Readers of Atlantic Voices are used to seeing liberal Matthew Yglesias and conservative Ross Douthat engage in good-natured political debate. The bloggers frequently address each other by name in their posts, sparring over such issues as immigration, abortion, and the role of religion in public life.
Last week, the two met face-to-face in The Atlantic's library, together with fellow blogger Marc Ambinder, a seasoned political writer who served as an involved moderator. Together, the group debated Mitt Romney's Mormonism, Barack Obama's past drug use, and the outcomes of the upcoming presidential primaries. The result was the first installment of a new video series called The Table: Atlantic Voices in Conversation.
The video, posted at TheAtlantic.com in four parts, marks the magazine's first foray into in-house video production. Although the site has presented a number of videos of late—including a series featuring food writer Corby Kummer and a piece about the Mississippi River narrated by travel writer Wayne Curtis—The Table stands apart as the first video to be conceived, filmed, and edited at the magazine's Watergate headquarters.
Over the upcoming months, TheAtlantic.com will feature further episodes of The Table, featuring Douthat, Yglesias, Ambinder, along with other Atlantic Voices such as economics writer Megan McArdle and The Daily Dish's Andrew Sullivan.