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David Remnick head shot - The New Yorker

David Remnick

David Remnick has been the editor of The New Yorker since 1998 and a staff writer since 1992. He has written hundreds of pieces for the magazine, including reporting from Russia, the Middle East, and Europe and Profiles of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Katharine Graham, Mike Tyson, Bruce Springsteen, Ralph Ellison, Philip Roth, Benjamin Netanyahu, Leonard Cohen, and Mavis Staples. He also serves as the host of the magazine’s national radio program and podcast, “The New Yorker Radio Hour.”

Remnick began his reporting career in 1982, as a staff writer at the Washington Post, where he covered stories for the Metro, Sports, and Style sections. In 1988, he started a four-year assignment as a Washington Post Moscow correspondent, an experience that formed the basis of his 1993 book, “Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire.” In 1994, “Lenin’s Tomb” received both the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction and a George Polk Award for excellence in journalism.

Under Remnick’s leadership, The New Yorker has become the country’s most honored magazine. It has won more than fifty National Magazine Awards during his tenure, including multiple citations for general excellence. In 2016, The New Yorker became the first magazine to receive a Pulitzer Prize for its writing, and now has won eight Pulitzers, including the gold medal for public service. Remnick was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016.

Remnick has written seven books: “Lenin’s Tomb,” “Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia,” “King of the World” (a biography of Muhammad Ali), and “The Bridge” (a biography of Barack Obama), along with “The Devil Problem,” “Reporting,” and “Holding the Note,” which are collections of some of his pieces from the magazine. He has also edited or co-edited many anthologies of New Yorker articles, including “The Matter of Black Lives,” “The Fragile Earth,” “Life Stories,” “Wonderful Town,” “The New Gilded Age,” “Fierce Pajamas,” “Disquiet, Please!,” and “Secret Ingredients.”

Remnick has taught at Princeton University, where he received his B.A., in 1981, and at Columbia University. He lives in New York with his wife, Esther Fein; they have three children, Alex, Noah, and Natasha.

A Nation Inflamed

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, who can heal a country so threatened by menace, violence, and division?

Jane Mayer, David Grann, and Patrick Radden Keefe on the Importance of a Good Villain

Three masters talk about the craft of investigative journalism, and how the bad guy makes the story tick.

Julián Castro on the Biden Problem, and What the Democratic Party Got Wrong

A former Presidential candidate, Castro tells David Remnick why Democratic leaders concerned about President Biden’s age were afraid to challenge the establishment and run against him.

Kevin Costner Goes West Again

The actor and director, whose film “Horizon: An American Saga” has been in the making for decades, thinks of the Western as America’s Shakespeare.

John Fetterman’s Move to the Right on Israel

Once a beacon for progressives, the senator has put the left at a distance and moved past centrist Democrats with his unconditional support of Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza.

Florence Welch Talks About Life on the Road

The singer and leader of Florence and the Machine chats with John Seabrook about finding her voice as a songwriter and her struggles with alcohol, and plays two songs live with her band.

Robert Caro on the Making of “The Power Broker”

The legendary historian and biographer explains how, from a background in daily journalism, he came to write one of the most revered nonfiction books of the twentieth century.

The New Yorker’s Political Writers Answer Your Election Questions

David Remnick asked listeners for their questions about the Presidential election, and a crack team of The New Yorker’s political writers came together to answer them.

The Reckoning of Joe Biden

For the President to insist on remaining the Democratic candidate would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.

Summer at the Racetrack with Ada Limón

The U.S. Poet Laureate offers a guided tour of a racetrack near her home, deep in the horse country of Lexington, Kentucky.

Emily Nussbaum on the Beginnings of Reality TV

The staff writer picks three pioneering entries to the genre. “If you hate reality television,” she says, “I’m trying to talk to you.”

Is Being a Politician the Worst Job in the World?

Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament, explains the upcoming U.K. elections, the “catastrophic” Brexit, and the soul-crushing sham of a life in politics.

Paul Scheer Picks the Very Best of the Very Worst Movies

The co-host of “How Did This Get Made?” enlightens David Remnick on the art of terrible film. Plus, the New Yorker film critic Justin Chang praises Coppola’s divisive “Megalopolis.”

Senator Raphael Warnock on America’s “Moral and Spiritual Battle”

The Democratic senator and Baptist pastor, who preaches from the same pulpit in Atlanta as Martin Luther King, Jr., did, says that Trumpism has exacerbated a “spiritual crisis.”

After Serving Decades in Prison for Murder, Two Men Fought to Clear Their Names

Eric Smokes and David Warren were convicted as teen-agers. Even after serving their sentences, the “Times Square Two” argued their innocence. It took decades for prosecutors to agree.

