The Buzz Board
Picks from the Inner Circle
Tina Brown
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Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown. She has written for numerous publications, including The Times of London, The Spectator, and The Washington Post. Founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast |
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The Reader. Stephen Daldry’s movie from the gripping Bernard Schlink novel is hauntingly brilliant. He coaxes Oscar-winning performances not just from Kate Winslet, as the morally uncomprehending Hanna Schmitz, but from the young German actor David Kross who, incredibly, was taught to speak English for the film. The genius of Daldry's direction is that once Hanna's terrible secret is known to the audience, every physical detail of their love affair evokes Germany's horrific past. The removal of the lovers’ shoes, the washing of their bodies, the numbers daubed onto cabanas at the lake. The audience at the screener I attended left in stunned silence. |
Mo Rocca
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Mo Rocca is an American writer, comedian, and political satirist. Rocca is a regular panelist on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and a regular contributor to CBS' Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. He is a regular correspondent for NBC's Tonight Show, most recently providing 2008 election coverage, as well as for MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He was a regular contributor to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1998 to 2003. Writer, comedian, and political satirist |
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Cool it, Barack. Slow down, Michelle. And move over, Oprah. The real power in the Obama White House is First Granny-elect Marian Robinson: South Side-reared, tireless mom to two Ivy-Leaguers and protector-in-chief of grandkids Malia and Sasha. Combining the sass of Tyra Banks with the grit of Miss Jane Pittman, she’s expected to move into the White House – at least part-time. Expect this younger, sexier Ruby Dee to run the place. (Rahm who?) So here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson. (Now someone get this lady her own Wikipedia entry!) |
Gayle King
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Gayle King is a popular television personality who regularly appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She has been the editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine since its inception in 1999 and for O at Home since its inception in 2003, acting as a liaison between Oprah Winfrey—the publications' founder and editorial director—and the magazines' staffs. She also consults on the editorial and creative direction for the publications. Editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and O at Home |
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I was recently out at a wedding in LA, and they asked me to do one of the readings. It was a garden wedding at the Hotel Bel-Air, which means grass and high heels - Yikes! As it turned out, there was no need for concern because they handed us these little wedge things. I had never seen one before but it is one of the best things I’ve seen in ages! You put them over the stiletto heel and it allows you to walk on the lawn without your heel sinking into the grass. They come in either clear or black, so it doesn’t take away from the look of the shoe. It’s a genius idea. They’re called SoleMates and they’re perfect for any girl who wants to remain upright while walking in stilletos on the grass. |
Ted Turner
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Ted Turner is chairman of the Turner Foundation, Inc; co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative; chairman of the United Nations Foundation; and a partner in the Ted's Montana Grill restaurant chain. Turner is also chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc., a private company, which manages his business interests, land holdings and investments. Turner is the founder of the cable television network CNN. Chairman of the Turner Foundation and Turner Enterprises, Inc |
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I find CNN’s Planet in Peril to be an excellent series on the environment and an eye-opening look at the most critical issues our planet faces today.
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Mika Brzezinski
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Mika Brzezinski is a co-host of Morning Joe and an MSNBC anchor. Brzezinski also reports on NBC's Nightly News and is an alternating news anchor for Weekend Today. Prior to joining MSNBC in January 2007, Brzezinski was an anchor of the CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Brzezinski joined CBS News in 1997 as the anchor of CBS News Up To The Minute, but took a short hiatus in 2000 to co-host MSNBC’s weekday afternoon program Homepage. Co-host of Morning Joe and an MSNBC Anchor |
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CNSNews.com's Pete Winn reports that the average Big Three automaker union worker's compensation is $73/hour – two and a half times the average for the taxpayer being asked to bail them out. Compare that to the union autoworker for a foreign transplant building cars here is $44/hour. The numbers are a snapshot of the current contract with the UAW. They are EXACTLY why they are in the current crisis. Apparently, changes are coming. According to our research at NBC news, by 2010 compensation for US autoworkers will be roughly in line with foreign autoworkers and the UAW will cover health care costs. This is why the Big Three are looking for a bailout to bridge them to 2010. I want all of us to question: Should we trust THIS bailout will be different? Should the government be imposing what innovations are necessary? Do we bridge them again or should Chapter 11 do its job? Should the basics of capitalism, success and failure, apply to the Big Three too? |
