Steve Benen | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 15, 1973 Miami, Florida, United States |
| Education | Florida International University (BA) George Washington University |
| Occupation(s) | Political writer and blogger, producer of The Rachel Maddow Show |
| Awards | Two Emmy Awards |
Steve Benen (born May 15, 1973) is an American progressive political writer, blogger, MSNBC contributor, and the producer of The Rachel Maddow Show , for which he received two Emmy Awards in 2017. [1] Benen's first book, The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics, was published in 2020. [2] His latest book is Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past, which was published in August 2024.
Benen was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Florida International University, where he served in the student government alongside future Maryland state legislator Kirill Reznik. [3] He then earned a master's degree in Political Management from George Washington University, and served as a White House intern for President Bill Clinton. [4]
In 1996, he was the communications director for an unsuccessful Democratic congressional campaign in Pennsylvania. From 1997 to 2002, Benen worked as a staff writer at Church & State magazine, published by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. [4] [ better source needed ]
From August 2008 to January 2012, Benen was the lead blogger for the Washington Monthly's "Political Animal" blog, [5] taking over from founder Kevin Drum. He was the publisher of the political blog The Carpetbagger Report for five years [6] and was the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report.
In July 2009, The Atlantic named Benen one of the top 50 most influential political commentators in the United States. [7] In 2012, Benen wrote the introduction to the e-book, Elephant in the Room: Washington in the Bush Years. [8]
Digital Pamphleteer, a short film about Benen's work as a blogger, was created by Bill Simmon [9] and won an award at the Vermont International Film Festival [10] in 2008.
Benen's articles and op-eds have appeared in a variety of publications, including The New York Times , [11] the Washington Monthly , The American Prospect , The Huffington Post , and the New York Daily News . He has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo , Crooks and Liars , The Guardian , AlterNet , Political Wire , and Seven Days.
He has been a guest on several radio and television programs, including NPR's Talk of the Nation, [12] MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show , MSNBC's The Ed Show , MSNBC's Martin Bashir , MSNBC's Live with Thomas Roberts , Current TV's Countdown with Keith Olbermann , Air America Radio's The Sam Seder Show , and XM Satellite Radio's POTUS '08.
As a producer of The Rachel Maddow Show, Benen received Emmy nominations in 2013, [13] 2017, [1] 2018, [14] 2019, [15] and 2020. [16] 2021, [17] winning two Emmys in 2017 for production of the episodes, "An American Disaster: The Crisis in Flint", and "One-on-One with Kellyanne Conway". [1]
Following the June 2020 publication of his book, The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics, the book reached the top 100 on the USA Today best selling books list. [18]
In August 2024, Benen published Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past, a book that examines the Republican Party's strategies for shaping public perception and historical narratives in the Trump era, receiving praise from Kirkus Reviews , [19] for its incisive analysis of contemporary political tactics.[ citation needed ]Ministry of Truth debuted at number nine on The New York Times Best Seller list for nonfiction. [20]
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