Taffy Brodesser-Akner (born Stephanie Akner) is an American journalist and author. She has worked freelance and as a contributor for '' GQ'' 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 d ...

'', where she is now a staff writer. Her profiles of celebrities have won her the New York Press Club Award and Mirror Award.

Personal life

Born Stephanie Akner, Brodesser-Akner received the nickname "Taffy" at a young age and continued using it professionally. She grew up in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, in an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

household. She attended

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, th ...

and married Claude Brodesser in 2006. Brodesser converted to Judaism and eventually grew more observant than his wife. After marrying, both took hyphenated last names. They have two children.

Career

Journalism

Brodesser-Akner's first major journalism job was at ''Soap Opera Weekly'', a job she held until her role was eliminated due to layoffs in June 2001. She also wrote for

Mediabistro Mecklermedia (formerly Internet.com LLC, Jupitermedia Inc., Mediabistro Inc. and WebMediaBrands Corporation) was a U.S.-based corporation. The original WebMediaBrands was established in 1994, and headquartered in New York. Founded by Alan M. ...

and did freelance pieces for magazines including ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'', '' GQ'', and ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

''. The ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...

'' called her "one of the nation's most successful freelance writers". Her freelance articles often focused on celebrity profiles, several of which went viral. In 2014, she became a contributing writer to both ''

'' and ''GQ''. In 2017, she became a full-time staff writer for ''The New York Times''. In 2014, Brodesser-Akner won a New York Press Club Award for entertainment news in a magazine for her story about actress

Gaby Hoffmann Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She initially found success as a child actress, appearing in ''Field of Dreams,'' ''Uncle Buck,'' and ''Sleeples ...

. She won two New York Press Club awards in 2015, for her profiles of

Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the ...

and Britney Spears. The same year, Brodesser-Akner was nominated for a Mirror Award for her profile of

Joey Soloway Joey Soloway (previously Jill Soloway; born September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series ''Transparent' ...

, and she won the award in 2016 for her profile of broadcaster

Don Lemon Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American television journalist most well known for being a host on CNN. Lemon anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a journalist. He ...

Fiction and television

Her first novel, '' Fleishman Is in Trouble'', was published in June 2019 by Random House in the US and by Wildfire in the UK. The novel was selected for the longlist for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

2020. Brodesser-Akner has adapted the novel as a TV miniseries, which debuted on Hulu on November 17, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodesser-Akner, Taffy Living people People from Huntington, New York 21st-century American journalists The New York Times writers Jewish American journalists Jewish women writers New York University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews