Michael Charles Rundle - Portfolio of Journalism, Illustration & Web Design

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Portfolio
Michael C. Rundle
Journalism, News, Illustration, Web Design
mail@michaelrundle.com
www.michaelrundle.com
mail@michaelrundle.com | www.michaelrundle.com
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Contents (1)
Magazine Journalism: Politics, Interviews and Zombies
Seven reasons why Jaguars (might) be cool again 5
Interview: Ricky Gervais and The Karl Pilkington Experiment 7
Apocalypse Chow -- how to eat like a king during a zombie attack 9
Charles Barron: New York City’s Elected Activist 12
Plain speaking: the rise and fall of Received Pronunciation 15
How to build a real-life Ewok village -- and live in it 17
How to be your own guru, with rock-icon Andrew WK 19
Shame and English cricket: a history 21
News Journalism: Explosions, Crime, Obama and Psychics
“Mayhem” - New York City explosion/evacuation 24
“On Clinton’s Turf” - Barack Obama meeting 26
“Pride Tossed Out” -- Gay rights in NYC 27
“F For Frustration” -- New York’s lost rail lines 28
“Finest Laid To Rest” -- Death of a cop in New York 29
“Bumper to Bumper” -- Traffic policy in NYC 30
“Laying Down Tracks” -- Music on the subway 31
“When Flowers Talk Back” -- Louis the Flower Psychic 32
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Contents (2)
Illustration: Dinosaurs, Whales and The City
“(Five Seconds Before) The Extinction of the Dinosaurs” 34
“Demetri’s Ghost” 36
“The Whale” 37
Web Design & Multi-Media: Tricks, Trips and Whatnot
AOL -- Design, Social Media and Video 39
Cambridge Music Podcast 40
Michael Rundle Dot Com 41
Professional CV & Resume
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Magazine
Journalism
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Seven reasons why

Jaguars (might) be
cool again
Asylum.co.uk, July 2010
When did Jaguar lose its cool?
Was it in the late seventies, when they sleepwalked from making runabouts for super
spies to making snoozemobiles for retired middle managers? Was it in the nineties
when they were taken over by Ford (soul-crushing), and later Tata (even more so)
and launched the suspiciously mumsy S-Type? Or was it when John Prescott took
delivery of two of their stateliest leisurechariots and gifted the tabloids the thing they
love the most: a two-syllable nickname?
Perhaps. But for us, Jag lost its magic before all of that. For us they misplaced their
mojo on the day they killed the E-Type. Launched in 1961 the E-Type Jag was -- and
remains -- a flawless object. It makes the new iPhone look like a Soviet bicycle. It
makes the Apollo program look like a backgarden folly. It has magic, and charisma.
Jag can't beat it, and any attempt to try just looks like they're missing the point.
Whatever the reason, Jag needs to figure it out.
Luckily we're not telling them anything they don't know. The word inside their
Coventry HQ is that Jag is now in the "entertainment business" -- and their latest cars
are good evidence that they mean it. Last year they unveiled the XF and XFR, a
series of sleek, sporty mid-saloons with surprisingly sharp engines. They've also
redesigned their XK and XKR sports car models and given their XJ saloons a bit of
more polish and bite. Everything seems to be heading in the right direction for Jag --
but the question remains: are they cool again? Will they ever be?
Asylum was recently invited down to Goodwood Race Track in Sussex to put the
latest fleet of Jags through their paces. Afterwards we came up with seven major
reasons why Jags might have rediscovered their swagger.
Read on to find out if they have...
Seven Ways That Jags Are Getting Their Groove Back
1. THEY'RE REALLY FAST (4/5)
Being the lucky gits that we occasionally are, we were able to take each of Jag's
flagship models -- the XK, XF AND XJ, out for a spin around Goodwood's Motor
Circuit in the early morning sunshine. The good news is that the Jags ate the track
up like demons. The surprise is that they all did. The XKR roared around like a lion on
rocket skates,
but the supercharged mid-saloon XFR was just as aggressive -- which is silly for such
a comfortable car. Even the stately XJ had some tricks up its sleeve and made us
giggle in terror at least twice a lap.
(cont.)
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Dropping the Top Gear lingo for a second, the basic takeaway is that all the Jags all went really, really fast -- and we
were really, really scared, most of the time. What this means is that the over fifties in Surrey in Jag saloons can now
definitely outpace your cheeky Mazda with the spoiler glued on.
2. THEY'RE FULL OF GADGETS (3/5)
In case you haven't realised yet, we aren't true petrol heads at Asylum. That said, we do know an impressive-looking
piece of eye-candy gadgetry when we see one, and the new Jags are crammed with them. When you press the heart-
beat pulsing Ignition light on your Jag it now reveals a drive-mode switcher. This thing emerges as if from nowhere,
rotating and glowing like a nuclear warhead from a bunker. We know it isn't that impressive technically, but it looks ace.
The Jags we drove also include all kinds of iPhone integration, massage chair settings and sound-system improvements
that make gadget nuts like us giggle happily and your mates really jealous. The only negative is that their GPS system is
still miles worse than the one on a standard iPhone, and as yet you don't get the chance to bolt on an ejector seat.
3. THEY LOOK BAD-ASS (4/5)
While the true four-seater Jags still have an air of stately indifference about them to our eyes, the XKR is a different matter.
It's a chunky, heavy-looking car, more of a polar bear than a stealthy panther, and with more in common with an Aston
Martin than the sleeker mid-90s XKs. One model we slavered over boasted all-black wheels, red brakes and a matte-
black Batcar-style finish. The police-light red and Alpine white models are also pretty aggressive. Sure, you can still get an
XK in dull dark blue with normal wheels and a non-supercharged engine. But we can't honestly imagine why you would.
4. THEY SOUND LIKE BEASTS (5/5)
Jaguars always sounded good -- again, nothing can match the purr of an E-Type -- but the newer models we ripped
around the Sussex lanes were something else. Imagine Tom Waits gargling acid at 100MPH. They sound like that.
5. THEY HAVE IMPRESSIVE-SOUNDING TECH SPECS (1/5)
For people who care about suspension-brushes and horsepower counts, Jaguar are happy to provide you with the stats
and specs. We're not even going to attempt to explain what they mean, but according to our more technically-minded
colleagues at Autoblog, Jag have made some nice progress on lots of fronts, including some improvements to balance
and power-ratios (?). Unfortunately the model that we tested these features against was a convertible, and it was sunny,
so we were too busy admiring our reflection in the rear-view mirror to notice the difference. Which leads us nicely to point
six...
6. IT IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE TO FEEL COOL IN ONE (5/5)
This one is pretty key. We'll be honest -- when we first turned up at the track we were certain that we'd be the only ones
not in leather driving gloves, M&S jumpers and penny loafers. Worse still, we were sure that even the more confident
chaps among us would be reduced to dorkdom when sat inside one of Jag's leather interiors.
Not so. When driving in the more aggressively set-up XKRs you actually feel pretty swish. The driving position is dynamic,
the acceleration is solid and punchy and the window is accessible to the all-important nonchalant elbow. If you then
crank up AC/DC and hit an open stretch in the sunshine, you'll feel like a renegade, not your dad.
Of course, Asylum can't guarantee that you'll actually look cool while you're driving. That's really up to the individual
concerned (check out our man above, doing his best to give us the money shot and, in all honestly, failing miserably).
But the point is you'll feel cool. And for Jag that's a surprising win.
7. YOU CAN STILL BUY AN E-TYPE
As much as we enjoyed tearing around in the new Jags, when the PR-people pointed out the vintage E-Type parked
nearby we almost crashed the new XKR we were driving in an attempt to jump in and take it for a spin.
Fortunately you can still buy E-Types second-hand, so there's no reason not to get one if you absolutely have to. And as
long as there are E-Types for sale, Jag will still have a get-out-of-jail-free card in its wallet.
For our money, though, Jaguar's doing everything right at the moment. They're probably still a year or two away from a
glorious return but don't be surprised if you see a few more cool chaps and a few less bank managers overtaking you in a
Jag from now on.
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Interview: Ricky
Gervais and The
Karl Pilkington
Experiment
Asylum.co.uk, Jan 2009
Karl Pilkington was once just a lowly producer on Ricky Gervais's XFM radio
show, stumbling through life with wide-eyed wonder. But over the years, as
Ricky and co-presenter Stephen Merchant introduced Karl to the basics of
science and philosophy to their radio audience of literally dozrns of people,
their producer's strange, twisted stupidity slowly revealed itself.
These on-air experiments into Pilkington's genius eventually developed into a

