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interrogationInterrogationInterviews with a point.2NA=1154&NC=9513&DI=4098&PS=73268&PI=7315interfalsefalsespacernotembeddedinterrogationReagan in 100 PagesDavid GreenbergA discussion with Andrew Helfer, the writer of Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography.noReagan in 100 PagesHow do you write a Ronald Reagan comic book?noThis week, Slate is serializing Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography, a 100-page comic-book account of the 40th president's life, to be published next week by Serious Comics and Hill and Wang. Slate's resident historian David Greenberg spoke with Andrew Helfer, who wrote Ronald Reagan—Steve Buccellato and Joe Staton drew the art—and co-founded Serious Comics.truenotochyperlinkno20079533754PMWednesdaySepSeptember159/5/2007 8:37:54 PM63324603474000000020079533754PMWednesdaySepSeptember159/5/2007 8:37:54 PM633246034740000000interrogationBehind The WireMeghan O'RourkeDavid Simon on where the show goes next.noBehind The WireInterviewing the man behind The Wire.noThe fourth season of HBO's The Wire comes to an end next Sunday. A show of remarkable complexity, co-written by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon and former police detective Ed Burns, it is perhaps the most critically acclaimed TV program of the season. What critics and fans alike have noted is The Wire's remarkable narrative compression; as in the best novels, there is a sense that every detail has a purpose. Early on, The Wire may have impressed viewers with its cop-show chops—the first season focused on the Barksdale drug crew and the investigative police force trying to bring them down—but the show was always about something bigger—namely, the life of the city itself. In the fourth season, which concludes on Dec. 10, the show has expanded its focus from local politics and the drug trade to the public school system; with only one remaining season scheduled, we pressed David Simon on what The Wire adds up to, how the writers' room operates, and what might be in store in Season 5. Simon spoke with me by phone from his office in Baltimore.truenotochyperlinkno200612122714PMFridayDecDecember1412/1/2006 8:27:14 PM633005800340000000200612122714PMFridayDecDecember1412/1/2006 8:27:14 PM633005800340000000interrogationThe Trouble With Drawing Dick CheneyJulia TurnerErnie Colón and Sid Jacobson, the comic-book vets behind The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation.noThe Trouble With Drawing Dick CheneyErnie Colón and Sid Jacobson, the comic-book vets behind The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation.noA new graphic adaptation of The 9/11 Commission Report—excerpted this month in Slate—has won a spot on the New York Times best-seller list and kudos from the commissioners themselves. The project, which arrives just as comics seem to be finding a new respectability, feels decidedly current, but its creators are unmistakably old-school. The book is the brainchild of Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson, two industry veterans who met decades ago at Harvey Publications, where they worked on such classics as Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost. Jacobson was in Los Angeles and Colón in Long Island when we spoke last week by phone; I spoke again with Colón this weekend.truenotochyperlinkno2006910115031PMSundaySepSeptember239/11/2006 4:50:31 AM6329352903100000002006910115031PMSundaySepSeptember239/11/2006 4:50:31 AM632935290310000000interrogationPhilip Seymour HoffmanMeghan O'RourkeThe actor talks about Truman Capote's moral ambiguities and supposed lies.noPhilip Seymour HoffmanAn interview with Philip Seymour Hoffman.noJust nominated for five Oscars—including best picture—Capote, directed by Bennett Miller, written by Dan Futterman, and co-produced by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is one of those rare movies that conveys something of what it is like to be a writer. It does so in part by limiting its scope to the years Truman Capote spent researching and writing In Cold Blood. Forty years after its publication, the legacy of In Cold Blood is still a complicated one. Many people think that Capote not only exploited Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the two murderers whose story he told, but actually invented scenes wholesale. The other week, I spoke with Hoffman by phone from Los Angeles about the difficulties in capturing as contradictory and ambiguous a figure as Truman Capote.truenotochyperlinkno2006131111442AMTuesdayJanJanuary111/31/2006 5:14:42 PM6327430288200000002006131111812AMTuesdayJanJanuary111/31/2006 5:18:12 PM632743030920000000interrogationThe Worst Day EverJames SurowieckiA 24 writer talks about torture, terrorism, and fudging "real time."noThe Worst Day EverConfessions of a 24 writer.noWhen 24 debuted on Fox in November of 2001, its chances of survival appeared slim at best. The show's narrative conceit—each season tells the story of a single day in 24 hourlong episodes—seemed far too demanding for viewers who seemed to prefer the satisfactions of stories that were neatly contained in a single episode. And 24's focus on the fight against terrorism—its chief protagonists are members of the Los Angeles office of a government agency called the Counter-Terrorist Unit—hardly offered escapist fare in the wake of 9/11. But over 24's first four seasons, those seeming weaknesses have proved to be its most important strengths. The show's inherently suspenseful real-time format distinguishes it from everything else on television, and the real-life fight against terrorism has given 24 a political and even moral depth that might otherwise have been missing. While the show is, at heart, an unabashed thriller, it is distinguished by its narrative and emotional complexity (and by Kiefer Sutherland's exceptional work as Jack Bauer). Michael Loceff has been one of 24's key writers and producers since the show began. He was in his office at Real Time Productions when we spoke by phone, shortly before the remarkable four-hour debut of 24's fifth season this past Sunday and Monday.truenotochyperlinkno200611784405PMTuesdayJanJanuary201/18/2006 2:44:05 AM632731274450000000200611784405PMTuesdayJanJanuary201/18/2006 2:44:05 AM632731274450000000200441444421PMWednesdayAprApril164/14/2004 9:44:21 PM632175578610000000200441444421PMWednesdayAprApril164/14/2004 9:44:21 PM632175578610000000falsetruetruetruetruetruetrue200441494900AMWednesdayAprApril94/14/2004 2:49:00 PM632175329400000000200441494900AMWednesdayAprApril94/14/2004 2:49:00 PM632175329400000000