The Original "The Awl," 1843: "Who Owns These Neat and Pretty Houses?" @12:00 PM
It has been brought to our attention that there is another publication called The Awl! Unfortunately, it seems to have ceased publication sometime in the mid to late 1840s, even though it was only first published in 1843. Documented in Norman Ware's fantastic The Industrial Worker, 1840-1860: the reaction of American industrial society to the advance of the industrial revolution, which was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1924. This bit of history was brought to our attention by the widely-read Aaaron Swartz, praise his name. Let's do some reading! READ MORE 21
"The eligibility rules for the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism have been revised, opening the door wider to entries from text-based online-only newspapers and news sites, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced today." @2:57 PM 5
The Awl Turns Five Months And Sixteen Days @2:40 PM
Today as, unlike other sites, The Awl marks no sort of anniversary at all, co-founder and Associate Editorial Director Alex Balk talks about the first five months and sixteen days' surprises, obsessive commenters, print's premature obit, Sarah Palin, his enormous penis… and what's next for the site.
So how was your first five months and sixteen days at The Awl? READ MORE 65
The Awl, The Song @12:30 PM
We recently got in touch with a popular recording artist who happens to be an admirer of The Awl. This musician expressed an interest in contributing to the site, and we're happy to announce that the result of our conversations is a regular column that should start up in the very near future. That's exciting enough, but there's a bonus! READ MORE 79
A Note On Rumors About Our Impending Sale @2:08 PM
An item today on Silicon Alley Insider suggesting that this very website is a possible purchase platform for AOL's growing portfolio of blogs has resulted in a flurry of speculation and what can only be characterized as a number of desperate counter-offers* from companies both large and small who have suddenly realized that our demographics and scalability offer an extremely cost-efficient revenue-positive traffic enhancer in an increasingly fragmented marketspace. READ MORE 28
How's Your Inbox? @3:25 PM
Hey, did everyone get their newsletter this morning? Couple of folks complained yesterday that it hadn't come, which was also the case for me recently. (It went to Spam, which it so is not. Until Choire actually writes about spam next week.) Anyway, we haven't heard of any problems, but if you just now noticed that you didn't receive your early-morningish blast of happiness, let us know in the comments or drop us a line and we'll see what we can do to get you sorted out. Not yet a subscriber? Head right, to the section that says "Subscribe to the newsletter" and sign yourself up. You probably won't regret it that much. Thanks! 15
What They're Saying About The Awl @11:09 AM
It's been a mere two days since we flipped the switch and pulled up the grate on this innovative new site of ours, and we could not be more gratified by your enthusiasm. We're particularly pleased with the reaction we've already received in the media and online. We don't want to get too braggy just yet, but it does seem like a little round-up of early opinion is in order. READ MORE 77
The Awl Office Seating Chart @2:26 PM
This morning people were all like, "Oh okay, publishing Gawker's office seating chart is one thing, but to be fair, shouldn't you post your own? Okay, fine! READ MORE 45
The Horror @7:02 PM
I didn't want to do this, both because it's horrible and because it encourages bad behavior, but Awl Office of Management and Business Development Chief Operating Officer David Cho insists that we end each day with something interesting or, failing that, a video, because people like videos. Anyway, this abomination was created by commenter Mathnet and makes me sick to my stomach, but, you know, what are you gonna do? I guess it's an incentive to make tomorrow a better day. Which, looking at this, it pretty much has to be, right? Anyway, enjoy. Alternately: Sorry. 48