series of record-breaking podcasts. And, this year, Gervais, Pilkington and
Merchant are launching a new series, on topics including medicine, the arts
and natural sciences in an attempt to continue Karl's education (and make
us laugh at the same time.)
We caught up with Ricky to ask him about the unique mind that is Karl
Pilkington, and to find out what Karl can tell us about the nature of the
world.
If you had an unlimited amount of time to study something what would it be?
It would be anthropology. Evolution, specifically our relationship to apes. I

think that's why I'm fascinated with Karl Pilkington. Because I think I've found
a missing link. And I just can't get enough of it.
These audiobooks are like an experiment on the mind of Karl Pilkington. Is

that the way you see it?
It's an endless well. It's like I've got a child but the child is an experiment. Me
and Steve have always said that we feel like a couple of surfer dudes who
have unearthed Neanderthal man, and we've just cleaned him up and
taught him to skateboard. This is the favourite thing I do. I could be writing a
feature film., or be at an awards ceremony. But instead I'm reading stuff and
thinking -- 'oh I wonder what Karl would think about that.'
Is Karl's bewilderment with the world endearing?
It is, because you know there is no malice. He says ridiculous things like, the
Chinese don't age well, and gays should have their own toilets. But even
though on the face of it that could be incredibly offensive, you can't get
offended because you can't get offended when a toddler says something
either. He doesn't really understand what he is saying. Everything is in the
form of a question.
(CONT.)
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Sometimes there is an arrogance in his ignorance. For example, I explained to him on "Natural History" that we're 98.6
percent genetically identical to a chimpanzee. And I said we're closer to a chimp than the chimp is to a gorilla. Karl went
"no way," I said, yes it's true. He said "no, if I look at them, I'd think the gorilla is more like us." I said "You'd be wrong. The
chimpanzee is 98.6 percent genetically identical to a human. That's only 1.4 percent difference." And Karl went, "well
that's gotta be the arse then."
I also remember trying to explain the genetic reasons why the giraffe developed a long neck, and the advantage it
gave them to reach tall trees. Karl said, "Yeah. but why did they develop a long neck and not the ability to make a
ladder?" And I can't answer that! Because we did -- we developed the ability to make a ladder! And I think, yeah okay.
Giraffes up a ladder with a short neck, yeah okay.
If this was the nineteenth century you could take Karl on tour.
I want to do that! Like a Victorian sideshow. "Come and see the man with the roundest head in the world!" You'd bring
him out and people would gasp, and he'd go "alright?" They'd go -- "it speaks! It speaks!"
Karl spends most of his time walking around museums and writing books of his thoughts. He is essentially a public
intellectual. Does that worry you?
It's quite strange in that he is a published, some would say celebrated, author. But then Karl is glad that he didn't learn
anything until he was an adult, "coz kids were meant to play an' that." That's his approach to education. That everyone
should play and then learn stuff when they're too old to ride a bike. It's the wrong way round. But it's quite a sweet
outlook.
Have you learned anything from Karl?
He sees the world differently. I have to acknowledge that -- joking aside. I think he is an artist. I think an artist sees the
world differently and I think Karl does too. It's more than knowledge. He thinks differently. He takes different avenues.
I remember telling him a story that I thought he would find interesting about an adolescent chimpanzee. The chimp had
an argument with its father in a zoo and tried to escape. The point was obviously an anthropological one -- that chimps
go through an adolescence and a phase of rebellion against authority figures. Well I told this to Karl and he said 'what
was the argument about'? No other person would ever, ever ask that question. Because they know that's not the
relevant point. But he is suddenly there, he is there in the zoo and he's going -- "Come on, calm down, what's going on?"
This series of audiobooks is split up into different topics -- natural sciences, the arts -- which of these topics has Karl
struggled with most so far?
He struggles with everything. I mean there isn't a topic he really knows about. He's never had any formal education, and
even if he had I don't think he would concentrate on the right things. He doesn't retain useful information. You know
when Homer Simpson is meant to be thinking about something, and it zooms up to his brain and you see one monkey
picking fleas off another monkey? That's Karl.
Karl has said that you should teach kids the thirst for knowledge rather than facts. Is he a case study for that approach?
Well he is right, there. That's why our fourth audiobook is going to be philosophy. We're going to tell him about Robert
Nozick's Experience Machine. Nozick asks the question that if you could plug yourself into a flotation tank and have the
best virtual life in the world -- you'd have all your dreams, you'd meet the woman of your dreams, you'd get married and
have the best career, you'd live your perfect life and you'd never know you were sitting in a tank. Well Nozick concludes
that most people wouldn't choose that. They'd rather have a real life with flaws and upsets and frustration than a fake
life. And I can't wait to see where Karl stops me along the way to ask me questions. It's exciting. It's tantalising.
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Apocalypse Chow -- how

