Nathan J. Robinson

Last updated

Nathan J. Robinson
Nathan J. Robinson at Austin DSA.jpg
Robinson speaks at the Austin Democratic Socialists of America chapter convention in 2020.
Born
Nathan James Robinson

1989or1990(age 34–35) [1]
Stevenage, England
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States (since 2001)
Education Brandeis University (BA, MA)
Yale University (JD)
Harvard University (PhD)
OccupationWriter
Years active2015–present
Website www.nathanjrobinson.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Nathan James Robinson is an English-American journalist, political commentator, and editor-in-chief of the left-wing progressive Current Affairs magazine, which he founded in 2015.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Robinson moved with his family to Sarasota, Florida, at age five. [2] [1] [3] His father worked for an international corporate training firm in Britain before the move. [1] He became an American citizen, along with his family, in 2001. Robinson attended Pine View School [2] in Osprey, Florida, before attending Brandeis University, graduating with both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in politics. Robinson received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School. [4] Afterwards he pursued a PhD in sociology and social policy at Harvard University. He took a leave of absence from the program after founding Current Affairs, [5] eventually receiving his PhD in May 2022. [6] As of 2021, Robinson lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.[ citation needed ]

Career

Robinson founded the left-wing progressive magazine Current Affairs in 2015 after a Kickstarter campaign raised $16,000. [7]

On February 10, 2021, Robinson published an article alleging that Guardian US editor John Mulholland fired him for tweeting criticism of U.S. military aid to Israel; Robinson had been a Guardian columnist. [8] [9] Robinson wrote a pair of tweets: "Did you know that the US congress is not actually permitted to authorize any new spending unless a portion of it is directed toward buying weapons for Israel? It’s the law.", and "or if not actually the written law then so ingrained in political custom as to functionally be indistinguishable from law". In his article, he said the tweets were a joke. [10] In another tweet, Robinson shared an image of an email allegedly sent by Mulholland which said that since no such law exists, the tweet was "fake news"; noting the prevalence of antisemitic tropes regarding Jewish control of American public life, the email stated that Robinson's tweet was antisemitic. [10] A representative for Guardian US stated Robinson was "neither a staff employee nor on contract and so was not 'fired'". Reason magazine said the distinction is marginal for recurring columnists. [9]

Robinson has published critiques of Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, and others. [11] [12]

Staffing controversy

In August 2021, Robinson asked a number of Current Affairs staff to resign after disagreements on how the company should be run. Some staffers accused Robinson of asking staffers to resign because they wanted the magazine to be a worker-owned co-op. [13] [14] Journalist Glenn Greenwald called Robinson a "brazen hypocrite" on Twitter, [15] and National Review writer Caroline Downey called Robinson's actions hypocritical. [16] In response, Robinson said that he did not oppose the magazine being a worker-owned co-op, and that the calls for resignation were due to organizational "dysfunction" and concern that the magazine "seemed to be losing sight of its core political goals". [17] [18]

Political views

Robinson is a proponent of libertarian socialism, citing Noam Chomsky as his main political influence. He has criticized both totalitarian state socialism and free-market libertarian capitalism. [19] [20]

He supports abortion rights, [21] [22] animal rights, [23] and Medicare for All. [24] He supports LGBTQ rights. [25]

Robinson has been critical of American foreign policy, including its military interventions in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. [26] [27] He has remained critical of Israel and its human rights record. He has also criticized the United States' support for Israel and the United States' hostility towards critics of Israel. [28]

Robinson supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 United States presidential election. [29] After Sanders lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton, Robinson voted for Clinton. [30] In the 2020 United States presidential election he supported Sanders again, and then Joe Biden after Biden won the Democratic nomination. [31] Despite being critical of Biden and Kamala Harris, he believed that Donald Trump was a greater threat. [30]

Robinson identifies as an atheist, [32] but has criticized prominent exponents of New Atheism, including Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins, saying, "at their worst they were bigoted and ignorant, possessing the very qualities that they deplored in the religious". [32]

Books

Illustrated books

Related Research Articles

<i>Haaretz</i> Israeli daily newspaper

Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. It is published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with The New York Times International Edition. Its Hebrew and English editions are available on the internet. In North America, it is published as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week. Haaretz is Israel's newspaper of record. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues.

