Jennifer Vanasco (born ) is an American radio journalist. A culture editor at

NPR 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 ...

, she previously edited news and culture stories at

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

. She created and wrote the Minority Reports column for ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

'', is a former

syndicated columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essa ...

for the

gay press The following is a list of periodicals (printed magazines, journals and newspapers) aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) demographic by country. Australia The most comprehensive holdings of LGBT periodicals is fo ...

, and was the editor in chief of the defunct 365gay.com and a

theater critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

for the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

''.

Biography

Vanasco grew up in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

and attended

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

, where she graduated cum laude in 1994 with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in philosophy. After graduating, Vanasco was associate editor at the gay paper ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Public ...

'' in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, worked as a writer for the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and eventually became a

freelance writer ''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 ...

and journalism teacher. She published work in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', ''

the Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', the ''

'', the Progressive Media Service, TimeOut Chicago and the now defunct '' Girlfriends'' magazine. Vanasco has written for ''The Village Voice'', Fodor's Travel Guides, Sherman's Travel and more than a dozen gay publications. She was the editor in chief of 365gay.com and blogged for 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 ...

''. She is a member of the

Independent Gay Forum The Independent Gay Forum was an organization that sponsored a website featuring free access to articles and opinions penned by gay economical conservative, center-right Independent and libertarian gay authors. Its ''raison d'etre'' was dissatisfac ...

. Her column has been running weekly since its debut in ''Windy City Times'' in 1996 (it now runs in the ''Chicago Free Press'') and won three

Peter Lisagor Award Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

s for opinion writing from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

' Chicago Headline Club. She writes about travel, the arts, and social and political issues relevant to gays, lesbians,

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

s and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people, including

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

gays in the military Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries including some South American countries, such as ...

, and gay social life. Vanasco joined WNYC in 2013. She became an editor for NPR's culture desk in 2022. Vanasco lives in

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington (Manhattan), Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the Bennett Park (Ne ...

with her wife, ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' writer

Jenny Hagel Jenny Hagel (born ) is an American comedian and comedy writer. She is currently a writer and performer for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'', where she is known for performing on the recurring segment "Jokes Seth Can't Tell", along with host Seth M ...

, and her son.

Published works

* The Glamour Factor and the Fiji Effect, Reading the 'L' Word: Outing Contemporary Television, I.B. Tauris Press, London, 2006 *May 16, I Do, I Don't: Queers on Marriage, Suspect Thoughts Press, San Francisco, 2004 *Grand Haven & Holland; South Haven & Saugatuck/Douglas, Where to Weekend Around Chicago, Fodor's, 2004

References

External links

Vanasco's homepage

365gay.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanasco, Jennifer American columnists Living people 1971 births Wellesley College alumni People from Long Island Chicago Reader people American LGBTQ journalists 21st-century American journalists