By Joe Hagan

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

2009-10-14T07:44:00.001-04:00

I've moved my web "operation" HERE.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2009-10-09T13:59:00.001-04:00

New site coming soon.

As Seen on MSNBC's "Morning Joe"

2009-07-30T10:31:00.001-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

IS GOLDMAN SACHS EVIL?

2009-07-27T07:22:00.003-04:00

That is the subject of my latest story for New York magazine, a look at the most secretive (and successful) banking firm on Wall Street and its transformation into populist enemy No. 1.

In the end, Goldman’s reputation is a luxury they may well be able to do without. Robert Rubin has been privately critical of how the firm has handled the threats to its prestige, and Rogers recently addressed the firm’s reputation in seminars with Goldman staff. But a person who frequently talks to senior executives at Goldman sums up the company’s attitude this way: “If we can push the envelope without D.C. punishing us, we don’t care about our Main Street reputation.” Blankfein in particular is said to be dismissive of the firm’s critics. According to a person close to him, the CEO believes Goldman’s internal problems will disappear once compensation comes back. In other words, money will solve everything.

READ ON>>>

The Ballad of Benji Hughes

2009-07-01T08:35:00.004-04:00

I've written a profile of a great singer-songwriter named Benji Hughes for The Believer magazine's annual music issue. You can read the article and listen to samples of his music online by clicking >> HERE <<.

Steve Earle and the Ghost of Townes

2009-05-14T08:52:00.003-04:00

I've got a profile of Steve Earle in the latest issue of ROLLING STONE magazine. Here's the tagline:

The country rocker almost died emulating his damaged mentor, Townes Van Zandt. On a new tribute album, Earle looks back.

By Joe Hagan

Check it out at newsstands!

End of an Era

2009-04-22T23:21:00.018-04:00

Peter Kaplan, the longtime editor of The New York Observer, is one of great heroes of New York journalism. He resigned from the paper today, after 15 years, marking the passing of an era in this city and this profession. As a mentor to me and a whole generation of young writers and reporters, Peter has been a vital flame-keeper of New York's history, romance and ambition. No one in his orbit has ever felt like this town is anything less than the grandest place on earth to be living, the present its most delicious chapter yet. He pushed aspiring nobodies like myself into the white-hot glare of the news like we belonged there and simply demanded we come back with the story. It was no small act: the outcome was frequently miraculous, not least to the aspiring nobodies. Whatever happens to the Observer, a paper with a fine and proudly pugnacious legacy, it will never quite be the same without his generous spirit. That said, Peter himself still has another act, which will no doubt surprise and delight. And meanwhile his inky offspring are all over town thinking pretty much the same thing: the greatest story of all time is happening right under our noses, just waiting to be written by anybody willing to grab it.

The Most Powerless Powerful Man on Wall Street

2009-03-02T07:58:00.006-05:00

My latest story is a profile of the embattled CEO of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit. The consummate "smartest guy in the room," he rose to the top of Wall Street just in time to watch it all collapse under his feet. One day he was a bone fide Master of the Universe, championed by Clinton treasurer and Citi board director Robert Rubin -- the next an object of populist scorn. It wasn't supposed to be this way:

When Pandit was born, an astrologer told his family that “whatever this boy touches will turn to gold.”

READ ON>>>

The Day Trader

2009-01-26T08:22:00.007-05:00

My latest story is a profile of a day trader in Manhattan. NEW YORK magazine created this video segment to go along with the text online. Here's an excerpt from the story:

But like a big-wave rider or a tornado chaser, Peter Milman dives in and out of the market’s sickening maw, riding the explosions of panic and greed and trying to snatch victory—profits—from the jaws of worldwide financial defeat. As a day trader who follows every tick of the Dow, he has a visceral view of the most manic-depressive stock market in recent history.

READ ON >>>

FOX NEWS

2009-01-13T16:23:00.005-05:00

For those looking for the story I wrote on singer-songwriter Bill Fox for THE BELIEVER magazine in 2007, feel free to email me at joe_hagan at hotmail dot com and I'll try to get you a copy of the article. For those seeking his music, stand by: it will be back up on iTunes soon and available to all for download. Meanwhile, there's talk of a potential book on Fox's 1998 album Transit Byzantium, with a submission under consideration with Continuum Publishing's music series, 33 1/3.

Finally, here is the latest news on Fox, as reported by the blog I Rock Cleveland: Bill Fox is playing music again.

