Michael Rubens's Blog, page 2
January 2, 2015
“One of the Titles That Frequently Walks”
I have to admit I’m rather tickled by the following portion of a recent review of “Sons of the 613″:
“This book is rarely on the shelves of the library and it is one of the titles that frequently walks, precisely because it appeals to the kids who are not the typical, compliant library users; there in lies it’s charm and power. Kids are constantly looking for the information they know they need as they hurtle through adolescence. While there are many fabulous books in our K-8 library, there are not a lot-maybe no others- that speak so directly to the actual concerns of teen-age boys.”
December 18, 2014
Farewell Colbert Report!
I was lucky enough to do several pieces with Stephen waaaay back when at the Daily Show, but I wanted to post one produced by the fantastic Kathleen Egan, because it contains one of my favorite (and hard to explain) moments of Stephen’s subtle brilliance. It starts around 2:30, and it’s a two-question masterpiece of deadpan exploration of an absurd comment. What I’ve always treasured most about this mini-run is that, given the opportunity to say pretty much anything, Stephen’s second utterance is simply a zen-like prompt: “Yet…?”
The Daily Show
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November 24, 2014
New Yrnameer Excerpt Featuring KENNETH
Fans of : Over the past few years I wrote and published my second novel, Sons of the 613, and recently completed my third, Good Fun From a Safe Distance (well, finished the second draft, and my editor seems reasonably pleased-ish, so it’s close to being finished-ish)*. People have asked if I’ve considered a sequel to Yrnameer, and the answer is yes — in fact, I’ve got about 20 percent of it written, and the sequel and I keep glancing at each other wistfully, wondering if and when our time will come. In the interim, I thought I’d share a short excerpt from a book, the chapter where Kenneth makes his reappearance. Because Kenneth. Please download and enjoy and share and etc.
* I only mention these details to convince people, or perhaps myself, that I haven’t just been sitting around and digitally mining my nasal passages instead of working on a sequel.
October 27, 2014
John Oliver and Jane Goodall
When I’m not writing I’m lucky enough to be the Senior Field Producer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And speaking of lucky, I had a chance to produce this interview with Dr. Jane Goodall. She was everything you would expect: a sense of deep calm, charming, witty, and patient with our nonsense.
August 19, 2014
Talking With a Marine About Ferguson
This past Sunday on Last Week Tonight, the show covered the developments in Ferguson, MO. I was doing my part to contribute to the research for the segment, and found this tweet from Jeff Clement. He’s a Marine Lieutenant who had served in Afghanistan, and he was commenting on the Rules of Engagement (ROE) in effect in Ferguson:
A few people have pointed it out, but our ROE regarding who we could point weapons at in Afghanistan was more restrictive than cops in MO.
— jeffclement (@jeffclement) August 14, 2014
Jeff, as it turns out, is also the author of The Lieutenant Don’t Know, a chronicle of his time in Afghanistan. I’ve just ordered my copy — get yours!
Anyway, I reached out to him asking if he could expand on his tweet. He responded with this email which I’m excerpting, because I thought it was completely fascinating and full of insight:
“I want to emphasize that I am not an expert in criminal justice, policing, or crime theory, and don’t claim to be. BUT I’m a reasonably sensible person and have significant experience as a Marine deployed in Afghanistan. And I’m a normal citizen, and my opinion as an American who is NOT in law enforcement should matter.
Our ROE (I was there from Jan – Aug 2010 and again from Jul 2011 to Feb 2012) dictated that weapons were not to be pointed at just anybody for no reason.
The bottom line is that if I have a weapon pointed at you, especially at close range, I can pull the trigger and kill you in short order. So our relationship is defined by that, and not much else, because from your perspective I’m the guy who could kill you in less than a second, by moving one finger a fraction of an inch.
Constructive dialogue or de-escalation from your perspective (with the gun trained on you) is nearly impossible because I’m about to kill you, I have the power, and there’s little you can do about it.
August 3, 2014
Essay in the New Yorker. By Me.
I wrote a short essay of the humorous variety and the New Yorker was kind enough to publish it in their Daily Shouts column:
June 19, 2014
Stephen Hawking! John Oliver! Interview!
Recently I traveled with John Oliver to jolly old Engalund to produce a couple of interviews for HBO’s Last Week Tonight, including this one with Stephen Hawking:
We shot the interview at Cambridge University’s Center for Advanced Mathematics, and there was something surreal and Hogwartsian about it — there were chalkboards of all sizes on every available wall surface, and they were all covered with arcane, impenetrable equations, the sort that you’d see in movies and think, well, the art director’s laying it on a bit thick, isn’t she?
Meeting Prof. Hawking was a pretty incredible experience. I will admit to feeling no small amount of starstruck giddiness, which I think is apparent in the photo (also apparent in the photo is the rather vampiric appearance of my eyes. Allergies).
As I said, we did another interview while we were in England, but that will have to remain secret until the air date.
June 2, 2014
John Oliver on Net Neutrality — Stop Cable Company F***ery!
Ok, first: I’m a producer for the show, so I’m biased (I didn’t have anything to do with the segment, BTW). But it is just fantastic. It’s the best and most entertaining explanation (and possibly the ONLY entertaining explanation) of net neutrality that exists:
February 24, 2014
Someone has made a commercial for Sons of the 613!
Or…sort of. This does, however, deserve to go viral for any number of reasons.
February 12, 2014
THE CLIFF-HANGER
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily in the dim glow from the monitor. Now that his role was complete he felt suddenly exhausted, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenge and the terrifying consequences of failure. But there was nothing more he could do: he had set the process in motion, yes, but now all depended on an intricate, interlocking series of events and actions outside of his control, an arcane choreography that would unfold at its own pace while the clock ticked down toward disaster.
“Now,” he murmured to the empty room, “It’s a race.”
(Me, after pressing “submit order” on the Zappos website, hoping that my new boots will arrive before the next storm visits slushy misery upon the city).
