Get it? Womb? It's a site for ladies, who have wombs! Anyway, thanks for the image, Jake. Weisberg's memo confirms that Double X publisher Peggy White is leaving, and that associate editor Samantha Henig will be let go at the end of the year unless another job can be found for her at one of the Slate Group's other sites. (We were dubious about Weisberg's characterization of White's departure as voluntary—"I'm sorry to say that Peggy White has decided to pursue other opportunities"—but we asked her, and she confirms that it was.)

A tipster tells us that Weisberg gave Hanna Rosin, Emily Bazelon, and Meghan O'Rourke a two-year commitment when they launched the site six months ago, and that the new site design—now abandoned—that Weisberg references in the memo had been scheduled to roll out today:

From: Jacob Weisberg
Sent: Mon 11/16/2009 2:45 PM
To: TheSlateGroup
Subject: The Next Double X

SLATE GROUP CONFIDENTIAL

We're writing to let you all know that we've decided to turn Double X into a section of Slate and to stop publishing it as a separate site. This is a business and a practical decision, not an editorial one. We love Double X and are extremely proud of what it has accomplished journalistically over the past seven months. We believe in it and want it to continue growing. We see this change as an example of fast evolution in response to what we've learned about a rapidly shifting marketplace. Bringing Double X back into Slate should make it easier to develop both the editorial and business sides of the project while reducing our costs significantly.

Returning Double X to Slate is a good option in part because Double X has done so well in maintaining Slate's DNA while branching out into areas Slate has never before covered in depth. David agrees that returning Double X to the womb from which it sprang should be an easy fit. To readers, there should be little visible change. Part of the Slate Group concept has always been that we can have it both ways on the question of what is and isn't a separate site — Slate V being a prime example. Some readers now understand Double X to be as a section of Slate. Some in the future will continue to regard it as separate. We're happy to fudge on this question.

Under the hood, there will be some changes. We have a lot still to figure out, but our expectation is that we'll begin publishing Double X on Gutenberg by the beginning of next year, and then migrate the archives from Drupal. Unfortunately, shifting the CMS means abandoning a very nice homepage redesign that was near to completion. We'll see the benefit of that work, however, in The Big Money's adoption of a similar template later this week, and eventually in a version of it on the Root.

Emily, Hanna and Jessica will continue to run Double X. As a section of Slate, it will report to Julia Turner. Noreen, whose time was divided between Double X and TBM, will now divide her time between The Big Money and Slate, which should help with the added copy-editing load. Samantha is staying with us at least until the end of the year to help with the transition, by which time we're hoping to have found
her another position inside the Slate Group. I'm sorry to say that Peggy White has decided to pursue other opportunities. It's been our pleasure working with her and we're sorry to see her go.

Jacob and John

CORRECTION: Former Domino editor-at-large Thomas Delavan writes in to say that the party was at his apartment in the West Village, not Needleman's in TriBeCa. We were thrown by similar chairs, large paper globes and flooring, and apologize for the misapprehension.

That's Needleman on the far left.

Refreshments were served. The apartment is "a mix of high-a nineteenth- century Swedish table and chairs-and low, with big, cheap paper lanterns."

Needleman and husband Slate editor Jacob Weisberg have thrown many parties at their apartment, and even though it looks like people were in good spirits for this send-off, this is the saddest.

We've no idea how or for how long Needleman (middle, above) has known celebrity decorator Michael Smith (far left), but she's been slobbering in her magazine since last April, when he expressed his desire to get his paws on the Lincoln Bedroom. Smith and Needleman have been conspiring together for years, according to this SECRET MEMO.

Well, now Michelle Obama has selected Smith as her official White House decorator, and Needleman continued crowing:

But Smith's work does have a look that's distinctive. His unique talent is marrying Old World pedigree with a clean Californian sensibility. Think about what a grand English country house might look like if it were owned by a beach-loving movie executive who grew up worshipping the studios, and you get the idea. His interiors combine a crisp, polished sense of glamour with a laid-back ease, comfort and lightness—you can practically feel the breeze when you look at pictures of his work. Smith brings his clients the class and history of Europe but in a well-ordered, uncluttered American package, and this has proven to be a golden formula. His clients are mostly politically active members of Hollywood royalty, with a fair smattering of media moguls and socialites. The rooms he designs for them are luxurious but livable, layered but not stuffed, patinated but not dusty, individual but not eccentric.

Needleman is, of course, married to Slate editor and political journo Jacob Weisberg, which almost explains her recording an odd story of getting drunk at a party and Smith calling her "Martha Mitchell."

And so today Needleman took her White House makeover fantasy to the pages of the New York Times op-ed section, in an odd column attacking, of all things, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House as some sort of attack of bad taste launched by Jackie Kennedy (and Pat Nixon?) from beyond the grave.

