Taking stock of people and ideas in the news.

If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.

• Rosie O'Donnell The Great White Oprah. 
  David Plotz Dec. 2, 2000
  
• Fox News Channel It's not fair. It's not balanced. So what?
  David Plotz Nov. 23, 2000
  
• James Baker The Bush family janitor. 
  David Plotz Nov. 18, 2000
  
• Robert Johnson How did BET's boss become the United States' official black tycoon? 
  David Plotz Nov. 11, 2000
  
• The House Incumbent He can't lose. 
  David Plotz Nov. 4, 2000
  
• Yasser Arafat Man of inaction. 
  David Plotz Oct. 21, 2000
  
• Gail Collins Should the New York Times keep its other sassy, Irish, baby boomer, female political columnist?  
  David Plotz Oct. 14, 2000
  
• Ariel Sharon The Bulldozer rolls on.
  David Plotz Oct. 7, 2000
  
• Dave Pelzer The child-abuse entrepreneur. 
  David Plotz Sept. 30, 2000
  
• FBI Director Louis Freeh The untouchable. 
  David Plotz Sept. 23, 2000
  
• Richard Blumenthal  He was supposed to be president. So why is he only Connecticut's attorney general? 
  David Plotz Sept. 16, 2000
  
• Spike Lee Why he should lighten up. 
  David Plotz Sept. 2, 2000
  
• Bela Karolyi Can he save U.S. gymnastics again?
  David Plotz Aug. 26, 2000
  
• St. Albans School Why does the D.C. prep school spawn so many politicians? 
  David Plotz Aug. 12, 2000
  
• Bill Hillsman He's the world's greatest political adman. And he works for Ralph Nader. 
  Scott Shuger Aug. 1, 2000
  
• Gen. Colin Powell Born to be vice president. 
  David Plotz July 29, 2000
  
• Hugh Hefner He swings. He misses. 
  David Plotz July 21, 2000
  
• Thabo Mbeki Why has South Africa's excellent president gone loco?
  David Plotz July 15, 2000
  
• The MacArthur Geniuses How to become one of them.
  David Plotz July 8, 2000
  
• Adlai Stevenson The last of the beautiful losers.
  David Greenberg July 1, 2000
  
• Energy Secretary Bill Richardson He schmoozes. He loses. 
  David Plotz June 23, 2000
  
• The Arab Brat Pack  They're young, they're sexy, they're running Dad's country.
  David Plotz June 17, 2000
  
• Eminem The rapper is sadistic, misogynistic, and fantastic. 
  David Plotz June 10, 2000
  
• Jon Corzine Politician as Mark.
  David Plotz June 3, 2000
  
• Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger Why he could be a TV star, and she won't be. 
  David Plotz May 27, 2000
  
• Condoleezza Rice George W. Bush's celebrity adviser. 
  David Plotz May 12, 2000
  
• The Prostate Why the gland is so famous.
  David Plotz May 5, 2000
  
• Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe The scheming survivor.
  David Plotz April 29, 2000
  
• Nasdaq The stock market for the smug digital world. 
  David Plotz April 21, 2000
  
• Helen Gurley Brown The Cosmo girl at 78. 
  David Plotz April 8, 2000
  
• Michael Saylor MicroStrategy's cult leader.
  David Plotz March 23, 2000
  
• St. Patrick No snakes. No shamrocks. Just the facts.
  David Plotz March 18, 2000
  
• Charles Colson How a Watergate crook became America's greatest Christian conservative.
  David Plotz March 11, 2000
  
• Al Sharpton How Al Charlatan became Al Kingmaker. 
  David Plotz March 4, 2000
  
• Boy Bands and Girl Vixens All you need to know about the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. 
  David Plotz Feb. 24, 2000
  
• South Carolina It's not crazy anymore. 
  David Plotz Feb. 19, 2000
  
• The God of the Gridiron Does He care who wins the Super Bowl?
  David Plotz Feb. 4, 2000
  
• Mike McCurry How to be a pro. 
  David Plotz Jan. 29, 2000
  
• Time Warner's Gerald Levin He's being overlooked again. He likes that.
  David Plotz Jan. 15, 2000
  
• The Russian Military Not mighty, not red, and barely an army.
  David Plotz Jan. 8, 2000