Katherine Rose Halper (born July 11, 1980/1981) is an American comedian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and political commentator. She is the host of the podcast ''The Katie Halper Show'' and co-host of the podcast ''Useful Idiots'' with

Aaron Maté Aaron Maté ( ; born 13 March 1979) is a Canadian writer and journalist. He hosts the show ''Pushback with Aaron Maté'' on ''The Grayzone'' and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the ''Useful Idiots (podcast), Useful Idiots'' podcast ...

Early life and education

Halper was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She grew up on Riverside Drive on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

of Manhattan. She graduated from the

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

, and from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 2003. She is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

ancestry and has described herself as a secular Jew. Her father is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and her mother is an English professor and novelist.

Career

After graduating from Wesleyan, Halper worked as development director for the Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV), a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

media education center and documentary production house. She also coordinated living wage and labor campaigns in New York City and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Halper has also taught history at her ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'', the

Comedy

She began her career performing as a stand-up comedian. She has performed comedy at venues including

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theat ...

, The Culture Project in New York, the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, the D.C. Comedy Festival, and at

Netroots Nation Netroots Nation is a political Convention (meeting), convention for American Progressivism in the United States, progressive political activists. Originally organized by readers and writers of Daily Kos, a Liberalism, liberal political blog, i ...

. She also performed on the annual Seminar Cruise of ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' magazine. She has performed with

Lizz Winstead Lizz Winstead (born July 5, 1961) is an American comedian, radio and television personality, abortion rights activist, and podcast host. A native of Minnesota, Winstead is the co-creator of ''The Daily Show'' along with Madeleine Smithberg, ...

, Markos Moulitsas, The Yes Men,

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin ...

, and Jim Hightower.

Political activism

Halper is a national director of Living Liberally and the co-founder of Laughing Liberally, both of which promote political action through social interaction.

Film

She was outreach director for

Avi Lewis Avram David "Avi" Lewis (born May 1967) is a Canadian activist, documentary filmmaker, former host of the Al Jazeera English show '' Fault Lines'' and former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) current-affairs programs '' Counter ...

and

Naomi Klein Naomi Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism and Criticism of capitalism, ca ...

's documentary '' The Take'' (2004). The documentary is about a

workers' movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of Working class, working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It ca ...

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and was shown at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, and

Film Forum The Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It is a four-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with up to 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, over ...

. Halper's first film as director was entitled ''La Memoria es Vaga'' (2005), a documentary about the Valle de los Caídos and historical memory in post-Franco

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was screened in the United States and Spain. Halper was co-producer of

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and Jacob Singer in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), as well as winning an Academy ...

and the DCTV film ''Embedded Live'' (also 2005), based on Robbins' play of the same name. ''Embedded Live'' was shown at the

and Sundance Channel. She was associate producer of Estela Bravo's ''Free to Fly: The US-Cuba Link'' (2004), about restrictions on travel between Cuba and the United States. ''Free to Fly'' was shown at the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiv ...

and

Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) includes feature films, documentaries, and short films from the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. The six-day festival was established in 1997. The festival was founded by Marlene Dermer (a ...

. Halper directed and produced the film ''Commie Camp'' (2013). ''Commie Camp'', originally entitled ''Another Camp Is Possible'', is a documentary about Camp Kinderland, the Jewish summer camp where Halper went and her mother and grandmother worked. She also co-directed ''Facing Fascism: New Yorkers Remember the Spanish Civil War'', a video for an exhibit at the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

Commentator

Articles by Halper have been published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, ''

'',

Gawker ''Gawker'' was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers that was based in New York City and focused on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month in 2015. Fo ...

, ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'',

Alternet AlterNet is a left-leaning news website based in the United States. It was launched by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of '' Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections re ...

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

, OpenLeft, ''

The Raw Story ''Raw Story'' (also stylized as ''RawStory'') is an American progressive news website. Its reporting is a combination of syndicated articles, aggregated material, and its own independent reporting. With its focus on "news that's downplayed by m ...

