Rebecca Traisternbsp;was raised outside Philadelphia, where she attended Quaker high school, and then went on to majornbsp;in American Studies at Northwestern University. She started out in the media as an entry level assistant atTalkmagazine, and then as a fact checker at theNew York Observer, where she soon became the most unwilling gossip columnist in the history of New York nightlife, before reporting on the film industry in the city. In 2003, she moved to Salon.com, where she had been hired as the Life section's staff writer. She wound up writing so many stories from a feminist point of view, that pretty soon her beat simply became about women. Traister covered the 2008 campaign from a… feminist (and personal) perspective, receiving a huge response to her pieces on Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama, the media's coverage of the candidates, and the role of women within the media. She's written for a range of national publications, includingElle,theNew York Times, Vogue,and theNation. Traister has appeared on CNN, CNNHeadline News,MSNBC, NPR'sBrian Lehrer Show, and othernbsp;TV and radio. She speaks regularly at prominent events, including on panels at the EMILY's List annual gathering and at the Democratic National Convention. She lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and two cats.