Something has changed in Bill Fox. Something that made him decide to come out of hiding and perform. In my brief exchange with Hagan, he hinted that Fox's return to music was spurred by the economy, and by the renewed interest in his music following the Believer story. It was a good story, and it could very well be the truth. However, for those in attendance last night, the whys, wheres and hows weren't important. We were seeing a Cleveland legend live, in person for the first time in a long, long time.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-15T23:07:00.002-05:00

My Conversation with David Brooks

2008-11-04T15:44:00.004-05:00

Every day (or close to it) until November 4, a series of writers and thinkers will discuss the election over instant messenger for nymag.com. Today, New York Times columnist David Brooks and New York's Joe Hagan discuss pulling the lever for Obama, whether Brooks is worried about his brand, and the attempt to "excommunicate" the columnist from the conservative movement.

READ IT HERE>>>

Bleeding 'Times' Blood (UPDATED)

2008-10-06T07:17:00.008-04:00

UPDATE: It appears that the New York Times may be considering cutting its quarterly dividend. As my story this month outlined, the dividend is a source of working wealth for the Ochs-Sulzberger family that owns and operates the paper. If it actually happens, it will have a direct impact on the 50-odd family members who depend on that $25 million a year to maintain their lifestyles. It's a pressure point on which the paper's future could depend.

...

This week in NEW YORK magazine, a story on the Ochs-Sulzberger dynasty that owns The New York Times, a family that now has at least 27 Gen-X and Gen-Y members, the majority of them adults qualified to weigh in on their beleaguered inheritance. An excerpt:

And so the Times’ royal family presides over an embattled kingdom—its coffers dwindling, but its titles still a source of pride. Sulzberger seems willing to sacrifice anything to hold on to the family business. “If the New York Times of the future is a Web business, but worth 20 percent of what it’s worth now, he’ll be happy because he’ll have saved the institution,” says a friend of Sulzberger’s who admires him. “That’s what he cares about.” He’s betting the rest of the family agrees.

In addition, we learn of the existence of the unofficial Ochs-Sulzberger house band, The Mysterious Case of Jake Barnes, a three-piece rock group what is apparently named for the conflicted protagonist of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. They used to be called Dave Golden and the Twisted Roots, an interesting reference to the family tree. Adolph Ochs, eat your heart out.

The Crash of Zoe Cruz

2008-04-28T06:58:00.002-04:00

And so that morning in November, Cruz walked into Mack’s office and took in the view of Central Park that would one day be hers. Her destiny must have seemed inevitable, even imminent.

Then she was fired.

“I’ve lost confidence in you,” Mack told her solemnly. “I want you to resign.” The company’s board of directors had authorized his decision the day before. As a friend of Mack’s characterized his thinking: “It’s you or me. And guess what? I choose you.”

READ ON >>>

Fox News

2008-04-05T13:01:00.008-04:00

NEWS FLASH for fans of the mysterious singer-songwriter Bill Fox, who I profiled in THE BELIEVER magazine last year: His now-legendary 1990s albums are going to be reissued on CD and vinyl later this year by Robert Griffin at Scat Records in St. Louis, Missouri. Per Robert's news release of April 3:

I spoke with Bill Fox yesterday, and we have agreed to reissue his two mid-90s solo albums, Shelter from the Smoke and Transit Byzantium. If you've been trying to get copies of either of these I know your wallet just sighed with relief. Even better, we'll be issuing both on vinyl (a first) as well as cd. I hope to have at least one of them out by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, THE BELIEVER has long since sold out of the issue in which the Bill Fox story ("Transit Byzantium") appeared. BUT! If you're really desperate, email me at joe_hagan at hotmail dot com.

ROGER & HIM

2008-02-04T08:23:00.001-05:00

This week, a profile of Brian McNamee, the sports trainer who allegedly injected all-star pitcher Roger Clemens with steroids. A tale of betrayal and a sordid behind-the-scenes look at pro baseball.

What do you want me to do? I’ll go to jail, I’ll do whatever you want … Tell me what you want me to do. I’m firing my lawyers. I’m getting rid of everybody. I have nothing. What do you want me to do? My wife is gone. My kids are gone. What do you want me to do?

READ ON>>>

Dan Rather's Last Big Story...is Himself

2007-11-26T07:08:00.000-05:00

If he weren’t famous, he’d be mistaken for a veteran of a long-ago war: khaki safari shirt on his back, scuffed combat boots on his feet, that wiry crest of a brow, rheumy eyes under heavy lids, lower lip jutting out like an ornery fish resisting a hook.

When Dan Rather sits on a bench in Central Park to tell how his 44-year career at CBS News ended in ignominy and humiliation, he is in fact still waging a war, a bitter and personal one. And the memories of the battles that undid him are still fresh on his mind. “Monday morning, about 8:49—and I think that is the time precisely,” he says...