Now, of course, she paints Michelle Obama as a new Jackie O, who'll add crazy Mark Rothkos and 20th-century furniture to the Green Room. Of course the last First Lady to really have her way with the place was not Jackie O, but Nancy Reagan, with her famous $200k state china and complete renovations of the second and third floors of the White House and her Oscar de la Renta dresses. That is a comparison that is probably not so complimentary to Michelle Obama and Deborah Needleman's BFF Michael Smith, though, because everyone in America hated Nancy Reagan, except Peggy Noonan.

Anyway, sure, let Deborah's fave designer add some new curtains to the room where one of Abe Lincoln's kids died.

Among the other competitors cited by Mr. Ledbetter were CNNMoney.com, Forbes and Fortune. Mr. Ledbetter draws distinctions between sites like TheStreet.com, which pitch stock tips, and what he intends The Big Money to be.

Rather than promising to “read us and we’ll make you rich,” Mr. Ledbetter is offering to “read us and we’ll make you smart.”

So basically, the New Yorker finance page writ large.

There is one pretty cool idea: The site has a Twitter account devoted to heckling the Wall Street Journal. Sadly, the editorial page appears not to be included in this.

[Times]

The Next 'House and Garden' [NYM]

Inside the restaurant, Tom Wolfe had his photo taken with Julia Allison. (That bears repeating: Tom Wolfe had his photo taken with Julia Allison.) Kurt Andersen made a little chit-chat before begging off to the Larry King appreciation party in the next room. (They had better snacks, by far. Also CNN partygoers received a Coach-imitation leather tote with a CNN tag, and a DVD of King's reputedly best work. You could sneak in through the kitchen.) The two parties side-by-side may have been a slight disaster on the part of Steven Rubenstein and his PR folks, but it came off fine, actually. (It was a question of wattage; did we see Hillary Clinton presswoman Jennifer Hanley outside, meaning that Hillary Clinton was inside the CNN party?)

Uniformed waiters were aggressive with the hors d'oeuvres, most of which featured caviar in some form, but the knot of yarmulked men gathered by the bar ignored them. (The duck, the shrimp, the crabcakes!) Also not eating, or drinking, was Jared's rehabilitated felon father, Charles Kushner, who mostly spoke in low tones to men at the end of the bar. Ever-gracious Jared entertained a seemingly endless stream of well-wishers and posed for photographs. The real estate broker-developer Michael Shvo said he'd call him about having lunch. Jared recently purchased the most expensive office building in America.

So how were things at the paper? "We're having a lot of fun," Jared said. Was he dating Ivanka Trump? "We're just friends. But thanks for asking." So that partnership was all business too.

Ms. Trump was in a very nice short black dress, looking tall and blonde; she talked for what seemed like eons with Jared's assistant Kimberly. Steven Rubenstein, who represents the Observer and the Kushner family, made sure everyone was having a good time and that the photographers were getting all the right people; he talked with did not talk with New York Times reporter Allen Salkin, who wrote such nice things about Jared in the Sunday Styles section.

Cindy Adams talked to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, notebook in hand, hair at attention. Salon editor Joan Walsh, in a pantsuit, stayed close to Salon writer and former NYO staffer Rebecca Traister. Harry Evans was there with his wife, former lots-of-places editor Tina Brown, who spent a lot of time deep in very close conversation with W/WWD boy Jacob Bernstein.

"I love this tabloid!" Mr. Evans said, Britishly. "I seized it with great joy before a long bus ride, and I loved every word!" He is somewhat reminiscent of a brilliant leprechaun. "Joe Conason on politics! John Heilpern! The Obama piece! I thought it was terrific! The tabloid format is far better." Mr. Evans said that the bus had taken him to Southampton.

Ms. Brown has recently finished her book about Princess Diana. "It's like a plum pudding—there are great nuggets everywhere!" she said. "It's as much about celebrity culture as it is about Diana herself." And how did Ms. Brown feel about the Stephen Frears film The Queen? "I loved The Queen," Ms. Brown said. "It was very accurate! Except for the portrayal of Robin Janvrin, the Queen's private secretary. He looks like Kenneth Branagh in real life."

Ms. Brown said that the book had taken her a year and a half; for it, she conducted 250 interviews. "I feel like a giant whale has been lifted from my head."

Maer Roshan, who worked for Ms. Brown at her short-lived magazine Talk, was there with a bundle of his Radar-ites, including his lieutenant Chris Tennant, who was holding court with several ladies in a booth. He was wearing jeans that appeared to have been painted on. That tall woman with the jet-black hair, talking with the older man? So tall! Atoosa Rubenstein! Lots of flashbulbs.

Observer reporters seemed vaguely uncomfortable at such an extravagant gathering ("It's the Observer with money," more than one was overheard whispering), and they swiped multiple Bellinis as they came around on silver trays. Transom reporter Spencer Morgan however did not look uncomfortable.

Jessica Joffe wore eyeglasses. Slate editor Jacob Weisberg and Domino editor Deborah Needleman arrived with New York's Ariel Levy. Jacob is going on a three-month book leave soon. Andrew Balazs, Columbia J-school graduate, was there solo. Lloyd Grove was not in attendance, but Ben Widdicombe, Hud Morgan, and Daily News gossip boy Patrick Huguenin were.

