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, with
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...
.
Weisberg was also a ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' columnist. He served as the editor of ''
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 ...
'' magazine for six years before stepping down in June 2008. He is the son of
Lois Weisberg, a Chicago social activist and municipal commissioner.
Early life and education
Weisberg's father, Bernard Weisberg, was a Chicago lawyer and judge. His parents were introduced at a cocktail party by novelist
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel '' Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953.
Ellison wrote '' Shadow and Act'' (1964), a co ...
. His mother is
Lois Weisberg. His brother is former
CIA officer and television writer and producer
Joe Weisberg.
Weisberg graduated from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1986, where he worked for the ''
Yale Daily News
The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut, since January 28, 1878.
Description
Financially and editorially independent of Yale University since its founding, th ...
''. When a junior, he was offered membership in
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...
by then lieutenant governor of Massachusetts
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
. But he declined the offer, citing the club's exclusion of women.
Weisberg was persuaded by ''The Washington Posts
Robert G. Kaiser to join
Elihu Society. After Yale he attended
New College, Oxford
New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, on a
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world.
Established in 1902, it is ...
.
Career
Weisberg is currently the Executive Chair of Pushkin Industries, a media company focused on audio content, which he co-founded with
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...
. Pushkin focuses on creating new podcasts, audiobooks and short-form audio content.
The company produces the podcast ''
Revisionist History'', hosted by Gladwell, which was previously produced through
Panoply Media, a division of
Slate Group. Until September 2018, Weisberg was the Editor in Chief of Slate Group.
Previously, he was a commentator on
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
. He also worked for ''
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 ...
'' in Washington, D.C., and was a contributing writer 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 ...
'' and a contributing editor to ''
Vanity Fair''. He has served as a columnist for the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''. Early in his career, he worked for ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' in the London and Washington bureaus. Weisberg has also worked as a
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
journalist for numerous publications.
Books
The creator and author of the ''
Bushisms'' series, Weisberg published ''
The Bush Tragedy'' in 2008. He is also the author, with former
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
executive and Secretary of the Treasury
Robert Rubin
Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former Federal government of the United States, government official. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. secretary o ...
, of the latter's memoir, ''In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington'', which was a
''New York Times'' bestseller as well as one of ''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
''s ten best business books of 2003.
Weisberg's first book, ''In Defense of Government'', was published in 1996.
He chaired the judging panel for the 2009
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Samuel Johnson Prize
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...
for excellence in non-fiction writing.
Personal life
Weisberg is married to style and fashion journalist
Deborah Needleman, editor of
''domino'' magazine, and formerly editor-in-chief
of ''
T: The New York Times Style Magazine''.
Works
*
*
*
*
What Are Impeachable Offenses?' September 28, 2017 issue of New York Review Books, with
Noah Feldman
Noah Raam Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American legal scholar and academic. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the author of 10 books, host of the podcas ...
References
External links
Short bio of Weisberg– Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government
Video (and audio) debate/conversation with Jacob Weisbergand
David Frum
David Jeffrey Frum (; born 30 June 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. He is a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum authored the ...
on
Bloggingheads.tv
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisberg, Jacob
1964 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Alumni of New College, Oxford
American male journalists
American male non-fiction writers
American political journalists
American political writers
American Rhodes Scholars
Date of birth missing (living people)
Jewish American journalists
Jewish American non-fiction writers
The New Republic people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Slate (magazine) people
Yale University alumni