Rafat Ali
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Rafat Ali is the editor and founder of paidContent.org, the news site covering digital media sector. He is based in Santa Monica, CA, but loves traveling so that he can catch up on reading. Editor and founder of paidContent.org |
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Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta. Imagine Mumbai: Take the huddled desperation of New York City, stretch it out as a thin layer over the coastal vastness of Los Angeles, and seal it in with the architectural grandeur and history of London. By a huge coincidence, I bought this book two weeks ago, and after the attacks in Mumbai, the book, which came out a few years ago, takes on a special meaning now. For anyone who has lived in any of the big cities I mentioned above, and wants to understand the underbelly that drives them -- the modern megalopolis and the co-existence of greed, crime, politics, ambition and good that drives it -- this is the book to read in these troubled times. |
Lila Azam Zanganeh
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Lila Azam Zanganeh is a literary contributor to Le Monde and a host of other European and American publications. In 2006, she edited a collection of narrative essays on Iran. Her first book—Light of My Life, or How to Net the Incredible Happiness of an Extraordinary Writer—will be published in 2009. Literary Contributor to Le Monde |
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A Christmas Tale, a film by Arnaud Desplechin is a wonderfully dark, yet humorous and poetic film about family dysfunction at Christmas time. The cast – Catherine Deneuve, her daughter Chiara Mastroianni, and James Bond villain Mathieu Amalric – is stupendous. In the so-called holiday season, this French movie is a brilliant alternative to Hollywood kitsch on a rampage. An oddly sensuous tale of love, death and filial madness under the Christmas lights of northern France. |
Andrew Breitbart
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Andrew Breitbart is the proprietor of the news portals Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv. His weekly column, "Big Hollywood," runs in the Washington Times. Breitbart co-wrote the best-selling attack on celebrity culture Hollywood, Interrupted and helped create The Huffington Post. He is preparing to launch a group blog, Big Hollywood. Proprietor of the news portals Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv |
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One day this November I woke up and the godsend that was Left of Center now defaulted to a channel called Sirius XMU. The merger I was blindly rooting for may have killed my favorite satellite music station but the hybrid of Sirius and XM's indie rock playlist isn't that dissimilar. If you were raised on KROQ, WDRE and the 1980s alt Brit rock invasion of New Order, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc. this stream of music will help you forget the black hole that was the 1990s and much of the zeroes. It's off kilter pop but not too cool for it's own good. Here's a whimsical example: Passion Pit, better things (song #3). |
Lola Ogunnaike
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Lola Ogunnaike is the pop culture correspondent for CNN's American Morning. Prior to joining CNN, Ogunnaike was a culture reporter for The New York Times and spearheaded its entertainment coverage. Before that, she was a features reporter at the New York Daily News and a contributing writer for Vibe magazine. Her work has been published in Rolling Stone, New York, Glamour, Details, Nylon and the New York Observer. On air, Ogunnaike has made appearances on NBC’s Today Show, MTV and VH1. Pop Culture Correspondent for CNN's American Morning |
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The simple black and white video for Beyonce’s new hit song, Single Ladies, has inspired dozens of parodies, including a hilarious, spot-on Saturday Night Live sketch starring Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, and Bobby Moynihan in skimpy leotards and high heels. I’ve lost more time than I care to admit trolling the Internet and YouTube on the hunt for Single Ladies’ spoofs. I recently came across Mexican Breakfast an incredible video of the late dance icon Gwen Verdon. The routine, choreographed by her first husband the legendary Bob Fosse is clearly the inspiration for Beyonce’s latest effort (Beyonce admitted to this on BET back in October). Watching Verdon and her two backup dancers effortlessly move about the stage is truly magical. Though Mexican Breakfast dates back to the 60s, it’s clearly as modern and relevant as ever. And far more entertaining than any parody. |
Qubad Talabani
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Qubad Talabani serves as the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government to the United States. In the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom in spring 2003, he served as a Senior Foreign Relations Officer for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, operating mainly out of Baghdad and Sulaimaniya. His father, Jalal Talabani, is the President of the Republic of Iraq. Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government to the United States |
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Samantha Power’s A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide is a masterpiece of journalism that documents cases of genocide, as well as highlights the indifference of the international community while innocent men women and children, all around the world perished under the hands of tyranny. It’s a disturbing, and powerful book essential for anyone interested in understanding atrocities that have occurred. The book is also a must-read for anyone working to prevent genocide from happening again. |