We were promised there'd be no speeches but there was a microphone and so Jared took it and said that 20 years ago, when the New York Observer was founded, he was starting a venture called... kindergarten. His voice still has a little hint of his Livingston, New Jersey upbringing. The new website, he said, was to launch on Monday, but as a preview, they had a page up on the screen. (The Four Seasons, it turns out, does not have Internet access.) Jared said he was very fortunate to work with Peter Kaplan, the editor of the newspaper, a sentiment that was greeted with cheers from the crowd. "We get to go to the 21st century with a new newspaper," said Kaplan. He then referred to the paper's former owner and publisher, Arthur Carter, as "my buddy and weekly tormenter."

Of the paper, he said: "The paper is younger, thinner, and better looking, like Jared."

We talked to Peter Kaplan in person. "For anyone under 30, the New York Times is a queen-sized sheet!" he said. "Going smaller was the best thing we could have done. We're still smart. We still have an edge." He said something about possibly becoming the smartest tabloid in America. "It was time to make a change. I love it. It's great!"

Jacob Bernstein left in Peggy Siegal's car. The New Yorker's Nick Paumgarten may have left with William Berlind for stiffer drinks. Patrick McMullan's photographers would prove unable to identify Alex Kuczynski. Ivanka Trump left alone, and on foot, heading east on 52nd Street. —Doree

I decided to do something a little different this month, instead of our usual drinks party. How about a discussion among six top editors.. with a drinks party afterward (ostensibly to discuss what we've learned—or just for the hell of it!)?

Editors on Truth Serum [Media Bistro]

Gladwell and Weisberg acquired a Ping-Pong table that consumed most of the living room, and they became fiercely competitive. In 1985, they had what Weisberg believes might have been the first '70s party, complete with disco shirts from Goodwill. He thinks Gladwell wore an Afro wig.

Gladwell's Brain [Washingtonian, via Romenesko ]

• How long will Sumner Redstone hold on to Midway games? Hopefully, long enough to give us a few more Photoshopped pieces like the one above. [NYT]
  
• Lou Dobbs is sort of a dick. Also, there's an article about him in the New Yorker. [NYer]
  
• Not that you care, but the government is pretty much at war with the idea of an independent press, and the government is winning. Oh, look, Britney's hanging out with Paris Hilton! Sorry, what were we saying? [NYT]
  
• Rupert Murdoch v. Silvio Berlusconi: whose ticker will give out first? [NYT]
  
• James Murdoch: Just as canny as his dad? [Economist]
  
• Observer to go tabloid in attempt to appeal to women and their diminutive limbs. [NYM]
  
• Slate's Jacob Weisberg would rather be online than anywhere else. So, you know, don't try and tempt him away with a real job, print people. [Guardian]
  
• Don't be alarmed, but some people think Fox News may be biased. Just gays and Democrats, though, so no worries. [NYS]
  
• Of interest only to British media junkies: Publisher Kimberly Quinn to leave the Spectator. Guess she ran through the roster of contributors. [Guardian]
  
• Tyler Br l has hired an editor for Monocle. Nothing earth-shattering, really... it's just the Tyler Br l thing. [WWD]
  

There is also the challenge of following the localized black dialect that the program tries to represent as faithfully as it does its other details. In the Baltimore ghetto, yo is both a salutation and the third-person singular pronoun; "feel me," means "listen to what I'm telling you"; and the ubiquitous use of bitch has mostly replaced the N-word.

Just to make sure you've fully contextualized that information, Weisberg ends the piece by using one of those difficult phrases in a sentence that also reveals his deep knowledge of the inner city:

This refusal to give up in the face of defeat is the reality of ghetto life as well. Feel me: It's what The Wire is all about.

We feel you, Jake. In fact, it makes us wanna holler.

The Wire on Fire [Slate]

I Want a Butt Double [Slate]

   The first media party since I arrived in New York, the Slate event at which Jacob Weisberg was unveiled as the online magazine's new editor. I have to gush.
   Sure, the crowd were bitchy. A New York Sun reporter was overheard dishing the dirt on the embryonic newspaper to Kurt Andersen, formerly of Inside, who will of course keep the information entirely to himself. And it was all inside baseball. What did Ned Desmond's new title at Business 2.0 really mean? As if anyone really cares. Everybody hates Wired's Chris Anderson except for James Truman and Si Newhouse. Not true, actually. Most people who know Anderson think he's a smart and charming guy.
   But, dammit, New York media people are witty, and that isn't a word I've used in a while. Even the speeches - by Weisberg and Michael Kinsley, his predecessor - were entertaining. Kinsley, who said the change in editors was what Microsoft called a reorg, told a couple of good Redmond jokes. My walker for the evening, recently transplanted from San Francisco, said she was exhausted. Too many smart people, and the obligation to make intelligent conversation.
· Slate's new editor based in New York [Seattle Times]