With the steady crumbling of Conde Nast, you have to wonder how long their chairman, Si Newhouse, can hang tough. Great media baron families like his are a dying breed.

Intrigue! Betrayal! Sex (sort of)! With Rupert Murdoch's hostile takeover attempt momentarily stalled, the Weekend Wall Street Journal turns the mirror on the sprawling clan that pays the bills and fields the buyout offers. Four reporters and 3,000 words later, it turns out the Bancrofts are just like your family, except with a few more horses and sailboats. And maybe their smelly old people tell better stories: