Team
Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith
is a news junkie who feeds her addiction with the daily mix of video and conversation here at Veracifier, where she serves as both blogger and community manager. She knew she was bound for a career in journalism when she appeared at a second grade costume party dressed as NPR’s incomparable Ann Garles – replete with a homemade tape recorder fashioned out of a cereal box and hairbush – while all the other children bobbed for apples as fairies and quaterbacks. She traded in the hairbrush for the real thing at WBHM, the NPR affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama. But the eternal draw of Deep South barbecue couldn't hold her forever: it wasn't long before Raleigh-Elizabeth knew she could not take another day without a good bagel, so she found her way back New York and her alma mater, where, for a couple of hours each week, she breaks away from the wonderful world of Washington to pursue a Ph.D at Columbia. You can reach her at raleigh@veracifier.com.
Josh Marshall
is the publisher of Talking Points Memo, TPMmuckraker, TPM Election Central and TPMCafe. He also writes a weekly column for the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill. His articles on politics and foreign affairs have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers across the United States as well as abroad, including The American Prospect, The Atlantic Monthly, The Boston Globe, The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The New York Post, The New York Times, Salon and Slate. Marshall graduated from Princeton in 1991 and holds a doctorate in American history from Brown. He lives in New York City with his wife Millet, their son Sam and their dog Simon.
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel
is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and is the Libertarian candidate in the 2008 presidential election.
Marc Boxser
Marc Boxser is the network manager for ideas and politics for Next New Networks and serves as the executive producer of Veracifier. He is a former producer for Charlie Rose and CNN and lives in Brooklyn with his wife who is much smarter than he is.
Ben Craw
is an Associate Editor at TPM Media. He produces and edits TPMtv and does a little recreational news editing in his free time. Ben started at TPM as a member of the vaunted 2006 intern crop and wrote the Midterm Roundup for a nascent Election Central during the lead-up to the '06 elections. Besides that, Ben attended NYU, interned for a season at Saturday Night Live, worked somewhat bemusedly on the trading floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and for a very brief period of time was paid to watch TV (not as cush as it sounds). A resume of non sequiturs? Perhaps. But Ben is incredibly good at NHL '94 for Sega Genesis. Ben comes from Wilton, Connecticut and now lives in New York City.You can e-mail him at ben@talkingpointsmemo.com.
Ed Forbes
has been interested in politics since the 1988 presidential campaign and has fond memories of his Democratic mother and Republican father arguing over convention speeches. Before coming to New York, he served as editor of the weekly Lake Placid News, based in the Olympic host village of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games. While there, aside from focusing on community news in the Adirondacks’ small towns, he paid particular attention to Albany and Washington, covering state and national politics and elections. A graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., Forbes holds a B.A. in English, history and Canadian Studies; he is currently pursuing his Masters in Journalism. He is a native of Dover, N.J. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Emily, where they miss their Beagle, Kennedy, who’s been exiled to New Jersey.
Kristin Linder
is a History major at Louisiana State University where she focuses on Modern World. Currently, she spends her days locked in the library writing her Honor's thesis on the assassination of Jean Jaurès - a French guy most people have forgotten about. Along with her history degree, Kristin has a minor in Biology and a focus in French. This summer she will be in Germany doing historical research on the rise of Nationalism, then return to the states to pursue her Ph.D.
Kevin Brannon
traces his interest in politics to an encounter with then First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the airport in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1979. He was four; she fawned; it was magic. Nothing since has gone quite as smoothly. Kevin graduated from Hendrix College where he majored in English Literature and Philosophy. Immediately afterward, he joined the Peace Corps and moved to Rakvere, Estonia to teach conversational English to high schoolers. An afficianado of all things education, Kevin is also a graduate student. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Conn Corrigan
is currently taking a masters in journalism at Columbia University, New York. A 27-year-old graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University, he is determined that Columbia will be his final degree. He has few hobbies to speak of, apart from writing, and reading - but not necessarily finishing - weighty political texts that look impressive on a bookshelf. A bronze medalist in his high school's 600 meter race at the controversial sports day of 1993, his main ambition in life is to walk down a crowded street and for everyone to spontaneously burst into song and dance, like what happens in the musicals.
Thom File
was raised on the banks of the mighty Shoshone River near the outskirts of Cody, Wyoming, where he never fired a gun nor caught a fish. He was educated in Chicago, Illinois and enjoyed cheering for both the Cubs and the White Sox, and currently resides in Washington, D.C., where he spends his days toiling in the bowels of the federal bureaucracy. He is currently very proud of the "Acceptable" rating he recently received on his annual performance review. In his free-time, Thom scalps Hannah Montana tickets on StubHub and proposes to "abstinence only" counselors. He is terrorized by hipsters and their art.
Jonathan Backer
is a sophomore at Columbia University majoring in history and political science. He serves as the media director for the Columbia University College Democrats, the 2006-2007 College Democrats Chapter of the Year. He also chairs the ethics and election reform committee for Columbia's chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, the nation's first student-run think tank. For the duration of the week, he will be campaigning for Senator Chris Dodd in Iowa.
