Editing Jacob Weisberg

{{short description|American political journalist (born 1964)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Jacob Weisberg
| image              = Jacob Weisberg (Slate Group).jpg
| caption            = Weisberg in New York, 2012
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1964}}
| birth_place        = 
| spouse             = [[Deborah Needleman]]
| children           = 2
| education          = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[New College, Oxford]]
| occupation         = Writer, journalist
}}

'''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]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/business/media/jacob-weisberg-slate-malcolm-gladwell.html|title=Jacob Weisberg Leaves Slate to Join Malcolm Gladwell in Podcast Venture|last=Peiser|first=Jacklyn|date=September 12, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=Dec 31, 2018}}</ref> Weisberg was also a ''[[Newsweek]]'' columnist. He served as the editor of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' magazine for six years before stepping down in June 2008.<ref>Jacob Weisberg, "And My Successor Is...," ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', June 4, 2008.</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/interrogation/2013/01/the_americans_fx_spy_series_creators_joe_weisberg_and_joel_fields.html|title=A Conversation with the Americans Showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields|author=June Thomas|date=January 31, 2013 |publisher=[[Slate.com]]|quote=Slate talked with [Joe] Weisberg (who is also the brother of Jacob Weisberg, the Slate Group's editor in chief)}}</ref>

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.<ref>Alex Beam, "The Bones in Kerry's Closet," ''[[Boston Globe]]'', June 25, 2002, pp. E1+.</ref>

Weisberg was persuaded by ''The Washington Post'''s [[Robert G. Kaiser]] to join [[Elihu (secret society)|Elihu Society]].<ref>Robbins and Alexandra.(2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Boston: Little, Brown. {{ISBN|0-316-72091-7}}, p. 112</ref> After Yale he attended [[New College, Oxford]], on a [[Rhodes Scholarship]].

==Career==
Weisberg is currently the Executive Chair of Pushkin Industries, <ref> https://www.podpod.com/article/1857468/pushkin-industries-promotes-gretta-cohn-ceo </ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /> The company produces the podcast ''[[Revisionist History (podcast)|Revisionist History]]'', hosted by Gladwell, which was previously produced through [[Panoply Media]], a division of [[The Slate Group|Slate Group]]. Until September 2018, Weisberg was the Editor in Chief of Slate Group.<ref name=":0" />

Previously, he was a commentator on [[National Public Radio]]. He also worked for ''[[The New Republic]]'' in Washington, D.C., and was a contributing writer for ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title='I Am Charlotte Simmons': Peeping Tom|first=Jacob|last=Weisberg|date=November 28, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/books/28WEISBER.html}}</ref> and a contributing editor to ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''. He has served as a columnist for the ''[[Financial Times]]''. Early in his career, he worked for ''[[Newsweek]]'' in the London and Washington bureaus. Weisberg has also worked as a [[freelancer|freelance]] journalist for numerous publications.

===Books===
The creator and author of the ''[[Bushism]]s'' series, Weisberg published ''[[The Bush Tragedy]]'' in 2008.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}} 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|''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.

He chaired the judging panel for the 2009 [[BBC]] [[Samuel Johnson Prize]] for excellence in non-fiction writing.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

==Personal life ==
Weisberg is married to style and fashion journalist [[Deborah Needleman]], editor of [[domino (magazine)|''domino'' magazine]],{{citation needed|date=August 2013}} and formerly editor-in-chief<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/a-note-from-dean-deborah-needleman-is-departing/|title=A Note from Dean: Deborah Needleman Is Departing|date=2016-11-21|website=The New York Times Company|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-26}}</ref> of ''[[T: The New York Times Style Magazine]]''.

== Works ==
*{{cite book| title=The Bush Tragedy|url=https://archive.org/details/bushtragedy00weis| url-access=registration|date=15 January 2008|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-58836-693-1}}
*{{cite book| title=Ronald Reagan: The American Presidents Series: The 40th President, 1981-1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S33lCQAAQBAJ|date=5 January 2016|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=978-0-8050-9728-3}}
*{{cite book|author1=Robert Edward Rubin|author2=Jacob Weisberg|title=In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington|url=https://archive.org/details/inuncertainworld00rubi_0|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-75730-3}}
*''[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/09/28/donald-trump-impeachable-offenses/ What Are Impeachable Offenses?]'' September 28, 2017 issue of New York Review Books, with [[Noah Feldman]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070103181109/http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/visions/Campaigning_on_the_Net/weisberg.htm Short bio of Weisberg] – Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/9546 Video (and audio) debate/conversation with Jacob Weisberg] and [[David Frum]] on [[Bloggingheads.tv]]
*{{C-SPAN|19878}}

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[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
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[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American political journalists]]
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[[Category:American Rhodes Scholars]]
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[[Category:Jewish American journalists]]
[[Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:The New Republic people]]
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[[Category:Slate (magazine) people]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]