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Dziekan / Retna The David Paterson Rumors
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
As the New York Times reportedly prepares a story airing scandalous allegations about New York's governor, the media-political complex is going wild.
Super Bowl Ads Play It Safe
James P. Othmer is the author of ADLAND: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet and the novel THE FUTURIST.
Former ad exec James Othmer on why Abe Vigoda and Betty White were the stars of last night—and how companies are being cautious post-Tiger. Plus, WATCH the best ads.
David McNew / Getty Images The 'Birthers' Began on the Left
John Avlon’s new book Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America is available now by Beast Books both on the web and in paperback. Advance orders can be placed here. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
Investigating the roots of the Obama birthplace conspiracy theory, Wingnuts author John Avlon uncovers the first Birther—and finds she’s a Hillary Clinton supporter also implicated in Dan Rather’s exit from CBS.
Best (And Worst) Cities to Find Love
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
The Next Glenn Beck
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
Assassinating Americans
Conor Friedersdorf, a Daily Beast columnist, also writes for The American Scene and The Atlantic Online's ideas blog.
Politicians Need Privacy, Too
Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com.
The Mystery of Yo-Yo Ma's Name
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor and public intellectual. He was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. In 2002, Gates was selected to give the Jefferson Lecture, in recognition of his "distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities." The lecture resulted in his 2003 book, The Trials of Phillis Wheatley.
With the help of Henry Louis Gates, cellist Yo-Yo Ma discovers a family genealogy dating back 255 years—a bamboo volume that dictates 60 generations of Ma family names.
White Out
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
The Northeast is getting socked with record snowfall—again. From the killer storm of 1888 to the Boston legend that mixed two feet of powder with hurricane winds, VIEW OUR GALLERY of the worst blizzards in American history.
How Palin Could Win
Matt Latimer is the author of the New York Times bestseller, SPEECH-LESS: Tales of a White House Survivor. He was deputy director of speechwriting for George W. Bush and chief speechwriter for Donald Rumsfeld.
GOP leaders may turn up their noses at Sarah Barracuda, but Palin could easily be the Republican nominee in 2012. Former Bush aide Matt Latimer on what she needs to do next.
Fresh Picks
The list of Jacques Torres’ culinary awards and achievements is long and impressive. Born in Bandol, France, he began working in pastry at the age of 15. He quickly developed the skills to work for Michelin two-star chef Jacques Maximin at the Hotel Negresco, where he worked for eight years. During this time he earned the degree of Master Pastry Chef and competed in the 1986 Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition, taking home the prestigious MOF medal—the youngest chef to ever receive the award.
The world-famous chocolatier tells us what he’s loving for Valentine’s Day.
What to Eat: Chinese New Year Feast
Cookstr.com presents the best recipes from the world's greatest chefs and cookbooks and brings them online for the first time ever. Our powerful search engine allows you to find the perfect recipe every time, with tons of options for searching. Each chef and cookbook author on the site has a robust profile page with information about them, their restaurants, and their cookbooks. Many more features are coming soon. For more about Cookstr, click here.
Just when the holiday season was coming to an end, there’s one more excuse to drink, dine, and be merry.
Five Aphrodisiac Foods
Cookstr.com presents the best recipes from the world's greatest chefs and cookbooks and brings them online for the first time ever. Our powerful search engine allows you to find the perfect recipe every time, with tons of options for searching. Each chef and cookbook author on the site has a robust profile page with information about them, their restaurants, and their cookbooks. Many more features are coming soon. For more about Cookstr, click here.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air—and in the kitchen. But which foods help get couples ready for amour?
The Hidden Eviction Victims
Sasha Abramsky is the author of Breadline USA. His next book, a profile of President Barack Obama titled Inside Obama’s Brain, is being published by Penguin’s Portfolio imprint in early December.
Law-abiding renters often lose their homes when landlords get into mortgage trouble. Sasha Abramsky on how banks, realtors, and courts gang up on families. Plus: How to help.
When Church Groups Go Too Far
Sarah Posner is associate editor of Religion Dispatches and author of God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters. Her work has appeared in The American Prospect, The Nation, Salon, and many other publications.
From the Baptist 10 charged with child kidnapping in Haiti to a Connecticut man accused of sexually abusing Haitian boys, U.S. missionaries are in trouble—and undersupervised—abroad.
London's Dark Underworld
Olivia Cole writes for the Spectator and the London Evening Standard. An award-winning poet, her first collection, Restricted View, was published this fall.