<i>New Statesman</i> British political and cultural magazine

The New Statesman is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members of the socialist Fabian Society, such as George Bernard Shaw, who was a founding director. The longest-serving editor was Kingsley Martin (1930–1960), and the current editor is Jason Cowley, who assumed the post in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott Abrams</span> American politician and lawyer

Elliott Abrams is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is currently a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela from 2019 to 2021 and as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Harris</span> American philosopher and neuroscientist (born 1967)

Samuel Benjamin Harris is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics, philosophy of mind, politics, terrorism, and artificial intelligence. Harris came to prominence for his criticism of religion, and is known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.

John B. Judis is an author and American journalist, an editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo, a former senior writer at the National Journal and a former senior editor at The New Republic.

Nathan Thrall is an American author, essayist, and journalist based in Jerusalem. Thrall is known for his 2023 nonfiction work A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, and is a contributor to several literary magazines. As of 2023 he is a professor at Bard College in New York state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Dorrien</span> American social ethicist and theologian (born 1952)

Gary John Dorrien is an American social ethicist and theologian. He is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and Professor of Religion at Columbia University, both in New York City, and the author of 18 books on ethics, social theory, philosophy, theology, politics, and intellectual history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Blinken</span> American lawyer and diplomat (born 1962)

Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Puryear</span> American journalist, writer, activist, and politician

Eugene Puryear is a far-left American journalist, writer, activist, politician, and host on BreakThrough News. In 2014, he was a candidate for the at-large seat in the DC Council with the D.C. Statehood Green Party. In the 2008 and 2016 United States presidential elections, Puryear was the vice presidential nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), despite being ineligible to become vice president due to his age.

James Frederick Henderson was an English socialist writer and journalist, and a Labour Party politician.

John Mulholland is an Irish journalist who was the editor of the British Sunday newspaper The Observer for 10 years and assistant editor of The Guardian. He has worked for most of his career with the Guardian Media Group. In April 2018, he became the editor of Guardian US. He left this post in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Socialists of America</span> American political organization

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a broad tent, democratic socialist political organization in the United States. After the Socialist Party of America (SPA) transformed into Social Democrats, USA, Michael Harrington formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC). The DSOC later merged with the New American Movement (NAM) to form the DSA. The organization is headquartered in New York City and has about 80,000 members. It leads organizing and protest campaigns, and has members in the House of Representatives, state legislatures, and other local offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Harrington</span> American socialist writer (1928–1989)

Edward Michael Harrington Jr. was an American democratic socialist. As a writer, he was best known as the author of The Other America. Harrington was also a political activist, theorist, professor of political science, and radio commentator. He was a founding member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and its most influential early leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party for Socialism and Liberation</span> Communist party in the United States

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a communist political party in the United States. PSL formed in 2004, when its members split from the Workers World Party.

<i>Current Affairs</i> (magazine) American magazine

Current Affairs is an American bimonthly magazine that discusses political and cultural topics from a left-wing perspective. It was founded by Oren Nimni and Nathan J. Robinson in 2015. The magazine is published in print and online, and also has a podcast. It does not feature advertising, and is funded by subscriptions and donations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</span> American politician (born 1989)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American left-wing politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Bruenig</span> American journalist (born 1990)

Elizabeth Bruenig is an American journalist working as an opinion writer for The Atlantic. She previously worked as an opinion writer for The New York Times, and as an opinion writer and editor for The Washington Post, where she wrote about ethics, politics, theology, and economics. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2019 and in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Lee (journalist)</span> American journalist (born 1965)

Matthew Lee is an American journalist and diplomatic writer who has been working for the Associated Press since 2007. He previously wrote for Agence France-Presse from 1995 to 2007, as well as working for The Daily Progress and The Washington Post.

