Joel LeRoy Achenbach (; born December 31, 1960) is an American staff writer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and the author of seven books, including '' A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea'', ''The Grand Idea'', ''Captured by Aliens'', ''It Looks Like a President only Smaller'', and three compilations of his former syndicated newspaper column "Why Things Are". He is a contributor to many publications, including '' Slate'' and '' National Geographic'', where he is a former monthly columnist. Achenbach has been a commentator on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

'', and does occasional lectures and other speaking engagements. In addition to his work in the print version of ''The Washington Post'', Achenbach was one of the first ''Post'' writers to have a significant presence on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and formerly wrote the popular ''Post'' blog, "The Achenblog," which ended in March 2017.

Background and education

Achenbach is a native of Gainesville, Florida. He graduated with an A.B. in politics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1982 after completing a 246-page-long senior thesis titled "A Prism for Politics: The Controversy of the

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. Since the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013, Diablo Canyon has been the only operational nucl ...

." Prior to his tenure with ''The Washington Post'' in 1990, Achenbach was a staff writer for the '' Miami Herald'' from 1982–90, where he worked closely with Pulitzer Prize winners

Gene Weingarten Gene Norman Weingarten (born October 2, 1951) is an American journalist, and former syndicated humor columnist for ''The Washington Post.'' He is the only two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Weingarten is known for bot ...

and Dave Barry. Achenbach was awarded the Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding contributions in promoting critical thinking and scientific understanding for 2011, by National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS).

Style and experience

Members of the Achenblog have described Achenbach as writing with versatility and deft humor. As a reporter and an author he has covered topics as diverse as

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, the national deficit, the

war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

, the search for extraterrestrial life, the

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

, and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. In addition to scientific and analytical sophistication, Achenbach's work has been characterized by members of the Achenblog as having a strong appreciation for and sensitivity to the human aspects of his stories. In the months after the

Deepwater Horizon Disaster The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

, Achenbach wrote and contributed to an extensive series of articles for ''The Washington Post'' that led to his most recent book, ''A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea''.

Misconduct allegations and suspension

On January 10, 2018, ''The Washington Post'' suspended Achenbach for 90 days because of what it called "inappropriate workplace conduct" involving current and former female colleagues. After the conclusion of the suspension Achenbach returned to work as a reporter for the Washington Post.

Family life

Achenbach lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Mary Stapp, and their three daughters.

Selected works

* ''Why Things Are'' (

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

), * ''It Looks Like a President Only Smaller: Trailing Campaign 2000'' ( 2001), * ''Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe'' ( 2003), * ''The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West'' ( 2005), * ''A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea: The Race to Kill the BP Oil Gusher'' ( 2011),

References

External links

Achenblog – the official Joel Achenbach blog

Video discussions and debate featuring Achenbach
on

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 ...

Official website for "A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Achenbach, Joel Living people 1960 births American humorists American science writers American male bloggers American bloggers Princeton University alumni The Washington Post people 21st-century American non-fiction writers