Rembert Browne (born 1987) is a writer who primarily focuses on pop culture, politics and sports. Previously Browne wrote for ''
Grantland
''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
'', then for ''
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 ...
''.
Early life
Browne grew up in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
and attended
The Paideia School, where his classmate was
Jon Ossoff
Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia since 2021. A member of the ...
, now the senior U.S. senator from Georgia. He graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
in 2009 with a degree in sociology, public policy and geography. While attending Dartmouth, Browne wrote for ''
The Dartmouth
''The Dartmouth'' is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College and America's oldest college newspaper. Originally named the ''Dartmouth Gazette'', the first issue was published on August 27, 1799, under the motto "Here range the world— ...
'', the student newspaper. He later attended
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 ...
in pursuit of a Master's degree in Urban Planning but left the program when he was offered a full-time position at Grantland. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Andrea Gompf.
Writing
Browne has drawn notice for his journalism on a wide variety of topics, including music, sports, and politics, interviewing
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...
on the 50th anniversary of the
Selma March
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the desire of African-Am ...
and serving as a moderator of the
Iowa Democratic Brown and Black Presidential Forum during the
2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. Browne covered the
Republican and
Democratic National Conventions
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
for ''New York Magazine'' in 2016.
In 2016, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' magazine named Browne to its
30 Under 30 list, citing his work on "everything from reporting on the ground in Ferguson, to interviewing President Obama on Air Force One, to covering pop culture." He was selected with four other journalists to fly with
President Barack Obama to
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...
on March 7, 2015 to report on commemoration of the 50th anniversary of
Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965.
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
has called Browne, "a thoughtful critic who speaks with the voice of young America" and ''
Brooklyn Magazine
''Brooklyn Magazine'' is an online news magazine, focusing on "New York’s most populous borough through the lens of culture, community, commerce, arts and leisure." The company was bought by Michael Bassik and the website was launched in Decemb ...
'' included him on its list of "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture," praising his "sharp-witted, playful and incisive voice." Offering a eulogy for ''Grantland'' after
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 ...
shuttered the website, ''
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 ...
'' said Browne illustrated the way ''Grantland'' was "fun because it was smart, and because it was run by human beings...Browne’s long, absurdly detailed critical analysis of a photo of
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...
surrounded by dorky teenagers at a bar mitzvah
asa singular example of how much fun one could have on the internet...an inspired, creative bit of fun."
''
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 ...
'' named Browne's Grantland piece on
Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...
to its list of "The 13 Greatest Pieces of Sportswriting in 2013" and
Flavorwire
''Flavorwire'' was a New York City-based online culture magazine. The site includes original feature articles, interviews, reviews, as well as content recycled from other sources. ''Flavorwire'' describes themselves as "a network of culturally ...
cited his reporting on the
Ferguson protests as "Longform You Have to Read: Race in America."
Other media
Other projects led by Browne include Grantland's Rembert Explains podcast—praised by The A.V. Club as "knowledgeable and enthusiastic...making for a spirited conversation"—as well as a popular Tumblr called Peak Blackness. He spoke at
The New Museum
The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker.
History
The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...
's Ideas City conference on
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and at the
Museum of the Moving Image
The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Am ...
's screening of ESPN's
30 for 30
''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series und ...
:
O.J.: Made in America.
With
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political is ...
, Browne co-wrote ''
Black Panther
A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...
:
World of Wakanda #6'' for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
, published April 19, 2017.
References
External links
Buzzfeed's Another Round, Episode 20: Peak Blackness with Rembert BrowneSI Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Episode 66: Rembert BrowneLongform Podcast, Episode 146: Rembert BrowneBillboard, The Juice Podcast August 22, 2014: Rembert Browne, Brandon "Jinx" Jenkins, Sean Stout, Damien Scott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Rembert
1987 births
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century African-American writers
African-American journalists
American male journalists
American bloggers
American political writers
Dartmouth College alumni
Living people
Writers from Atlanta
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
21st-century American male writers
Alumni of the Paideia School