They thought we were just a bunch of fuckin’ scumbags putting out a paper, having a good time, smoking a bunch of pot. But they couldn’t give up that ultimate control and let us go nuts.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. III, EPISODE 1
Weekly Dig
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 12 (2004 – 2007)
"I have one regret from my Dig time, and it’s the story I never wrote."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 11 (2004 – 2007)
“Sure! I’ll run into an abandoned subway tunnel for a freelancer I just met! No problem!”
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 10 (2004 – 2007)
"It was kind of a perfect storm moment. Gay marriage was on the ballot. When you get a cover like that, it sticks with you for a while."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 9
I asked Billy Joel fans questions that a fundamentalist Christian would ask after a Marilyn Manson concert in 1997, swapping the names “Billy Joel” for “Marilyn Manson.”
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 8
The intern wrote something like, “The ’80s! It’s fun! Dance party!” I looked at that and said, “No, this is too earnest. I will destroy it.”
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 7
We’re like, “Sure! That should go in a newspaper! Put that in there!”
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 6
The Dig at that point was more of a Dadaist prank or a piece of performance art—almost a metacommentary joke about having a newspaper—as much as it was a newspaper.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 5
"The effect that Jeff’s nipples had on me is similar to if you look at an eclipse for 30 seconds, and then you just see it in your eyes for the rest of your life."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 4
He made up a fictitious ideal reader named Spike. The memo read, “Spike works in advertising, but he goes to punk clubs at night,” and this and that. Fuck you and die.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODE 3
The pillar of independent journalism you’re fortunate enough to be reading at the moment used to be owned by the same corporation that publishes the upscale glossies Philadelphia Magazine and Boston Magazine.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: VOL. II, EPISODES 1 + 2
"Keohane and I went on this pub crawl through Cambridge, and I’m teetering down the street in my ridiculous high heels. We got into the People’s Republik, and there was a bunch of regulars, crusty old dudes, and I slammed my award on the bar. Keohane started telling people I have a glass eye. I rolled with it. It was beautiful."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 9
CATCH UP
VOL. I: EPISODE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
We were white and awful, but we still weren’t as racist as Vice
The ’90z – 2003 (cont.)
What follows amounts to the final episode of An Oral History Of The Dig: Volume 1 (The 90z – 2003). If this stumble down memory lane has sparked your joy thus far, don’t freak out; our story resumes with Volume Two in the weeks ahead and will continue into 2020.
...
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 8
CATCH UP
VOL. I: EPISODE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
The ’90z – 2003 (cont.)
In which the paper’s distribution manager does not beat up a helpless old man (on purpose)
It’s easy to fixate on power struggles between characters with important-sounding jobs like “editor” and “publisher.” But sometimes, a supporting cast member makes a decision with truly major ramifications. In ...
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 6
Contrary to rumors, the distribution manager never lived in the delivery van
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 5
"It was psychotropic. It was insane. Shit glowed. Literally glowed green. Would change anybody’s disposition."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 4
Since the start of this verbal record, the Weekly Dig ascended from ziney origins to become a legit voice from the underground amongst the cluttered, otherwise risk-averse landscape of Boston print media. But success enhances ambitions, ambitions lead to stress, and stress makes everybody cranky. Cranky, and the opposite of sober.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG: EPISODE 3
"We couldn’t pay the rent early on, so we figured out a way to supplement that. We held parties. Like, keg parties."
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG EPISODE 2: THE FIGHT FOR FREE
The Dig goes to war with the Phoenix, or something like that
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG PART II: THE FIGHT FOR FREE
The Dig goes to war with the Phoenix, or something like that
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG EPISODE 1: SHOVELIN’
Attentive readers may notice sources contradicting each other now and again. I should explain that I knowingly left a few such discrepancies in the text, because especially with regards to decades-old events that may have occurred in the midst of heavy alcohol and/or drug consumption, sometimes folks simply remember shit differently.
AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE DIG PART I: SHOVELIN’
Attentive readers may notice sources contradicting each other now and again. I should explain that I knowingly left a few such discrepancies in the text, because especially with regards to decades-old events that may have occurred in the midst of heavy alcohol and/or drug consumption, sometimes folks simply remember shit differently.
ONE FROM THE DIGSTORY BOOKS
The nightmare that is the contemporary media considered, it’s a miracle the Dig is still standing 20-plus years after we started as Shovel in the distant ’90s.
THE HIGH ROAD REVISITED: WHAT A LONG, STRANGE WAR IT’S BEEN ON LEGALIZATION IN MASS
From ballot questions to elections and over bureaucratic hurdles, we’ve trudged through many muddy trenches toward the endless fields of grass ahead.
