Jonathan V. Last

Jonathan Last
Born	(1974-05-06) May 6, 1974 (age 49) Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	JVL
Education	Johns Hopkins University (BS)
Occupation	Journalist

Jonathan V. Last (aka JVL; born May 6, 1974) ^[1] is an American journalist and author. He is the editor of The Bulwark , ^[2] and previously worked as a senior writer and digital editor ^[3] at The Weekly Standard. He is the author of What to Expect When No One's Expecting (2013).

Early life and education

Last was born in 1974 in Camden, New Jersey. ^[4] He grew up in Woodbury and Moorestown Township, New Jersey. ^[5] Last is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University where he studied molecular biology. ^[6] According to Tim Miller, had Last gone to a less competitive college, he would have been a doctor. ^[7]

Career

Last writes frequently for The Wall Street Journal and has also written for the Los Angeles Times , The Washington Post , the New York Post , Salon , The Washington Times , Slate , the New York Press , First Things , the Claremont Review of Books , and other publications. He has appeared on several radio and television outlets. He formerly wrote weekly columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer ^[8] and The Daily . ^{[9] [10]}

Last regularly writes data-driven analyses of demographic trends, including articles and blog posts on the American birth rate, ^[11] the voting patterns of the rising number of single Americans, ^[12] and the collapsing fertility rates in Korea. ^[13] His first book, What to Expect When No One’s Expecting, is a detailed examination of the origins and consequences of these and related trends.

Last also frequently writes on politics and popular culture. He was an early skeptic about Mitt Romney's electoral prospects in the 2012 election, drawing attention to the candidate's history of failing to make himself likeable to voters. ^[14] Last, who has been described as the "Weekly Standard’s resident geek," ^[15] avidly collected comic books in his youth ^[16] and often writes about them, most notably in an account of the death of Marvel Comics's Captain America . ^[17] Last is also known for creating the Star Wars meme that the Galactic Empire was really a force for good. ^[18]

Last maintains his own blog and website, JonathanLast.com (formerly the Galley Slaves blog, with fellow Weekly Standard staffers Victorino Matus and David Skinner).

Bibliography

• What to Expect When No One's Expecting . New York: Encounter Books. 2013. ISBN   9781594036415. OCLC   778419424.
• The Seven Deadly Virtues: Eighteen Conservative Writers On Why the Virtuous Life Is Funny As Hell. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Press. 2014. ISBN   9781599474601. OCLC   888025649.
• The Christmas Virtues: A Treasury of Conservative Tales for the Holidays. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Press. 2015. ISBN   9781599475059. OCLC   917359099.

References

1. Date of birth of Jonathan V. Last, number.com. Accessed May 17, 2022.
2. "About Us". The Bulwark. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
3. "Jonathan V. Last". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
4. "Great leap rightward? Nah, just finding balance", The Philadelphia Inquirer , January 15, 2006. Accessed March 2, 2011. "Folks meet Jonathan V. Last. He was born in Camden 31 years ago grew up in Woodbury and Moorestown and now works as online editor for the Weekly Standard."
5. "Because I grew up in [...] Moorestown, New Jersey" Last, Jonathan V., Galley Slaves blog, July 5, 2005, accessed December 14, 2006
6. "'V' Is for 'Victor'". National Review. 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
7. "MTG Gets the Big Money". The Bulwark. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
8. "Columnists".
9. "New York Post".
10. "JVL at the Daily," http://jonathanlast.com/2011/09/21/jvl-at-the-daily/
11. "Ross Is Right on Demography". The Weekly Standard Blog. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
12. "A Nation of Singles". The Weekly Standard. December 10, 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
13. "Where Have All the Children Gone?". The Weekly Standard. November 12, 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
14. "Overestimating Romney". The Weekly Standard. December 19, 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
15. Mangu-Ward, Katherine (16 June 2011). "The Comics Crash of 1993, Or Why Your House in Florida Won't Regain Its Value". Reason.com Hit & Run Blog. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
16. "Comic Relief". The Weekly Standard. May 31, 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
17. "Captain America, R.I.P." The Weekly Standard Blog. March 16, 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
18. Last, Jonathan V. (May 16, 2002). "The Case for the Empire". The Daily Standard (blog of The Weekly Standard). Archived from the original on 5 June 2004.

External links

• JonathanLast.com
• Appearances on C-SPAN