Skip Navigation
James Fallows

James Fallows - James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States, and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. His latest book, China Airborne, will be published in May.
More

James Fallows is based in Washington as a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He has worked for the magazine for nearly 30 years and in that time has also lived in Seattle, Berkeley, Austin, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, and Beijing. He was raised in Redlands, California, received his undergraduate degree in American history and literature from Harvard, and received a graduate degree in economics from Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. In addition to working for The Atlantic, he has spent two years as chief White House speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, two years as the editor of US News & World Report, and six months as a program designer at Microsoft. He is an instrument-rated private pilot. He is also now the chair in U.S. media at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, in Australia.

Fallows has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award five times and has won once; he has also won the American Book Award for nonfiction and a N.Y. Emmy award for the documentary series Doing Business in China. He was the founding chairman of the New America Foundation. His two most recent books, Blind Into Baghdad (2006) and Postcards From Tomorrow Square (2009), are based on his writings for The Atlantic; he is at work on another book about China. He is married to Deborah Fallows, author of the recent book Dreaming in Chinese. They have two married sons.

Fallows welcomes and frequently quotes from reader mail sent via the "Email" button below. Unless you specify otherwise, we consider any incoming mail available for possible quotation -- but not with the sender's real name unless you explicitly state that it may be used. If you are wondering why Fallows does not use a "Comments" field below his posts, please see previous explanations here and here.
« Previous Fallows | Next Fallows » Email Email Print Print

Most shocking thing I've heard on TV (today)

By James Fallows

Feb 7 2009, 9:54 PM ET

Mickey Rourke, just now on Larry King Live, talking about his early days:  "So, I had this role in Body Heat..."

Larry King, ever prepared: "You were in Body Heat?"

You were in Body Heat????

 The 29-year old Rourke's unforgettable (I thought) debut as Teddy the arsonist in Body Heat, with the 31-year-old William Hurt, just before Diner:

 

Leonardo diC: "So I had this role in Titanic...
LK: "You were in Titanic?"

Sic transit gloria Body-Heati. Now back to work.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Adulthood, Delayed: What Has the Recession Done to Millennials? Adulthood, Delayed: What's the Recession Done to Millennials?
Picture of the Day: The Ross Sea Comes to Life Picture of the Day: The Ross Sea Comes to Life
The Fight for a Fair and Free Internet The Fight for a Fair and Free Internet
A Short Animated Biography of tHOMAS Edison The Life of Thomas Edison, Animated
Love Stinks: An Economic Manifesto Love (on the Internet) Stinks
Special Report
Beyond the BRICs Reuters Beyond the BRICs
A look at the next big global economies—and the rise of a global middle class. Read more ›

Correspondents

View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

World Press Photo Contest 2012

Feb 15, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

James Fallows
from the Magazine

Obama, Explained

As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office, two conflicting narratives of his presidency…

Barack Obama

Facing huge risks and holding inconclusive intel, the president makes a gutsy call to take out bin…

Hacked!

As email, documents, and almost every aspect of our professional and personal lives moves onto the…