But the gamble paid off, as Kaus flourished under Peters' tutelage.

"He genuinely changed my life," Kaus says.

From the Monthly to writing for the New Republic, Kaus earned a reputation for serious reporting and thoughtful liberalism. A 1988 Newsweek piece solidified this reputation, as Kaus defended the causes of the 1960s and cornered the decade's critics.

His book, The End of Equality, was conceived as a strategy guide for the Democrats in 1988. But Kaus did not complete the work until 1992, a fortuitous delay given the timing of the Democrats' return to the White House with the Clinton victory.

The book received a prominent and favorable review in The New York Times and was panned on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Its uncharacteristic tack on welfare brought a warm reception from the right and criticism from the left.

Kaus argues that government must promote "civic equality"--a sense of productivity, of having contributed to society--by supplying jobs instead of hand-outs.

The passage of welfare reform legislation at the end of President Clinton's first term provides an opportunity for Kaus to test his theory, and he closely follows what he calls the "most promising experiments in the replacing-cash-with-work mold" being carried out across the country.

And now, in his current position at Slate where he edits the "Chatterbox" column, Kaus has returned to his journalistic roots: the column, which he calls "fun," allows its writers to indulge conflicts of interest--but this time Kaus has to disclose his connectedness to the day's issues.