'', ''

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

'', ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and Feministing, where she was a guest columnist. She has been featured as a commentator on

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, ''

The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (''TYT'') is an American progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch, and additionally selected television channels. ''TYT'' se ...

'', RT,

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

's '' The Ingraham Angle'', '' The Hill''s '' Rising'', ''The New York Times'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

In These Times In These Times may refer to: *In These Times (magazine), ''In These Times'' (magazine), an American monthly magazine of news and opinion *In These Times (Peter, Paul, and Mary album), ''In These Times'' (Peter, Paul, and Mary album), a 2004 album b ...

'', ''

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

'',

, MSNBC's ''

Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is a weekday podcast that originated as an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show ...

'', '' The Sam Seder Show'', ''

The Marc Maron Show ''The Marc Maron Show'' was a late night radio show produced in affiliation with the Air America Radio network and hosted by comedian Marc Maron. The show originated from KTLK 1150 AM in Los Angeles, California. The show was less politically ...

'', Sirius Radio,

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...

XM Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable t ...

's '' P.O.T.U.S.'', and '' The Alan Colmes Show''. In September 2022, ''Rising'' refused to air a segment on their show in which Halper called Israel an "apartheid government". She was subsequently fired from the show.

Podcasting

Halper was co-host of the podcast and YouTube program ''Morning Jew'' with Heather Gold. She hosts ''The Katie Halper Show'', a weekly

radio show and podcast. The show received attention when, during an interview with Halper that was released as a podcast on March 25, 2020, Tara Reade, a former Senate staff assistant of

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, alleged that Biden sexually assaulted her in a

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

office building in 1993. A Biden spokesperson said that the allegation was false. In 2019, Halper and

Matt Taibbi Matthew Colin Taibbi (; born March 2, 1970) is an American author, journalist and podcaster. A former contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'', he is the author of several books and publisher of ''Racket News'' (formerly ''TK News''). He has re ...

launched and have since co-hosted the podcast ''Useful Idiots'', which was distributed by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. The podcast has since featured interviews with

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (born September 13, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (Un ...

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, political commentator, and author. He founded the political party and action committee Forward Party (United States), Forward Party in 2021, for which he serves ...

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author, and former lawyer. In 1996, Greenwald founded a law firm concentrating on First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment litigation. He began blo ...

Norman Finkelstein Norman Gary Finkelstein ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist and activist. His primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Finkelstein was born in New York Cit ...

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

Adam McKay Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. McKay began his career as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') from 1995 to 2001. After leaving ''SNL'', McKay co-w ...

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music busi ...

Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi Tlaib ( ; born July 24, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since 2019, representing the state's 12th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, sh ...

, and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

. In March 2021, Taibbi announced that ''Useful Idiots'' would no longer be released by ''Rolling Stone'' and would instead be moving to

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription-based content, including newsletters, podcasts, and video. It allows writers to send digital content directl ...

. In January 2022, Taibbi announced a sabbatical leave to write a book, and that in his absence Aaron Maté would fill in for him."Aaron Maté Joins Useful Idiots"
Useful Idiots
January 4, 2022

Filmography

* ''Free to Fly: The US-Cuba Link'' (2004) — Associate producer * ''Embedded Live'' (2005) — Co-producer * ''La Memoria es Vaga'' (2005) — Director, producer * ''Commie Camp'' (2013) — Director, producer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halper, Katie Year of birth missing (living people) 1980s births Living people 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Activists from New York City American columnists American documentary film directors Film producers from New York City American media critics American online journalists American political podcasters American political commentators American political writers American secular Jews American stand-up comedians American talk radio hosts American women comedians American women documentary filmmakers American women non-fiction writers American women podcasters Comedians from Manhattan Dalton School alumni Date of birth missing (living people) HuffPost writers and columnists Jewish American activists for Palestinian solidarity Jewish American anti-Zionists Jewish American comedians Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish women comedians People from the Upper West Side Wesleyan University alumni Writers from Manhattan American women film producers