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Looked Into
You. At least, in part. And not by me. I'll explain.
Like me, you read The New Yorker. With interest. Loyally, actively, critically. Ardently. You love to wrangle with it. Perhaps you've just picked it up for the first time. Don't you wish you could ask it a few questions? To confirm a subtle change that no one else seems to have noticed? To go behind the scenes of the DVD archive with some juicy institutional knowledge? To debunk a hoary myth once and for all? Or a other dozen things? Did you ever have a New Yorker question that could only be answered by someone who's actually there?
Well, now you can.
Starting soon, two New Yorker staffers (whose identities will remain a secret for now) will answer the best of your questions each month, right here on emdashes. Before that can happen, of course, these wise experts need some good, fun, challenging questions to answer. So what have you always wanted to know? Email me all your queries about New Yorker history, its writers, editors, cartoons, style, subjects, design—anything that's ever fascinated or confounded you—and I'll put them into the right hands. Don't bother inquiring who asked who to the Condé Nast masked ball, but almost everything else goes.
If your question is chosen and I print the (for now) mystery columnists' answer on emdashes, you're free to either use your name or initials or remain anonymous, so please indicate in your email which you prefer. Have fun, be specific, don't hold back, and can't wait to see what you ask—not to mention the answers.
Update: I've gotten some swell entries so far today. Remember, it's got to be a high-quality question—a real puzzler or a triumph of arcana, or perhaps the soul of elegant simplicity—to be posted and answered here. So keep brainstorming! Quipsters, you make my inbox shake like a bowlful of jelly, but I'm only forwarding the real stuff, so try to use your power for good. So email in those questions. Only questions emailed to me will reach the desk of people who will answer them!
Further update: I've revealed more about the columnists here.
(There was a drawing by a young lady named Brooke here, which I'll fill in later after I've transferred the image from blogspot; here are more vibrant body parts.)
About us
Hello! We are media enthusiasts and culture addicts—not to mention classically trained (as we like to say) professional journalists. This is our collection of generally civilized conversations about magazines, movies, politics, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
You'd like to read more about us individually? That's so nice! Here you can learn a lot more about the Emdashes team, the mysterious-sounding names of our daily and non-daily columns, and our guest contributors.
We welcome tips, questions, and comments, and are always looking for ardent new contributors who care about letters (postal, typographical, admiring, literary, and tough-love). Here's how to contact us.
Occasionally, we host book giveaways, and review books here as often as we can. Publishers, please e-mail us and we'll send you an appropriate mailing address.
Tell me more
They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is currently written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. (Unsigned posts through October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.)
The site is designed and maintained by House of Pretty and illustrated by Jesse Ewing for Inkleaf Studio. Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (who also draws our daily comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The kissable Emdashes logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World; PDF, p. 20)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, man about town, and New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Report: Learning to read with comic books--that are edited by Françoise Mouly (for Print)
- Interview: Designer Eleanor Grosch (for Print)
- Proposal: a better-designed Metrocard (for A Brief Message)
- Review: Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (for Newsday)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Review: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Report: Eustace Tilley spruces up for The New Yorker's website redesign (for Print)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Micro-essay: on saving time through inspiration (for A Brief Message)
- Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
- Profile: screenwriter and novelist Joe Keenan (for Newsday)
- Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)
No fear
Everything you tell or send us is off the record unless we ask for your permission to use it.
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