Emily Nussbaum (born February 20, 1966) is an American television critic. She served as the television critic for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' from 2011 until 2019. In 2016, she won the
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...
.
Early life
Nussbaum was born in the United States to mother Toby Nussbaum and
Bernard Nussbaum
Bernard William Nussbaum (March 23, 1937 – March 13, 2022) was an American attorney, best known for having served as White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton.
Background
Nussbaum, the first child of Jewish immigrants from Poland, was ...
, who served as
White House Counsel
The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...
to President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
Nussbaum was raised in
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...
, and graduated from
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
in 1988. She earned a master's degree in poetry from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
and started a doctoral program in literature, but decided not to pursue teaching.
Career
After living in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, and
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia, Nussbaum began writing reviews of TV shows following her infatuation with the series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' and posting at the website
Television Without Pity
Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...
. She began writing for ''
Lingua Franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' and served as editor-in-chief of ''
Nerve
A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system.
A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...
''. She also wrote for ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' and ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
.''
Nussbaum then worked at ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine, where she was the creator of the "Approval Matrix" feature and wrote about culture and television. She was at ''New York'' for seven years and was the culture editor.
In 2011, she became the television critic at ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,'' taking over from Nancy Franklin. She won a
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
for Columns and Commentary in 2014 and the
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...
in 2016.
Personal life
Nussbaum is married to journalist
Clive Thompson Clive Thompson may refer to:
*Clive Thompson (businessman) (born 1943), Deputy Chairman of Strategic Equity Capital
*Clive Thompson (journalist)
Clive Thompson (born 30 October 1968) is a Canadian freelance journalist, blogger, and science and t ...
. They have two children.
Awards
* 2014:
National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
, Columns and Commentary. Honors political and social commentary; news analysis; and reviews and criticism
* 2016:
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...
Bibliography
Books
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Essays and reporting
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[Title in the online table of contents is "Robert Durst's new trial".]
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[Title in the online table of contents is "David Letterman, revolutionary curmudgeon".]
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[Title in the online table of contents is "'Getting On' and Aziz Ansari’s 'Master of None'".]
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[On P. Jay Sidney][Online version is titled "One man’s crusade to integrate TV".]
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[Online version is titled "The slapstick anarchists of 'Broad City'".]
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[Online version is titled "'Call the Midwife,' a primal procedural".]
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[Online version is titled "Empathy and 'Orange is the New Black'".]
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[Online version is titled "The bleakness and joy of 'Bojack Horeseman'".]
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[Online version is titled "Fox News, a melodrama".]
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[Online version is titled "A millennial private eye on 'Search Party'".]
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[Online version is titled "The disciplined power of 'American Crime'".]
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[Online version is titled "The glitzy verve of 'GLOW' and 'Claws'".]
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[Online version is titled "Celebrity delirium on 'The Masked Singer' and 'The Other Two'".]
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[Online version is titled "Middle-school mortification on 'PEN15'".]
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[Online version is titled "TV's reckoning with #MeToo".]
Blog posts and online columns
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;Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nussbaum, Emily
1966 births
Living people
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American television critics
American women journalists
Jewish American writers
The New Yorker critics
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners
Oberlin College alumni
New York University alumni
21st-century American Jews