Today on the Dish, Andrew responded onscreen to critics of Thatcher, and revealed how foreign the Baroness would have been to the Republican program, from climate change to AIDS. Andrew also implored us not to wait for politicians to spearhead social change, pointed out one such case (of gay rights in Uganda), and considered the Obama administration’s role in the change sweeping America. Elsewhere, Andrew continued to express hope for Pope Francis, gave an interview with Vanity Fair, and daydreamed of a future career as a canna-critic.

In political coverage, we tried to measure what racial animus cost Obama in both elections, located the GOP in the 12-step plan, and explored some new ideas of class in Britain. We discovered most scandals don’t torpedo careers and reassessed animal rights’ victory on horse slaughter as Francesca Mari peeked between the grand moments and figures in history. Reading up on WWII, TNC pushed back on lofty assurances against barbarism, as we granted certain elements of the nanny state a second look.

In miscellanea, Laura Bennet and Willa Paskin panned Vice’s new HBO show, Tom Shone triangulated the elements of good cinema, and we counted music sharing as just one new struggle over intellectual property. We uncovered the history of the suicidal dogs of war and considered whether loneliness is a killer while the world markets craved red hot chili peppers. We came across a Fargo-style self-kidnapping service, looked beyond calories for healthy eating, and studied elite chic.

Later we read David Foster Wallace on Fyodor Dostoevsky, spotted the difference between hardcovers and their paperbacks, and wondered if the art gallery is becoming history. Things got beardy in the MHB, we met the gaze of an anti-Maggie Briton celebrating Thatcher’s death for the Face of the Day, spotted a shadowy VFYW in the East Village, and tracked down Rohrmoos-Untertal, Austria in the results of the latest VFYW contest.

–B.J.