Category: General

My colleague at The Atlantic Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg has posted a wonderful 107-year old film created by Edison Studios of “The Night Before Christmas.” Here is her framing of what you can watch above.

Garance Franke-Ruta, Senior Editor and Chief of the Politics Channel at The Atlantic, and I were privileged to have this picture taken with President and Michelle Obama. It was a great evening — and the President said some great things about The Atlantic for which he has actually been a contributor.

I have gathered some more views on Chuck Hagel’s potential — and challenged — nomination to serve as President Obama’s Secretary of Defense. Politico‘s Mike Allen is calling the nomination “toast” after Senator Chuck Schumer refused to say he would vote in favor of him.

I’ve reached out to a wide range of policy experts, pundits, and government officials (current and former) to share their thoughts on Senator Chuck Hagel’s potential nomination as Secretary of Defense.

Senator Jeff Bingaman is retiring after thirty years of shunning the spotlight and just getting great policy work done. I think he was a combination of Jimmy Stewart ala Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. — one of the nation’s wisest legal minds….ever.

Anderson & Low Just received this wonderful holiday pic from London-based, turbo-talented photographers Jonathan Anderson & Edwin Low, called just “Anderson & Low” by their friends. I love stopping in at the National Portrait Gallery in London — and discovering photos there that they took. Kate Middleton enjoys their work also.

Editors at The Atlantic shared notes about the best books they read during the past year. These books did not need to be published in 2012 — but read during the last twelve months. My selection was Adam Goodheart’s 1861: The Civil War Awakening.

Senator Chuck Hagel hasn’t  spent much time at Human Rights Campaign dinners. I wish he had gone — or better yet, had been invited by the organization to speak and share his views on gays in American life.

Chuck Hagel voted in favor of John Bolton’s nomination before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters “I am the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, clothed in immense power!” one can imagine Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi thinking after his jaw-dropping power grab these last few days.