Ben Terris
@bterris
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Political feature writer for the Washington Post Style section. Author of THE BIG BREAK.
Washington, D.C
Joined November 2008
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Pinned Tweet
I’ve written a book!
It’s taken two years, a lot of stress (and some fun), and I think it’s the best work I’ve ever done. (Unless everyone hates it, in which case I do too.)
The announcement from Axios AM:
Pre-order!:
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Definitely don’t read into this but in 2013 I wrote a Sports-Illustrated-style magazine article about how Rep. Ron DeSantis was going to be the Republican savior in the Congressional Baseball Game.
Then the game happened and he went hitless (I think) and the GOP team lost 22-0
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Tommy Tuberville is single-handedly stalling more than 200 Pentagon nominations.
Also, he is getting his military advice from a former food critic.
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Tim Scott will be the first prez candidate I’ve ever asked about the status of his virginity.
Initial answer: “I’m not talking about my sex life with Ben Terris.”
Then he stood up and said: “I have to go potty.”
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Anyway, definitely don’t read that article it’s super embarrassing now. But also here it is for transparency.
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Click here for my two-part investigation:
1) Does Tim Scott have a girlfriend?
2)Does anyone care?
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Two years ago I set out to write a book about post-Trump Washington. I wanted to know how it worked and didn’t, and what characters were trying to take advantage of the new normal.
Here is the first excerpt, the wild tale of Sean McElwee, The Gambler.
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Yes, it’s publication day for me, but something more exciting just happened!!!
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“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Pence says ‘history will hold Donald Trump accountable’ for Jan. 6th
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(It wasn’t a completely random question. He had spent his young adult life preaching abstinence until marriage. He’d give talks and mention that he was saving himself until marriage, and during my interview with the then-congressman he was, and continues to be unmarried.)
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Good morning and welcome to Twitter. You’re surely here for the big story of the day, which, of course, is:
Washington’s hottest party guest is the Ukrainian Ambassador
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The speakerless moment has raised some heady questions.
Like: How can the United States be a levelheaded leader on the world stage if one chamber of Congress has lost its head?
And: Should McCarthy still have the key to the speaker’s private bathroom?
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Awkward Americans see themselves in Ron DeSantis. They hate what they see.
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Told the cashier at my favorite bookstore that I finished writing *my* book here and she said, “Yeah, a lot of people write books here.”
Savage.
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Frank Luntz says Trump nearly killed him. He also says Speaker Kevin McCarthy has helped keep him alive.
Luntz is afraid of needles, so there are times his close friend McCarthy will give him jabs of his medication.
That and more from my book in
@NYMag
:
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Ruben Gallego has made mental health a part of his campaign. Specifically, his own.
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Naturally,
@mattgaetz
isn’t a fan of McCarthy’s “squatting.”
“Maybe they can even make a pretend gavel for him to swing around as he clings to the memory that he was once a failed speaker for nine months,” Gaetz said.
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One more thing… It was such an awkward question to ask that I wrote myself a script: You used to preach about the virtue of no sex until marriage… is that a virtue that you still adhere to today?”
Ultimately he implied he did not.
“I just wish we all had more patience.”
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The second excerpt from my book just published today, and I think it’s fair to say it’s unlike anything you’ve read in a “Washington Book.”
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It’s an honor just to be nominated
we talk about it on the episode coming out today but who is the reporter who asked Tim Scott if he’s a virgin? you have earned the title of being the best reporter in the world
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And again, here’s the pre-order link:
Please help, my own father is trolling me
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Tim Alberta is the most-trusted man in journalism right now which is why this message from him is just so important.
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It's a book about Washington, but not the side you typically see or read about. It's about the people working just out of view -- the ones who whisper in politicians' ears. The ones who are trying to figure out how this place works and how it can work for them.
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Smart story, well executed, by
@JStein_WaPo
on the man in charge of knowing when the money will run out.
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Anyway! You can read about it and other things in my upcoming book, available for pre-order today!
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It's a book about interesting, unusual people (I use the term "weirdos" lovingly), but it's also about relationships, idealism and ambition, and how this town brings people together and breaks them apart.
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There’s still time to help me from being completely owned by my dad. Buy my book, make him love me!
And again, here’s the pre-order link:
Please help, my own father is trolling me
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Incredibly jealous of
@jesusrodriguezb
for this great idea and well-executed story about retired Senators.
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you know, since you are all so annoying: i am saying it, if your 90 year old granny dies or your wife of 50 years dies and you are sad, that’s wrong, you are a stupid person, you shouldn’t be sad
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On the Bankman-Frieds (Bankmen-Fried?), money in politics, a Trump-shaped void in Washington and…. almonds…
My latest writing based off of The Big Break— this one for
@nytimes
.
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The deeply silly, extremely serious rise of Nick Adams (Alpha Male)
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He’s a captain in the Navy, a Vanity Fair alum, a performer of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the author of this humor book with an illustration of his likeness on the cover
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And if you like it, or even if you don’t, feel free to pre-order a copy of the book. It includes a lot more stories about a lot more people.
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Thanks to
@washingtonpost
(the best newspaper in the world) and
@alex_shephard
for this extremely kind review of The Big Break!
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“And while I understand where he’s coming from and can relate,” says
@scottjshapiro
, “it only confirms my feeling that I should not run for president.”
Awkward Americans see themselves in Ron DeSantis. They hate what they see.