to eat like a king during a
zombie attack
Asylum.co.uk, November 2008
Whether it's economic collapse, the rise of the zombies or just good-old
global warming, every day the world comes closer to the apocalypse.
To survive you'll need skills, ingenuity and, most importantly, a regular source
of food. But eating well during the apocalypse is harder than it sounds.
How do you cook – and cook well – during the end times?
We asked London-based chef and chocolatier Will Sprunt for advice. Will is
known for his absurdly creative recipes and exploratory chocolate research,
and is more than qualified to help us defeat the zombies with tasty food in
our bellies.
What To Grab In The Initial Panic
When the apocalypse first strikes, you may find yourself looting a supermarket
or green grocers with about fifty other furious, panicking people. You're going
to need to keep your wits about you, and retrieve enough goods to last you
for the weeks and months ahead.
But while the obvious essentials – rice, canned goods and bottled water – are important, Will says you should also think
about the long term.
"Everyone's going to be going for the tins of beef, baby food and dried milk. But if you want an edge, make sure to grab
some vinegar or lye, which you'll be able to use to preserve your fresh goods and make them last much longer."
Salt is also very important. You'll need loads of it for preserving food and making stuff tasty. So make sure to grab as much as
you can when you're looting the stores around town. We're talking 20 kg sacks, not little shakers of table salt.
Being able to preserve food is vital, since there won't be much fresh food for long. But that's good for you, since the fresh fruit
and veg are going to be largely ignored in the store. Pulses and beans in particular will be good finds. So don't waste time
fighting to the death over some peaches in syrup. Go for the salt my friend.
Also keep your eye out for fatty foodstuffs like oil and lard.
"These things are also vital parts of the human diet, and can be helpful for preserving and storing goods," Will says.
Dried food – particularly meats and fruit – are also good finds. Finally, if there are any multi-vitamins left on the shelf, make
sure to grab them.
"Fizzy vitamin C will help you stay healthy," says Will. "As well as providing
entertainment during those long nuclear winter nights."
(CONT.)
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Spice
Spending a few days looting the houses and flats of your former neighbours could yield valuable stocks of spices, says
Will, which may not be available for some time.
"If you're living through the apocalypse, your food is likely to be hella boring for a while. That's unless you can scrabble
together a collection of spices. Who knows how long it's going to be before people start growing or importing chili
again? It could take years."
So if you're a fan of curries or have a taste for Asian food, make sure to stock up on foreign spices in the first weeks of the
robot attack/zombie nightmare.
Tools
When you're searching through the wreckage of the old world for useful tools, Will says, look for a sharp knife that's forged
rather than stamped. You can tell because the forged knife will have metal all the way through the knife, the cut tool will
have it just to the hilt. If you can find some honing steal to realign your knife's edge, that's an added bonus. A whetstone
actually sharpens it, however, and in a pinch you can actually use ceramic mugs to sharpen your tools. Just make sure to
hold the knife at exactly the same angle on both sides, and work them equally. Just don't wait until you're actually being
attacked by the undead to sharpen it.
Rationing
You will be able to ration your fuel best if you cook a lot of food and preserve it Will says. A good dish for this purpose is
Korean kimchee, a way of pungently preserving vegetables, that will allow you to inject lots of flavour into your staple
rice and grain with very little effort. Sauerkraut – basically cabbage mixed with salt that has been left to rot a little – will
also do the job.
Dig For Victory
And if you're worried about looters taking away your precious calories, just pick up a shovel.
"Stuff your preserved food in protective bags and bury it," says Will. "Kimchee will stay preserved at room temperature, will
survive underground for some time and will still taste great when you dig it up."
Finally, if you're running out of fuel, what tasty dishes can you cook without heat?
"Couscous might work. You can make that without much heat. Rice noodles might also work – if you find any of those
about town, grab them."
Alcohol
Be careful with alcohol. Beer, wine and spirits should be in abundant supply, but they are also dehydrating -- and you
don't want to be wasted when the aliens launch their motorbike scout units to clean up the human resistance. However,
in a pinch alcohol is a great source of calories when you need an energy boost, and it's also brilliant for preserving food.
You can use it for sterilising wounds, starting fires, or even for making dodgy drinking water marginally safer.
"A can of Guinness also makes an ideal cooking pot," Will says. "Cut the top off the can, fill the bottom with meat and
veg, make a dumpling out of flour and stuff it on top. Then cook it all together and watch the goodness rise up and fill
your post-human world with joy!"
Nettle Tea
Still, you might not want to use beer as your main source of liquid. Instead why not develop a taste for nettle tea?
"You can make nettle soup, nettle tea, even nettle salad if you prepare them correctly," Will says. "Thistles too."
However you don't want to just run off and stuff a load of nettles into your mouth. If you can, find a copy of this thistle
cookbook (or buy one in advance) and check your facts. Remember, in the apocalypse no one can hear you scream.
Or, rather, whoever is left to hear you scream will run towards you, steal your boots and eat your sauerkraut.
Play The Long Game
So it's a year later and you're looking for protein. What urban animals should city dwellers hunt, and which should you
avoid?
"From a taste perspective, you probably want to avoid urban squirrels," says Will. "Crows also taste pretty disgusting. The
River Thames apparently does have fish in it now, so you may have some luck there."
And remember, Londoners -- if you head towards the estuary you might find resurgent populations of shellfish and eels for
which the East End used to be famous. And the Royal Parks may also be useful.
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"The deer in Richmond Park have always looked delicious," says Will. "I'll be going after them pretty quickly after the end.
Also, swans are hella tasty. Just remember to keep the guts, because they make great stew. Toss the intestines though.
Depends how squeamish you're feeling."
And if you're really left with no choice but to eat foul-tasting meat, what are your culinary options?
"What do you think curry was made for?" says Will. "As long as you grabbed your supply of spices from step two, you can
take just about the most rancid meat and make it taste good."
By the second and third year of the urban apocalypse, most of the people will probably have disappeared or been
taken to work in the mines by the motorbike hell gangs.
Since most of the food has been scavenged, you're going to start thinking about farming. But what food is easy to grow,
and easy to hide from potential scavengers and militias?
"Anything you can grow and obscure at the same time is perfect," says Will. "Tubers, squash, marrows, and carrots are all
good. Potatoes are good too – not too obtrusive. And with this stuff you can make a tasty stew. However, tomatoes and
strawberries are going to be a lot harder. Best to forget about those for a while."
Urban blackberries can also be cultivated and hidden from view. And that presents tasty dessert opportunities.
"Blackberry crumble can be made out of not very much," Will explains. "If you have some flour, fat and sugar, you could
whip up a tasty pudding even as the zombies surround your front door."
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Charles Barron: New York

City’s Elected Activist
The Brooklyn Rail, February 2008
It is a hot weekday morning in June. The air is humid and the

sidewalks are steaming. Most in Lower Manhattan are safe
inside air-conditioned offices, but ranks of black activists are
out on the steps of City Hall. They are there to support Charles
Barron, and they are restless and volatile in the heat. They
shout Barron’s name. Cries of “Black Power” echo around the
courtyard. Barron, wearing his usual collarless suit, holds up his
right arm and clenches his fist in response.
Barron is a two-term New York City Councilman, a former

Black Panther and a self-proclaimed “elected activist.” Today
he appears furious, imperious and righteous. In front of him
are two lines of journalists, some behind cameras, some
taking notes. Others are perched on the ground in an
attempt to exploit the shade while operating tape recorders,
notepads and cameras. Sweat drips into their eyes. It stings.
Barron looks down on them with an exaggerated sneer.
Next to Barron is Viola Plummer, Barron’s former chief of staff,

