com/

New layout.

hmm.. i love the awl, but.. k why are the headlines at the top on a black background & then over top of the pictures? it's hard to read them..

how did this get so popular/successful so fast?

did it? seems like it's been around a minute.

Also, I've kind of wondered why "Black People Twitter" hasn't caught on as like a 'thing' among message boards

a 'meme'

i feel like i remember seeing it right after gawker linked to its existence & it already had some serious looking ads & stuff -- idk maybe i'm wrong, i only peruse the site occasionally even tho it's def really good

http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/what-were-black-people-talking-about-on-twitter-last-night

^^^^ makes me want to stab the blogger

it's weird becuase... there is def a (predominantly) black culture on twitter that often takes over the site when it comes to trending topics. writing about it is obv very precarious & i respect that someone would even broach the subject because of everything that BLOGGING ABOUT RACE entails

jordan otm

i mean, """Black People Twitter""" (extea quotey fingers) or whatever it is, is kind of interesting subject. But there's pretty much no way to talk about it without sounding like a racist or a dipshit.

would maybe like to have a thread on it just for the clusterfuck that would ensue

i'd be lying if i said that i hadn't sent text messages today that ended with #deadwrong4that

"Black People And Jordan Twitter"

i'd be lying if i said that i hadn't sent text messages today that ended with #deadwrong4that

― ratface killah (J0rdan S.), Thursday, February 4, 2010 1:11 AM (42 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I mean there's no way to win being a white guy and sending one of these because it always comes off as
a)[MAGAZINE NAME REDACTED]-style try-hard swagger-biting like some white guy reviewing a Blaq Poet alb w/ "DAG THIS RECORD IS HOT ROCKS FIYAAAAHHHH"
b)hipster irony like some white guy writing MAKE A BABYMAMA SLAP HER BABYDADDY on his denim jacket with white out (i live in brooklyn and have seen this for real)

well, i was being ironic, slightly -- it's a funny phrase

my texts were about basketball

but you know, if you're on twitter all day like i am, it's -- imo -- hard for those trending topics to not seep into your thinking & not become part of your daily interneting & not come up in conversations b/w people who are also on twitter all day

it's a weird thing to broach in a serious manner

the awl took off pretty fast b/c the editors are former gawker editors & so are most of the writers, so they already had a following and a lot of contacts i suppose. i like it though.. only interested in maybe 1/4 of the content, personally

i honestly dont think it took off fast

i don't understand why you keep insisting this unless you're under the impression that there was some secret underground Awl site in existence for a couple years before it got "launched" because it was linked everywhere the day it opened because of balk/choire's connections.

the awl, more like the ball... sac

apparently supposed to be better than other ballsacs

great autostart video ads guys

solid blog, but really?

heh

http://www.theawl.com/2010/03/psa-these-autoplay-ads

http://www.theawl.com/2010/09/two-click-minimum-splitsider-is-here

A comedy nerd blog seems too niche to be a solid brand to add to a blog network seeking advertisers and growth, but maybe they are seeing the niche as not being catered to and thus possibly easily profitable.

Carly ads are really ironic.

I'm not super familiar with the Awl.

<3 buzza

jesus christ that is one ugly, anonymous looking site

great use of bandwidth

kinda stopped reading this site when it completed its transformation to gawker at some point this summer... then gawker got all good and "maxed"-out

agree that Gawker is pretty good right now. could you explain what you mean by The Awl's "transformation to gawker at some point this summer" tho?

gawker is particularly good between the hours of 8pm and 4am

its like a party up on that website

during that particular stretch of time, eastern time, on sunday, monday and tuesday nights

gawker more like GAWLKER

i liked gawker till that one guy DIED HAHA IT'S A REFERENCE TO MAX

agree that Gawker is pretty good right now. could you explain what you mean by The Awl's "transformation to gawker at some point this summer" tho?

― markers, Wednesday, September 8, 2010 11:07 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

it started to look and read exactly like the gawk.

smh @ this gillette-sponsored garbage

http://www.theawl.com/2010/10/how-to-pick-up-a-hipster-girl

I think The Awl would be much better if it just published the interested long essay kind of stuff, but that probably wouldn't make them any money

interesting, rather

We wanted to invite you personally—so, yes, you!—to visit our new sister site, run by the funny and bizarre Edith Zimmerman and friends, particularly the phenomenal Liz Colville. It is called The Hairpin.

