David A. Plotz (born January 31, 1970) is an American journalist and former CEO of ''

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an United States, American-based travel and exploration company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via professiona ...

'', an online magazine devoted to discovery and exploration. A writer with ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' since its inception in 1996, Plotz was the online magazine's editor from June 2008 until July 2014, succeeding

Jacob Weisberg Jacob Weisberg (born 1964) is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company ...

. Plotz is the founder and CEO of the local-news podcast network, City Cast.

Early life and career

David Plotz was born in London and was raised in Washington, D.C., the child of Dr. Judith Plotz, an English professor at

The George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first ...

, and Dr. Paul H. Plotz,a researcher at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. He attended Lafayette Elementary School and the St. Albans School in Washington. In 1992, Plotz graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with an A.B. degree. While at Harvard, he wrote for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' (1988—1992).

Career

Plotz worked as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

for the Department of Justice. He switched to journalism and served as a writer and senior editor for the ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

''. He joined ''Slate'' when it launched in 1996.

Work

Plotz has written for ''

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', ''

Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' New Republic'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'', and '' GQ''. He won the National Press Club's Hume Award for Political Reporting in 2000, was a

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

finalist (for a ''Harper's'' article about

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

's gambling industry), and won an Online Journalism Award for a ''Slate'' piece on

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

. He appears on the weekly '' Slate Political Gabfest'' podcast with John Dickerson and Emily Bazelon. He is the author of ''The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank'' (2005) about the Repository for Germinal Choice, and ''Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned when I Read Every Single Word of the Bible'' (2009), based on his "Blogging the Bible" series from Slate.com.

Personal life

Plotz was married to

Hanna Rosin Hanna Rosin (born 1970) is an American writer and podcaster. She is the host of Radio Atlantic and a Senior Editor at ''The Atlantic''. Previously she was the editorial director for audio for ''New York Magazine'' Formerly, she was the co-host o ...

, a former reporter for ''

'' and a national correspondent for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

''. They lived in Washington, D.C., with their three children. They have since divorced. As of 2020, Plotz lives in Washington, DC, with his three children and two cats. Plotz is Jewish.

Published works

* *

References

External links

Plotz's bio on the website for his book

Video conversations featuring Plotz
on Bloggingheads.tv
Reddit Questionnaire
(April 11, 2021) *
Atlas Obscura , Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations

CityCast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plotz, David Jewish American journalists American male journalists Harvard University alumni Living people Journalists from Washington, D.C. Slate (magazine) people St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni 1970 births American chief executives 21st-century American Jews