The Trans Athletes Who Changed the Olympics—in 1936

A track star’s gender transition in the nineteen-thirties, and the response of Olympic officials, foreshadowed today’s culture-war battles over gender and sports.

Cécile McLorin Salvant Finds “the Gems That Haven’t Been Sung and Sung”

Though rooted in the jazz tradition, the singer’s interests and repertoire reach across eras, languages, and continents.

Trump Is Guilty, but Voters Will Be the Final Judge

The jury has convicted the former President of thirty-four felony counts in his New York hush-money trial. Now the American people will decide to what extent they care.

How the Reality-TV Industry Mistreats Its Stars

Lawsuits and the labor movement come to reality TV, by way of the Netflix hit “Love Is Blind.”

“Love Is Blind,” and Allegedly Toxic

Lawsuits and the labor movement come to reality TV, by way of the Netflix hit. Plus, Ilana Glazer’s buddy movie tackles the realities of pregnancy, motherhood, and friendship.

A Nation Inflamed

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, who can heal a country so threatened by menace, violence, and division?

Jane Mayer, David Grann, and Patrick Radden Keefe on the Importance of a Good Villain

Three masters talk about the craft of investigative journalism, and how the bad guy makes the story tick.

Julián Castro on the Biden Problem, and What the Democratic Party Got Wrong

A former Presidential candidate, Castro tells David Remnick why Democratic leaders concerned about President Biden’s age were afraid to challenge the establishment and run against him.

Kevin Costner Goes West Again

The actor and director, whose film “Horizon: An American Saga” has been in the making for decades, thinks of the Western as America’s Shakespeare.

John Fetterman’s Move to the Right on Israel

Once a beacon for progressives, the senator has put the left at a distance and moved past centrist Democrats with his unconditional support of Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza.

Florence Welch Talks About Life on the Road

The singer and leader of Florence and the Machine chats with John Seabrook about finding her voice as a songwriter and her struggles with alcohol, and plays two songs live with her band.

Robert Caro on the Making of “The Power Broker”

The legendary historian and biographer explains how, from a background in daily journalism, he came to write one of the most revered nonfiction books of the twentieth century.

The New Yorker’s Political Writers Answer Your Election Questions

David Remnick asked listeners for their questions about the Presidential election, and a crack team of The New Yorker’s political writers came together to answer them.

The Reckoning of Joe Biden

For the President to insist on remaining the Democratic candidate would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.

Summer at the Racetrack with Ada Limón

The U.S. Poet Laureate offers a guided tour of a racetrack near her home, deep in the horse country of Lexington, Kentucky.

Emily Nussbaum on the Beginnings of Reality TV

The staff writer picks three pioneering entries to the genre. “If you hate reality television,” she says, “I’m trying to talk to you.”

Is Being a Politician the Worst Job in the World?

Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament, explains the upcoming U.K. elections, the “catastrophic” Brexit, and the soul-crushing sham of a life in politics.

Paul Scheer Picks the Very Best of the Very Worst Movies

The co-host of “How Did This Get Made?” enlightens David Remnick on the art of terrible film. Plus, the New Yorker film critic Justin Chang praises Coppola’s divisive “Megalopolis.”

Senator Raphael Warnock on America’s “Moral and Spiritual Battle”

The Democratic senator and Baptist pastor, who preaches from the same pulpit in Atlanta as Martin Luther King, Jr., did, says that Trumpism has exacerbated a “spiritual crisis.”

After Serving Decades in Prison for Murder, Two Men Fought to Clear Their Names

Eric Smokes and David Warren were convicted as teen-agers. Even after serving their sentences, the “Times Square Two” argued their innocence. It took decades for prosecutors to agree.

The Trans Athletes Who Changed the Olympics—in 1936

A track star’s gender transition in the nineteen-thirties, and the response of Olympic officials, foreshadowed today’s culture-war battles over gender and sports.

Cécile McLorin Salvant Finds “the Gems That Haven’t Been Sung and Sung”

Though rooted in the jazz tradition, the singer’s interests and repertoire reach across eras, languages, and continents.

Trump Is Guilty, but Voters Will Be the Final Judge

The jury has convicted the former President of thirty-four felony counts in his New York hush-money trial. Now the American people will decide to what extent they care.

How the Reality-TV Industry Mistreats Its Stars

Lawsuits and the labor movement come to reality TV, by way of the Netflix hit “Love Is Blind.”

“Love Is Blind,” and Allegedly Toxic

Lawsuits and the labor movement come to reality TV, by way of the Netflix hit. Plus, Ilana Glazer’s buddy movie tackles the realities of pregnancy, motherhood, and friendship.