who will later be fired from her post for threatening the
“assassination” of City Councilman Leroy Comrie after he
voted against dedicating a street to the late black
community activist, Sonny Carson. This rally is to protest her
initial suspension by Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Plummer says that she
was misunderstood. Barron is livid.
“The City Council is a racist institution,” he proclaims. “White supremacy is alive and well in the media,” he says. He gathers
speed and rhythm and the voices behind him carry him forward. Plummer is a freedom fighter. A revolutionary. This must not
continue. This will stop now. Finally, climatic, drinking in deep lungfuls of the acrid summer air, Barron cries out:
“Race rules at City Hall!”
Barron is approaching the end of his time in the City Council. Due to term restrictions he will leave his East New York district
office in 2009, and is now running for the Brooklyn Borough Presidency. But Barron is not a Brooklyn native. He was born in
Queens, and grew up with his mother in Manhattan’s Lillian Ward housing projects. He was a high school drop-out when, in
1969, Barron joined the Black Panther Party at the age of 17.
Barron describes the Panthers as a kind of community outreach group. His work with them mostly involved soup kitchens,
legal aid and coat drives, he says. But Barron admits he was also attracted to the feeling of self-empowerment, of getting-
things-done, of solidarity. “We were a very revolutionary organization,” he says. “Most of us believed in socialism. Capitalism
was a blood-sucking system that used class oppression, racial oppression and gender oppression to maintain power and
wealth for the white male elite.” He does not apologize for their use of violence. “I’m still a Black Panther to my heart. We
believed in self-defense. Because of police brutality we have a right to bear arms,” he notes, “to protect ourselves.”
In 1972, Barron completed his high-school equivalency diploma and attended Hunter College. While there, he met Rev.
Herbert Daughtry and was attracted to the fierce mixture of socialism and black nationalism Daughtry represented. Barron
became head of the Harlem chapter of Daughtry’s organization, the Black United Front, which organized rallies and protests
on police brutality and civil rights. In that role, and later as Secretary General of the African Peoples Christian Organization, a
religious empowerment protest group, Barron slowly increased his local and national standing. He lost his first run for the City
Council in 1997, but later beat ex-New York Knick Gregory Jackson by 269 votes in 2001.
(CONT.)
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Barron’s priorities in office have been low-key—extra funding for schools and community colleges, new jobs and
infrastructure in East New York. But he makes more headlines for what he says than what he does. Just days after his
election he called for the removal of all paintings depicting white men from the walls of City Hall and labeled Thomas
Jefferson a “slave-owning pedophile.” Later that year, he invited Robert Mugabe, the dictator of Zimbabwe, to New York.
At a rally in support of slavery reparations in Washington D.C., in 2002, Barron made headlines when he said, “I want to go
up to the closest white person and say, ‘You can’t understand this, it’s a black thing,’ and then slap him, just for my
mental health.”
In December 2006, Barron was accused of advocating for violence against the police at rallies following the death of
Sean Bell, who was shot to death by police in Queens. The criticism culminated in an appearance on Fox News: “You’re a
disgrace. You’re a disgraceful human being. You want to slap me to feel better?” Sean Hannity said to Barron, live on the
air.
“You’re not even worth a slap,” responded Barron, delighted.
Charles Barron’s district office is located in an old pharmacy storefront on a gray and desolate block in East New York. It is
filled with fliers, posters and constantly ringing telephones. Two days a week, the office is crammed with people there to
request job references and help on health care, and to relay worries about crime, discrimination and police brutality in
the district.
With Barron, the discussion quickly turns to race. Barron’s district has less funding than almost any other, he says,
attributing this to “endemic racism” in the Bloomberg administration. “We’re not in an ideal world,” he says, “I can’t
spend my life thinking we have some kind of ideal. That’s bogus. When economic conditions hit, and it gets to be a strain
on people, racism comes up like it’s never been away.”
He repeats the last part for emphasis: “It never. Went. Away.”
Barron can talk quickly and at length on any topic—political or personal—without missing a step. He seems to genuinely
enjoy the process of debate, and is not antagonistic for the sake of it. But his charm feels hollow and learned, and is
expressed through rhetoric more than conversation or dialogue. To Barron, City Hall is a “white-dominated dictatorship.”
The recent spate of hate crimes is a “distraction.” (“The noose of unemployment is the problem. The noose of the death
penalty is the problem.”) When he gets going, Barron is very hard to stop. It’s on these longer, ranting monologues that his
eyes sharpen and his fists bang on the table. This is Barron at his most visceral and, to those sitting opposite, his most
intimidating.
“Structural racism is alive and well in America,” he begins. “Every president of the United States has been a white man.
Every vice president has been a white man. The House of Representatives, 435 members, 43 blacks, 16 Latinos. The rest
white. One hundred senators. One black. New York State, the governor—white man. The head of the senate—white
man. The head of the assembly—white man. Head of the state board of regents—white man. Head of SUNY—white man.
Head of CUNY—white man. Mayor—white man. Head of the city council—white woman. Chief of Police—white man.
Come on. That’s structural. White. Supremacy.”
Barron denies the charge that he is a hypocrite or a racist. “Any black leader that stands up and raises race as an issue
and does it with non-compromising militancy, the white power structure calls us the racists,” Barron says. “They say we’re
divisive. If Bloomberg were honest he’d have to get up and say ‘I’m going to be a mayor for rich white developers.’ But
he would never say it.” Barron believes he is speaking a universal truth that everyone is aware of but no one else will
discuss. “White politicians never mention race. They will never say ‘I’m going to take care of white people.’ But that’s
exactly what they do. You’re supposed to lie. You’re supposed to deceive. I don’t do that.”
There are only two candidates declared for the Brooklyn Borough Presidency so far—Barron and fellow City Council
Member Bill De Blasio. Several more names are likely to join them, including numerous other council members and current
Deputy BP Yvonne Graham. At this early stage in the race De Blasio refuses to trade insults. “His kind of rhetoric is not at all
helpful,” De Blasio said. “Obviously Charles and I disagree on a large number of things. That’s well established. But I don’t
want to play up this conflict—I want to concentrate on my own message and what I can do for Brooklyn.”
Instead of attacking his opponent, De Blasio is quietly raising funds. He has roughly half a million dollars already, and
Barron has almost nothing. According to some analysts, Barron’s race is already over. “He doesn’t have a chance of
finding a base of support. He won’t raise very much money. It’s a symbolic race,” said Joseph Mercurio, a consultant with
National Political Services. “There is a difference between getting votes from your constituents and winning. It’s two
different things. His part of the constituency isn’t enough to win the Brooklyn Borough Presidency.”
But Barron says he will appeal to white voters as well as blacks, and that his campaign will be progressive and inclusive.
“I’m going to be a good president for all the borough and I’m going to take care of the neediest. And that’s blacks and
Latinos,” he says. “When people say that’s racist, or that I’m excluding whites—that will not happen with me. I’m not
racist. I don’t have a racist bone in my body.”
If Barron loses the Brooklyn race, he says, he will not run for another office. He has already chosen his would-be successor
to City Council: former chief of staff Paul Washington. Barron describes Washington as “more intellectual” than himself
but committed to many of the same causes. If he does not become Borough President, Barron plans to write a memoir
and teach young black men to be successful in politics, an initiative he calls “Operation Power.”
“I’m going to build a political movement to get people in office,” Barron said. “So that we can continue this legacy of
speaking truth to power, and not feeling that politics is a dirty word. We can show people how to beat the machine.
Beacause I beat the machine.”
14
On a recent Sunday at the House of the Lord Church in Downtown Brooklyn, Barron renewed his marriage vows with Inez,
his wife of 25 years. His two adult sons, family and friends gathered to watch. After an African drum performance, a long
succession of people stood up describing how Barron had influenced their lives.
“When I was in a dark place, Charles and Inez put their arms around me,” said Geoffrey Davis, whose brother, former
council member James Davis, was gunned down in City Hall in 2003. “And they said, I am going to stay with you. That
was four and a half years ago. We’ve been through it since then. And I thank them. I thank them for staying there with
me and my family.”
In East New York, too, Barron remains a popular figure. Walking through the neighborhood he stands tall and pulls his
shoulders back, and stops to say hello to every single passer-by. They all know his name, and not without reason.
Employment rates are rising in East New York, and crime is falling. Barron has funded parks and a new community center,
all with one of the lowest capital budgets of any council district. He helped to bring Meals on Wheels back to East New
York after a long absence, and secured $10 million in funding for CUNY.
In fact, Barron becomes emotional when he walks through East New York. He points out a row of junk-food restaurants
and laments the lack of fresh food markets. He stands in front of pay-by-the-hour hotels and vows to turn them to rubble.
He gently lifts a discarded aluminum can from the sidewalk.
“This could take a lifetime to rebuild,” he tells me as we walk along Pennsylvania Avenue on a stretch still known to police
as the dead zone. “It could take forever.”
Barron greets a man selling flowers and asks about his health. The man is doing better: “Thank you, Mr. Barron.” I walk with
him to Linden Park, which has a new running track and basketball courts, and of which Barron is expressly proud. He tells
me that the park was built with $3.6 million dollars that he secured from the council and, just like Gates Avenue, has now
been dedicated to Sonny Carson.
Is that an official renaming?
“No,” he laughs. “Let me put it this way, it’s all about who you consider the officials. I am an elected official so I have
officially called it that.”
How about Sonny Carson Avenue? “That’s official too,” he says.
He continues on the point, “They have no right to tell us what we can call our park. I mean some streets are named after
slaveholders and racists. We have no say in all of that. So why can’t we name our parks after our heroes? Do you have to
like it? No. But it’s not about you.”
Barron is right: if you don’t understand, it’s probably not about you. And it’s not about City Hall or the press arrayed on
the steps outside. It’s about the high rate of poverty, incarceration, HIV/AIDs and crime in the city’s black and Latino
communities. It’s about reduced funding for schools in low income areas, crumbling parks and always-planned, never-
built community centers. It’s about something Barron feels when he walks in East New York. Something that cuts to the
bone. A vision of a possible future, born out of anger, frustration and hope, and one that is always just out of reach.
That passion has made Charles Barron into a fallible politician. One who has alienated many outsiders and who holds
some difficult and mistaken conclusions. But one who is, at least, capable of honesty.
In this city, that is no small achievement.
15
Plain speaking: the rise and

