Topic: Versailles

White House correspondents' after-dinner jokes: Best zingers from the 'nerd prom' (+video)

Saturday night was the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Here are some of the best jokes, plus a menu designed especially for Washington and Hollywood celebrities.

Decoder Wire E! live at White House Correspondents' Dinner. Is that good for journalism?

The White House Correspondents' Dinner, a scholarship and awards event for journalists, has become a star-studded, glitzy, and E!-friendly bash. Some fear it's sending the wrong message.

Does a Star Wars palace in Italy need the army to protect it?

The Royal Palace of Caserta, which rivals Versailles in size and has appeared in several movies, is in such disrepair and so poorly guarded that the local mayor says the military needs to step in.

What's a filibuster look like? Not Jimmy Stewart

The Senate has approved a bipartisan agreement to limit the use of filibusters during debate and to speed nominations.

Cover Story
Is Europe really on the brink?

Europe's biggest crisis in the postwar era is not just about the economy. It's about a search for identity – and a rationale for staying unified.

Plan for Mormon temple rattles Catholics in a French suburb

In the Parisian suburb of Le Chesnay, plans to build the first Mormon temple in mainland France has revealed insecurities about the minority status of Catholics in France.

Samsara: movie review

Director Ron Fricke's movies aren't much more than travelogues, but the range of locations is impressive.

The Daily Reckoning On the prowl for insight into economists

The folks over at The Daily Reckoning are on a mission. Their treasure? Insight. Insight into why it is that the smartest economists in the world are so stupid. Incidentally, they hope to understand why the GDP is such a fraudulent measure of prosperity

Difference Maker
Son of an anti-Nazi hero uses family estate to teach teens

Helmuth Caspar von Moltke, son of an anti-Nazi hero, uses the family estate in Poland to teach teenagers about democracy and protecting human rights.

Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius

How much should the government intervene in the economy of a free society? Sylvia Nasar traces a century of debate.

China's opposition: redder than the Communist Party itself

Opposition to the Chinese Communist Party’s rule is actually coming from the left, with cries that the party has forgotten the masses and coddled the elite. Can the party co-opt this nationalist fervor to remake itself – and all of political science?

Mozart's Sister: movie review

'Mozart's Sister' spins a tale about Mozart's talented older sibling that is ingenious and plodding at the same time.

Fall of Giants

Ken Follett’s “Century Trilogy” is off to a strong start with "Fall of Giants" – a massive, compelling story of World War I.

Crisis in Ireland tests eurozone vision of common currency, common interests

The Greece and Ireland debt crises have raised more questions about a currency that was supposed to unify Europe.

Japan: Lessons of a debauched currency

Everything happening in the US today happened in Japan in the 1980's. And when their bubble burst, they fell into a decline from which they've never recovered.

Germany finishes paying WWI reparations, ending century of 'guilt'

Few people in Germany noted the country's final $94 million WWI reparations payment on Sunday. Some historians say that's for the best.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work: movie review

Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

This excellent biography offers a much-needed adjustment of Woodrow Wilson’s place in popular history.

The Secret Wife of Louis XIV

The real-life fairy tale of Françoise d’Aubigné, little-known second wife of France's Sun King.

Europeans' views of Qaddafi clash with Western diplomatic moves

Despite recent deals to lure Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi away from his pariah status, many Europeans still see him as a serial human rights violator and 1970s-style Arab dictator.

France: liberty, equality, and fraternity – but no burqas

After Sarkozy's speech, France divided over prospect of ban.

The West must not push Russia away – again

After so many broken promises, integration is key.

Do granite countertops mask our emptiness?

My hunch is that we're fixated on perfecting our home interiors because we don't want to work on ourselves.

Byzantium surprise

Historian Judith Herrin strips away the veneer of this medieval empire to reveal artistry and innovation.