Rembert Browne (born 1987) is a writer who primarily focuses on pop culture, politics and sports. Previously Browne wrote for ''
Grantland
''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
'', then for ''
New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
''.
Early life
Browne grew up in
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 ...
and attended
The Paideia School
The Paideia School () is a private independent school in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. It enrolls children ages 3 through 18.
History
In November 1970, when there was a rush among southern communities to open segregation aca ...
, where his classmate was
Jon Ossoff
Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Ossoff was previously a documentary filmmaker and investigativ ...
, now the senior U.S. senator from Georgia. He graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 2009 with a degree in sociology, public policy and geography. While attending Dartmouth, Browne wrote for
The Dartmouth
''The Dartmouth'' is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College and America's oldest college newspaper. Originally named the ''Dartmouth Gazette'', the first issue was published on August 27, 1799, under the motto "Here range the world—e ...
, the student newspaper. He later attended
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in pursuit of a Master's degree in Urban Planning but left the program when he was offered a full-time position at Grantland. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Andrea Gompf.
Writing
Browne has drawn notice for his journalism on a wide variety of topics, including music, sports, and politics, interviewing
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
on the 50th anniversary of the
Selma March
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the ...
and serving as a moderator of the
Iowa Democratic Brown and Black Presidential Forum during the
2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. Browne covered the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and
Democratic National Conventions
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
for ''New York Magazine'' in 2016.
In 2016, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine named Browne to its
30 Under 30 list, citing his work on "everything from reporting on the ground in Ferguson, to interviewing President Obama on Air Force One, to covering pop culture." He was selected with four other journalists to fly with
President Barack Obama to
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...
on March 7, 2015 to report on commemoration of the 50th anniversary of
Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965.
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
has called Browne, "a thoughtful critic who speaks with the voice of young America" and ''
Brooklyn Magazine
''Brooklyn Magazine'' is an online news magazine, focusing on "New York’s most populous borough through the lens of culture, community, commerce, arts and leisure." The company was bought by Michael Bassik and the website was launched in Decembe ...
'' included him on its list of "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture," praising his "sharp-witted, playful and incisive voice." Offering a eulogy for ''Grantland'' after
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
shuttered the website, ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'' said Browne illustrated the way ''Grantland'' was "fun because it was smart, and because it was run by human beings...Browne’s long, absurdly detailed critical analysis of a photo of
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...
surrounded by dorky teenagers at a bar mitzvah
asa singular example of how much fun one could have on the internet...an inspired, creative bit of fun."
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
named Browne's Grantland piece on
Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...
to its list of "The 13 Greatest Pieces of Sportswriting in 2013" and
Flavorwire
''Flavorwire'' is a New York City-based online culture magazine. The site includes original feature articles, interviews, reviews, as well as content recycled from other sources. ''Flavorwire'' describes themselves as "a network of culturally con ...
cited his reporting on the
Ferguson protests
The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) were a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Bro ...
as "Longform You Have to Read: Race in America."
Other media
Other projects led by Browne include Grantland's Rembert Explains podcast—praised by The A.V. Club as "knowledgeable and enthusiastic...making for a spirited conversation"—as well as a popular Tumblr called Peak Blackness. He spoke at
The New Museum
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
History
The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Scho ...
's Ideas City conference on
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and at the
Museum of the Moving Image
The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...
's screening of ESPN's
30 for 30
''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...
:
O.J.: Made in America.
With
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...
, Browne co-wrote ''
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
:
World of Wakanda
''Black Panther: World of Wakanda'' is a comic book series and a spin-off from the Marvel Comics '' Black Panther'' title. It published six issues before being canceled. The series was primarily written by Roxane Gay, with poet Yona Harvey contr ...
#6'' for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, published April 19, 2017.
References
External links
Buzzfeed's Another Round, Episode 20: Peak Blackness with Rembert BrowneSI Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Episode 66: Rembert BrowneLongform Podcast, Episode 146: Rembert BrowneBillboard, The Juice Podcast August 22, 2014: Rembert Browne, Brandon "Jinx" Jenkins, Sean Stout, Damien Scott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Rembert
1987 births
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male journalists
American bloggers
American political writers
Dartmouth College alumni
Living people
Writers from Atlanta
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
21st-century American male writers
Alumni of The Paideia School