CONTRIBUTORS

Michael Lewis

For “Wall Street on the Tundra,” page 140, his second article for Vanity Fair, new contributing editor Michael Lewis flew to Iceland to observe the effects and diagnose the causes of the tiny island nation’s economic collapse. Lewis compares his assignment to that of an “epidemiologist tracking a virus around the world—only the virus is leverage.” He explains: “An epidemiologist could go from country to country and learn as much about the countries a plague infects as about the plague itself. Iceland was so interesting because it’s so extreme, and I think in many ways they’re kind of one step ahead of us. They’re a bit of an indicator of what may be in store for us.” Lewis’s next book, a memoir about fatherhood called Home Game, comes out in May.

William Langewiesche

International correspondent William Langewiesche is accustomed to filing reports for Vanity Fair from perilous locations. This month, his story (“The Pirate Latitudes,” page 148) comes from the Gulf of Aden, where, last spring, Somali pirates captured a small French cruise ship. The French government was quick to flex its muscles, but the crisis was in fact resolved the old-fashioned way—by paying ransom. “At the very highest level, this is a story about governmental reactions to perceived disorder,” Langewiesche says, “and how governments pretend to hold up the sky as if without their efforts it would fall.” Langewiesche, who reported extensively on piracy in his book The Outlaw Sea, tracked down crew members of the French cruise ship and one of the pilots who participated in the French intervention, among others.

Mark Seal

When contributing editor Mark Seal began reporting his story about the Bemie Madoff scandal (“Madoff’s World,” page 124), very few of the victims of the Ponzi scheme seemed willing to talk. “But as I went forward, it was almost like I became a member of the family,” Seal says. “So many of these people, who were extremely distraught and emotional, actually wanted someone to talk to.” While the dozens of interviews he conducted were amazing from a journalistic standpoint, Seal says, “they were also absolutely heartbreaking from a human standpoint.” Wildflower, Seal’s biography of conservationist Joan Root, whose murder he wrote about for Vanity Fair in 2006, will be published in May.

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David Kamp

Between last year’s election rhetoric and the current economic crisis, Vanity Fair contributing editor David Kamp has had ample occasion to ponder the frequent use —and misuse—of the phrase “the American Dream.” “The American Dream is such a wonderful, uplifting, and unique concept—no other country has a de facto Official Dream—but somewhere along the way, its meaning became less about freedom and possibility and more about living the way people do on MTV Cribs,” says Kamp. So he set about writing this month’s cover essay (page 118) in order to clarify “what the American Dream should mean to us now that we know it’s not about owning a McMansion and being 300 grand in debt.”

Krista Smith

As Vanity Fair’s senior West Coast editor, Krista Smith is our eyes and ears in Hollywood. For “Laughing Matter: Comedy’s New Legends,” the portfolio beginning on page 154, Smith set loose today’s hottest comedic actors to come up with their own characters, either fictional or nonfictional. The results? Frida Kahlo, Jackie Gleason, and Bonnie Parker, among others. “These actors are the people in town whom everyone wants to hang out with,” says Smith, pictured here impersonating Buster Keaton. “They write, they act, they produce—they’re irresistible. And during lean times audiences love nothing more than to be entertained.”

Jim Windolf

After a brief flirtation with stand-up comedy in the 1990s, Jim Windolf went on to become a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, interviewing some of the sharpest comedians in the business, such as Sacha Baron Cohen and Tina Fey. For this month’s issue, Windolf wrote the captions for “Laughing Matter: Comedy’s New Legends” (page 154), a portfolio that showcases today’s funniest actors, including Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, and Seth Rogen. “Growing up, I was enthralled by Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Andy Kaufman, Lily Tomlin, Gene Wilder, and Peter Sellers,” Windolf says. “It’s great to see all the talent that has come up in the last few years. This new generation has great range. They excel at doing beautifully understated ensemble work when a role demands it, but they also get laughs by being filthy or totally off-the-wall.”