Ayanna, Exploitation of Women in Hip-hop Culture

Link: Ayanna, Exploitation of Women in Hip-hop Culture

• Print: Essay

Ayanna examines the way Hip-Hop defines women and how it impacts gender relations in our society.

David Byrne, I Hate World Music

Link: David Byrne, I Hate World Music

• Print: Essay

Byrne, lead singer and creator of the Talking Heads, offers a complex look at the cultural dangers or byproducts of "labeling" music. This is an article originally published in the New York Times in 1999.

Laura Hall, Finding Hope in Hip-Hop

Link: Laura Hall, Finding Hope in Hip-Hop

• Audio: Essay

From NPR's segment "This I Believe," Hall narrates how a tragic experience altered the way she sees music (and the world).

Andrew Leonard, The digital music renaissance

Link: Andrew Leonard, The digital music renaissance

• Print: Essay

Leonard writes about the increasingly relative battle between consumers and record labels, as mp3 technology becomes more and more popular.

Playing For Change

Link: Playing For Change

• Website

Playingforchange.com is an interactive music website created as a result of two movies documenting the lives of street musicians (Nationally and Internationally). The site includes video and audio clips of global and regional musicians.  Playing For Change is a global non-profit organization.

David Rakoff, Barclay Agency Videos

Link: David Rakoff, Barclay Agency Videos

• Video: Interviews & Personal Narration (Warning: Some Explicit Language)

These three videos, courtesy of Barclay, feature Rakoff discussing why he writes, defending pessimism, & considering plastic surgery.

David Rakoff, The Writer's Life

Link: David Rakoff, The Writer's Life

• Print: Essay

Rackoff reflects, humorously, on writing and the writing process in this essay.

Andrew Sullivan, Why I Blog

Link: Andrew Sullivan, Why I Blog

• Print: Essay

Sullivan's 2008 Atlantic article explains the beauty and power of blogs.  Sullivan also helps to define the writing medium.

Luis Alberto Urrea, Life Is An Act Of Literary Creation

Link: Luis Alberto Urrea, Life Is An Act Of Literary Creation

• Audio: Essay

Urrea's personal narration (from NPR's This I Believe) shows the author's passion for writing.  In this audio essay, he defines life as one giant story.

Chameli Waiba, The Magic Of Letters

Link: Chameli Waiba, The Magic Of Letters

• Audio: Essay   

Waiba's personal narrative (from NPR's This I Believe) details reading's transformational power.  Waiba recounts how gaining literacy shaped her life.

Kathryn Wilkens, Start Off Strong

Link: Kathryn Wilkens, Start Off Strong

• Print: Essay 

Wilkens' Writer's Digest essay, in discussing her journaling, offers ideas to create powerful and compelling first lines.

William Zinsser, Simplicty

Link: William Zinsser, Simpicity

• Print: Essay

Zinsser’s excerpts focus on the importance of stylistic simplicity. Zinsser shows that inflated, verbose and elevated language confuses the meaning of the sentence.

William Zinsser, The Transaction

Link: William Zinsser, The Transaction

• Print: Essay

Zinsser's piece explains the uniqueness of each person's writing process.