The United States of Hysteria
Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
When President Obama declared the swine-flu outbreak a national emergency, he tapped into America's time-honored tendency to freak out.
The Love Guru
Sean Macaulay was the L.A. movie critic for The London Times from 1999 to 2007. He has also written for Punch, British GQ, and The Mail on Sunday. He was most recently creative consultant on the award-winning documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil.
In his books, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell has dissected many inspirational underdog victories, but his own triumph over the opposite sex could well be the most inspirational of all.
My Celebrity College Roommate
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
Jaimie Etkin is a culture intern at the Daily Beast.
From Barack Obama's air-conditioning quirks to John Kerry's odd sleeping habits to Madonna's penchant for risk-taking, the memories of people whose college roommates went on to become stars say a lot about navigating your freshman-year living situation.
Are We All Racial Profilers?
Lorie Fridell, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. She consults with police departments and provides command-level training on this topic. With U.S. Department of Justice funds and other experts, she is developing two model curriculums for police based on the social psychology of human bias. Her most recent chapter is “Racially Biased Policing: The Law Enforcement Response to the Implicit Black-Crime Association.”
In the wake of Skip Gates' arrest, racial profiling is back in the news. But is racially biased policing always the result of racism? Lorie Fridell on why the equation isn't so simple-and how police departments can erase unconscious bias.
What Bernie Should Read in Jail
Writer and comedian Andy Borowitz's work has appeared in Condé Nast Portfolio, the New Yorker and The New York Times. His Web site is BorowitzReport.com.
As the Ponzi king heads to prison, he suddenly has a lot of time on his hands. Andy Borowitz recommends five books that should keep him busy for the next 150 years.
The Science of When to Get Married
Hannah Seligson is a journalist and the author of New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches. Her second book, A Little Bit Married, will be published by De Capo this spring. Her website is www.hannahseligson.com
How do we pick the moment at which we finally decide to settle down? When it comes to romantic decision-making, neuroscientists say the rational part of our brain gets dumped.
I'd like to recommend Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success which comes out November 18. As always, Malcolm sees around corners, is full of insights and is a treat to read.
Richard L. Plepler is HBO co-president, responsible for overseeing the network’s Original Programming and Corporate Communications groups. Plepler is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and The Trilateral Commission. He is a trustee of the Asia Society, and serves on the boards of the Nixon Center and Phoenix House. He is also a member of the Dean’s Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
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.
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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.
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