The Curious Decline of Paul Mooney
The 74-year-old is still touring, though whether he should be is an open question. It’s a troubling state in which to witness one of the most important and underappreciated comics of the past half-century. And that’s exactly what Paul Mooney is. (New York Magazine, January 26, 2016)
The Mostly True Adventures of Standup Comedy’s Legendary Frat House
One grand old house overlooking the Sunset Strip played host to a generation of comics — including Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay, and Robin Williams — launching dozens of careers and about as many drug problems. The crash pad of a comedy revolution, remembered, kinda, by the people who survived it. (BuzzFeed, October 21, 2015)
Revolutionary on the Run
In 2011, at age 23, Ramy Essam, Egypt’s “singer for the revolution” was lionized for helping to overthrow a dictator. Four years later, a brutal military crackdown has all but destroyed the country’s youthful protest movement while its hero bides his time in a faraway country, trying to keep the fight — and himself — alive. (Buzzfeed, May 29, 2015)
The 19-Year Search for Bianca Lozano and the Nightmare of Child Abduction Cases
As if losing a child to kidnapping wasn’t horrifying enough, ineffective law enforcement agencies and predatory private investigators only add to the confusion and pain. Deana Hebert’s long, maddening search for her daughter — and the ex-husband who took her — may be the rule, not the exception. (Buzzfeed, October 2014)
Cover story: The Rise of the Walking Dead
Born from Robert Kirkman’s popular comic-book series of the same name, The Walking Dead has racked up a body count behind the camera that almost matches the one in front of it. (Rolling Stone, October 24, 2013)
The Ghosts Of Jonesboro: Fifteen Years After A Notorious School Shooting, A Small Town Is Still Recovering
On March 24, 1998, two children shot up a middle school near Jonesboro, Arkansas, killing five, wounding ten, and setting the benchmark for a horrifying trend in America. This is the story of how the close-knit rural community healed — and didn’t — and what places like Newtown can learn from its example. (Buzzfeed, March 24, 2013)
In Cuba: Red Menace
As the world gets smaller and more connected every day, Cuba remains isolated and repressed, mired in poverty and outdated technology. It’s no wonder that the country is responsible for some of the angriest, most extreme metal on Earth. (Spin, May/June 2012)
Youth In Revolt: Tunisia’s Hip-Hop Revolution
A rapper named El General posted a song to his Facebook page that became the anthem to his country’s revolution. David Peisner travels to Tunisia to see how hip-hop brought down a dictator. (Spin Magazine, September 2011)
David Peisner 