Jonathan Scott Cohn (born 1969) is an American author and journalist who writes mainly on United States public policy and political issues. Formerly the executive editor of ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and Progressivism in the United States, progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The America ...

'', a senior editor at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', and a senior national correspondent at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', in 2025 he began writing a newsletter, "The Breakdown", published by '' The Bulwark''.

Early life and education

Cohn was raised in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where he attended

Pine Crest School Pine Crest School is a private preparatory school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan, who also served as the school's first president. The ...

. He went on to study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he became president of ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' and graduated in 1991.

Career

Before joining ''The New Republic'' in 1997, Cohn served as executive editor at ''

''. Cohn has also written for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', '' Mother Jones'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' and the ''Washington Post''. He has been a media fellow at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. and a senior fellow at

Demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

, and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has appeared on television and radio shows, including

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

's " Countdown,"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's "

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

," and "

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

". Cohn's writings have especially focused on social welfare and

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

. He has been recognized in the pages of the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' as "one of the nation's leading experts on health care policy" and in ''

'' as "one of the best health care writers out there". Cohn is the author of the 2007 book, ''Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis - and the People Who Pay the Price'' (2007). In ''Sick'', Cohn advocates for universal health insurance, financed by the government. It presents case studies that demonstrate how America's current system causes even many middle class Americans serious financial or medical hardship. It lays out a history of health insurance in America and points to the record of systems abroad, particularly in France. From early 2009 through the spring of 2010, Cohn edited and was the primary writer for "The Treatment", a blog about health care for ''The New Republic''. In May, 2010, he started a blog for "The New Republic" called "Citizen Cohn", a name he has kept for his Twitter feed. In 2013, fellow health policy wonk Harold Pollack interviewed Cohn, getting his take on the future of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

, the ACA's proposed

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

expansion, and the 2012 elections. In 2021, Cohn published a book about the Affordable Care Act, ''The Ten Year War: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage''.

Awards

Winner
AHCJ Excellence in Health Journalism
(2013) for
The Robot Will See You Now
Co-winner
Sidney Hillman Award
(2010) for "The Treatment" Special Mention, Sidney Hillman Award (2009) for

Co-winner

(2008) for ''Sick'' Finalist
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award
and New York Public Librar
Helen Bernstein Award
(2008) for ''Sick''

Personal life

Cohn lived for many years in the Boston area before moving to his present home,

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

with his wife,

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

professor Amy Mainville Cohn. She is a professor and researcher in Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. Cohn was a member of JournoList.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

About Jonathan Cohn - Sickthebook.comVideo (and audio) conversation with Cohn
and

Ezra Klein Ezra Klein (born May 9, 1984) is an American American liberalism, liberal political commentator and journalist. He is currently a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' columnist and the host of ''The Ezra Klein Show'' podcast. He is a co-founde ...

on Bloggingheads.tv
Jonathan Cohn on The Colbert Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Jonathan 1969 births Living people American political writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Writers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida American magazine journalists Journalists from Michigan The New Republic people The Harvard Crimson people Pine Crest School alumni