Remnick is editor-in-chief of The New Yorker and a demigod to both aspiring freelancers and denizens of liberal enclaves all over America.

The son of a dentist and art teacher, Remnick attended Princeton, where he founded one of the on-campus publications, the Nassau Weekly. His first job out of college was as a staff reporter at the Washington Post; he spent a decade at the paper, including four years as Moscow correspondent, an experience that inspired his first book, 1993's Pulitzer Prize winner Lenin's Tomb. He decamped to The New Yorker as a staff writer in 1992, shortly after Tina Brown took over as editor-in-chief. When Brown left in 1998 to launch the ill-fated magazine Talk, Remnick was offered the top job, despite the fact he'd spent his career as a writer and had relatively little experience as an editor. (Rumor has it he was Si Newhouse's second choice: the Condé Nast chief first approached Michael Kinsley but was insulted when Kinsley didn't accept the job fast enough.) Remnick has been at the helm of The New Yorker ever since, upholding its esteemed reputation and its unique, highbrow take on news and culture.

Remnick was supposed to be a Tina Brown-antidote of sorts, a proper journalist and an intellectual, someone who could bring back a bit of gravitas. Yet the magazine hasn't changed all that much since his arrival a decade ago. Perhaps the only major change is that, following nearly a decade and a half of losses, The New Yorker now ekes out a profit. For his part, Remnick continues to oversee the editorial as well as contribute the occasional piece: He typically writes two long features every year as well as the odd book review, often focusing on Russia and Israel (where his sister-in-law lives). He also wrote The New Yorker's endorsement of John Kerry in 2004, the first time the magazine publicly supported a candidate for president.

Remnick is married to former New York Times reporter Esther Fein, and they have three kids. [Image via Getty]