WTF, Marc Maron?On the incredibly popular, frustrating, and addictive comedy podcastBy Jay Caspian Kang on May 23, 2012Neurosis — at least the Woody Allen kind — is hard to find in Los Angeles. Self-obsession and blathering about self-obsession, especially in a way that celebrates one's own self-obsession, doesn't seem to be as present here as it is in New York. Sure, there are actors who talk endlessly about themselves. There are also screenwriters who, in a very Larry David way, try to approximate neurosis, but if you talk to any of these successful people long enough, you start to realize that most of their problems revolve around sandwiches, "studio executives," and juices. Everyone else in Los Angeles just sort of talks about traffic and the ... Continue reading →

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Turntable.fm: Where Did Our Love Go? The partners behind a one-time "next big thing" go to South by Southwest to win back the adoration of the tech world--and figure out how to make their partnership work. Jeff Wilson THE ARTIST AND THE BUSINESS GUY: Billy Chasen (left) and Seth Goldstein at a SXSW party hosted by their company, Turntable.fm. The blue bear represents an avatar from the site. Galen Oakes PARTY AT OUR PLACE! A-Trak plays a turntable event. Some conferencegoers joked about Turntable being last year's news, but 1,500 people danced to electronica at this party. Last summer, Turntable.fm set techie hearts pounding: Billy Chasen and Seth Goldstein, co-founders of a struggling start-up called Stickybits, had pulled an audacious pivot, scrapping their service and ... Continue reading →

Comment on this article Rap. Unwrapped.Three web entrepreneurs are trying to build a wiki empire on analysis of rap lyrics. Lit crit, yo.May/June 2012 by Teresa Wiltz Teresa Wiltz is an award-winning journalist who lives in Washington, DC. A couple of years ago, the three of them, Mahbod Moghadam ’04, Ilan Zechory ’06, and Tom Lehman ’06, were sprawled out in an East Village living room, gabbing. Moghadam, on leave from his law firm gig, ostensibly writing a law review article, was explaining lyrics by the rapper Cam’ron to Lehman, a rap newbie. Zechory chimed in. Bit by bit, Moghadam, a lifelong rap enthusiast, broke down the meaning of each lyric, explaining how you can’t take a line at face value, waxing eloquent about metaphor ... Continue reading →