Novelist William Boyd’s latest is a thrilling story of an innocent man forced into hiding in the underbelly of London. Olivia Cole spoke to him about his new work and why he aims to entertain.
This Week's Hot Reads
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
This week: prominent economists offer up their solution to the financial crisis, Louis Erdrich returns with a taut novel on a marriage’s decline, a veteran Middle East reporter brings his thrilling Palestinian detective series to New York, an engaging history of the Americans based in Britain during WWII, and a powerful story from Afghanistan about the inner life of a repressed woman.
A Greek Economic Tragedy
Jeffrey E. Garten is the Juan Trippe professor of international trade and finance at the Yale School of Management, and served in economic and foreign policy positions in the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Clinton administrations.
Athens’ money mess has already triggered one spasm in the global markets. Jeffrey E. Garten on how this week could be worse—and set off a long-overdue confrontation over the West’s public debt.
No Idol for Stern
Richard Rushfield is a four-year veteran of the American Idol beat and the author of a recent memoir, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost.
American Idol insiders tells Richard Rushfield that despite the media rumors this week, Howard Stern is not in the running to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on the show.
Iran on the Brink
Reza Aslan is author of the international bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in a Globalized World). Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
The Green Movement's leaders are calling supporters to the streets, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is rallying his side with nuclear brinksmanship—and the clashes expected Thursday for the Islamic Republic's 31st anniversary could spell civil war.
The Race Card and the Jackson Doctor
Marcia Clark, the former L.A. district attorney who prosecuted the O.J. Simpson murder case, has since served a regular legal television commentator. She has written a bestselling book, Without a Doubt, served as a columnist for Justice Magazine and is finishing her debut crime novel.
Yesterday's manslaughter charges against Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray spell the latest L.A. "trial of the century." Once again race and celebrity will dominate—and this time, the D.A. holds the advantage.
What's Wrong With Skinny?
Lisa Hilton is the critically acclaimed author of Athenais: The Real Queen of France and Mistress Peachum's Pleasure. She was educated at Oxford University, and presently lives in London.
With New York Fashion Week kicking off tomorrow, expect the usual criticism of models being too thin. But the truth, says Lisa Hilton, is that these models are powerful, professional women just like athletes and that obesity, not anorexia is the real health disaster.
The World's 12 Most Fashionable Hotels
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Victoria Beckham was just offered $40 million to design a hotel in Dubai. From Ralph Lauren’s Jamaica villas to a Vera Wang suite in Waikiki, VIEW OUR GALLERY of designer hotels.
Maha Gaber Abouelenein is the principal of communications firm Organizational Consultants. She focuses on US politics and bridging understanding with Arab cultures, media, and government. She is an active member in the World Economic Forum and the co-Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee of the US Chamber of Commerce.
Richard Abowitz has chronicled the rise and continuing fall of Las Vegas for over a decade. He is the author of hundreds of articles for Las Vegas Weekly. Abowitz is perhaps best known for writing the Movable Buffet blog and continuing print column for Los Angeles Times. In addition to covering Vegas, Abowitz has been writing about music and culture for Rolling Stone since 1996. In December 2009, Abowitz launched GoldPlatedDoor.com to be an honest broker reporting on all things Vegas.
Dan Abrams is CEO of Abrams Research, an attorney, and chief legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
Sasha Abramsky is the author of Breadline USA. His next book, a profile of President Barack Obama titled Inside Obama’s Brain, is being published by Penguin’s Portfolio imprint in early December.
Bruce Ackerman is Sterling professor of law and political science at Yale, and the author of 15 books on political philosophy, constitutional law, and public policy. His works include Social Justice in the Liberal State, the multivolume constitutional history, We the People, The Failure of the Founding Fathers and Before the Next Attack.
Edward Adams (1933-2004) was a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist best known for his war coverage. He mostly worked for The Associated Press, Time and Parade. His photographs of human rights defenders from 36 countries were published in a book with Kerry Kennedy, Speak Truth to Power.
Mark Adams is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in many of America’s leading magazines, including GQ, Outside, the New York Times Magazine, Fortune and National Geographic Adventure, where he is a contributing editor. Adams wrote New York magazine’s popular column “It Happened Last Week” and once ran 26 miles alone through the streets of Manhattan for an assignment. Originally from Oak Park, Illinois, he now lives near New York City with his wife and their three sons.
