Skip to main content
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 eleven 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.

The Politics of Fear

As a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump made his world view plain: there was “us” and there was “them.” Once he was in the White House, the fear factor would prevail.

John Brennan, Former C.I.A. Director, on Being Targeted by Trump

Brennan’s agency was lambasted by the President as part of what he called the “Russia hoax.” Why is the Administration going Brennan now?

Jamaica Kincaid on “Putting Myself Together”

The celebrated writer discusses how she found her unique voice, and a new collection of her writings that begins with her first published piece in The New Yorker.

Israel’s Zones of Denial

Amid national euphoria over the bombing of Iran—and the largely ignored devastation in Gaza—a question lurks: What is the country becoming?

Dexter Filkins on Drones and the Future of Warfare

Rapid changes in technology are rendering American supremacy in highly advanced, expensive weapons a thing of the past. Can the military adapt in time for the next conflict?

Mayor Karen Bass on Marines in Los Angeles

Elected in part on a promise to address the housing crisis, Bass faces a different crisis: a federal “seizure” of Los Angeles, and an Administration fixated on mass deportation.

A New Way to Think About Schizophrenia

From the daily newsletter: Rachel Aviv’s reporting on a woman’s remarkable recovery.

Michael Wolff on MAGA’s Revolt Over Jeffrey Epstein

The journalist talks about his interviews with the infamous abuser, and the political fallout from the White House’s attempt to close his case.

The Director Ari Aster Explains His COVID-Era Western “Eddington”

Ari Aster’s neo-noir Western involves a gun-toting sheriff, COVID, the George Floyd protests, and a mysterious A.I. data center. The writer-director talks with Adam Howard.

Carrie Brownstein on a Portrait of Cat Power by Richard Avedon

The musician and “Portlandia” co-creator dissects an iconic rock-and-roll image: a 2003 photograph of Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, for a New Yorker profile.

Susan B. Glasser on the Deficit, and Why “We Are the Boiled Frog”

The New Yorker staff writer explains the political implications of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Janet Yellen on the Danger of a “Banana Republic” Economy

The former Treasury Secretary and chair of the Federal Reserve on the budget bill, the exploding deficit, and why Donald Trump is so desperate for lower interest rates.

U2’s Bono on the Power of Music

The singer on his memoir, “Surrender,” which deals with the early loss of his mother, finding religion in music, and navigating the Troubles while in a rock band from Dublin.

Kalief Browder: A Decade Later

Ten years after his suicide, lessons from what Browder shared with The New Yorker about his time in solitary confinement.

Bret Baier on Trump’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fox News

The Fox News anchor discusses the channel’s nightly news show, his role in the current media ecosystem, and what liberal outlets have got wrong about covering Trump.

“Super Gay Poems”

The writer Stephanie Burt discusses her new anthology of L.G.B.T.Q. poetry.

With His Eyes on History, Benjamin Netanyahu Aims for Political Resurrection

There is no overestimating the triumphalism in the Israeli Prime Minister’s circle, but the cascading effects of the war being waged on Iran are still unfolding.

Donald Trump Bombs Iran, and America Waits

The U.S. strikes were unprecedented, and the repercussions are impossible to predict.

Donald Trump and the Iran Crisis

It’s not easy to trust the President to make an optimal decision. For one thing, he is suspicious of nearly every source of information save his own instincts.

America’s Oligarch Problem

How did the United States join Russia and China as an oligarchy? The staff writer Evan Osnos chronicles the shift in his new book, “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich.”

The Politics of Fear

As a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump made his world view plain: there was “us” and there was “them.” Once he was in the White House, the fear factor would prevail.

John Brennan, Former C.I.A. Director, on Being Targeted by Trump

Brennan’s agency was lambasted by the President as part of what he called the “Russia hoax.” Why is the Administration going Brennan now?

Jamaica Kincaid on “Putting Myself Together”

The celebrated writer discusses how she found her unique voice, and a new collection of her writings that begins with her first published piece in The New Yorker.

Israel’s Zones of Denial

Amid national euphoria over the bombing of Iran—and the largely ignored devastation in Gaza—a question lurks: What is the country becoming?

Dexter Filkins on Drones and the Future of Warfare

Rapid changes in technology are rendering American supremacy in highly advanced, expensive weapons a thing of the past. Can the military adapt in time for the next conflict?

Mayor Karen Bass on Marines in Los Angeles

Elected in part on a promise to address the housing crisis, Bass faces a different crisis: a federal “seizure” of Los Angeles, and an Administration fixated on mass deportation.

A New Way to Think About Schizophrenia

From the daily newsletter: Rachel Aviv’s reporting on a woman’s remarkable recovery.

Michael Wolff on MAGA’s Revolt Over Jeffrey Epstein

The journalist talks about his interviews with the infamous abuser, and the political fallout from the White House’s attempt to close his case.

The Director Ari Aster Explains His COVID-Era Western “Eddington”

Ari Aster’s neo-noir Western involves a gun-toting sheriff, COVID, the George Floyd protests, and a mysterious A.I. data center. The writer-director talks with Adam Howard.

Carrie Brownstein on a Portrait of Cat Power by Richard Avedon

The musician and “Portlandia” co-creator dissects an iconic rock-and-roll image: a 2003 photograph of Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, for a New Yorker profile.

Susan B. Glasser on the Deficit, and Why “We Are the Boiled Frog”

The New Yorker staff writer explains the political implications of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Janet Yellen on the Danger of a “Banana Republic” Economy

The former Treasury Secretary and chair of the Federal Reserve on the budget bill, the exploding deficit, and why Donald Trump is so desperate for lower interest rates.

U2’s Bono on the Power of Music

The singer on his memoir, “Surrender,” which deals with the early loss of his mother, finding religion in music, and navigating the Troubles while in a rock band from Dublin.

Kalief Browder: A Decade Later

Ten years after his suicide, lessons from what Browder shared with The New Yorker about his time in solitary confinement.

Bret Baier on Trump’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fox News

The Fox News anchor discusses the channel’s nightly news show, his role in the current media ecosystem, and what liberal outlets have got wrong about covering Trump.

“Super Gay Poems”

The writer Stephanie Burt discusses her new anthology of L.G.B.T.Q. poetry.

With His Eyes on History, Benjamin Netanyahu Aims for Political Resurrection

There is no overestimating the triumphalism in the Israeli Prime Minister’s circle, but the cascading effects of the war being waged on Iran are still unfolding.

Donald Trump Bombs Iran, and America Waits

The U.S. strikes were unprecedented, and the repercussions are impossible to predict.

Donald Trump and the Iran Crisis

It’s not easy to trust the President to make an optimal decision. For one thing, he is suspicious of nearly every source of information save his own instincts.

America’s Oligarch Problem

How did the United States join Russia and China as an oligarchy? The staff writer Evan Osnos chronicles the shift in his new book, “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich.”