How Reihan Salam Became Literary Brooklyn’s Favorite Conservative

He has tried to lay out ways that the GOP can better appeal to families like the one he grew up in. But he's also called for an end to automatic birthright citizenship, defended Sarah Palin, and said he believes in repealing Obamacare, even though the party hasn't lined up around an alternative. A conservative wonk who seems more at home in the Brooklyn literary scene than the Capitol Hill Club is a curious choice for a magazine used to setting the agenda for policy-makers on the right. John Hames shared with you:   How Reihan Salam Became Literary Brooklyn's Favorite Conservative New York Magazine - A few weekends ago, Reihan Salam threw a Thanksgiving-themed potluck for friends. The conservative writer and newly named executive editor of the National Review has always been drawn to high-density neighborhoods, but recently he moved to a relatively quiet carriage house in Dumbo, near Vinegar Hill. Guests milled about the adjoining courtyard, which Salam describes as having a "Melrose Place kind of feel," and inside his two-bedroom home, which is decorated in primary colors, with mismatched furniture, large prints of paperback-book covers, and a William F. Buckley poster. Salam, who often favors fitted suits but was wearing a sweater, scarf, and beanie, all various shades of gray, spent much of the party facilitating introductions. Around the courtyard he went, connecting people who didn't know each other — writers and lawyers and anthropologists and screenwriters — in remarkably flattering prose. "He introduces you, or anyone he's friends with, and you feel like you're being given the Nobel Peace Prize," says Mina Kimes, a friend of Salam's who writes for ESPN the Magazine. "It's kind of embarrassing. But it's also wonderful, and he does it for everyone." Available on the App Store.

John Hames

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