Very Short List

KURT ANDERSEN has the Midas touch, at least in the New York media world. The New York Times wrote about him, "There are a baby's handful of people in this city you can point to and say, 'That's who folks come to New York to be.''' When Time magazine reviewed his book, the reviewer wrote (paraphrasing from memory), "I know Kurt, everyone knows Kurt, they asked me to review his book because I know him less than the other people here." (Update: I found the link.)

He has a new überblog funded by mega-billionaire Barry Diller's conglomerate: it's a blog reinvented for more daily hits, and therefore ad revenue. It takes the blog formula of short references to other sites and items of interest, and adds snappy graphics and the gimmick of one, and only one, item every weekday. It's called Very Short List. Because of Diller's involvement, you assume there's real money involved. (http://www.veryshortlist.com/)

I love the highlighting it uses. Even though I know Kurt, I didn't know about VSL until today, but I'll be reading it. His public radio program, Studio360, is one of my favorite podcasts.