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We Already Knew Hendrik Hertzberg Was a Winner

Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: gay rights, Hendrik Hertzberg, Keith Olbermann, Ta-Nehisi Coates, television, TOTT

…but the Columbia Journalism Review just reconfirmed it, with a “Winner” laurel for Hertzberg’s recent Comment on the hateful Proposition 8. CJR’s Charles Kaiser writes, “His opening paragraph is worth the price of the magazine.”

It seems unlikely that you, the Emdashes reader, haven’t seen Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on this Californian embarrassment and on the essential comfort of love in a hard world, but just in case, here it is. —E.G.

Update: Ta-Nehisi Coates agrees, saying that this Comment demonstrates why Hertzberg is the “king” of the weekly column. It’s endearing how much Coates loves the column, and I admire how he gets the post to end on a laugh. —Martin Schneider

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About us

Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.

You'd like to know more about the writers and artists and what our column titles mean? We live to serve!

We welcome tips, questions, comments, and corrections, and are always on the lookout for ardent, obsessive new contributors. Click here to email us.

We host occasional book giveaways. Publishers, please email us for our postal address.

Our favorite things | Compliments and press

Tell me more

Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.

Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.

The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.

Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.

Other writing by Emily Gordon

Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)