David Remnick

Host, The New Yorker Radio Hour

David Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker since 1998 and a staff writer since 1992...

He has written many pieces for the magazine, including reporting from Russia, the Middle East, and Europe, and Profiles of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Katharine Graham, Mike Tyson, Ralph Ellison, Philip Roth, and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Remnick began his reporting career as a staff writer at the Washington Post in 1982, where he covered stories for the Metro, Sports, and Style sections. In 1988, he started a four-year tenure as a Washington Post Moscow correspondent, an experience that formed the basis of his 1993 book on the former Soviet Union, “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.

Since Remnick became editor, The New Yorker has garnered a hundred and forty-nine nominations for National Magazine Awards and has won thirty-seven. In 2001 and again in 2005, the magazine won an unprecedented five National Magazine Awards; in 2014, the magazine won four awards. In addition, in 2000 Remnick was named Advertising Age’s Editor of the Year.

Remnick has written six books: “Lenin’s Tomb,” “Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia,” “King of the World” (a biography of Muhammad Ali), “The Bridge” (a biography of Barack Obama), and “The Devil Problem” and “Reporting,” which are collections of some of his pieces from the magazine. Remnick has edited many anthologies of New Yorker pieces, including “Life Stories,” “Wonderful Town,” “The New Gilded Age,” “Fierce Pajamas,” “Secret Ingredients,” and “Disquiet, Please!”

Remnick has contributed to The New York Review of BooksVanity FairEsquire, andThe New Republic. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and has taught at Princeton, where he received his B.A., in 1981, and at Columbia. He lives in New York with his wife, Esther Fein; they have three children, Alex, Noah, and Natasha.

Shows:

David Remnick appears in the following:

Young Donald Trump, Roy Cohn, and the Dark Arts of Power

Friday, September 27, 2024

Gabriel Sherman on “The Apprentice,” his coming-of-age film about Trump. And a look at the Uncommitted Movement in Michigan, and how the war in Gaza could cost Harris the election.

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Can Trump Voters Still Change Their Minds?

Friday, September 20, 2024

The political strategist Sarah Longwell on what she’s hearing in focus groups with discontented Trump supporters. Plus, Timothy Snyder on the meaning of freedom in Ukraine and America.

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Josh Shapiro on How Kamala Harris Can Win Pennsylvania

Friday, September 13, 2024

The deeply purple swing state is key to this election. The Democratic governor, a runner-up for Harris’s Vice-Presidential pick, explains how she can win.

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Patti LuPone’s Five Decades on Broadway, plus Marc Elias on Preparing for Trump’s Next “Big Lie”

Friday, September 06, 2024

The three-time Tony winner opens a new comedy onstage and makes her début in the Marvel universe. And the Democrats’ top lawyer on preparing for threats in the election. 

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The Writer Danzy Senna on Kamala Harris and the Complexity of Biracial Identity in America

Friday, August 30, 2024

The novelist talks about living across the color line, in a country obsessed with policing that line. Plus, Ian Frazier’s tour of what he calls “Paradise Bronx.”

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The Make-or-Break Issues of the 2024 Election

Friday, August 16, 2024

New Yorker reporters on key issues shaping the Republican campaign: maximizing support from Latino voters, and tension over the next steps in ending abortion in America. 

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Nancy Pelosi, The Power Broker

Friday, August 09, 2024

She played a leading role in major legislation of the Biden Administration, then Pelosi helped clear the path for new Democratic leadership. Plus, Clare Malone on RFK and the bear.

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Israel’s Other Intractable Conflict

Friday, August 02, 2024

The writer Nathan Thrall and the lawyer Raja Shehadeh on the occupation of the West Bank, and whether there can be any prospect for peace.

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What Kamala Harris Needs to Win the Presidency, from a Veteran of Hillary Clinton’s Campaign

Friday, July 26, 2024

Jennifer Palmieri explains how the race that Harris faces differs from those of other women who’ve run for President. Plus, Louisa Thomas on the start of the Olympics.

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The Presidential Race Is in Uncharted Territory, but It’s Clear Who’s Winning

Friday, July 19, 2024

CNN’s data guru Harry Enten says that, unless the race shifts significantly, Donald Trump will win. And Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s novel about an undocumented college student.

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

Friday, July 12, 2024

The former presidential candidate on why the President needs to step out of the race. Plus, staff writers Jane Mayer, David Grann, and Patrick Radden Keefe on writing a great villain.

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John Fetterman’s Move to the Right on Israel

Friday, June 28, 2024

Benjamin Wallace-Wells shares insights from his profile of the Pennsylvania senator. Plus, a crack team of staff writers answers listeners’ questions about the presidential election. 

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Kevin Costner on “Yellowstone,” “Horizon,” and Why the Western Endures

Friday, June 21, 2024

The Academy Award-winning actor and director thinks of Westerns as America’s Shakespeare. Plus, Emily Nussbaum on the reality of reality TV.

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Is Being a Politician the Worst Job in the World?

Friday, June 14, 2024

Rory Stewart, a former Member of Parliament, explains the fallout of Brexit and the soul-crushing nature of life in politics. Plus, Paul Scheer on the very best of bad movies. 

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

Friday, May 31, 2024

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

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“Love Is Blind,” and Allegedly Toxic

Friday, May 24, 2024

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.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Isn’t Going Away

Friday, May 17, 2024

David Remnick asks R.F.K., Jr., where his run for President and his beliefs are coming from. Plus, Miranda July’s new novel explores marriage, desire, and perimenopause.

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The United States Passed a Ban on TikTok. Why?

Friday, May 10, 2024

Is TikTok the killer app of social media—or a Trojan horse sent by the enemy? Two views on the recent ban. Plus, salmon in the dishwasher, and more highlights of culinary TikTok.

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Israel, Gaza, and the Turmoil at One American University

Friday, May 03, 2024

Not since the Vietnam War has a protest movement reached college campuses with such fury. We look at the reverberations at one school, Harvard University.

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Jerry Seinfeld on Making a Life in Comedy (and Also, Pop-Tarts)

Friday, April 26, 2024

At seventy, the comedian débuts as a movie director with “Unfrosted,” about the invention of the Pop-Tart. And, Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger on how to convince an election denier.

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