Timothy Robert Noah (born 1958), an American journalist and author, is a staff writer at ''The New Republic.'' Previously he was labor policy editor for ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'', a contributing writer at MSNBC.com, a senior editor of ''

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 ...

'' assigned to write the biweekly "TRB From Washington" column, and a senior writer at ''Slate'', where for a decade he wrote the "Chatterbox" column. In April 2012, Noah published a book, ''The Great Divergence'', about

income inequality in the United States Income inequality in the United States is the extent to which income is distributed in differing amounts among the American population. It has fluctuated considerably since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in t ...

Early life and education

Noah is the son of Marian Jane (née Swentor) and Robert M. Noah, a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

. He grew up in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, and

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. His father was Jewish, and his mother was

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

; he describes himself as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He is a graduate of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, where he obtained a degree in English in 1980, and where he was on the prose board of the ''

Harvard Advocate ''The Harvard Advocate'', the art and literary magazine of Harvard College, is the oldest continuously published college art and literary magazine in the United States. The magazine (published then in newspaper format) was founded by Charles S. ...

''. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Career

Earlier in his career, Noah was an assistant managing editor at '' U.S. News & World Report'', a Washington reporter for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', an intern and then staff writer at ''

,'' and a congressional correspondent for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''. Noah is a contributing editor to ''

The Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...

,'' where he was an editor (1983–85), and where he returned for six weeks as guest web editor in the summer of 2021. He has been a frequent broadcast commentator on CBS News' ''Sunday Morning'' and NPR's former program, ''Day To Day''. On February 24, 2007, Noah wrote an article for ''Slate'' entitled "Evicted from Wikipedia", which critiques the online encyclopedia's notability policy as an illustration of our society's "love affair with invidious distinction," and cited

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism. In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' ...

's 1899 critique of consumerism,

The Theory of the Leisure Class ''The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions'' (1899), by Thorstein Veblen, is a treatise of economics and sociology, and a critique of conspicuous consumption as a function of social class and of consumerism, which are ...

to this effect. In 2010, Noah was 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 ...

finalist in the online news reporting category for his ''Slate'' coverage of the health care reform bill. ''The Great Divergence'' grew out of a ten-part series that Noah published in ''Slate'' in September 2010. The series won the 2011

Hillman Prize The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for noted American labor leader Sidney Hillman. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public polic ...

in the magazine category, and was the first online-only work ever to do so. Writing on Page One of the ''New York Times Book Review'', the Harvard economist Benjamin Friedman called the book "as fair and comprehensive a summary as we are likely to get of what economists have learned about our growing inequality." The book also won praise from Nicholas Lemann in the ''New Yorker,'' Andrew Hacker in the ''New York Review of Books,'' and William Julius Wilson in the ''Nation''. On March 22, 2013, Noah announced over Twitter that he'd been fired by ''The New Republic''. He said he didn't know why. Editor

Franklin Foer Franklin Foer (; born July 20, 1974) is a staff writer at ''The Atlantic'' and former editor of ''The New Republic'', commenting on contemporary issues from a liberal perspective. Personal life Foer was born in 1974 to a Jewish family. He is th ...

said "Tim Noah has been a strong voice for liberalism and a rigorous columnist for The New Republic. We’ve appreciated his passion and contribution to the magazine over the past two years and wish him the very best." Noah started freelancing a weekly column for the magazine again in 2020, and in September 2021 he rejoined the staff.

Iraq War

In a February 2003 article in ''Slate'', Noah described his initial opposition to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and his conversion to the pro-war position by

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

's February 3 speech to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. After many of Powell's statements were proven false, Noah changed his mind again about the war, praising those who had remained steadfastly against it in an August 2004 column. After that, he became an outspoken critic of the media's ongoing tendency to grant credibility to war boosters, while discounting the views of those who opposed the war from the start.

Personal life

In September 2018 Noah married Sarah McNamer, a medievalist and professor of English at Georgetown University. Noah's first wife, fellow journalist

Marjorie Williams Marjorie Williams (January 13, 1958 – January 16, 2005) was an American writer, reporter, and columnist for ''Vanity Fair'' and ''The Washington Post'', writing about American society and profiling the American "political elite." Life and car ...

, died of cancer in 2005. After her death, Noah edited an anthology of Williams' writing, ''The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family, and Fate''. The book won

PEN A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

's Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction and a

in the category of essays and criticism. A second Williams anthology, ''Reputation: Portraits in Power'' was published in October 2008. Noah has two children and two stepchildren. His brother is television writer/producer

Peter Noah Peter Noah is an American television writer and producer. He served as an executive producer and regular writer for the NBC drama ''The West Wing''. Noah first became involved with the series as a consulting producer and regular writer for the f ...

. His sister, Patsy Noah, co-founded the charity Your Mom Cares.

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

frontman Adam Levine is his nephew.

Selected appearances on CBS News's ''Sunday Morning''

Income Immobility in the U.S.
" March 17, 2013
Ban the Benjamins!
" April 3, 2011
The Great Divergence
October 24, 2010
Why the Filibuster Deserves No Respect
" March 14, 2010
Celebrity Commencements
" May 24, 2009
Let Us Now 'Change' The Campaign Rhetoric
" September 7, 2008

References

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast on ...