Kostya Kennedy is an American journalist and author. He is VP and Editor in Chief of Premium Publishing at

Dotdash Meredith Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

, and a former senior writer and assistant managing editor at ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. Kennedy has written several best-selling and critically acclaimed books. He was also a staff writer at ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' and has contributed to ''

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 ...

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' among many other publications.

Biography

Originally from

Great Neck, NY Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point ...

, Kennedy graduated with a BA in philosophy from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

and a BS from the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

, where he was awarded the distinctive Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship.

Career

As VP and Editor in Chief of Premium Publishing at

, Kennedy oversees special editions across a wide range of subject areas under numerous in-house and partner brands. These include ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', '' EatingWell'', ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', ''

verywell Verywell is a website providing health and wellness information by health professionals. It was launched on 26 April 2016 as a media property of About.com (now Dotdash Meredith) and its first standalone brand. As of March 2017, it reached 17 mill ...

'', ''

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

'', ''

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 ...

'',

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' and many others. A contributor and commentator on talk radio as well as on television, Kennedy has appeared on ''

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 ...

'', ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

'',

MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...

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 ...

and other news entertainment programs. He occasionally hosts public speaking engagements focusing on issues and

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

in sports and historical and current events. At ''

'', along with writing columns, features, and cover stories, Kennedy helped found and develop several departments, including "SI Players" and "SI Adventure" and he served as the top editor of ''Sports Illustrated Presents'', overseeing special print and digital issues devoted to the commemoration of milestones in sports. Kennedy has also been a full professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media and Business. He previously taught journalism at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Books and awards

Kennedy's new book, ''The Ride:

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

and the Night that Saved America'' will be published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

on March 25, 2025. He is the author of ''True: The Four Seasons of

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

'' (2022, St. Martin's Press), as well as ''The New York Times'' Bestsellers ''

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

: An American Dilemma'' (2014), described this way by the novelist

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

: "Like the best writing about sport–Liebling, Angell–it qualifies as stirring literature" and ''56:

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

and the Last Magic Number in Sports'' (2011), which was called "the best baseball book to appear in many a season," by

Roger Kahn Roger Kahn (October 31, 1927 – February 6, 2020) was an American journalist and author, best known for his 1972 baseball book '' The Boys of Summer''. Biography Roger Kahn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 31, 1927, to Olga (''née ...

. All three of these books received the

Casey Award The Casey Award (stylized as CASEY) is an annual literary award that has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was created by Mike Shannon and W. J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of '' Spitball: The Literary B ...

as the best baseball book of the year. No author has won the award more often. Each was a ''New York Times'' Bestseller. His book on Rose, along with other pieces and appearances by Kennedy, including a 2014 ''

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 ...

'' Op-Ed piece, have played a significant role in the renewed discussion about Rose's eligibility for the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

. His 2016 book ''Lasting Impact: One Team, One Season. What Happens When Our Sons Play Football'' explores the benefits and dangers of playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in light of increased

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

awareness.

Bibliography

*''The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America'' (2025) *''True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson'' (2022) **Winner of the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book *''Lasting Impact: One Team, One Season. What Happens When Our Sons Play Football'' (2016) *''Pete Rose: An American Dilemma'' (2014) **Winner of the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book **Named one of Fortune Magazine's Favorite Books of 2014 *''56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports'' (2011) **Winner of the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book **Runner-up PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing **Named Best Biography at the San Francisco Book Festival

Editor

*''The Story of Baseball in 100 Photographs'' (2018) *''Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl Gold: 50 Years of the Big Game'' (2015) *''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful'' (2013) *''Sports Illustrated’s The Hockey Book'' (2010)

References

External links

Official websiteSpitball Magazine
Spitball magazine. Lists Casey Award winners, and biographical information

Give Rose a Shot at The Hall, New York Times Op-Ed

Winners list, 2011, San Francisco book Festival
2012 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing
PEN/ESPN runner-up 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Kostya Living people Stony Brook University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Baseball writers Sportswriters from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people)