David Roth (born 1977 or 1978) is an American journalist, essayist, podcast host and editor. He has written about sports, politics, and culture in ''

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media. Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, t ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', ''

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Blezinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2003. The blog from which the netwo ...

'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', and other publications. Roth was a senior editor for ''

'' prior to his October 31, 2019, resignation. He is a lifelong fan of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and has written about the organization extensively.

Early life

Roth was raised in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a Village (New Jersey), village in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Ridgewood is a suburban commuter town, bedroom community of New York City, located approximately northwest of Midtown M ...

. With his father's encouragement, he became an avid fan of the

and the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. From 1996 to 2000, Roth attended

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

where he wrote for the school newspaper, The Student Life. His favorite novel is ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

Career

Roth began his career writing and editing content for the backs of

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of Baseball card, baseball and other sports and Non-sports tradi ...

baseball, basketball, and football trading cards. In 2008, Roth became the co-author of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''s "Daily Fix" sports blog. Beginning in 2009, Roth wrote material for

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports colum ...

's fantasy baseball platform. Throughout this time, he also wrote freelance for various outfits, such as ''

The Awl ''The Awl'' was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day" based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid." History Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former ''Gawker'' editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk ...

'' and ''Can't Stop the Bleeding''. In 2013, he became a staff writer at ''

'', a sports blog. Roth was hired by ''

'' in 2017, and worked there until he resigned—along with the majority of the editorial staff. At ''

'', in addition to contributing written pieces, Roth hosted a show called ''Let's Remember Some Guys'', in which he used sports trading cards to reminisce about ballplayers from past generations. Together with

Drew Magary Andrew Schuyler Magary (born October 7, 1976) is an American journalist, humor columnist, podcast host, and novelist. He was a correspondent for '' GQ'', has written three novels, and formerly was a long-time columnist for ''Deadspin''. He curre ...

, Roth also co-hosted the ''Deadcast'', ''

s flagship podcast. His essay "Downward Spiral," originally published in ''

The Baffler ''The Baffler'' is an American magazine of cultural, political, and business analysis. Established in 1988 by editors Thomas Frank and Keith White, it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, until 2010, when it moved to Cambridge, Massachusett ...

'', was included in The Best American Sports Writing 2018.

Resignation from ''Deadspin''

On October 31, 2019, Roth and many of his colleagues announced their resignation from ''Deadspin''. The ''Deadspin'' staff left out of dissatisfaction with the site's new management. In particular, writers had been instructed to "

stick to sports "Stick to sports" is a phrase used in sports journalism and scholarship, primarily in the United States, to indicate the view that professional athletes should refrain from political or cultural commentary. In the United States, the notion that ...

," despite the fact that Roth's political commentary was often among the site's most-read content. Since leaving Deadspin, Roth has continued sports writing freelance. He has also written a number of editorials about

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, describing him in 2020 as "America's petty, TV-addled, and increasingly degenerate president." Roth maintains a substantial and active presence on Twitter. Roth and other former Deadspin writers formed ''

Defector Media ''Defector Media'' is a subscription-based sports and culture blog and media company founded in September 2020 and based in Manhattan. The Defector blog is primarily written by former employees of the ''Deadspin'' sports blog. In October and No ...

'' in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, David 1970s births 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male essayists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American online publication editors American sports journalists Baseball writers Journalists from New York City Living people Pomona College alumni The New Republic people The Wall Street Journal people Writers from Ridgewood, New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life

Career

Resignation from ''Deadspin''

See also

References