In your overstuffed Thursday media column: Obama cartoons have big lips, rumored (update: confirmed) layoffs at Incisive Media, John Dickerson's dramatic novel, and more!

Oooo, a new reason to look out for racism! Are political cartoonists too obsessed with making Obama's lips big, hearkening back to the bad old days of caricature? Michael Cavna at the Washington Post makes a persuasive case that the lip-drawing has gone too far. Or, is this just all liberal hand-wringing, which will perpetuate our national Crisis of Comedy? Consult Pareene's opus for guidance.


There's a rumor going around that trade magazine publisher Incisive Media is laying off 40 people in New York today. Email us if you have details. [UPDATE: Several sources have confirmed that there were 42 layoffs at Incisive/ ALM today, including, we hear, two New York Law Journal reporters and one editor, and a few people at American Lawyer.]

Over on his personal blog, Slate writer John Dickerson is running, in serial form, a novel that he wrote about a loosely fictionalized version of himself as a brash young write at Time magazine. I read five chapters and so far the kid in the book is still working on his first story. It's stressful!

Quinn heaped meaning into every little back-stage artifact he saw, knowing the chaos that had blown through that end of the building four days earlier. The whole mess looked so impressive, like the speckled pots and hasty garlic skins left on the stove after a great meal. The appealing disarray was all ordered by some important purpose that someone talented had orchestrated.

A mad genius, that's what he wanted to be, Quinn thought. He lifted his arms as if to control all before him. It was 4:30 in the morning. It could be that he was just mad.

Will Quinn ever finish that Wall Street story? Does more stuff happen after that? We can't wait to find out in the remaining 217 chapters!


The House has defeated the bill delaying the switch to digital TV. So the date is still Feb. 17. All the technologically inept old people reading this internet blog, make a note.

NYT trend and Chinese food (and Chinese food trend) specialist Jenny 8 Lee's travel quirks revealed! She collects toothpaste! She can sleep on planes! She really, really likes Brazil! Read all that and more, right here!


Oh no: blog chatter about this year's upcoming crop of Super Bowl ads is down 20% from last year. What's wrong with you people? Coca-Cola is involved in this!