Jim Whitaker is a Henry Crown fellow at the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Formerly the president of Imagine Entertainment, he is also the founder of Project Rebirth, a non-profit organization that has chronicled the rebuilding of Ground Zero in New York City for the past eight years....

First things first: Be careful not to worry too much. But don't worry too little, either, because then you might wind up with even more to worry about than you originally bargained for. And it's important to bargain. It's important to be frugal and exercise caution. And it's important to...

Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Former New York Mayor Ed Koch. California Congressman David Dreier. Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman. Ex-Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Ex-Louisiana Congressman Jim McCrery. All play starring roles in Outrage, the incendiary new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick.

The...

As you may have heard, Barack Obama did some socializing in Maryland last night. His host: conservative columnist George Will, who brought out some of the biggest stars in the right-wing media establishment for dinner, wine, and restrained hostility collegial conversation. David Brooks was there, as were...

The first World War didn't get its name until the prospect of a second one came around. Before then, it was often referred to, without irony, as The Great War or, more optimistically, as The War to End All Wars.

The Great Depression wasn't called The Great Depression until well...

Something I've been thinking about lately: Back in the old days, the White House was wide open. Citizens could enter freely---much like they enter, say, the post office or the local police station in modern times. Back then the president was far more accessible. It was not uncommon for him...

Like so many people, I watched a lotta movies over the holidays. At home. In the theater. On television. Traditionally, this is a good time at the box office. The season of award-caliber cinema.

My wife and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night....

Emmanuel Jal is perhaps the unlikeliest of the world's hip-hop stars. A former child soldier in Sudan's brutal civil war, his life is a tale of both unspeakable tragedy and incredible triumph. Certainly no one in music has overcome longer odds on his way to success.

Jal is...

Gini Reticker is an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker. Her latest effort, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, is a stirring examination of the Liberian civil war and the band of extraordinary women who helped to put an end to it.

The devil in this story is President

Body of War marks Phil Donahue's debut as a documentary filmmaker. It chronicles the post-war life and times of American soldier Tomas Young, who was gravely injured in a gunfight during his first tour of duty in Iraq.

Unflinching in its patriotism, Body of War insists on showing us...

The Undecided American Voter. I will admit that I am confused by him. I am flummoxed by his continued indecision. (Or her continued indecision, as it were.)

And the truth of the matter is, it wasn't always this way. For a long time I was tolerant of the Undecided American...

** Los Angeles, 9:15 PM **

Forty-nine debates going back through the primary season, and if you're anything like me, you watched almost all of them. An act of total masochism patriotism. And now, at long last, we're done.

Joe the Plumber.

Insofar as the presidential debates are concerned,...

David Modigliani is the director of a new documentary called Crawford. A hit on the festival circuit, the film offers a poignant view of the small Texas town that was transformed overnight when George W. Bush bought his 1,500-acre ranch on Prairie Chapel Road back in 1999. Crawford just...

** Los Angeles, 8:46 PM **

Well, the second debate is now in the books. It was supposed to be a town hall meeting, but really it was more like a traditional debate, with a few scripted questions thrown in from the crowd. All day long, pundits have been saying...

Stefan Forbes is the director of a new documentary called Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, a fascinating, funny, and deeply disturbing portrait of the controversial Republican operative who perfected the art of politics as blood sport. The film arrives in theaters this weekend riding a wave of...

I am tempted to feel ridiculous for writing about a deceased movie star. Never done it before. Never even really thought about it, except maybe when Jack Lemmon died. Mine is the perspective of a fan, and admittedly it is a limited one. I didn't know Paul Newman, who

Recently I had a chance to sit down with the actor Stuart Townsend. A native of Ireland, Townsend has appeared in a variety of films and television shows, and he has now taken on his most ambitious project to date: writing, directing, and producing Battle in...

I was asked yesterday why I have recoiled so strongly from John McCain since he made the decision to put Sarah Palin on the ticket.

"What is it about her," someone asked me, "that makes you so uncomfortable?"

Good question.

I muttered a few responses, talked about women's...

Needless to say, it was a pretty shocking selection. A former beauty queen and two-year governor of Alaska. A gun-toting mother of five with a noted affinity for the politics of Patrick Buchanan. A devout Christian who believes that intelligent design should be debated in science classes, that same-sex couples...

DENVER, CO-

Much has been made of the contentious relationship between Hillary and Obama, but the one who's really smarting is Bill. You can go back through the primary season and pick your moments, trying to find the many causes of the lingering hard feelings. The attack ads on Hillary....