Jacob Weisberg (born 1964) is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company, with Malcolm Gladwell.[1] Weisberg was also a Newsweek columnist. He served as the editor of Slate magazine for six years before stepping down in June 2008.[2] He is the son of Lois Weisberg, a Chicago social activist and municipal commissioner.
Early life and education
Weisberg's father, Bernard Weisberg, was a Chicago lawyer and judge. His parents were introduced at a cocktail party by novelist Ralph Ellison. His mother is Lois Weisberg. His brother is former CIA officer and television writer and producer Joe Weisberg.[3]
Weisberg graduated from Yale University in 1986, where he worked for the Yale Daily News. When a junior, he was offered membership in Skull and Bones by then lieutenant governor of Massachusetts John Kerry. But he declined the offer, citing the club's exclusion of women.[4]
Weisberg is currently the Executive Chair of Pushkin Industries, [6] a media company focused on audio content, which he co-founded with Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin focuses on creating new podcasts, audiobooks and short-form audio content.[1] The company produces the podcast Revisionist History, hosted by Gladwell, which was previously produced through Panoply Media, a division of Slate Group. Until September 2018, Weisberg was the Editor in Chief of Slate Group.[1]
The creator and author of the Bushisms series, Weisberg published The Bush Tragedy in 2008.[citation needed] He is also the author, with former Goldman Sachs executive and Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, of the latter's memoir, In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington, which was a New York Times bestseller as well as one of Business Week's ten best business books of 2003.
Weisberg's first book, In Defense of Government, was published in 1996.
^Alex Beam, "The Bones in Kerry's Closet," Boston Globe, June 25, 2002, pp. E1+.
^Robbins and Alexandra.(2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN0-316-72091-7, p. 112