Evan Osnos
Evan Osnos joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2008. In addition, he is a co-host of the Political Scene podcast. For the magazine, his coverage ranges from politics and foreign affairs to white-collar crime and espionage. He has written profiles of Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris; visited North Korea during the nuclear crisis of 2017; and reported from the siege on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He is the author of the book “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich,” which gathers his writing from The New Yorker on an era of oligarchy and excess. His first book, “Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China,” won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2021, he published “Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury,” which was a best-seller.
Previously, Osnos worked as the Beijing bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune, where he was part of teams that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 and 2008. Before his assignment to China, he worked in the Middle East, reporting mostly from Iraq. He lives with his family near Washington, D.C.
Leah Litman on Trump’s Supreme Court
“I think the Supreme Court, in particular, has proven that it is really fine with a lot of what the Administration is doing, and that they are basically willing to bend over backwards and ignore their own rules and procedures to allow the Administration to do what it wants,” Litman says.
Where Is the Iran-Israel Conflict Headed?
President Donald Trump’s decision on whether to attack Iran may prove to be the most consequential of his Presidency yet.
Trump Makes a Big Show of Military Force
What are the consequences of calling in troops to quell what the President has deemed “the enemy within”?
The Oligarchs Are Fighting
Does the Trump-Musk breakup resemble an ancient Greek myth or a Godzilla movie? Either way, mere mortals will likely get trampled.
Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder
The greed of the new Administration has galvanized America’s aspiring oligarchs—and their opponents.
Biden, Trump, and the Challenges of Covering an Aging President
Biden’s deterioration was physically evident. Does Trump’s vigorous bluster protect him from questions about age-related decline?
Donald Trump Is Using the Presidency to Get Rich
“The amount of money flowing into the Trump family coffers is of a scale and scope that just sort of blows the mind in any context,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says.
A Politics of Fear Defines Trump’s First Hundred Days in Office
“The whole country is going through this kind of enormous, disruptive, destabilizing experience,” Susan B. Glasser says.
Trump Gets a “Spanking” from the Bond Market
“His tolerance for chaos is perhaps going to end up running up against China’s tolerance for pain,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says.
Trump Finally Gets His Way on Tariffs
With a single act, the President has upended the entire global economic order.
Will Judges Stick Together to Face Trump’s Defiance?
“If they don’t stand up to Trump right now on this kind of power grab, then the pretenses of what the courts are for will be really exposed,” Michael Waldman, the C.E.O. of the Brennan Center for Justice, says.
The “Cognitive Élite” Seize Washington
What do the believers in “tech supremacy” plan to do with the federal government?
America’s Founders Feared a Caesar. Has One Arrived?
Julius Caesar pressured the Senate, won popular support by fomenting class warfare, and sported a combover. The constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen discusses the parallels.
Trump’s Putin-Like Cull of the White House Press Pool
“It's something that is at the top of the authoritarian playbook list,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says. “You know, go after the independent press.”
What Stops Democracy from Backsliding?
“The earlier the intervention, the earlier the mobilization, the earlier the forthright exercise of countervailing power, the better the prospect of saving democracy,” the Stanford University political scientist Larry Diamond says.
Why Trump Is Targeting Foreign Aid, with Atul Gawande
“You cannot pause a plane in midflight and expect that everything is going to be O.K.,” Gawande says. “That’s what they were trying to do with lifesaving health and humanitarian assistance around the world.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on What Democrats Should Do Next
“We are up against perhaps the biggest, most malignant political operation in American history,” Whitehouse says.
A Spirit of Vengeance in Trump’s First Week
“There is no distinction between his personal grievances and his policy aims,” Evan Osnos says.
Big Money and Trump’s New Cabinet
“Donald Trump is a master of picking appointees for very senior positions who never would have gotten those jobs under anyone else,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says. “I think it’s part of creating not just a government of laws and rules but a government built around the principle of personal loyalty to one man.”
What the End of Meta’s Fact-Checking Program Means for the Future of Free Speech
Meta’s decision to stop fact-checking or moderating content on its platforms signals fealty to Donald Trump.
Leah Litman on Trump’s Supreme Court
“I think the Supreme Court, in particular, has proven that it is really fine with a lot of what the Administration is doing, and that they are basically willing to bend over backwards and ignore their own rules and procedures to allow the Administration to do what it wants,” Litman says.
Where Is the Iran-Israel Conflict Headed?
President Donald Trump’s decision on whether to attack Iran may prove to be the most consequential of his Presidency yet.
Trump Makes a Big Show of Military Force
What are the consequences of calling in troops to quell what the President has deemed “the enemy within”?
The Oligarchs Are Fighting
Does the Trump-Musk breakup resemble an ancient Greek myth or a Godzilla movie? Either way, mere mortals will likely get trampled.
Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder
The greed of the new Administration has galvanized America’s aspiring oligarchs—and their opponents.
Biden, Trump, and the Challenges of Covering an Aging President
Biden’s deterioration was physically evident. Does Trump’s vigorous bluster protect him from questions about age-related decline?
Donald Trump Is Using the Presidency to Get Rich
“The amount of money flowing into the Trump family coffers is of a scale and scope that just sort of blows the mind in any context,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says.
A Politics of Fear Defines Trump’s First Hundred Days in Office
“The whole country is going through this kind of enormous, disruptive, destabilizing experience,” Susan B. Glasser says.
Trump Gets a “Spanking” from the Bond Market
“His tolerance for chaos is perhaps going to end up running up against China’s tolerance for pain,” the staff writer Evan Osnos says.
Trump Finally Gets His Way on Tariffs
With a single act, the President has upended the entire global economic order.
Will Judges Stick Together to Face Trump’s Defiance?
“If they don’t stand up to Trump right now on this kind of power grab, then the pretenses of what the courts are for will be really exposed,” Michael Waldman, the C.E.O. of the Brennan Center for Justice, says.
The “Cognitive Élite” Seize Washington
What do the believers in “tech supremacy” plan to do with the federal government?
America’s Founders Feared a Caesar. Has One Arrived?
Julius Caesar pressured the Senate, won popular support by fomenting class warfare, and sported a combover. The constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen discusses the parallels.
Trump’s Putin-Like Cull of the White House Press Pool
“It's something that is at the top of the authoritarian playbook list,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says. “You know, go after the independent press.”
What Stops Democracy from Backsliding?
“The earlier the intervention, the earlier the mobilization, the earlier the forthright exercise of countervailing power, the better the prospect of saving democracy,” the Stanford University political scientist Larry Diamond says.
Why Trump Is Targeting Foreign Aid, with Atul Gawande
“You cannot pause a plane in midflight and expect that everything is going to be O.K.,” Gawande says. “That’s what they were trying to do with lifesaving health and humanitarian assistance around the world.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on What Democrats Should Do Next
“We are up against perhaps the biggest, most malignant political operation in American history,” Whitehouse says.
A Spirit of Vengeance in Trump’s First Week
“There is no distinction between his personal grievances and his policy aims,” Evan Osnos says.
Big Money and Trump’s New Cabinet
“Donald Trump is a master of picking appointees for very senior positions who never would have gotten those jobs under anyone else,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says. “I think it’s part of creating not just a government of laws and rules but a government built around the principle of personal loyalty to one man.”
What the End of Meta’s Fact-Checking Program Means for the Future of Free Speech
Meta’s decision to stop fact-checking or moderating content on its platforms signals fealty to Donald Trump.