Ben Stein received the John Von Kannon Service to the Cause Award at The American Spectator’s 52nd annual Robert L. Bartley Gala on November 7, 2019. “Ben has been writing for The American Spectator since well before I joined it,” American Spectator editorial director…
Sitting down to write, I ask myself: Am I being fair? Is it according to Hoyle, kosher, and on the up and up to take aim at such a target, cavorting unaware in the complacency of impervious consensus? After all,…
The Joe Rogan Experience works because the host exudes curiosity, the guests fascinate, the format (untethered to word counts or ad breaks) allows for an authentic conversation to develop, the tone remains uninhibited and the palate broad, and the views…
In a recent issue, High Country News (or HCN, a regional fortnightly newspaper published in Paonia, Colorado) Editor in Chief Brian Calvert penned a lead editorial decrying the presence on the southern border of “xenophobic” militia groups, especially one New…
Last Monday I reported that Monsignor Walter Rossi, the rector of D.C.’s Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, had me expelled from the property on Corpus Christi Sunday. His director of security, the ironically named Valencia Camp, escorted…
At the beginning of the Trump presidency, a few cautious editors, such as the Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker, questioned the media’s open embrace of biased reporting. Baker warned reporters that they should stick to demonstrable facts and avoid jumping…
Washington I spent my first 30-plus years in the newspaper business as an editorial writer and later a columnist. Like many readers, I developed views about political reportage in this country, liberal bias, and stupid cable news tricks. Since the…
Over the weekend, Salon published a list of “The 25 conservatives actually worth following on Twitter,” which turned out to be fairly revealing. The prompt for the article was an acknowledgment that leftists had completely failed to anticipate the election…
On the occasion of my 50th anniversary of founding and editing The American Spectator, I feel moved to reflect on the parlous condition of the magazine business. We celebrated our anniversary just last night, and naturally I composed my reflections before the event. What makes this column something more than an occasion for indulgence is that the sickly condition of magazines is, of a sudden, a hot news item.
“She spent evenings with the art books Yankel had bought for her in Lutsk, and each morning sulked over breakfast. They were good and fine, but not beautiful. No, not if I’m being honest with myself. They are only the…
