And now, a word about blog housekeeping…
Starting today and continuing through most of June, I’m taking Slate’s “Fresca fellowship” – the once-a-year rumspringa during which us Slate-sters write long-form pieces. My colleagues have turned out head-spinningly great pieces about missing hackers, lab mice, gay bars, and the data behind America’s burgeoning economic inequality.
I usually write about politics. My fresca has nothing to do with any of that. For the next month, I’m reporting on arguably the least-loved movement in pop music history – the progressive rock era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Instead of covering the Texas and California primaries or the coming congressional showdown over student loans, I will be paging back through rock mags and lit of the 1970s, and talking to the artists who made temporarily-popular music that embodied trends and ambitions that other artists had to destroy.
What this means for you: The “Weigel” blog will temporarily morph into a place for some guest-bloggers to report and muse on politics. First up: Slate’s path-breaking science-of-politics reporter Sasha Issenberg, and Jeremy Stahl, author of one of my favorite frescas – a study of the 9/11 Truth movement’s decline. Treat them well. I’ll return to this space at the end of June, right before Mitt Romney picks Donald Trump as a running mate.
