“In authoritarian societies, cultural institutions tend to become ideological proxies - think of the National Ballet in Cuba or the East German gymnastics team.”

American political journalist

Jacob Weisberg is an American political journalist and editor. He served as editor in chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company, and later left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries in 2018 with journalist Malcolm Gladwell. He was also a Newsweek columnist and spent six years as editor of Slate magazine before stepping down in 2008. He is the son of Lois Weisberg, a Chicago social activist and municipal commissioner.