Author Salman Rushdie: 'Joseph Anton,' Fatwas and Freedom

Salman Rushdie is best known as the author of The Satanic Verses, a book that resulted in the declaration of a fatwa against him by Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. Rushdie was subsequently placed under protective custody for years due to threats of violence against him, as well as the murder of the book’s Japanese translator and the firebombing of bookstores.

His newest book, Joseph Anton, recounts his years in hiding, and takes its name from the alias he used during that period.

On September 17, stated attended a reading by Rushdie at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in New York, where he shared several notable observations on religion and his time in hiding. Here are just a few…

• “If you can avoid being condemned to death by the tyrannical leader of a foreign country, I recommend doing so.”


• “If you’re a satirical writer, it’s much easier to know what you’re against then what you are for. It’s one of the great gifts that period [of hiding] gave me. It taught me what I was for. Freedom.”


• “The relationship between man and God is complicated, because man actually exists. That gives man the edge.”

'Coolness is Everywhere': Josh Rubin, Cool Hunting Founder

Back in 2003, Josh Rubin started Cool Hunting as a personal outlet to share inspirational content he found around the web. Today the site gets nearly 4 million page views per month and produces a lot of original style, design, and tech content.

We heard Josh speak at the Portable Curators Conference on the topic of curation and what is “cool.”

Defining and discussing what is “cool” is probably the least cool thing anyone can do. Any attempt to formulate a complete curatorial process to theorize on what cool is will often sound stiff, square—downright uncool. But Rubin’s open-ended analytical approach toward that exploration and discovery is most decidedly, if pragmatically, cool.

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VIDEO: The RAARR Exhibit Brings Kids Into the Creative Process

Raarr (pronounced RAAARRGHHH!) is an exhibition of collaborative zoological drawings. But the beauty of the concept is that the illustrations are started by adults, and finished by school kids.

22 illustrators were commissioned to draw a reptile, bird, mammal, amphibian, fish, or insect—without completing the head or face. The kids add the heads, and colors, and anything else they like.

We all know who learns the most when working creatively with children. All agencies should have some kids available for feedback. The results are on view at The Book Club in London, and given their calendar or events, we wish they would expand to New York City.