Elizabeth Austin has interviewed President Carter for Time magazine, attended Space Camp with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, toured Superman's hometown for the National Lampoon and traded diet tips with Oprah Winfrey for People.

An accomplished essayist, she has contributed numerous opinion and humor pieces to the Chicago Tribune's Perspectives and the Washington Post's Outlook sections. Her feature articles and essays have appeared in many national and international publications, including Time, Newsweek, People, Fortune, Money, Chicago Magazine, Self, Shape, McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, and Glamour. She has won a number of awards, including the National Mental Health Association award for best magazine journalism.

She is the co-author of The Good Girl's Guide to Negotiating, which was featured on the Today Show and has been translated into a dozen languages. That book became the basis for a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Ask the Good Girls."

In 2004, Elizabeth served as Gov. Rod Blagojevich's speechwriter, leaving the Governor's office to become the communications director for the Civic Federation, a not-for-profit research organization focused on tax policy and good government. She worked on Forrest Claypool's 2006 primary campaign for Cook County Board President and spent two years as communications director for Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. She currently works in corporate communications for Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

Blog Entries by Elizabeth Austin

High School Musical Chairs II

Posted November 12, 2008 | 12:20 PM (EST)



Dear Aunt Beth,

Hey, hold up. I just read that letter from Worried, the girl who thinks she should be our school's delegate to the Model United Nations because she held a couple bake sales for our student body president, "Milo."

Well, pardon my French, but WTF?...

Read Post

High School Musical Chairs

Posted November 10, 2008 | 11:08 AM (EST)


Dear Aunt Beth,

I have a problem at my school, and I need some advice. "Barry," our school's delegate for the Model United Nations - who is SO COOL and SO CUTE!!!! -- is transferring to a fancy boarding school out of state.

Anyway, "Milo," our student body president, gets...

Read Post

Larry David, You Can Relax

6 Comments | Posted November 3, 2008 | 11:08 AM (EST)


Like Larry David and so many other anxious Democrats, my husband has been going nuts over the past couple of months worrying that Something Might Happen to keep Barack Obama out of the White House.

Then, one morning last week, we were heading toward downtown Chicago when we saw...

Read Post

An Invitation to Governor Palin

12 Comments | Posted October 23, 2008 | 03:13 PM (EST)


After too many long, obsessive days of inhaling campaign coverage nonstop, I was overflowing with ugliness. I had convinced myself that Sarah Palin and her neocon cheering section were intentionally trying to whip their angry supporters into homicidal frenzy.

I had started to fear that, somewhere in a desk...

Read Post

And the Real Winner Is . . .

8 Comments | Posted October 9, 2008 | 11:13 AM (EST)


Here's who really won Tuesday night's debate: Barack Obama's schedulers and advance teams.

Silently and seamlessly, those anonymous campaign staffers created the half-hour of compelling television that followed the debate itself.

Most memorable, of course, was the vision of Barack and Michelle shaking countless hands and posing for dozens of...

Read Post

SAT Question for Sarah Palin (Hint: Think MLK)

Posted September 8, 2008 | 10:52 AM (EST)


A community organizer is like a mayor except:

a) You win the Nobel Peace Prize

b) You sacrifice your life for justice

c) You change the world forever

d) All of the above

Read Post

Barack Mans Up, McCain Wusses Out

Posted September 4, 2008 | 09:28 AM (EST)


Barack Obama will appear on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News tonight. John McCain cancelled his interview with CNN.

That sums up all you need to know about either candidate - and, in a nutshell, explains why Barack Obama will win the White House on Nov. 4.

The...

Read Post

Sorry, Barack, But It Matters to Me

Posted September 2, 2008 | 09:23 AM (EST)


I was sitting in front of the television, feeling good and ashamed of myself.

Between loads of laundry, I had been calling all my Democratic friends to deconstruct McCain's choice of Sarah Palin and figure out how her teenage daughter's pregnancy would affect voters in November.

And frankly, as...

Read Post

Illinois' Feudal Politics

Posted August 20, 2008 | 12:17 AM (EST)


Between now and November, the Land of Lincoln will welcome scores of national journos on the Barack beat seeking the real inside story of Illinois politics.

Some will wander the alleys of Bridgeport, conjuring the shade of the late Mayor Daley and his cronies.

Others will visit the baking streets...

Read Post

 
 
Bloggers Index›