David Roth (writer)

Last updated
David Roth
BornNew Jersey, U.S.
OccupationWriter
Alma mater Pomona College
Subjects
  • Sports
  • politics
  • popular culture

David Roth is an American journalist, essayist, podcast host and editor. He has written about sports, politics, and culture in Deadspin , The New Republic , SB Nation , New York Magazine , New York Daily News , and other publications. Roth was a senior editor for Deadspin prior to his October 31, 2019 resignation. [1] He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and has written about the organization extensively. [2]

Contents

Early life

Roth was raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey. [3] With his father's encouragement, he became an avid fan of the New York Mets and the New Jersey Nets. [4] From 1996 to 2000, Roth attended Pomona College where he wrote for the school newspaper, The Student Life. [5] His favorite novel is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. [6]

Career

Roth began his career writing and editing content for the backs of Topps baseball, basketball, and football trading cards. [7] In 2008, Roth became the co-author of The Wall Street Journal 's "Daily Fix" sports blog. [8] Beginning in 2009, Roth wrote material for MLB.com's fantasy baseball platform. [9] Throughout this time, he also wrote freelance for various outfits, such as The Awl and Can't Stop the Bleeding. In 2013, he became a staff writer at SB Nation , a sports blog. [10] Roth was hired by Deadspin in 2017, and worked there until he resigned—along with the majority of the editorial staff. [11] At Deadspin , in addition to contributing written pieces, Roth hosted a show called Let's Remember Some Guys, in which he used sports trading cards to reminisce about ballplayers from past generations. [12] Together with Drew Magary, Roth also co-hosted the Deadcast, Deadspin's flagship podcast.

His essay "Downward Spiral," originally published in The Baffler , was included in The Best American Sports Writing 2018.

Resignation from Deadspin

On October 31, 2019, Roth and many of his colleagues announced their resignation from Deadspin. [13] The Deadspin staff left out of dissatisfaction with the site's new management. In particular, writers had been instructed to "stick to sports," despite the fact that Roth's political commentary was often among the site's most-read content. [14]

Since leaving Deadspin, Roth has continued sports writing freelance. He has also written a number of editorials about Donald Trump, describing him in 2020 as "America's petty, TV-addled, and increasingly degenerate president." [15] Roth maintains a substantial and active presence on Twitter. [16]

Roth and other former Deadspin writers formed Defector Media in 2020. [17]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Kelly, Keith, "Deadspin loses $1M in ads, sports coverage hurt as staff exodus continues" "New York Post," Oct. 31, 2019
  2. ↑ Roth, David, "Why Are Mets Fans Mets Fans?" Deadspin, March 29, 2019
  3. ↑ Roth, David (March 14, 2017). "Where? I grew up in Ridgewood, which is in what locals call the Boring Irish Catholic Part of the county".
  4. ↑ Roth, David, "Why Are Mets Fans Mets Fans?" Deadspin, March 29, 2019
  5. ↑ Roth, David, "David Foster Wallace, RIP" Can't Stop the Bleeding, September 14, 2008
  6. ↑ Roth, David (December 30, 2019). "If you haven't read True Grit, it's fantastic and you'll blow through it in a day or two. Moby Dick is my favorite book and that'd take longer, but I assure you it's also worth it".
  7. ↑ Roth, David, "The Secret Lives of Baseball Card Writers" "Slate," September 27, 2006
  8. ↑ "A Q&A with David Roth on working at Deadspin, sporpswriting and what it's like to lose your job" "@30Newsletter," January 2, 2018
  9. ↑ Roth, David (October 29, 2018). "In 2009 I worked nights writing fantasy baseball notes (and occasionally tweeting from the main account, because it was 2009) for http://MLB.com. The people were nice but the job sucked. I remember writing notes about Pearce because of this".
  10. ↑ "David Roth" SB Nation
  11. ↑ Strauss, Ben, "Deadspin's entire editorial staff is gone" "Washington Post," November 1, 2019
  12. ↑ "Let's Remember Some Guys" Deadspin
  13. ↑ Kelly, Keith, "Deadspin loses $1M in ads, sports coverage hurt as staff exodus continues" "New York Post," Oct. 31, 2019
  14. ↑ Tani, Maxwell, "G/O Media Tells Deadspin Staff in Leaked Memo: Stick to Sports" "Daily Beast," December 10, 2019
  15. ↑ Roth, David, "The Windbag of War" "The New Republic," January 21, 2020
  16. ↑ Forristall, Kate, "David Roth is Younger in Person" "#IRLProject," August 28, 2015
  17. ↑ Scott, Nate (July 28, 2020). "Everything we know about Defector, a new sports blog from former staffers of Deadspin". For The Win. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
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