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On the day of the Congressional baseball game, an important reminder
Definitely don’t read into this but in 2013 I wrote a Sports-Illustrated-style magazine article about how Rep. Ron DeSantis was going to be the Republican savior in the Congressional Baseball Game.
Then the game happened and he went hitless (I think) and the GOP team lost 22-0
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The problem with this (bad) Twitter account is that it doesn’t realize that this article could actually be really funny and explain a lot about the American electorate…
Donald Trump is seen as a narcissistic sociopath. Some voters can relate.
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It’s been a surreal couple of days. And I’m really just now finally realizing how amazing the whole experience was.
That experience, of course, was bumping into Tim Robinson on the street and being utterly starstruck
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Where's Melania?
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I spoke to a group of high school journalists yesterday and one of them asked: “Do you think the concept of journalism ebbs and flows, or is it timeless?”
Kids are cool
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After 12 years of living here, I finally have my name in The Washington Post
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Please take some time and read this absolutely remarkable story from
@MrDanZak
.
“Having a hero helps ease the badness. But being a hero is its own burden.”
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Really sharp column from
@michaelschaffer
on just how unprepared Washington is for the possible return of Donald Trump.
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“ If the ambassador were someone far more narcissistic or self absorbed or shy this would be a disaster for Ukraine.”
The existential and surreal life of being the toast of the Washington evening scene
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OMG!!! He’s broken. Crushed. It’s over. Wow. I almost feel sorry for him. Not quite, but almost.
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George Santos just popped out and invited a reporter—not me— into his office.
@Bencjacobs
is trying to listen in.
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Lots more (about this story and lots of others) in the book that comes out June 6.
Pre-order here (kid not included):
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This is very cool. The Big Break was included on this Washington Post list of best nonfiction books and I didn’t even have to threaten to quit to get it there!
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Two books about trying to find space in a crowded place
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Happy Father’s Day! Fun fact about my book, which would make a great gift— everyone in it either is a dad, had a dad, knew a dad, or at the very least is aware of a dad.
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ABLE: Always be listening to
@ElaheIzadi
.
Had a fun time chatting with Post Reports about my book (which comes out tomorrow)!
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Very cool that Carlos is reading my favorite Washington book this summer, which is, of course, Heartburn
Throughout the year I collect books I’ve always wanted to read (thrillers, memoirs, novels, current events, anything) to take to the beach in August. I never get to all of them at the beach, but I try to read most. Still looking, but here’s my pile so far…
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“Comey’s still very much the man who refused to cut in line at the FBI cafeteria, and also the man who told us that, in his memoir.”
Really good profile of Comey the mystery writer by
@sophiah_n
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Ain’t nobody give quote quite like
@AriRabinHavt
…
Here he is talking Gabe Bankman-Fried and this is BEFORE the SBF fall.
NSFW…
@bterris
@ryangrim
So many great quotes in the book, but this from
@AriRabinHavt
on SBF and his brother is one of the best.
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If you haven’t, give a listen to the latest
@PivotPod
with
@karaswisher
and
@profgalloway
. They are great interviewers and if enough people listen and buy my book, The Big Break, I might take them up on their offer and let them adopt me…
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A box of these arrived today and I honestly cannot believe it’s a real thing.
Comes out in less than a month, but you can pre-order now:
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Lotta cool stuff associated with writing a book but I gotta say, getting the chance to talk to my fav journalist,
@zchace
, at
@PoliticsProse
is gonna be a highlight.
Save the date: July 6 at 7pm
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What do AOC, Matt Gaetz, and a lobbyist whose native name is One Who Rides His Horse East all have in common? They are on the same side of the psychedelic drug war.
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I had a lot of fun doing this podcast and a lot of not-fun seeing my giant head pop up on my Twitter timeline
New
@insurgentspod
:
@bterris
joins me to talk about some of the people in his new book—from a conservative king maker to a liberal gambler. Here's a clip.
Our full conversation here:
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Really thoughtful review from
@lehmannchris
in
@thenation
. Come for the TERRIFYING illustration and stick around for him saying The Big Break is filled with "bracing insights and gimlet-eyed reporting."
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Answers to this question and much more in my new book, The Big Break, out June 6 but available for pre-order now 👇
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I would venture to say that the second half of that page, and the subsequent pages are… even funnier?
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@Elaine_Clayton
Thank you! Though to be honest, the stories I worked on in kindergarten were probably more creative!
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I’m seeing double! Four books!
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Two of the best to ever do it, David Maraniss and
@sallyjenkinswa1
, with the definitive profile of Jim Jordan.
The Relentless Wrestler.
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For your commute: listened to this fun chat I had with
@TVietor08
on
@PodSaveAmerica
about The Big Break:
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If you’re looking for an event at a cool new bookstore on a hot day— 6:30pm today at People’s Books in Takoma Park
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Now I took a screenshot of the photo of the photo
Brought
@bterris
’s book on train and a passenger took a pic so she remembered to buy it. I took a pic of her doing this because she’s right, everyone should buy it.
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Facebook just reminded me that 11 years ago I went hog hunting with a congressman and ended up in the emergency room.
Later I wrote this story:
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You too can be “looking forward to reading.” All you have to do is pre-order it. Comes out June 6!
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@aseitzwald
Ultimately she was nice and was like: excited to see it show up here! Which, at a used bookstore, is kinda a burn too lol
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