KEEP READING>>>

Inside an Insider Trading Scandal

2007-10-28T21:45:00.001-04:00

My latest story takes you inside an insider trading scheme, one the government has called the biggest since the days of Ivan Boesky. Last spring, 13 people were indicted for using illegal tips leaked out of investment banks UBS and Morgan Stanley to reap millions of dollars. Among the conspirators was David Glass, a 32-year-old day trader with a relatively low profile on Wall Street. By wearing a hidden FBI wire for three days in December, however, Glass played an important role as the mole helping the Feds make a case against other key conspirators, including two of his own colleagues. Ironically, Glass has seen this cautionary tale before: He was the inspiration for the 2000 movie Boiler Room, starring Giovanni Ribisi and Ben Affleck. Excerpt:

In Boiler Room, Giovanni Ribisi’s character is apprehended in an FBI sting and forced to cooperate in taking down the scheme. In reality, David Glass escaped that fate, leaving Sterling Foster before 23 brokers were convicted of securities fraud. Now, however, his life is taking on an uncanny likeness to his fictional doppelgänger.

READ MORE>>>

This week, only in NEW YORK magazine.

Deja Dan All Over Again

2007-09-20T13:56:00.000-04:00

Reading the legal complaint attached to Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS is like being transported in a time machine -- granted, only to the year 2004, but it feels like an eon in news years. As you'll read in my last story on the subject, reported for The New York Observer in 2005, many of the odd details cited in Rather's legal claim have been previously reported. Among them, that Rather had tried to hire his own PI to find the source of the infamous Memogate documents -- to which CBS responded by hiring its own sleuth: Erik Rigler, a former FBI agent who Rather has dubbed "the mystery man." So began my murky journey into West Texas...

EASTLAND, TEX.—Three days before Dan Rather was to retire from the CBS Evening News on March 9, the man who gave him the suspicious memos that precipitated his departure as anchor sat in a Mexican restaurant here, 126 miles west of Dallas...

READ ON...>>

My Interview About Bill Fox

2007-08-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

In June I gave a lengthy interview to Marfa Public Radio, 93.5 FM, about my quest to find the reclusive singer-songwriter Bill Fox, as documented in the June/July issue of THE BELIEVER magazine. The host was Tom Michael, who has kindly offered me an unedited copy of the interview to post on my website. The station, "serving Far West Texas," is a wonderful example of great public radio and I highly recommend you stream it online for its great mix of Americana, Tex-Mex and indie everything.

The interview is a half hour long.

[If you're looking for the Bill Fox story from THE BELIEVER and can't find it anywhere, email me.]

Alas, Poor Couric...

2007-07-08T14:57:00.000-04:00

I have a long profile of CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric in the latest edition of NEW YORK magazine, an exclusive interview in which the former Today Show star talks candidly about her struggles at the Tiffany Network. At times, Couric regrets taking the job and seems genuinely confused about what's happened to her career since her ratings plummeted and the first iteration of the program was scrapped. When I ask CBS chief Les Moonves if he bears any responsibility for the show's failure -- given some of his full-throated promises to "blow up" the evening news and the high expectations he helped engender about Couric's arrival -- Moonves replies: "Nope."

Here's an excerpt:

Would she have taken the job if she had known it would turn out this way? Couric hesitates. If Moonves had offered her the job she’s doing today, she admits, she would have thought twice about it. “It would have been less appealing to me,” she says. “It would have required a lot more thought.”

This week, only in NEW YORK magazine.

Fox on the Radio

2007-06-29T16:16:00.001-04:00

In my quest to discover the whereabouts of the long-lost Ohio bard Bill Fox -- documented in the June/July music issue of THE BELIEVER magazine -- I happened upon a wonderful interview with Fox by Nic Harcourt on Santa Monica's KCRW. Fox was on tour in 1998 supporting his second album on spinART Records, Transit Byzantium, which is the title of my essay in the magazine. The interview is interspersed with some magical performances and it's a rare window into this mysterious artist, a genuine object of fascination if you happen to be a Fox obsessive.

Click here and listen to it on KCRW's website.

A side note: Fox's CDs from the 1990's are now going for extraordinary sums on Amazon (up to $150 for his first album), but you can still download them on iTunes for a mere $9.99.

Marfa Calling

2007-06-20T14:44:00.000-04:00

I'll be giving an interview on public radio station 93.5 FM in Marfa, Texas, on Tuesday, June 26, at 11 a.m. It's about my quest to find the lost singer-songwriter Bill Fox of Cleveland, Ohio, documented in the latest issue of THE BELIEVER magazine. The host is Tom Michael, the program "Talk at Ten."

You can tune in online!