fall of Received
Pronunciation
BBC News, July 2005
Amid the rich variety of British regional accents one always

stood apart as the benchmark by which all speech should be
judged - Received Pronunciation, the accent of "educated
south-eastern England". But RP is little heard these days. So
how do people react when confronted with a cut-glass
English accent of old?
Long before the likes of Jonathan Ross, Kirsty Wark and Terry
Wogan graced our TV screens, BBC presenters spoke in the
clipped, defined tones known as Received Pronunciation.
So synonymous was Received Pronunciation (RP) with the

broadcaster that it also came to be known as BBC English.
Now, of course, the airwaves are crackling with regional

accents which are celebrated as a reflection of British
diversity.
But as the BBC embarks on its Voices week, billed as an

exploration of the UK's countless dialects, it seems RP has
slumped from being the voice of the nation to minority, even
endangered, status.
Amid the trend for regional inflections and the seemingly

unstoppable spread of the classless so-called Estuary English,
even the Queen - once the gatekeeper of RP - is said to have
changed her pronunciation.
Given that it is so little heard these days, how do people react on hearing this almost antiquated accent?
Not being a native RP speaker - despite my upbringing in leafy Surrey - I first needed a little coaching. The Central School of
Speech and Drama, one of the country's best and most respected acting colleges, seemed a natural place to go for help.
Performance coach Darren Smallridge, and head of professional development Bruce Wooding, gave me a crash course in
learning the basics of this cut-glass accent, although their techniques were somewhat unorthodox.
For example, wedging a cork in my mouth and attempting to read lines from Julius Caesar was invaluable, helping me keep
the tongue flat and speaking with restricted lip movement, but I did feel like a snake who had tried to open a wine bottle
with his fangs, only to get stuck.
Darren and Bruce were, however, remarkable tutors. After only a short time I had at least grasped the basics of RP.
(CONT.)
16
But how would it go down with the public?
I headed for London's Covent Garden to road-test my new accent on the assembled mix of locals and tourists.
Spying a group of Japanese visitors I introduced myself with a slow drawl and a closely clipped stiff-upper lip. "Good
day," I began, and several camera-phones were thrust in my general direction. After a few minutes an excited circle
formed - and soon drifted away.
I was fairly sure they had mistaken me for some kind of street theatre.
A few attempts later though, I was on a roll.
American tourists in particular seemed to love it, perhaps mistaking me for a Hugh Grant impersonator. A few were slightly
scared by my over-enthusiastic use of the phrase "Dear fellow", but a woman named Judy seemed especially
enamoured with the accent.
"Can I take you home to the ranch?" she said in a rich Texan drawl.
I declined, graciously, but among the tourists it seemed I was a hit.
It was a different matter with my fellow countrymen. The group of builders I tried to befriend with the phrase "Ah, working
gentlemen. How awfully nice!" did not appear to be impressed.
I escaped with a quick "Toodle-pip," but couldn't help feeling disheartened.

But perhaps the most surprising trend was the very lack of reaction my accent caused in most cases.
Despite trying my best to be obnoxiously RP to David Green - a distinctly wise man I met in Leicester Square - he simply
replied "Its not where you come from it's where you're going," and shook me warmly by the hand.
The policemen I pounced on were also unperturbed, as were a further four or five Londoners who, after a slightly wary
start, soon addressed me as normal.
It seemed that even though RP is little heard on the streets of London, neither does it provoke the resentment and ridicule
I had expected.
It was only on the Tube ride home that the place of RP in today's Britain became clearer.
For the first time I realised that the well-spoken warnings of the Transport for London public address system were, in fact,
delivered in Received Pronunciation. I was elated - and in my joy I started to think.
Perhaps we expect RP where we expect authority. The class system has drifted away in the main, but in the accents of
those we allow to speak to us (the Tube, the BBC, the Royal family and so on) we maybe appreciate this hangover of
colonial-era Britain.
I, however, won't be carrying my RP techniques into daily conversation, although I hope to retain the basics for when I
next visit Texas.
I could use a place to stay.
17
How to build a real-life

