Former 'Daily Show' E.P. on Love & Marriage

Nice essay in yesterday’s NY Times from former Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin. It’s about his struggles to come to terms with the realization that his then-girlfriend Paolo–"a devastatingly cute waitress" from his favorite local Brooklyn Italian joint–was indeed The One. 

Karlin embarks on a soul-searching Outward Bound excursion, which culiminates in a 24-hour period where he’s completely alone on some forlorn stretch of Mexican beach. (One can’t help but imagine that Karlin, Stewart et al would have skewered a member of Congress for taking such a vacation.) 

He writes:
…not only did I intend to learn all the nuances of backcountry camping, but also a variety of kayaking moves, culminating in the famed “Eskimo roll,” a rescue maneuver wherein a capsized kayaker staves off drowning by flipping upright while staying fixed snugly in the hull of his boat. Also, I wanted to solve all my problems involving emotional intimacy.

In short, Karlin gets his sign from above in the wee hours of his "solo" day in Mexico, and ends up proposing to Paola. 

We profiled Karlin a few years ago, and if memory serves, there was an issue with what to put in the biographical data box that appears at the end of each "Fifth Estater" profile. Ben didn’t want to mention his recent engagement in print, as it was so recent that not all family members had been informed (Presumably there was concern that these family members might find out about it in B&C, which seems a bit odd). At the same time, Ben didn’t want to be listed as single, either. 

It’s nice to see there’s no longer any ambiguity about Ben Karlin’s relationship status.