For some beautiful images of the blindingly hip locale of Marfa, Texas, check out the photo stream by my friend Whitney Joiner. Take special note of the David Byrne party pics.

[The interview went swimmingly, so I'll have an mp3 of it up later on this week. Stay tuned.)

John Edwards, Man or Myth

2007-06-18T09:57:00.001-04:00

My profile of John Edwards in MEN'S VOGUE magazine is hitting newsstands now and also available on the magazine's website. Here's an excerpt:

When I ask Edwards if there's a side of him the public can't see, he says, mindful of the $400 haircut and the massive estate, "I think less and less so. I think three or four years ago that wouldn't have been true, but I think there's not much of me they don't see now." In other words, that was the real Edwards in Adel, stripped of artifice. It's the point he's continually trying to hammer home in 2007: There is no difference between the message and the man. I ask whether he's overcome the perception of him as a Ken doll. "Probably not 100 percent," he says.

PLUS! Check out my Q&A with Edwards' so-called "rural liason," David "Mudcat" Saunders. There are some amusing expletive-filled audio clips included.

Breaking News

2007-06-12T15:40:00.001-04:00

Rosa Yvonne Hagan. Born Saturday, June 9.

Transit Byzantium

2007-06-01T08:28:00.000-04:00

I urge you to go out and buy the very special 2007 Music Issue of THE BELIEVER today, which includes a wonderful CD compilation of music plus my story on the singer-songwriter Bill Fox of Cleveland, Ohio. I refer you to the editor's copy:

Why is Bill Fox — one of America’s greatest contemporary songwriters — working in self-imposed exile as a telemarketer in Cleveland?

The article begins on page 7 and is entitled "Transit Byzantium," after Fox's 1998 album on spinART. A beautiful and haunting song by Fox, called "My Baby Crying," is included on the CD, track 14. Often my stories are available on the Web, but as the aforementioned BELIEVER editor notes: "Out of respect for Fox's wishes, this piece will not appear on our website." Very mysterious!

Pick up the June/July issue of THE BELIEVER today. (They've sold out of this issue; if you're desperate for a copy of the story, email me.)

(Meanwhile, Listen to Bill Fox's legendary late 80s band The Mice.)

This Is a Pun-Free Headline about Time Magazine

2007-03-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

My latest story, "The Time of Their Lives," is about the ongoing attempt to reinvent TIME magazine for the 21st Century. It primarily revolves around Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey and his choice for the new managing editor of Time, Richard Stengel. Here's an excerpt:

Stengel says he doesn’t want to dumb down Time on the presumption that people don’t like a smart magazine.

But what, I ask him, about the infamous editorial maxim, “Put the food down where the dog can eat it”?

“Whose line is that?” he asks.

John Huey’s, I tell him. It’s a legendary Huey line that has been kicking around Time Inc. for years.

Stengel has never heard it before.

This week in NEW YORK magazine.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

2007-03-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

I'm told by friends who subscribe to cable television that I've been popping up on E! Entertainment's new series, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," sharing some thoughts on author James Frey. I did the interview last November and had forgotten about it. From this excerpt, it looks like VH1's "Behind the Music" on steroids. This grew out of a profile I wrote of James Frey in 2003, when I worked for The New York Observer. Despite what E! says, however, I am neither a "book critic" nor an employee of The Observer. I'm a contributing editor at NEW YORK magazine. As you can clearly see, below, those are NEW YORK magazine covers in the background. Just saying!

As Seen...

2007-01-29T09:40:00.000-05:00

...after the holidays...

...on the subway...

...in Dumbo (Down Under Manhattan Bridge)...

...at the Martin Ramirez show at the American Folk Art Museum...

...and on a van in Brooklyn.

Cellphone camera images. January, 2007.

It Worked!

2007-01-25T16:54:00.000-05:00

After reading the recent Tad Friend homage to NBC's version of The Office in The New Yorker, I was reminded of the early skepticism and nervous fretting surrounding this show. Few thought it would work. I was skeptical, too, but hopeful because I really loved Steve Carell. And it worked! Here are two early stories about the show from The New York Observer.

Is NBC's The Office Too Prickly for Primetime?

Both Mr. Daniels and Mr. Gervais recognized that Michael Scott shares a crucial trait with Homer Simpson.

“He is resistant to learning,” observed Mr. Daniels. The Michael Scott character “could have learned after the pilot, but he was blind to it because it said so much about how his life wasn’t going the way he wanted it to …. Homer doesn’t learn. Isn’t that wonderful for comedy? A lack of self-knowledge.”