Ewok village --
and live in it
Asylum.co.uk, April 2009
Also included picture gallery, captions and video.
Everyone knows that the best thing about Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the
Jedi is the Ewok village.
(Actually, apart from the bit with the speeder bike chase, the Ewok village is
the only good thing in that film.)
Even if you disagree, we're sure you wish you could live in a magical treetop
paradise anyway. Muppets or no Muppets.
So what if you could life in an Ewok village? Where would you build it? What
would it look like? And how could you convince Princess Leia to live there
with you?
Let us take you through what you need to move into your own personal
Endor.
Step One -- try before you buy...
You may be sure you want to live in an Ewok village while you're sat on your
sofa watching 'Jedi' for the hundredth time. But are you sure you're cut out
for treetop living?
It might be an idea to go on a treehouse holiday for a couple of days first, to

see if you can cope with the lack of facilities, control your crippling vertigo
and deal with the fact that you live alone in a tree.
The Treehouse Guide has a ton of links for treehouse resorts and hotels
around the world, from the Hawaiian island of Maui to St. Andrew's in
Scotland. Some -- like these cabins in Australia have all of the luxuries you'd
expect from a normal hotel. Others are a bit more rugged. Either way, you'll
know a lot more about the reality of treetop life once you've actually tried it.
Step Two -- where will you build it?
So you've decided you're committed to the trees. But where are you going
to construct your house?
We think you have three choices here.
First, you could buy a regular house with a tree in the back garden, build a
treehouse in that tree and just pretend that you live in there. This is the
simplest option, but probably not what you had in mind.
(CONT.)
18
Second, you could choose to live in a dedicated treehouse community. The Finca Bellavista Rainforest Village in Costa
Rica, where a bunch of ecologists are trying to conserve a 300-acre area of rainforest by "offering a unique opportunity
for ecologically minded property owners to live sustainably in... a managed rainforest environment", is a good example
of such a place.
A two-acre plot at Finca Bellavista goes for around £27,000. "We've had an interesting mix of buyers," said Erica Hogan,
the co-founder of Finca Bellavista, in a recent interview. "Some are about to retire and are looking for an active
retirement home, others are families looking at being here during summer/winter breaks, some are building vacation
getaways in the trees with an intent to rent out their treehouse the other portion of the year."
If you're really intent on going it alone you could also try and buy some undeveloped land in a forest and start from
scratch. But this is really, really tricky and you can pretty much forget about anyone letting you do it in the US or the UK.
Not only are suitable plots hard to come by at a reasonable price, but you'll have to tackle bureaucracy hell to get
permission to build anything.
Step Three -- who will design it?
There are dozens of companies worldwide dedicated to treehouse design. Of course it goes (almost) without saying that
a decent treehouse will cost you a serious chunk of change. The most expensive can easily cost £200,000 or more to
build, and that doesn't include the price of the land.
You get what you pay for, though, and so does the environment. The best treetop designers work with the limitations of a
specific plot, and have more than one eye to sustainability.
Companies like the TreeHouse Workshop in Seattle, USA, build natural-looking houses to fit -- and not destroy -- their
location. Likewise, Blueforest is a UK company that takes on jobs from small garden treehouses to full on £150k+
superstructures.
Other designs, such as this amazing house by Lukasz Kos, are more idiosyncratic than traditional wood-and-rope models.
But crucially they are still sustainable and okay for wildlife.
We also like the look of Free Spirit Spheres and their unique tree pods, Baumraum, and 02Sustainability, all of whom will
help you design a treetop kingdom. Check out our gallery of the coolest treehouses (above) to see some of their work,
and see some more cool ideas at WebUrbanist.
Step Four -- will the treehouse be comfortable?
As usual for this type of caper -- see also our guides to buying a castle and a private island -- you're going to have to pay
through the nose for extras like heating, clean water and waste disposal. It is possible, though, to live quite comfortably in
the trees. The Finca Bellavista community just hooked up their first WiFi connection last year, and power it entirely through
solar energy. Neat.
Conclusion -- so can it be done?
To pull this off you'll need more than a collector's box-set of Star Wars. You're going to need patience, money and the
ability to not get bored living in a tree, and that's just for starters. But if you succeed, and you don't give up or die, we'll
put up with watching 'Jedi' again if you let us come over for a beer.
19
How to be your own guru,

with rock-icon Andrew WK
Asylum.co.uk, April 2010
With his balls-out party metal music and perennially

bloody nose, cult-rock hero Andrew WK has always
walked the Spinal-Tappian line between genius and
stupidity.
But while he was once proclaimed "the saviour of

music" on the cover of the NME, WK has now taken
on a much bigger job. He's trying to save the world
instead.
"I want to use whatever I can get to make happiness

in the world," WK told Asylum. "Whenever you try to
save the world in a bad mood it just turns into a
disaster, I think."
In practice that means WK now spends his time

away from music giving self-help talks, "non-musical
improvised performances", writing advice columns,
running a party-hard club in NYC and, well, basically
doing all things 'guru'.
With this in mind, and with WK's 'lost' third album and
rarities collection ('Close Calls With Brick
Walls'/'Mother of Mankind') out on March 22nd, we asked WK to list some
practical tips to improve our lives.
Tip 1: Don't plan anything too far in advance
For a while WK looked like a genuine mainstream star -- his first record sold 250,000 copies. It was only after his second album
didn't do so well that WK began his second career as a spoken-word motivator. Lectures weren't restricted under the terms
of his disputed management deal, and his first spoken word show was attended by almost 1,000 people. Almost every show
since then has sold out, and WK has published a self-help book and a TV show on MTV as a result.
WK says his life story reveals the key to his philosophy -- just go with what feels right. "For some reason this just feels good to
me," he says. "This is what I do for fun and I get to do it all the time, whether it's playing music or talking like we're doing now,
or making album artwork or taking pictures, or playing a show, or travelling around."
WK also takes this rule on to the stage. "It's a wild feeling! The terror of being in front of a bunch of people that are waiting for
you to say or do something," he explains. "I love that moment of exposure and vulnerability... Most of the time when I'm
standing up there I have no idea what I'm going to say, or what to do, and rather than running from that I try to dive right
into it."
(CONT.)
20
Tip 2. Exercise
Andrew is a great believer in the importance of exercise, and its ability to make you feel better in almost any situation.
"Exercise is a mind game," he told us. "But one I've found to be very effective."
To witness Andrew WK's personal pre-show exercise routine, and learn from his unique moves, check out this clip.
(Video followed)
Tip 3. Avoid Definitive Statements
Andrew says that if you can't keep an open mind in public, you'll never manage it in private. "A definitive statement is
"the world is a good place" or "I am bad at maths"" he tells us. "I would recommend realising how powerful those types of
statements are. Let's say that a person really wanted to play guitar really well, and they hadn't yet learned, going around
thinking to oneself and saying out loud "I am bad at guitar" is not necessarily as empowering or as helpful as saying "I am
learning how to play guitar"."
Changing how you use language can have real practical effects, Andrew says. "I've noticed what seem to be more
magical possibilities or results from the use of language. I've noticed it more when I've been using words in a powerful
way to describe myself or the environment that they have some kind of impact. Maybe I'm not impacting the physical
world, maybe it's just my perception, but at some point it's kind of hard to delineate."
Tip 4. Give People A Second Chance
"Any kind of quality that we wouldn't like about a person or object, try to use the past tense when describing it," Andrew
tells us. "Rather than say "oh this guy I met years ago he's such a jerk" I would say, "two years ago, when I met this guy, he
was kind of rude to me" or "he was a jerk to me". I want to give him the possibility of changing, just like I want the
possibility of changing myself. .. You're sort of tricking your own mind so severely that your mind doesn't realise the
difference between what you can and cannot do, and if you can trick your mind with such passion, and commitment,
and focus, that your mind doesn't have any choice but to believe that you are what you want to be."
Uh. Cool!
Tip 5. If you get on TV for some reason, have fun... remorselessly.
(Video followed)
Tip 6: Stay humble, kids
Andrew says that being asked difficult questions at his spoken word lectures has taught him the importance of knowing
your own limits. "The hardest questions usually have been questions based on circumstance, from people that have felt
so powerless, for so long, that it's hard for me to even deny that they maybe can't do what they want to do. And that's
unusual," he says. "But maybe I think that I've been very lucky to be born when and where and to whom I was born, and
to have the friends that I have, and to have these opportunities... I just try to be very humble, because I don't know
anything. I don't really have any answers to anything."
Tip 7. Only Do The Things You Love
Stuck in a dead end job? Doing something you hate for no money? There is a better way to live, Andrew says.
"If it feels bad to get up and go to your job then don't go. We should feel excited and motivated for as long as possible.
When we are not like that we can assume that something is amiss, and something is wrong. And we have to be very
honest about that. If we all did that, and we all did what we wanted to do, then there would be very little conflict... We
have to go all the way out. Nothing is more noble than pursuing those dreams."
Check out how your life could be improved by partying with Andrew WK, although not quite as you'd expect, below.
(Video followed)
21
Shame and English cricket:

