Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

, such as in his books ''

Fast Food Nation ''Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal'' is a 2001 book by Eric Schlosser. First serialized by ''Rolling Stone'' in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to Upton Sinclair's 1906 muckraking novel ''The Jungle''. The book was ...

'' (2001), ''

Reefer Madness ''Reefer Madness'' (originally made as ''Tell Your Children'' and sometimes titled ''The Burning Question'', ''Dope Addict'', ''Doped Youth'', and ''Love Madness'') is a 1936 American propaganda film about drugs, revolving around the melodramat ...

'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety'' (2013).

Biography

Schlosser was born in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; he spent his childhood there and in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His parents are Judith (née Gassner) and Herbert Schlosser, a former

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

lawyer who turned to broadcasting later in his career, eventually becoming president of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in 1974 and later becoming a vice president of

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. Schlosser graduated with an A.B. in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1982 after completing a 148-page-long senior thesis titled "Academic Freedom during the McCarthy Era:

Anti-Communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

, Conformity and Princeton." He then earned a graduate degree in British Imperial History from

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He tried playwriting, writing two plays, ''Americans'' (1985) and ''We the People'' (2007). He is married to Shauna Redford, daughter of actor

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

Journalism and books

Schlosser started his career as a journalist with ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' in Boston, Massachusetts. He quickly gained recognition for his investigative pieces, earning two awards within two years of joining the staff: he won the

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 his reporting in his two-part series "Reefer Madness" and "Marijuana and the Law" (''The Atlantic Monthly'', August and September 1994), and he won the

Sidney Hillman Foundation award The Sidney Hillman Foundation is an American charitable foundation that awards prizes to journalists who investigate issues related to social justice and progressive public policy. The foundation, founded in 1946, is named for Sidney Hillman, who w ...

for his article "In the Strawberry Fields" (''The Atlantic Monthly'', November 19, 1995). Schlosser wrote ''

'' (2001), an exposé on the unsanitary and discriminatory practices of the

fast food industry Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

. ''Fast Food Nation'' evolved from a two-part article in ''Rolling Stone''. Schlosser helped adapt his book into a 2006 film directed by

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

. The film opened November 19, 2006. ''Chew On This'' (2006), co-written with Charles Wilson, is an adaptation of the book for younger readers. ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' called ''Fast Food Nation'' the "Best Business Book of the Year" in 2001. His 2003 book ''

'' discusses the history and current trade of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, the use of

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...

s in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

strawberry fields, and the

American pornography industry Pornography in the United States has existed since the country's origins and has become more readily accessible in the 21st century. Advanced by technological development, it has gone from a hard-to-find "back alley" item, beginning in 1969 with ...

and its history.

William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

gave ''Reefer Madness'' a favorable review, as did ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''. Schlosser's book '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety'' was published in September 2013. It focuses on the 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion, a non-nuclear explosion of a

Titan II missile The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

near Damascus, AR. ''The New Yorker''s

Louis Menand Louis Menand (; born January 21, 1952) is an American critic, essayist, and professor, best known for his Pulitzer-winning book ''The Metaphysical Club'' (2001), an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th and early 20th century America. L ...

called it "excellent" and "hair-raising" and said that "''Command and Control'' is how nonfiction should be written." It was a finalist for the 2014

Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history ...

. He has been working on a book on the

American prison system Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceratio ...

, which has been over 10 years in the making.

Films

Schlosser appeared in an interview for the DVD of

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include ''Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' (20 ...

's ''

Super Size Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's f ...

'', having a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker about the fast-food industry. He did not appear in the film itself. He was interviewed by

Franny Armstrong Franny Armstrong (born 3 February 1972) is a British documentary film director working for her own company, Spanner Films, and a former drummer with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy. She is best known for three films: ''The Age of Stupid'', ...

in 2005 and is a feature interviewee in her film '' McLibel''. He co-produced ''

Food, Inc. ''Food, Inc.'' is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Robert Kenner

'' (2008), with

Robert Kenner Robert Kenner is an American film and television director, producer, and writer. Kenner is best known for directing the film ''Food, Inc''. as well as the films, ''Command and Control'', ''Merchants of Doubt'', and ''When Strangers Click''. Ke ...

. Schlosser also served as co-executive producer on the 2007 film ''

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a Silver mini ...

''. In 2014, he was an executive producer of the farmworker documentary ''

Food Chains A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or algae which produce their own food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), de ...

,'' a credit he shared with

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime ...

. They both won a

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

for their roles. Schlosser also shared a director credit for the multimedia installation entitled "the bomb", an experimental film about nuclear weaponry coupled with a live score by

The Acid The Acid are an electronic music quartet consisting of British DJ and record producer Adam Freeland; Californian producer, composer and professor of music technology Steve Nalepa; American singer/songwriter Jens Kuross Jens Kuross is an Ameri ...

References

External links

* *
Ubben Lecture
at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

Eric Schlosser at Steven Barclay Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlosser, Eric 1959 births Living people Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford American male journalists The Atlantic (magazine) people Dalton School alumni Journalists from New York City Princeton University alumni Journalists from California 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Cannabis writers