A Profile of Steve Carell

He can do smarmy, too. In May 2001, he did a Daily Show special with Stephen Colbert called "Steve Carell Salutes Steve Carell, Hosted by Steve Carell." The two tuxedoed Steves sang a finger-snapping Broadway duet. Sang Mr. Carell: "How do I do it? / I suppose I'll never know / Just give into it / And our love for me will grow!"

Eggers Inc.

2006-12-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

I've written a short article for Forbes.com this month about the business of McSweeney's Publishing LLC, part of a larger look at the book publishing industry.

For a certain breed of book lover who share an arch interest in pirates, ornithology and 19th century font styles, the McSweeney’s imprimatur is the beginning and the end of the sales pitch. You had them at Dave Eggers.

Read on ... >>

The Once and Future Kissinger

2006-11-26T22:24:00.000-05:00

My latest story is a profile of Henry Kissinger. He's disputes Bob Woodward's report that he's a "powerful, largely invisible influence" on George Bush's Iraq Policy. Who wouldn't?

Here's an excerpt:

But his friend Senator John McCain says Kissinger is privately hurt by the charges that he prolonged the Vietnam War and allowed tens of thousands of GIs to die for nothing. “He’s been so badly stung by the criticism and condemnation over the years, and I understand that,” he says. “But I also think he’s frustrated by his critics because they don’t tell him anything he should have done; they just blame him for it.”

This week in NEW YORK magazine.

Crisp Fish (In a Jar)

2006-11-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

And a box ...

November 11, Chinatown.

Sabino Canyon

2006-10-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

September 30, Tucson, AZ.

Louis CK is still funny

2006-09-19T20:03:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to report that HBO has decided not to renew the sitcom "Lucky Louie" next season. You can be forgiven if you've never heard of the show since HBO spent nary a dime promoting it. But the real tragedy in the show's failure, regardless of its merits, would be the continued obscurity of Louis CK as a comedy force in the United States of America. The man is hysterically funny, one of the best standups going, a true antidote to that harbinger of the death of all comedy, Dane Cook. I highly recommend you watch excerpts of LCK's act here. I wrote two articles on Louis's attempt to bring back the "All in the Family" style social comedy, an idea whose time I thought had come (or returned). It hasn't, apparently. Sorry, Louis, you're still funny and destined for great things. Here is one of the stories as published in The Wall Street Journal.

UPDATE: Louis is making a netroots push to bring the show back, apparently.

The United States of America vs Bill Keller

2006-09-11T08:06:00.000-04:00

Check out New York magazine this week for my look at Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times. Excerpt:

A month later, I saw him at a cocktail party—a rare appearance for a man whose wife calls him “socially autistic”—and needled him about when, in the spirit of transparency, we could expect to be told why the paper had held the NSA story for more than a year before publishing it. That same month, Calame had been stonewalled by Keller on the issue.

“We’re done with transparency for a while,” Keller told me, with a just-perceptible smirk.

PS. Gawker notices that HBO's "The Wire" is heavily covered in the Times lately. Here's a guess why: As I learned while writing his profile, it's Bill Keller's favorite TV show.

Warren Mitofsky, RIP

2006-09-04T11:18:00.000-04:00

I was sad to read that Warren Mitofsky died this week. An inventor of modern exit polling, whose system generated all the data on election nights, he was the last of a breed from a bygone era at CBS News, a brilliant and indispensible brain to Cronkite and Rather on election eves past. Generous, ornery and funny, a font of historical knowledge, he was good to reporters and contemptuous of corporate handlers. Pollster John Zogby called him a "grumpy old man." I liked him. In March 2004, I wrote a profile of Mitofsky for the New York Observer, which you can read here.

Russian Man Watching Liza Minelli

2006-08-25T08:28:00.000-04:00

August 17, Coney Island.

Charles the Conqueror, Now in Charge

2006-06-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

Herewith, my latest story, extensive reportage on all things ABC News: Charlie the Conqueror and Charles in Charge.

Gawker has the blow by blow here and an amusing (but specious) observation about lessons to be drawn from my reporting on Charlie Gibson.

For those who care about such things, you can see me on CNN's Showbiz Tonight at 11 PM on Wednesday, June 14.

The Breaking of Michael Arad

2006-05-17T12:27:00.000-04:00

My latest feature in New York, a profile of the designer of the 9/11 Memorial.

Postscript: Here is a witty poem about Arad written by the clever/mean fellows at Curbed.

Whatever Happened to Colin Quinn?

2006-04-28T10:20:00.000-04:00

Find out in this week's New York magazine.

Buck Owens, RIP

2006-04-04T09:02:00.000-04:00

This is Buck Owens, January 2006. See my Rolling Stone obituary this week, page 25.