Joel Stein grew up in Edison, N.J., and went to Stanford.
From 1997-2017 he was a staff writer for Time magazine, writing a
regular humor column and more than a dozen cover stories; he was
also the back page columnist for Entertainment Weekly and the
opinion section of The Los Angeles Times. He has contributed to
Bloomberg Businessweek, GQ, Esquire, the New Yorker, Food & Wine,
Travel + Leisure, The New York Times Book Review, Elle, andMen's
Health.
Stein was a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton and has
appeared as a talking head on television shows such as Real Time
with Bill Maher, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and VH1's I Love
The '80s. He's interviewed celebrities for HBO, Cinemax, and Comedy
Central. In addition to writing on staff for two television shows,
he created an animated show for VH1 (Hey Joel) and wrote six
network pilots. His 2012 book, Man Made: A Stupid Quest For
Masculinity, was a bestseller, and Fox hired him to adapt it as a
film script. He's currently writing for the upcoming show American
Princess produced by Jenji Kohan -- best known as the creator of
Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds and Netflix series Orange is the
New Black.
"[Stein] investigates the contemporary political landscape with a
gimlet eye and plenty of humor in this deep dive into our cultural
divide."--Town and Country
"As a white male Yale grad from New England who now lives in New
York City and works in media, I feel like this book was written
just for me. However, I will allow Joel Stein to publish other
copies and sell you one because it really is that good!"
--John Hodgman, New York Times bestselling author
"Every paragraph of this book will make you laugh, but it will also
(I promise) change the way you think. Joel has written a brilliant
exploration of the supposed divide between elites and populists,
cleverly disguised as a humorous personal excursion. Like Don
Quixote he forays into perilous territory, his lance at his side,
and what he finds will surprise you. Deeply reported and poignant,
with a light touch of sweet self-awareness, his journey can help us
all take our minds to a better place."----Walter Isaacson, the New
York Times bestselling author of Leonardo Da Vinci and Steve
Jobs
"How can someone be so erudite and so funny at the same time? Read
this book, be deeply offended by how much you laugh, then get
yourself a chili dog to cleanse your intellectual palate. Then read
it again. It's hilarious."
--Aisha Tyler, comedian, actress, and New York Times bestselling
author
"I can think of no one more suited to defend elitism than Stein, a
funny man with hands as delicate as a baby full of soft-boiled
eggs."----Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
"In these troubled times, we, as a nation, desperately need
somebody to bring us together. Instead, we have Joel Stein, and
this brilliantly funny book. So let's let somebody else unite us,
while we let Joel Stein entertain the hell out of us."----Dave
Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and bestselling author of
Dave Barry Turns 40
"In this hilarious refereeing of the culture wars, former Time
columnist Stein roams America studying wealthy, Ivy
league-educated, conference-attending elites and their populist
detractors...Stein's excellent reportage keeps the ideology light
and is full of one-liners...that generously skew everyone. The
result is an insightful, uproarious take on America's political
divide."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Joel Stein is a condescending bastard, but he's also very funny,
insightful and correct. This book is a crucial argument for the
importance of expertise in this world that increasingly rejects it.
As Stein points out, it may feel good to go with the gut or follow
popular opinion, but it does have its downsides. Like, for
instance, causing a planetary apocalypse."----AJ Jacobs, the New
York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically and
The Know-It-All
"Joel Stein makes a case for elitism over populism, but, contra
what you might expect based on the subtitle, he does so without
being condescending, without being smug...One of the most nuanced
and introspective takes on populism post-2016 election, with
Stein's typical humorous, easy to read style making the subject
matter all the more accessible."--Washington Free Beacon
"With his smart, self-deprecating humor, former Time columnist
Stein investigates the correlation between the rise of populism and
the delegitimization of expertise... In a world that seems so
fragile, Stein makes a witty case for trained and trustworthy
people running it."--The National BookReview
"With this indispensable book, Joel Stein firmly establishes
himself as the Ted Nugent of elitism."----Andy Borowitz, New York
Times bestselling author and writer of The Borowitz Report
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