My favorite mental_floss story goes like this: Mangesh (Co-Founder) and Neely (Editor) went to see Dave Eggers at a reading in Alabama. As a reward for laughing at all the right parts, the author invited the crowd out for a drink.

After throwing back a few, to repay his kindness, Neely offered Eggers a mental_floss internship (He does have magazine experience.) They could not agree to terms. Apparently, college credit isn’t something non-students can use.

But the offer still stands.

In this tradition, we’re going to be offering pseudo-honorary, resume-building internships to some of our other favorite writers. Let’s start with Chuck Klosterman, the pride of Wyndmere, North Dakota.

The Offer

The internship includes writing one (1) week’s worth of daily contributions to this website. The topics are up to you. You can work from home (yours or otherwise), airports, coffee shops, our Birmingham office, or – if you’re in possession of portable seating and not claustrophobic – our New York office. Compensation is negotiable, but will include one (1) mental_floss t-shirt. That part isn’t negotiable.

Also, we’re happy to write a letter of recommendation for your permanent record.

Credentials

Revered author of four books, Klosterman has written for Spin, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN and probably many others Wikipedia doesn’t recall. His Super Bowl and NCAA Tournament blogs prove he can thrive in the online world.

His third book, Killing Yourself To Live: 85% of a True Story, takes him across the country to visit places rock legends died – the ultimate Armchair Field Trip.

Audition

(Taken from his ESPN Super Bowl blog, 2006)
There was a colossal line of autograph seekers waiting to get signatures from Eddie Drummond of the Detroit Lions, which either suggests (A.) there is an underrated degree of interest in kick return specialists, or (B.) people who want autographs are morons. There was also (surprise, surprise) a great deal of merchandise for sale, the weirdest item being a Super Bowl XL bat and baseball set; I almost purchased it, as this would be the perfect complement to the football I got at last year’s Preakness Stakes.

One activity I almost tried was the “long toss,” where any average patron could see how far he or she could throw pigskin. I have thrown a few footballs in my life; for a brief period, I was a terrible high school quarterback (sadly, I brought unorthodox skills to the table — while some of my peers excelled at “completing passes to downfield receivers,” I was only good at “memorizing the audible system we could never actually use”). By the looks of the people throwing the ball at NFL Experience, drinking 30 to 40 beers every night does not limit one’s ability to go deep, so I was totally qualified to try this. Sadly, the line was just too long; I never learned how far I can chuck the leather spheroid. As such, I will just have to continue using my previous estimate: 85 yards.

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If you know Chuck Klosterman – or you are Chuck Klosterman – you can reach us at mentalflossinternship@gmail.com. And if Dave Eggers ever has a change of heart, he can use that address, too.