Longreads
The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks for Jan. 7, 2012
The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the Web this week. By David Sessions.
How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?Charles McGrath, New York Times MagazineA suburban dad. A fictional television blowhard. And now a political money launderer. How one funny guy became three.
The Meaning of MittMichael Kranish and Scott Helman, Vanity Fair Digging into Mitt Romney’s record as a Mormon leader, his business deals at Bain Capital, and that infamous car trip with the family dog strapped to the roof, the authors pierce the Mitt bubble to find that the contradictions, question marks, and ambivalence go deeper than his politics.
The CollectorEliza Gray, The New RepublicDid a famed connoisseur of political memorabilia commit an audacious crime?
How the CIA Screws UpPaul R. Pillar, Foreign PolicyI served in the CIA for 28 years and I can tell you: America's screw-ups come from bad leaders, not lousy spies.
Bottle RocketKelefa Sanneh, The New YorkerNewt Gingrich’s return.
Yes We Can (Can’t We?)Andrew Romano, NewsweekWhile the GOP votes, team Obama is crafting a juggernaut. Andrew Romano talks to top advisers about their 2012 strategy—including David Axelrod, who admits that he shares some of the blame for the president's dismal approval rating.