― James Mitchell, Monday, October 25, 2010 9:07 AM (14 seconds ago)

hahaha -- just came here to post the news myself

Maybe going to rock shows and eating all-organic locally sourced beef and/or vegan meals

why would you be eating beef w/ a vegan meal

at a rock show nonetheless, dont they usually just serve beer and drinks and maybe snacks there

In the Times!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25carr.html

^^^^ media insider and hip twentysomething

UGGGGGHHHHHH @ that article s1ocki posted

right?

for shame

http://static.fmpub.net/banners/20100409/4bbf9a7b33e6aSponsoredby120x40.jpg

the awl more like the awlful amirite lolol *highfive*

i don't think this is the jezebel killer i was hoping for

also how could it make any possible financial sense to start a comedy blog and why would you call it "splitsider"

there are 7 comments total on the stories on the front page of Splitsider atm

I have a feeling The Hairpin will do much, much better

come up with the most boring blog name possible

i liked the interview w/ john mulaney but i haven't been back since

its a contraction of 'aw yall'

http://thehairpin.com/2010/10/all-dudes-learned-how-to-dress-and-it-sucks/

what a bad problem to have

"Uuuuuuuuum, OK." *clicks X*

What the hell is wrong with her??

Mary HK Choi is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. She is a senior editor at Complex magazine and writes comics for Marvel. Also, she is the bomb. No dot com. Just bomb. Shut up.

:/

quiddities and agonies of the creative class

Basil Marceaux Not Dot Com

her twitter name is 'choitotheworld'

i am not subscribing 2 "the hairpin" in my "google reader" but i very well may based on pieces such as

http://thehairpin.com/2010/12/the-winter-boyfriend/

and

http://thehairpin.com/2010/12/some-futures-i-thought-i-might-have/

and

http://thehairpin.com/2010/12/letters-to-the-editors-of-womens-magazines-2/

max when will u start writing for the awl

i will let u in on a secret.... i am the awl

i am the awl of the blog "the awl"

the eponymous awl

sooo is this the jezebel of the awl brand

i think its the gizmodo

Jezebawl

"I will jab a pencil into my eye so that I'll require a prescription for thick-rimmed glasses, and then I'll be attractive, like those models in advertisements for glasses."

I love this sentence so much!

could say youre all of the awl

awlright guys, enough

awl say

otm, its getting pret awlful

These puns have been less than awlsome.

casting a pawl over my whole afternoon

awl shucks

awl get me coat

Don't take your bawl and go home.

epic fawl

so apparently the hairpin's more popular than the awl?

women laughing alone with salad a game changer

:D

http://www.observer.com/2011/09/awl-my-children-spawn-of-gawker-inspires-and-advises-editorial-ideologues/

LARB is perhaps most transparent about the fundamental earnestness underlying this wave of editorial entrepreneurs. It has by now surpassed that of the The Awl, which much of the time is a weird news and animal videos aggregation blog.

la review of books is great. don't really know the awl.

I'm not super familiar with la review of books.

looooool

http://thewirecutter.com/

this blog seems pretty rad, gotta say

i've never really read a tech blog in my life & now i understand why

yeah i think its a pretty cool idea

feel like it could be expanded to different categories too--would love a version of that for restaurants ("best for visiting family"/"best for cheap date"/etc) for example so i didnt have to sort through 100s of capsule reviews or pages of restaurant world gossip

"My Favorite HDMI Cables"

http://www.observer.com/2012/01/awl-music-01112011/

that was Awlful pun

http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/the-only-murdering-murder-guide-youll-ever-need-you-murderer

made me lol

i don't 'get' jim behrle and i feel like i will never be accepted by the cool guys at the awl because of it. :(

whenever i've read any of his poems i've been disappointed but his drawings & these couple essays, like the one about poetry scenes, are great i think. the first graf of this one is terrific, & the part about not making murders too interesting. i don't think he's partic unusual or anything, just funny/well observed &c

is there some sort of thing

what sort of thing

regarding the awl, and this board

the internet is an open space!

when does godot get here

huh. http://www.theawl.com/2012/03/bday

http://www.theawl.com/2012/03/the-incident-report-or-the-time-i-broke-it

i tried getting thru that i really did

same

I just couldn't stop thinking about how exactly that could have happened.

