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Spectral Appearances: An Arlen is Haunting The New Yorker
Filed under: The Squib Report Tagged: Adam Gopnik, Arlen Specter, Connie Bruck, Garrison Keillor, Hendrik Hertzberg, Janet Malcolm, Jeffrey Toobin, Josselyn Simpson, Lawrence Wright, Mary Anne Weaver, Patrick Hadden Keefe, Peter J. Boyer, Philip Gourevitch, politics, Richard Harris, Ryan Lizza, Sara Mosle, Sidney Blumenthal, Warren St. John, William Finnegan
Martin Schneider writes:
In my best stentorian anchorman's voice, I can honestly write that Senator Arlen Specter "rocked the political world today" when he announced that he would switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, ensuring the Democrat's a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate once Al Franken is seated sometime in June (it looks like). Specter is truly the man of the president's 100th day.
When he was district attorney of Philadelphia, Arlen Specter was quoted in The New Yorker in opposition to the new Miranda rule. It was the December 14, 1968, issue. Since then he has appeared in the magazine's pages many times—and there'll be plenty more in the near future.
(Note that "Fight on the Right," by Philip Gourevitch, and "Killing Habeas Corpus," by Jeffrey Toobin, are actually about Specter, rather than merely mentioning him in passing.)
Here's the full list:
"The Turning Point," Richard Harris, December 14, 1968
Comment, Garrison Keillor, August 20, 1990
Comment, Adam Gopnik, October 28, 1991
Comment, Josselyn Simpson, August 3, 1992
"The Ogre's Tale," Peter J. Boyer, April 4, 1994
"Flat-Tax Follies," Warren St. John, June 5, 1995
"The Western Front," Sidney Blumenthal, June 5, 1995
"Ghost in the Machine," Sidney Blumenthal, October 2, 1995
"Speaker of the Casino," Sara Mosle, November 13, 1995
"The Stranger, Mary Anne Weaver, November 13, 1995
"Advice and Dissent," Jeffrey Toobin, May 26, 2003
"Fight on the Right," Philip Gourevitch, April 12, 2004
"The Candidate," William Finnegan, May 31, 2004
"Hollywood Science," Connie Bruck, October 18, 2004
"Blowing Up the Senate," Jeffrey Toobin, March 7, 2005
"Ups and Downs," Hendrik Hertzberg, November 14, 2005
"Unanswered Questions," Jeffrey Toobin, January 23, 2006
"Hearts and Brains," Hendrik Hertzberg, November 6, 2006
"The Art of Testifying," Janet Malcolm, March 13, 2006
"Killing Habeas Corpus," Jeffrey Toobin, December 4, 2006
"The Spymaster," Lawrence Wright, January 21, 2008
"State Secrets," Patrick Radden Keefe, April 28, 2008
"The Dirty Trickster," Jeffrey Toobin, June 2, 2008
"The Gatekeeper," Ryan Lizza, March 2, 2009
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Hello! We're a small band of culture writers, editors, and artists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, which spent its formative years as a New Yorker blog, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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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
- Reviews: theater writing (for Time Out Chicago)
- 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)
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