PEN ALERT: Free Liu Xiaobo
PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of International PEN, the world’s oldest human rights organization and international literary organization. The Freedom to Write Program, which works to protect the freedom of the written word, has been working to end China’s imprisonment, harassment, and surveillance of writers and journalists and curtail Internet censorship and other restrictions on the freedom to write in that country. For more information, please visit www.pen.org/china.
PEN American Center has written a letter to President Obama asking him to help pressure the Chinese authorities to release a Tiananmen dissident, writer, and activist. Read more about the case.
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: A journalist digs into the shocking story of the mob hit on his accountant father, Mary Karr's memoir about her alcoholism and Catholicism, a great fiction saga of Manhattan over four centuries, Paul Auster's newest and highly praised novel, and a deep look at the world of Google.
Inside Iran's Intimidation Campaign
Gary Sick served on the National Security Council staff under Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan. He was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis and is the author of two books on U.S.-Iranian relations. Mr. Sick is a captain (ret.) in the U.S. Navy, with service in the Persian Gulf, North Africa and the Mediterranean.
The Ahmadinejad regime just hit an Iranian-American scholar with a 15-year prison sentence. The Daily Beast's Gary Sick on his role in the case-and why it's proof of Tehran's moral bankruptcy.
Team Bush Buries a Tell-All
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.
Former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer, in his first interview since the storm over his unflattering White House memoir began, tells Lloyd Grove about his former colleagues' mission to discredit him, W.'s "depressing" speeches-and Obama's eloquence.
Harvard Seeks Hipsters
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
With a new fashion line and an NYC Prep cameo, Harvard is making a bid to become the hippest Ivy. Kathleen Kingsbury wonders whether selling seersucker at schlocky retailers will help make it the go-to destination for glamour.
Dirty Secrets of College Waitlists
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
As acceptance letters hit mailboxes, record numbers of students could be stuck in waitlist limbo. In a Daily Beast exclusive, admissions officers dish about the tricks of getting in off the list-and why you shouldn't send cookies.
Looking for Mr. Far Right
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.
Somewhere in between college and the election, I started allowing politics to dictate the kind of men I date. And the worst part is, it's not just Obama supporters who turn me off-it's often my father's.
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.
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
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.
Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is a professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
Jeffrey Koterba is an acclaimed syndicated political cartoonist. Since joining the Omaha World-Herald in 1989, he has been a finalist for Editorial Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society and has placed second in the National Headliner Awards. His work is distributed through King Features Syndicate to 400 newspapers nationwide, and has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Washington Post, among others.
Partner Sites: Expedia| Hotels| Hotwire| Urbanspoon| Vimeo
