Aside from making Manhattan resemble a soundstage from The Day After Tomorrow, this weekend's lovely snowstorm also prevented Henry the Intern from returning to his dorm room for the new semester. Lucky bastard. Cozied up with a mug of hot cocoa and a cancerous electric blanket, Henry instead got his warmth from the fiery soul of Tina Brown. This week, the Saint Bernard of media interviewed Baghdad Bureau Chief John Burns, radio host Ed Schultz, Blink author Malcolm Gladwell, and still managed to squeeze in some time for obligatory pop critic Tour . After the jump, Henry's weekly report.

Thankfully, we were spared the inauguration fashion wrap, which was marginalized by a satellite interview with wild-haired New York Times Baghdad Bureau Chief John Burns. Tina asked, "How much can the average Iraqi take before it's safer to collaborate with the insurgents?" Burns replied it's already happened and citizens are now missing the stability of Saddam Hussein. He said that "there is virtually no safe hide-away for any American or foreigner," even in the fortified Green Zone.

Burns predicted low turnout for the election (which is only for a transitional government) and fears a civil war "over who rules Iraq in the long term." He said the military has learned from their mistakes, and though "this is very much touch-and-go," he is impressed by their actions.

Tina chatted with "progressive" radio personality Ed Schultz (as picked by David Brock). Schultz, who is bringing liberal talk to the top markets, said "we have changed the cultural thinking" and proved there is money in liberal-oriented radio fare.

Intermission: Tina voiced-over, "If only Laura Bush could be cloned and sent around the world to charm America's critics..."

Then, the long-anticipated interview with Malcolm Gladwell, of The New Yorker and author of Blink. "You were on our first show," Tina recalled. Gladwell explained Blink is about the snap decision-making process that allows us to "handle high-pressure situations with aplomb." Funny, Tina thought, "In my mind, America spends too much time shooting from the hip." Gladwell admitted it doesn't always work (for example, the shooting of Amadou Diallo) and it is also about life experience. He said, "What's going on below the surface is enormously complex and murky."

The editor's desk roundtable ticked off inauguration analysis. Toure thought President Bush is entrenched by the freedom of power, not the power of freedom and found comfort in his low approval ratings. Jim Matthews, Republican County Commissioner in Pennsylvania, chimed in that democracy is like sex: when it's good, it's very good; when it's bad, it's still good. Sidney Blumenthal dreamed of President Kerry.

The panel also debated the President of Harvard's controversial remark that women are not suited for math and science. Monica Crowley defended "his right to make an idiot out of himself" and Toure was livid: "I wonder what he would do with an Asian woman," considering the stereotypes. Speaking of, he said a CNBC security guard assumed he was Tina's assistant.

Hot picks
Matthews: Dali at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Toure: The Richard Pryor Show on DVD
Crowley: John James Audubon by Richard Rhodes
Blumenthal: John Kenneth Galbraith by Richard Parker
Tina: "The Supernanny" on ABC ("Lowbrow," she said.)

Related closing quote by King Edward VIII: "The thing that impresses me the most about America is how parents obey their children."

Sigh. Let the semester commence.