<i>A Letter to Liberals</i> 2022 book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A Letter to Liberals is a 2022 book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The book accused the Democratic Party of the United States of lacking critical thinking, and urged the party to protect civil liberties, specifically the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chayka, Kyle (23 March 2017). "The Rise of the Hard Left". The Ringer . Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Nathan (21 September 2018). "Liberty, Security, and Iron Cages". Current Affairs . Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Ricks, Markeshia (20 July 2006). "Practice makes perfect score". Sarasota Herald-Tribune . Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "About This Author: Nathan J. Robinson". Boston Review . Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (17 February 2021). "Thomas Frank on Populism, Cool Brands, and the Problem With the Democratic Party". Current Affairs. Yeah. I'll tell you, because I was in grad school at Harvard, and I'm still in it, technically, but I don't show up really anymore. But—
  6. ↑ "Nathan James Robinson". sociology.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "Current Affairs: A Colorful Political Magazine". Kickstarter . Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (10 February 2021). "How the Media Cracks Down on Critics of Israel". Current Affairs. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 Soave, Robby (10 February 2021). "The Guardian Fired Columnist Nathan Robinson After a Joke Tweet About Military Aid to Israel". Reason. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. 1 2 Siegal, Tobias (11 February 2021). "Guardian Columnist Fired After Controversial Tweet About Israel". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  11. ↑ Gallagher, Brenden (30 April 2018). "Who is Jordan Peterson, the 'alt-right' darling of YouTube?". The Daily Dot.
  12. ↑ Ostrow, Teddy (6 December 2019). "Nathan J. Robinson Wants You to Be a Socialist". The Nation.
  13. ↑ Gurley, Lauren Kaori (18 August 2021). "Socialist Publication Current Affairs Fires Staff for Doing Socialism". Vice News . Motherboard. New York City . Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  14. ↑ Best, Paul (18 August 2021). "Socialist magazine Current Affairs staff 'effectively fired' for trying to organize worker co-op". Fox Business.
  15. ↑ Wulfsohn, Joseph (18 August 2021). "Critics mock left-wing Current Affairs mag after boss fires staffers for attempting to form worker co-op". Fox News. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Socialist Editor Crushes Labor Organizing Effort at Leftist Magazine". National Review. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  17. ↑ @nathanjrobinson (20 August 2021). "Here is my statement on recent events at Current Affairs" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 August 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ "Statement on Current Affairs". Google Docs. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (2019). Why You Should be a Socialist. All Points Books. ISBN   978-1-25020-086-0.
  20. ↑ Klein, Ezra (7 January 2020). "Nathan Robinson's case for socialism". Vox.
  21. ↑ Rennix, Adrian; Robinson, Nathan J. (30 August 2018). "Abortion and the Left". Current Affairs. No. May/June 2018. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  22. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (5 July 2022). "The Arguments Against Abortion Do Not Make Sense". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  23. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (17 January 2018). "MEAT AND THE H-WORD". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  24. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (3 February 2021). "The Definitive Case for 'Medicare For All'". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  25. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (5 December 2022). "Of Course You Should Be Required To Serve LGBTQ Customers". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  26. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (29 August 2022). "Our Invasions". Current Affairs. No. May/June 2022. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  27. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (2 March 2021). "Laws Apparently Just Don't Apply to Presidents". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  28. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (10 February 2021). "How the Media Cracks Down on Critics of Israel". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  29. ↑ Tedder, Michael (22 March 2020). "Not All 'Bernie Bros' Are Angry Young Men. Meet Nathan J. Robinson". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  30. 1 2 Robinson, Nathan J. (16 August 2020). "An Ineffectual Biden Presidency Is Better For The Left Than An Actively Authoritarian Trump Presidency". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  31. ↑ Robinson, Nathan J. (29 March 2019). "All About Pete". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  32. 1 2 Robinson, Nathan J. (27 July 2022). "Why We Still Need Atheism". Current Affairs. ISSN   2471-2647 . Retrieved 14 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.