A classic from the Straight Dope:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/608/is-it-true-men-can-suffer-penile-fracture

Favorite section:

Frequently the victim suffers the injury while kneading his member in order to reduce an erection, a technique that in my experience usually has the opposite effect. One moron "awoke during the night with a desire to urinate," whereupon he "hit his erect penis with his hand in order to alleviate this desire." Other reported causes: rolling over in bed, hitting the bedpost, getting caught in your pajamas, falling out of a tree, being thrown against the knob of a motorcycle saddle, and so on.

Fracture always occurs during erection, making you wonder what some of the victims were up to. Consider one case involving a 38-year-old ranch hand. "The (medical) history was vague and difficult to obtain," the reporting physician writes. "The injury had occurred in the corral. It was impossible to get the exact details … His family was of the opinion that he had been kicked by one of the horses." Tell it to Catherine the Great, buddy.

Cecilia K Corrigan recently wrote about horses and ponies for the show "Luck." Now, she has a twitter.

i wonder if she has a cat named Princess Bunny Buttons

http://www.inquisitr.com/25536/broken-penis-cases-triple-in-jamaica-due-to-daggering-dance-craze-video/

can a moderator please change thread title to *2012 rolling broken penis thread*? thanks.

it's taking me a really long time to read because I am tabbing away every 2 sentences and grimacing in horror

3 weeks, 5 days a.i.
Since I can’t do much, we get creative. I’ve never given “the shocker” before, but it seems to be working great, for both of us. “I really like you,” she says afterward.

“Good to hear, Mrs. Thatcher.”

I just finished it my god

do we have a daggering thread?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4CzFrjw8KY

rolling the awl/jamaican dance crazes/broken penises

the awl's piece on the haggerty/olive garden thing was A+, but I haven't read much else on the site

I got a broken penis, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

thanks 4 sharing hurting

u are welcome, I will try to review more websites in a similar style

do a whole bunch and then it can be an n+1 feature.

the site is impressive. the homepage is fashioned in a tuscan blogsite style.

http://thebillfold.com/

Not super familiar with that.

boxall

the billfold and wirecutter are really good, hope they keep adding stuff.

http://www.theawl.com/2012/07/north-michigan-pasty

as a native of the upper peninsula of michigan this angers me for reasons I cannot fully articulate. plus lutefisk is not finnish.

"internet hipsters"

:)

This article has made me feel a little violent.

these guys do some good stuff imo

they do, although I feel like it's a tough market for them, trying to be sort of the anti-clickbait "content" site in a very clickbaity world.

also it looks to me like they've completely changed their format relatively recently? And it kind of sucks?

have they?? i havent noticed

and yeah i know what you mean, but it seems like they're doing ok! there was some profile somewhere recently talking about it?

it looks weirdly bloggy/tumblry now and I don't remember it being like that

so . . . what happened with the hairpin?

yeah what the hell

http://observer.com/2015/10/the-hairpins-editors-are-leaving/

We reached out to Choire Sicha, the co-owner and co-founder of The Awl, to find out what’s going on. Mr. Sicha did not clarify very much at all.
“Why would we tell anyone! That’s no fun,” he replied. “We were going to make it into a fantasy sports betting site but instead decided to start a heavily funded bloodwork lab—but for women. High-end commercial phlebotomy, with a feminine touch!”

forks otm

So what’s happening? We’re actively planning what The Hairpin should be next, in a way that pays tribute to its legacy.

http://thehairpin.com/2015/12/this-holiday-season-at-the-hairpin

over/under on rejoining the Denton machine?

sounds like the worst possible outcome for both parties tbh

http://c0.thejournal.ie/media/2013/11/shutterstock_26447485-390x285.jpg

http://www.theawl.com/2016/02/job-open-again

the aw(fu)l

http://www.theawl.com/2016/03/new-awl

http://digiday.com/publishers/medium-brings-publishers-including-awl-hairpin/

Still curious about what the hell happened to the Hairpin.

With Laura Olin folding her Awl newsletter, I rediscovered this beautiful/crushing issue - should resonate with a few of us on ilx:
Songs as time machines

rip

https://www.theawl.com/2018/01/awl-ends

That's a damn shame.

boo

well, you have to give them credit, they gave it their awl

Awl things must pass iirc

these puns are.., awlful

awls well that ends well

why is this hairppenning?

this sucks, obviously

that said, the "now who will publish young writers and outsiders" takes are kind of weird because the awl* has always been as new york media insider as one can possibly get without literally being an email backchannel

* less so the hairpin, sometimes, depending on the era