a history
Asylum.co.uk, August 2009
Once upon a time the British Empire ruled, if somewhat questionably, most of
the known world. Then we lost to Australia at cricket for the first time in 1882
and it's been a downward spiral ever since.
Since that day the history of England, and more relevantly English cricket --
has been one of relentless defeat, hopelessness and despair.
True, there have been some good moments. There was the 2005 Ashes, the
1981 Ashes... er. Some others, probably. But amidst those fleeting glimpses of
hope we've endured nothing less than a constant massacre of our dreams
for about a century and a fifth.
Whether it's financial scandals, dramatic losses, cheating and bad

sportsmanship, English cricket truly knows the meaning of shame.
On that note we invite you to join us as we take you on a tour of English

cricketing failure, defeat and dishonour,.
The Questionable Sportsmanship of WG Grace
Victorian hero WG Grace was arguably England's greatest ever batsman.

He was also a shameful cheat. In one county match he simply refused to
leave the field after getting out. "They've come to see me bat, not you
umpire," he said. Grace also once coaxed an Aussie batsman out of his
crease by asking to chat to him, then threw down his stumps, causing a run-
out. For shame, Beardy. For shame.
The Death of English Cricket
If only we'd never lost to Australia in the first place, this whole Ashes saga
would never have happened. Unfortunately back in 1882 England lost to
Australia by seven runs -- despite the cheating Grace being in the side -- and
so suffered their first ever defeat on home soil. The following day the Sporting
Times ran an obituary for English cricket, "which died at the Oval on 29th
August". We never lived it down.
The Bodyline Tour
Back in 1932, England captain Douglas Jardine devised a plan to bowl only
short-length fast balls at a batsman, in hopes of either hitting him or causing
a catchable deflection. It worked, several batsmen were injured and
England won the series 4-1. Sadly the tactic was also woefully mean-spirited,
caused an international incident and was later made illegal. Poor show,
chaps. (But secretly well done -- we'd do it now if we could...)
(CONT)
22
The 1948 Australian "Invincibles"
In 1948 Bradman's Australian team travelled to England for the Ashes. Expectations were high, but England proceeded to
collapse at virtually every opportunity , the low-point being their innings of 52 in the final test. Australia won the Ashes 4-0
and nobody in the northern hemisphere ever spoke of it again.
The 1985/6 West Indies Tour
In 1985 England went to the West Indies on a high after winning the Ashes and, led by David Gower, who was so
disinterested in practicing his batting that he went sailing instead, were promptly thrashed 5-0. Shocked, England never
recovered. They only won two Test series for the rest of the decade.
"Worst Team In The World"
In 1999 England were dumped out of the World Cup in the first round, despite hosting the tournament. They went on to
lost a series of Tests 2-1 to New Zealand and were subsequently declared the worst side in the world. Which is harsh, but
technically accurate.
Ashes 2006
After winning perhaps the greatest Ashes series in history in 2005 England travelled to Australia the following year to prove
they could win away from home. Alas, with Andrew Flintoff assuming captaincy duties until "that" incident with a pedalo
and with Steve Harmison bowling like a little girl with an arm made of Plasticine, England were thrashed 5-0. The wounds
inflicted on the English fans who stayed up all night to watch the ritual slaughter every night for a month will never fully
heal.
Selling England's Soul To Stanford
Who knew that handing the reins of world cricket to an American billionaire with a predilection to landing helicopters on
the "hallowed turf" of Lord's would end badly? Er, everyone except the ECB apparently. When it was revealed that Mr.
Stanford was as bent as coat-hanger English cricket was brought to its knees. Again.
Losing to... Holland
In 2009 England lost a game of Twenty20 cricket to Holland.
Holland -- a team so poor and inexperienced that they barely knew which end to hold the bat.
Holland!!
We lost to Holland.
Headingley 2009
And so to Headingley, the latest installment in the Englishman's history of self-loathing, bitterness and depression. A single
innings of 102 followed by a day of insidiously awful bowling resulted in the most one-sided Ashes result on English turf for
50 years. Here's hoping we can win at the Oval and put this history of crapness behind us. But one glance at the above
litany of shame suggests that this will not be the case. Sigh.
23
News Journalism
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Illustration
34
(Five Seconds Before) The

Extinction of the Dinosaurs
Monster In The Trees
Sea Battle
35
We Were In Love When The Continents Parted
Jungle!
36
Demetri’s Ghost
37
The Whale
38
Web Design &

Multi-Media
39
AOL
Social Media:
Among the many improvements and

refinements to Asylum’s social media strategy
that I have implemented some have included
the hiring of a dedicated social outreach editor,
the successful negotiation for traffic share deals
with leading compeititors including AskMen.com
and the first AOL use of Twitter as a creative
engagement tool to tralk to -- and not at -- our
readers.
Design Elements:
While at AOL I have contributed to many different

design elements of our sites in the UK and the US,
from building modules from scratch (see Twitter
module, below) to giving input and feedback on full
site-redesigns (see right, Asylum V2).
Brand Strategy and Launch:
As Asylum was originally an American site it was crucial to determine a shared vision of our brand
values, and how we intended to transfer them to the UK. As launch editor I worked over a period
of weeks to crystalise that vision and successfully implement it on our side of the Atlantic. It was
also crucial to work closely with our PR, sales, designers and technical teams to ensure that the site
was launched on-time and on-budget, and develop fruitful professional relationships with those
teams.
Since Asylum’s launch I have continually expanded and improved the site’s content and revenue.
This has included hiring new writers and editors across three countries and leading continual
redesign efforts.
40
Cambridge Music Podcast

In 2005, while studying History at Cambridge I was involved in the
local music scene. Frustrated by the lack of avenues for local
artists to distribute their music online, and excited by the
possibilities opened up by podcasting, which at the end of 2004
was just beginning to reach mainstream attention, I decided to
combine my passion for music and digital content by creating
one of the UK's first hyper-local music podcasts.
Not only did I have to develop a website for the project, gather
resources and equipment to record and distribute the show,
foster artist interest and attract submissions to play, I also had to
educate the wider public about what podcasting was, why it
was important and how they could listen to my show online and
offline.
My first step was to canvas opinion about what type of show would satisfy local musicians and audiences, and then design
and build an efficient website for the podcast using Dreamweaver and the open-source Wordpress CMS. I then produced,
recorded and promoted our first series of shows, and learned a huge amount about audio recording and production in the
process.
At its peak the Cambridge Music Podcast received 15,000 downloads per show, which for an independent local music
podcast in a small community was an exceptional figure. The podcast was profiled by USA Today and the BBC, and as an
early spokesperson for the podcasting trend I gained valuable insights about the journalism and music industries.
By the end of the podcast's run we had produced around 20 one-hour shows, and promoted dozens of local music acts.
41
MichaelRundle.com
I have maintained a self-designed
web presence for over ten years,
and have designed countless
variations of media-enabled
websites on many different
platforms, from straight HTML and
CSS, design-heavy J-Query and
PHP sites and CMS-based designs
built on WordPress and Tumblr.
The latest iteration is a custom-

