Inside the Astor Verdict
Ralph Gardner, Jr. is freelance writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, the New York Observer, the New Yorker and other publications.
Brooke Astor's son and his lawyer have been handed a guilty verdict, but Ralph Gardner Jr. still can't crack the trial's central mystery: What made them think they'd get away with defrauding a New York social icon?
The Real-Life Gossip Girl
Caryn James is a cultural critic for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Marie Claire and The New York Times Book Review. She was a film critic, chief television critic and critic-at-large for The New York Times, and an editor at the Times Book Review. She is the author of the novels Glorie and What Caroline Knew. As a film commentator, she has been a guest on Charlie Rose, Today, CBS Sunday Morning and MSNBC.
Though the privileged stars of Bravo's new series, NYC Prep, claim to hate Gossip Girl, they're modeling their every move after Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf.
The A-List Witness List
Ralph Gardner, Jr. is freelance writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, the New York Observer, the New Yorker and other publications.
How can the defense in the Brooke Astor trial possibly call witnesses as charming and believable as socialites Louis Auchincloss, Annette de la Renta, and Nancy Kissinger?
Madonna, My Neighbor
Ralph Gardner, Jr. is freelance writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, the New York Observer, the New Yorker and other publications.
What happens when the Material Girl moves close enough to borrow eggs from me? All the locals hope she'll turn around our frumpy neighborhood.
Who Killed the Yummy Mummy?
Molly Jong-Fast is the author of the weirdly popular cult novel Normal Girl and Girl Maladjusted. She has written for The New York Times, The Times of London, Cosmo, W magazine, The New York Observer, Mademoiselle, Marie Claire, British Elle, and many other newspapers and magazines. She is currently working on her third book, a novel called THE SOCIAL CLIMBER'S HANDBOOK. She is addicted to needlepoint. And since you are wondering, yes, her mother is Erica Jong, and yes, she is afraid to fly.
Will the recession mean I'll no longer be forced to listen to vapid one-upmanship among the superrich at excruciating dinner parties? Please say yes.
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.
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