Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.

German cover of Crude World

The folks at Droemer, my German publisher, have designed a cool cover for the German edition of Crude World, which comes out in April. For catalogue info on Droemer’s edition, click here.

Polar Bear Video–Not What You Think

Along the lines of my earlier post about climate change and civil disobedience, here’s a new public-service advertisement commissioned by planestupid.com, a group that wants to reduce airplane travel due to its high levels of CO2 emissions. The ad is arresting, to be sure.

Maassapalooza, Episode 6,273

More reviews from Britain, the U.S. and Malaysia…
The Observer: “The strength of Crude World, filled with vivid reporting, is that it leaves you no option but to care.”
... (Read more)

Tomaz Humar, Gone

Sometimes, as a reporter, you can’t believe you’re getting paid to do work that is such fun. That happened in 2001 when I profiled Tomaz Humar, the great and crazy Slovenian climber. ... (Read more)

Nice House, Teodorin

It’s the horseshoe-shaped, red-tiled one in the lower center of the adjacent picture, located in Malibu and valued at $35 million, the possession of Teodorin Obiang, the son of the dictator of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. I’ve written extensively about the Obiang clan, in ... (Read more)

Stop Global Warming With Civil Disobedience?

Several days after coming across it, I remain intrigued by an interview in Mother Jones with Tim DeChristopher, who faces up to five years in prison for ... (Read more)

Revenue Watch–Open Society Institute

New York, NY
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019

A discussion about Crude World with Karin Lissakers, Revenue Watch director. RSVP to Rebecca Morse, rmorse@revenuewatch.org.

Curse, Peak, War

It sounds like the title of a book, “Curse, Peak, War: The Future of the Planet,” but I’m referring to a trio of stories in today’s papers that tell us an enormous amount about our energy problems. ... (Read more)

CUNY Graduate Center

New York, NY
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street)
New York, NY10016

Discussion on oil with George Caffentzis, moderated by Ashley Dawson. In the Skylight Room (9100).

Strand Book Store

New York, NY
Strand Book Store
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

A discussion about oil with Ed Kashi, author of Curse of the Black Gold.