Critical Moment

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Allison Samuels is a senior writer at Newsweek. Her work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, O, Essence, and Vibe. She’s also the author of Christmas Soul, published by Disney/Jump at the Sun, and Off the Record (Harper Collins/Amistad).

David Gates is the author of the novels Preston Falls and Jernigan, which was a Pultizer Prize finalist in 1992. He was senior writer for Newsweek. 

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.

David Ansen is a contributing editor and film critic for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He's written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Film Comment and Interview. He is the artistic director of the Los Angeles Film Festival. Since he was 12, he has kept a list of every movie he has ever seen.

Devin Gordon is the editor of Newsweek Digital, the umbrella company encompassing Newsweek's various web properties, including Newsweek.com and Newsweek Mobile. Previously, from June 2007 to June 2009, he was senior editor of the magazine's Periscope section, which was nominated for a National Magazine Award for "best section" in 2008. Previously, he was a senior writer, writing about film, television, sports and popular culture for the Arts and Entertainment and Society sections. He was part of the Newsweek reporting team for the past three Olympic games, including the Salt Lake City winter games in 2002, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he covered swimmer Michael Phelps, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for which he wrote Newsweek's cover story about skier Bode Miller.

During his tenure at the magazine, Gordon has written about everything from HBO's "The Wire" to rock band Coldplay to Oscar-winner film directors Ang Lee and Peter Jackson. He profiled "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator Larry David on the eve of the series' fourth season debut, and "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan just prior to the film's record breaking release. For Newsweek's year-end double-issue of 2002, he wrote "The Matrix Makers," (Jan. 6, 2003), a cover story about the two upcoming "Matrix" sequels—the first behind-the-scenes look at the new films by any publication.

Gordon joined Newsweek in 1998, after graduating from Duke University. His first cover story was "The Dominator" (June 18, 2001), an examination of what makes Tiger Woods tick. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Malcolm Jones writes about books, music, and photography for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, where he has written about subjects ranging from A. Lincoln to R. Crumb. He is the author of a memoir, Little Boy Blues, and collaborated with the songwriter and composer Van Dyke Parks and the illustrator Barry Moser on Jump!, a retelling of Brer Rabbit stories.

Marc Peyser was named senior editor of the Arts & Entertainment section in October 2006, overseeing NEWSWEEK's coverage of movies, television, theater, books, art and architecture.

Previously he had served as a senior writer covering the television industry since 1999. He has contributed to numerous cover-length stories on popular television shows, stars and personalities.  Among the most recent topics: "The Colbert Report," "Desperate Housewives" and "American Idol," along with "The Sopranos," the end of "Friends" and "Six Feet Under." He has also reviewed new television shows as well as Broadway and off-Broadway theater.

Before that, Peyser was a general editor in the Nation and Arts sections and penned the popular Newsmakers page from 1997 through 1999. He joined Newsweek in September 1989 as a letters correspondent and later served as editorial and senior editorial assistant of arts and associate editor of Nation, Society and Arts & Entertainment.

Peyser was a reporter for The Register newspaper in Red Bank, N.J. from 1987 to 1989.  While at The Register, Peyser won two New Jersey Press Association Awards for feature stories.

He received his B.A. in English from Stanford University and his M.A. in Journalism from Columbia University.  He resides in Manhattan.

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