Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin phoned into Don Imus‘s show on Fox Business and spoke glowingly of the Occupy Wall Street movement. “I think it’s exciting, to tell you the truth,” Kearns gushed. “One of the things FDR said is there’s a mysterious cycle of human events, periodic cycles of activism and reform. When you see people out there finally talking about what’s happening to the country — we saw it in the progressive era, we’ve seen it in the 60′s, we’ve seen it to some extent in the tea party and now we’re seeing it here.” “We need you down there to break out your old 60′s headband!” Imus exclaimed. “We need you down there to provide them focus.” Imus later gave advice to the protestors to make their arguments stronger.

Fox’s Saturday conservative commentator Liz Trotta came out swinging this weekend, taking down both Rep. Michele Bachmann and colleague Sarah Palin for their historical inaccuracies. Quoting Ezra Klein and Matt Taibbi, Trotta joked the two shared an alma mater in “Fleabag U,” and that “as far as flubs go, they are leading the field.”

Cindy Sheehan, who became a vocal and respected anti-war activist after her son was killed in the Iraq war, has declared “I’m a 9/11 Truther, I do think it was an inside job.” Oof. So much for credibility.

As CNN continues to devote tons of air time to talking about their rival, a discussion about Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally got a little awkward last night. But what made things uncomfortable? Was it seeing a polite conversation between Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi and Tea Partier Dana Loesch get heated and stop just short of name calling? Was it watching a couple of white people try to guess what all of our nation’s blacks are feeling? Or was it maybe the bizarre moment where Anderson Cooper halted the proceedings to explain that Dr. Alveda King isn’t actually a doctor.

In the aftermath of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s firing and inevitable resignation, Michael Hastings has appeared on a few programs defending himself. However, one of his most vocal defenders has been his fellow Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi. Having previously written a response to David Brooks’ comment on the subject, Taibbi published a response today to CBS’ Lara Logan where he did not mince words. How unminced was it? Well, the blog post was entitled, “Lara Logan, You Suck.”

Daily Intel’s Jessica Pressler dug a pretty explosive anecdote out of a James Verini Vanity Fair article on Matt Taibbi‘s exploits in 1990′s Russia, and now it’s making the rounds on blogs and Twitter. According to Verini, Taibbi reacted to some criticism with a meltdown worthy of Christian Bale. Verini should have known trouble was brewing when Taibbi threw coffee on him, but it didn’t end there.

The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman often makes valid points on climate change and clean energy, but for a variety of reasons, he’s the paper’s most vehemently-ridiculed columnist. Unfortunately, his latest column, which appeared today in the NYT print edition, will do little to quiet such criticism.

Yesterday, Matt Taibbi took the sort of scorching rhetoric he usually levels at Tom Friedman and directed it elsewhere on the NYT op-ed page. Namely, David Brooks. Taibbi provided his own ‘translation’ of Brooks’ recent column on Haiti. Translation: It’s ain’t pretty.

The year 2009 had many media bright spots, break-out stars, dominating networks and game-changing technologies. The Mediaite 50 collects the finest, most exemplary innovators and influencers of the year, defining a media moment in time and setting the agenda as we move forward. See the full list after the jump:

Who: Nomi Prins (Demos.org), Daniel Gross (Newsweek), and Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone), moderated by David Brancaccio (PBS) What: Demos.org, The Nation magazine, and New York Society for Ethical Culture present “Wall Street’s Game, Main Street’s Pain: The All-Important Battle for Real Financial Reform” Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture When: October 1, 2009 Thumbs: [...]

Happy Anniversary Great Recession. A year ago today Lehman Bros. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sent the economy into a tailspin the country is still struggling to cope with. Here’s a look back at the top five media moments from the last twelve months.

Yesterday the New York Times fired Sunday business columnist Ben Stein freeing up some of the most valuable real estate in media. When the Times replaced Bill Kristol with Ross Douthat earlier this year they appeared to be not only aiming to attract a younger audience (he was 29 at the time of his hiring), but also an online one. Will they do something similar this time? One can only hope! Here’s some suggestions.

An article in week’s issue of Time titled “Business Journalism: A Vanishing Necessity?” suggests that the recent demise of Portfolio, as well as the current financial struggles of Business Week, are some sort of measure that business journalism itself is under threat. Really? Perhaps the real problem is that Time needs to widen its definition of “business journalism.”

Jim Impoco: Taibbi has received a good deal of attention for his article “The Great American Bubble Machine” in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Unlike Taibbi, I’d be happy if all the world’s economic problems since the Great Depression could be blamed on Goldman Sachs. That would lend itself to an easy fix. Just re-elect Eliot Spitzer as New York attorney general, point him downtown toward Goldman’s headquarters, and say, sic ‘em!

Do you love topical panels, lectures, and seminars, but can’t seem to find the time to attend them? Do you want to know what your favorite columnist had to say about her newest project, even if you don’t live in New York City? Would you be interested in reading about the five most captivating moments [...]