Early this morning, Slate editor-in-chief and chairman Jacob Weisberg tweeted that former colleague and culture editor John Swansburg was "back!" A New Yorker spokesman confirmed that Mr. Swansburg's last day was Friday Oct. 28 and that he was returning to Slate--though we're not sure as what yet. The Observer is still waiting to hear back Read More
This week's award for best disclosure statement goes to The Big Money's Chadwick Matlin, who included this helpful paragraph in yesterday's Michael Lewis: Our Money Laureate:
That Lewis is so devoted to profile-driven journalism is surprising considering his influences (which, it should be said, are influences that I—and The Big Money—share). Lewis’ career owes much Read More
Remember how back in November former Observer 'Edgy Enthusiast' columnist Ron Rosenbaum used his Slate 'Spectator' column to call out Buzzmachine's Jeff Jarvis as "the Sarah Palin of Gurus"?
At the time, Mr. Jarvis—a former magazine editor-turned-digital evangelist—responded by calling Mr. Rosenbaum "a pissy third grader," which sparked an on-going war of Read More
What do you do after co-creating a television series so critically praised, Slate's then-editor Jacob Weisberg called it "the best show on television and which prompted The New York Times editorial page's Nicholas Kulish to write, "If Charles Dickens were alive today, he would watch 'The Wire,' unless, that is, he was already Read More
Curtis Sittenfeld, author of last year's Laura Bush-inspired novel American Wife is wading into fictional Presidential doings yet again. Last night, Slate started running All Along, This Was Supposed To Happen, a serialized novella about Barack Obama's Inauguration.
Reached by email, Ms. Sittenfeld (who used to write for The Observer from Read More
Media Mob has learned that former New York governor Eliot Spitzer will write a new column for Slate beginning tomorrow. The column will appear every other week and it'll be about government, regulation and finance.
"He's going to be doing a regular thing," said Jacob Weisberg, the editor-in-chief of the Slate Group. "It'll be heavily about Read More
- "If [Axl] Rose ever had a moment's doubt or repentance over what Chinese Democracy has cost him in time (13 years), money (14 studios are listed in the credits) and body count — including the exit of every other founding member of the band — he left no room for it in these 14 Read More
Here’s a blow-by-blow, so far:
As John Koblin reported yesterday, Condé Nast is implementing across the board budget cuts. Men's Vogue was forced to reformat itself down to a glorified supplement to its big sister publication; Portfolio is dramatically scaling back its Web site and limiting its run from 12 issues a year to 10.
Like the Read More
For the third presidential election in a row, Slate has asked its staffers and contributors to tell the world who they're voting for.
The winner? Democrat Barack Obama, who beat Republican John McCain with 55 out of 62 staffers asked.
Not voting for Senator Obama: Deputy Managing Editor and Copy Chief Rachel Larimore, Read More
According to a heavily embargoed press release from The Washington Post Company's reps, the company has acquired Foreign Policy, the magazine and Web site formerly owned by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
FP will become part of The Slate Group, which recently launched The Big Money, a business site.
Why Read More
Slate has an essay by Election and Little Children author Tom Perrotta on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, in which he writes, "Caribou hunting aside, Sarah Palin represents the state-of-the-art version of a particular type of woman—let's call her the Sexy Puritan—that's become a familiar and potent figure in the culture war Read More
Spinoffs are well known in television. Sometimes they work: The Jeffersons spun off from All in the Family and ran for 10 years. Sometimes they don't: Look at Joey. (You didn't while it was on.)
Click image to enlarge.
"I can't remember a time when it had more urgency and relevance," Mr. Weisberg said.
On a recent Read More
This week, Slate presents a special issue all about Geezers, those adorable folks in pastels and plaid you see walking aimlessly about your local mall and running for President of the United States.
Among the offerings, 80 over 80: The Most Powerful Octogenarians in America, which includes Mike Wallace, Liz Smith, and Read More
