Suzanna Andrews

New York

Combing through court documents for her story on art dealer Larry Salander, who is accused of defrauding artists and clients, contributing editor Suzanna Andrews was surprised to find investors treating works of art like so many dollar signs. "I had to remind myself that these were masterpieces," she says, "not futures contracts." Andrews is a longtime contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

Walter Kirn

Livingston, Montana

"I have the world's easiest commute," says Walter Kirn. "It's down a hallway from my bedroom to my office." Kirn lives far from the grind he describes in his essay this month on commuting. But if he had to travel to a job? "I'd like to bike to the ferry, relax, be carried across beautiful water, and then take a last sprint to work," he says. Kirn is the author of Up in the Air, a novel about a business traveler.

Sheelah Kolhatkar

New York

In reporting her profile of Lehman Brothers C.F.O. Erin Callan, staff writer Sheelah Kolhatkar heard a slew of "unbelievable" war stories. "Female executives have learned to survive on Wall Street by not drawing attention to the fact that they're women," she says. Kolhatkar wrote about Indian mogul Mukesh Ambani (and the billion-dollar house he's building) for our November issue.

Vincent Laforet

New York

Photographer Vincent Laforet achieved the miniaturized look of his photoessay on the American commuter with tilt-shift lenses, a technique often used in architectural photography: "I've had people vehemently argue with me that I've photo­graphed miniature sets at home." His favorite shoot was in Amish country, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I was concerned that the helicopter would not be welcome," Laforet says, "but so many people came out to wave. You could see the excitement from 500 feet in the air."

Howell Raines

Henryville, Pennsylvania

In his first column on the media industry, Howell Raines, the Pulitzer-winning former executive editor of the New York Times, ­explores how a media mogul like Rupert ­Murdoch, the new owner of the Wall Street Journal, could buy the Times. In his column, Raines will explore the field of communication, he says, "both in terms of the craft of journalism and of shifting ownership patterns and technology."

Harriet Rubin

New York

Throughout her reporting career, Harriet Rubin has interviewed Hindu religious leaders, terrorists, and "C.E.O.'s who tend to make journalists' knees shake." But she found that getting people to speak with her about sexism for our April cover story was her most difficult reporting task to date. "Sexism unmasks some very deep prejudices," she says. "It's a more fundamental prejudice than racism." Her latest book, The Mona Lisa Strategem, comes out in paperback this spring.

Christopher S. Stewart

Arlington, ­Virginia

Until Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi left Iraq, he conducted the ­nation's fight against corruption, as Christopher S. Stewart writes. But Radhi's work in uncovering billions of stolen reconstruction dollars prompted gruesome violence, forcing him to flee to Northern Virginia. "Most Americans focus their attention on the death toll," ­Stewart says. "But corruption has been called a second insurgency."

Jacob Weisberg

New York

In his Viewpoint ­essay, Jacob ­Weisberg examines how President Bush's management style and decisionmaking strategy have ­affected the economy. "If business school teaches you how to be systematic and careful and open-minded in exploring important ­decisions, it didn't take with him," says ­Weisberg, the editor of the online magazine Slate. Weisberg's new book is The Bush Tragedy.

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