Lynsey Addario is a photojournalist based in New Delhi, India, where she photographs for The New York Times and National Geographic, among other publications. Her Web site is lynseyaddario.com.
Aravind Adiga is the bestselling author of The White Tiger, which won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
Jerry Adler is a contributing editor at Newsweek, where he writes about medicine, science, and ideas. He is the author of High Rise: How 1,000 Men and Women Worked Around the Clock for Five Years and Lost $200 Million Building a Skyscraper.
Michael Adler, a longtime reporter for Agence France-Presse, is currently a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and is writing a book on Iran’s nuclear diplomacy, which he has covered for most of this decade.
Dr. Arthur Agatston is a leading preventive cardiologist and creator and author of The South Beach Diet. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Sari.
Prashant Agrawal is CEO of Indipepal.com, India's only social portal. He previously worked at Skadden Arps, McKinsey, and a hedge fund, and is a contributing editor to GQ India and the magazine’s business columnist.
Liaquat Ahamed is the author of Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, a book about the causes of the Great Depression. After working as an economist at the World Bank, he spent 25 years as a professional investment manager in London and New York.
Lee Aitken is an editor and writer who has worked at Time Inc., the New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, and the International Tribune, among others. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her daughter.
Well known Indian journalist M.J. Akbar is the editor of Covert, a fortnightly magazine of current affairs, a blogger and the author of many books, most recently Blood Brothers.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan is a board member of the United Nations Foundation.
Maysoon Al-Damluji is an Iraqi Member of Parliament and lives in Baghdad, Iraq. A liberal Iraqi politician and women's rights campaigner, she was Iraq's Deputy Minister of Culture from June 2004 until March 2006 and is the president of the Iraqi Independent Women's Group (IIWG) and comes from a long line of Iraq politicians.
Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D., ABPP, is an associate professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry at Columbia University and the director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
Mike Albo is a writer and performer who lives and loves in Brooklyn. His second novel, (written with Virginia Heffernan) is the cult humor classic The Underminer: The Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life. You can find him at mikealbo.com.
Madeleine K. Albright is a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm, and chairwoman and principal of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. In 1997, she was named the first woman secretary of State. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright served as the US permanent representative to the UN. Her latest book is Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership.
Linda Alcorace is a writer and Adjunct Professor of English at Santa Monica College. Her work has also appeared in The Los Angeles Times and The Copley Press.
Edward Alden is the Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise includes US immigration and visa policies, US trade policy, and the impact of homeland-security policies on US economic competitiveness. He is the author of The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration and Security Since 9/11, and is currently directing CFR’s independent task force on US immigration policy.
Nelson W. Aldrich Jr. is a freelance writer and editor. Formerly Paris editor of The Paris Review, a senior editor at Harper’s magazine, and a reporter for the Boston Globe, he is a frequent contributor to The Atlantic, Harper’s, The Nation, and Vogue, among other publications.
Matthew Alexander is a pseudonym for a 14 year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. As the leader of an elite interrogations team in Iraq, he conducted more than 300 interrogations and supervised more than 1,000. He served in three wars and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in 2006. He is the author of How to Break A Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq.
Paul Alexander is the author of Machiavelli’s Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove and Man of the People: The Life of John McCain, among others. A member of The Authors Guild and PEN American Center, Paul has been a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and escaped an arranged marriage by immigrating to the Netherlands in 1992. She served as a member of the Dutch parliament from 2003 to 2006 and is currently a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Her autobiography, Infidel, was a 2007 New York Times bestseller.
Lorraine Ali is a Los Angeles-based culture writer who's covered everything from gay divorce to Christian rock to the Arab American experience. She's a Newsweek Contributing Editor and has written for the New York Times, GQ, Rolling Stone and Esquire. Ali is currently working on a book about her Iraqi family that's due out next year.
Bryan Allain is a writer, speaker, and chemical engineer who lives in Lancaster County, PA with his wife Erica and their two children. He writes daily about the humorous side of life, sports, faith, pop culture, and living among the Amish at his blog, BryanAllain.com.
Colonel Ken Allard (US Army, Ret.) is a draftee who eventually served on the West Point faculty, as Dean of the National War College and as a NATO peacekeeper in Bosnia. He wrote the military review of the U.S. engagement in Somalia. His most recent book, Warheads: Cable News and the Fog of War, is a memoir of his ten years as an on-air military analyst with NBC News.
