Larry King
How Older Parenthood Will Upend American Society
The scary consequences of the grayest generation.
Over the past half century, parenthood has undergone a change so simple yet so profound we are only beginning to grasp the enormity of its implications. It is that we have our children much later than we used to. This has come to seem perfectly unremarkable; indeed, we take note of it only when celebrities push it to extremes—when Tony Randall has his first child at 77; Larry King, his fifth child by his seventh wife at 66; Elizabeth Edwards, her last child at 50. READ MORE >>
How Rihanna Upended Oprah’s Standard Redemption Narrative
Oprah’s interview with Rihanna last night was, as always, a feat of emotional mirroring. “What happens when you see him? Does your heart do that WOOSH thing?” Oprah asked after Rihanna confessed that she and ex Chris Brown, who was arrested in 2009 for assaulting her, are still close friends. “My stomach drops,” Rihanna said quietly. READ MORE >>
Did you see Robert Blake on the “Piers Morgan Show” last week? You can catch up with it on the CNN website, even if it’s now become a series of bites or takes, with bleeps here and there. It was the movie of the week, where you couldn’t take your eyes off the screen and didn’t know what to believe. What more can you ask for? READ MORE >>
The Legacy of Larry King and Oprah
Farewell, Larry King. We Knew Ye All Too Well.
The final episode of "Larry King Live" on CNN aired Thursday. I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but King isn't dead yet, and come to think of it, I have no problem with speaking ill of the dead anyway. Here's a classic moment from the program in which Jerry Seinfeld disabused King of his apparent belief that Seinfeld was ending because NBC cancelled it: READ MORE >>
Romney: For the Mandate Before I Was Against It
Mitt Romney, as my colleague Jonathan Chait keeps pointing out, has a big problem as he pursues the 2012 Republican presidential nomination: His signature achievement as governor of Massachusetts was creating a universal health coverage scheme that looks a lot like the Affordable Care Act. READ MORE >>
Doctor Feel-Heinous
Sorry, But The Verdict Is In On The Long American Excursion In Iraq. And It Is Favorable.
There were moments--long moments--during the Iraq war when I had my doubts. Even deep doubts. Frankly, I couldn’t quite imagine any venture like this in the Arab world turning out especially well. This is, you will say, my prejudice. But some prejudices are built on real facts, and history generally proves me right. Go ahead, prove me wrong. Of course, Iraq hasn’t turned out that well. Sunni jihadniks are still routinely murdering pious Shi’a on pilgrimage to Karbala. Still... READ MORE >>
In This Installment of Celebrity Justice
Celebrity worship is tiresome if largely benign. Celebrity justice, by contrast, is corrosive on any number of levels. Sadly, the case of R&B singer/woman beater Chris Brown increasingly looks like a nasty example of the latter. READ MORE >>
Once More, With Feeling!
In the last month, Michael Jackson departed us for the great Neverland in the sky, and Jon dumped Kate for a younger woman. And yet, with perhaps the grim exception of Larry King, health care reform is now dominating the media. These days, you can't turn on the news, flip through a newspaper, or open a Web browser without hearing about it. And the material is hardly frothy. Should insurance exchanges include firewalls? Should we change the Sustainable Growth Rate? Is it time to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council? Score one for American political discourse. READ MORE >>