Tumblr design with different CSS
templates for video, audio, visial
and written work.
I also maintain a presence on

social media:
twitter.com/michaelrundle
facebook.com/michael.charles.rundle
behance.com/michaelrundle
42
Curriculum Vitae
Michael Charles Rundle
EXPERIENCE
!
EDUCATION
EU CHANNEL MANAGER, Asylum, AOL (June 2009 -- present) MA Newspaper Journalism
NYU (Arthur L. Carter Institute)
As the launch editor of Asylum, AOL’s online magazine tailored to modern men, I have New York City, USA
defined and directed the editorial voice of an online title with 750,000 monthly readers, (Aug 2006 – Dec 2007)
recruited and managed a team of 15 editors and writers in four countries and taken
ultimate responsibility for the content and performance of our sites in France Legal, technical and vocational
(fr.asylum.com), Germany (de.asylum.com) and the UK (asylum.co.uk). training, including web and video.
In this role I have overseen the production of around 100 weekly articles, galleries, videos
and blog posts in three languages, directed our editorial team and hired new talent, BA (Hons) History 2:1
managed our budget and taken a leading role in developing our long-term content Trinity College, Cambridge, UK
plans. These are highly transferable skills that can be applied to any digital content (Sept 2003 – July 2006)
position.
Medieval, enlightenment and
modern American studies.
This role has demanded a capacity for originality in writing and design, a deep
knowledge of web trends, SEO and multi-media reporting, efficient organisation and
management skills and a keen eye for detail. I have also acted as a consultant for our advertising team and worked closely
with public relations to secure major national newspaper coverage for our content.
Together these innovations have doubled Asylum’s audience since our launch in June 2008. Most of this growth has come
from outside sources like Digg, Stumbleupon and organic search. I was responsible for reporting on these core metrics on a
weekly basis, and presenting those results each fortnight to AOL's executive team based in our New York headquarters.
UK EDITOR, Asylum, AOL (May 2008 – June 2009)

As editor of Asylum.co.uk I was in charge of the management of all daily news and features content. This involved putting
together a rolling long-term content plan, as well as turning around breaking stories on newspaper-style deadlines. In this
role I honed my online production skills and worked to get the best out of video, images and AOL’s proprietary CMS. My role
also involved taking charge of the day-to-day direction of Asylum UK’s online social promotion strategy.
US ASSISTANT EDITOR, Asylum, AOL (Jan 2008 – April 2008)

As one of two assistant editors working on Asylum’s US edition my duties included writing and producing content, sub-editing
and developing innovative social promotion techniques.
REPORTER, Metro International (New York) (Jan 2007 – Jan 2008)

As a daily news reporter working from Metro International’s Manhattan office I produced breaking news for a readership of
more than half a million New Yorkers, and the millions more reading Metro internationally. While focused on transportation as
a regular ‘beat’ I also covered topics ranging from local culture, social issues, the United Nations and the 2008 U.S. election. I
also developed and built an improved prototype website for the newspaper, and presented it to the senior editorial team.
INTERN, BBC News Interactive (Summer 2005)

Worked across foreign and domestic news desks. Produced content for the web, television and mobile news service.
OTHER EXPERIENCE (ONGOING)
• Experienced freelance writer with work published in titles including Spinner Music, The Brooklyn Rail, the BBC, The
Cambridge Student and Bullpen magazine.
• Founder of the Cambridge Independent Music show (2005-6), the UK’s first internationally successful podcast (as covered
by the BBC and USA Today).
• Winner of the Cambridge University CineCam screenplay award (2005).
43
Portfolio
Michael C. Rundle
Journalism, News, Illustration, Web Design

Michael Charles Rundle - Portfolio of Journalism, Illustration & Web Design

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1

Seven reasons why Jaguars (might) be cool again 5

Interview: Ricky Gervais and The Karl Pilkington Experiment 7

Apocalypse Chow -- how to eat like a king during a zombie attack 9

Charles Barron: New York City’s Elected Activist 12

Plain speaking: the rise and fall of Received Pronunciation 15

How to build a real-life Ewok village -- and live in it 17

How to be your own guru, with rock-icon Andrew WK 19

Shame and English cricket: a history 21

News Journalism: Explosions, Crime, Obama and Psychics

“Mayhem” - New York City explosion/evacuation 24

“On Clinton’s Turf” - Barack Obama meeting 26

“Pride Tossed Out” -- Gay rights in NYC 27

“F For Frustration” -- New York’s lost rail lines 28

“Finest Laid To Rest” -- Death of a cop in New York 29

“Bumper to Bumper” -- Traffic policy in NYC 30

“Laying Down Tracks” -- Music on the subway 31

“When Flowers Talk Back” -- Louis the Flower Psychic 32

“(Five Seconds Before) The Extinction of the Dinosaurs” 34

Web Design & Multi-Media: Tricks, Trips and Whatnot

AOL -- Design, Social Media and Video 39

Cambridge Music Podcast 40

Michael Rundle Dot Com 41

Professional CV & Resume

Seven reasons why

When did Jaguar lose its cool?

Whatever the reason, Jag needs to figure it out.

Read on to find out if they have...

Seven Ways That Jags Are Getting Their Groove Back

1. THEY'RE REALLY FAST (4/5)

2. THEY'RE FULL OF GADGETS (3/5)

3. THEY LOOK BAD-ASS (4/5)

4. THEY SOUND LIKE BEASTS (5/5)

5. THEY HAVE IMPRESSIVE-SOUNDING TECH SPECS (1/5)

6. IT IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE TO FEEL COOL IN ONE (5/5)

7. YOU CAN STILL BUY AN E-TYPE

These on-air experiments into Pilkington's genius eventually developed into a

It would be anthropology. Evolution, specifically our relationship to apes. I

These audiobooks are like an experiment on the mind of Karl Pilkington. Is

Is Karl's bewilderment with the world endearing?

Have you learned anything from Karl?

Apocalypse Chow -- how

What To Grab In The Initial Panic

Dig For Victory

Play The Long Game

Charles Barron: New York

It is a hot weekday morning in June. The air is humid and the

Barron is a two-term New York City Councilman, a former

Next to Barron is Viola Plummer, Barron’s former chief of staff,

“You’re not even worth a slap,” responded Barron, delighted.

Is that an official renaming?

In this city, that is no small achievement.

Plain speaking: the rise and

Amid the rich variety of British regional accents one always

So synonymous was Received Pronunciation (RP) with the

Now, of course, the airwaves are crackling with regional

But as the BBC embarks on its Voices week, billed as an

Amid the trend for regional inflections and the seemingly

But how would it go down with the public?

I declined, graciously, but among the tourists it seemed I was a hit.

I escaped with a quick "Toodle-pip," but couldn't help feeling disheartened.

I could use a place to stay.

How to build a real-life