Adam Serwer

Adam Serwer
Born1982 (age 41–42)
NationalityAmerican
Education
OccupationJournalist
EmployerThe Atlantic

Adam Serwer (born 1982)[1] is an American journalist and author. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic where his work focuses on politics, race, and justice. He previously worked at BuzzFeed News, The American Prospect, and Mother Jones.

Serwer has received awards from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), The Root, and the Society of Professional Journalists. He was named a spring 2019 Shorenstein Center fellow, and received the 2019 Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Life and career

Serwer was raised in Washington, D.C.[8] His father, Daniel Serwer, was in the Foreign Service, which resulted in Serwer spending part of his childhood overseas. His mother, Jacquelyn Serwer, is the chief curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.[9] His father is European and Jewish and his mother is African-American.[10] He has a brother named Jared Serwer.

Serwer received his bachelor's degree from Vassar College and his master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[11] Following graduate school, he was a writing fellow at The American Prospect.[12] He later worked at Mother Jones,[13] MSNBC, The Washington Post, Jack and Jill Politics, Salon, and The Atlantic as a guest blogger for Ta-Nehisi Coates.[14][15][16] He began work at BuzzFeed News as the national editor in August 2014.[4][5] Serwer was hired as a senior editor at The Atlantic on August 15, 2016.[17] His work there has focused on white supremacy, race in America, and the Trump administration.[18] Essays such as "The Nationalist's Delusion", "White Nationalism's Deep American Roots", and "The Cruelty Is the Point" have been cited by other journalists in various outlets.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] He has also appeared on other media outlets such as All Things Considered, The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, In the Thick, and On My Mind with Diane Rehm to discuss his writing.[26][27][28] In his best known essay, "The Cruelty Is the Point", published in 2018,[29] Serwer argued that the Trump administration’s policies were not only cruel, but cruel by design.

Serwer received a fellowship from the Shorenstein Center in 2019, for which he researched the historical role of African Americans and voting.[30] He received the 2019 Hillman Prize for his work on the rise of Trump, Trumpism and America's history of racism.[31]

His first book, The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America, is a collection of essays that was released June 29, 2021 by One World/Penguin Random House.[32][33] The book was named to the New York Times Best Seller list. Kirkus reviewed it as "a strong contribution to conversations about racism, injustice, and violence, all of which continue to plague this country."[34] Conservative writer Helen Andrews criticized the book in The American Conservative as "the most toxic piece of journalism of the Trump era."[35]

Personal life

Serwer is married.[36] He and his wife have one daughter (b. 2019). He practices Judaism[37] and lives in San Antonio, Texas. [38]

He has multiple cats whom he frequently tweets about and refers to as "the Garfields" because they are all orange. A dog named Korra was added to the household in the spring of 2021.[39]

Works

Books

  • Serwer, Adam (2021). The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780593230800. 2019.

Essays

Accolades

References

  1. ^ a b "The Root 100 - The Most Influential African Americans In 2018". The Root. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  2. ^ Grinapol, Corinne. "The Atlantic Adds Adam Serwer, Siddhartha Mahanta". Adweek. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "'Perversion of Justice' wins Hillman Foundation award for socially responsible journalism". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Adam Serwer is BuzzFeed's new national editor". Poynter. August 12, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Levy, Nicole (August 12, 2014). "Adam Serwer named Buzzfeed national editor". Politico. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  6. ^ "Adam Serwer". The American Prospect. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "Adam Serwer". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Serwer, Adam (December 16, 2008). "On Being Black at Sidwell". The American Prospect. ISSN 1049-7285. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  9. ^ Boorstein, Michelle. "Jewish community trying to make room for interfaith couples". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  10. ^ "How Is Your Judaism Different From Your Parents'?". Moment Magazine. March 20, 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  11. ^ Yolanda Young (September 6, 2016). "Adam Serwer is an editor on a mission to empower readers". Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  12. ^ "Adam Serwer". the Guardian. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "Adam Serwer". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on October 14, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  14. ^ Adam Serwer. "Adam Serwer". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  15. ^ Tanzer, Myles (June 2, 2014). "American Prospect Mass Exodus Begins". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  16. ^ "Adam Serwer is an editor on a mission to empower readers". Rolling Out. September 6, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  17. ^ O'Shea, Chris. "The Atlantic Adds 2, Promotes Sacha Zimmerman". Adweek. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "What Discrimination?". WNYC. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "Yes, the Civil War was about slavery. Just listen to Uncivil". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "Trump and 'The Nationalist's Delusion'". MSNBC. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  21. ^ Douthat, Ross (November 29, 2017). "Race and Class and What Happened in 2016". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  22. ^ "Weekend Read: A horrifying pattern of white supremacist attacks". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  23. ^ Feller, Madison (December 19, 2018). "9 Writers Share the Absolute Best Thing They Read on the Internet in 2018". Elle. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  24. ^ Klein, Ezra (December 11, 2018). "The political tribalism of Andrew Sullivan". Vox. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  25. ^ "The Trump Administration's War on Trans People Is Pointless and Cruel". GQ. October 22, 2018. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  26. ^ Perkins, Dennis (February 7, 2018). "The Atlantic's Adam Serwer tells Jordan Klepper how to know who Donald Trump really is". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  27. ^ "White Nationalist Rhetoric Heard Today Echoes America A Century Ago". NPR.org. Archived from the original on March 17, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  28. ^ "An American Whose White Nationalist Theories Inspired Hitler". Diane Rehm. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  29. ^ Serwer, Adam (October 3, 2018). "The Cruelty Is the Point". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Shorenstein Center Announces Spring 2019 Fellows". Shorenstein Center. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  31. ^ "2019 Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism". The Sidney Hillman Foundation. April 16, 2019. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  32. ^ "The Cruelty Is the Point by Adam Serwer: 9780593230800 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  33. ^ THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT | Kirkus Reviews.
  34. ^ "The Cruelty Is the Point". Kirkus. May 18, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  35. ^ Andrews, Helen (June 29, 2021). "The Cruelty Was Never the Point". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  36. ^ Serwer, Adam (January 26, 2019). "I know I give the impression of being a cat bachelor but...no longer true! pic.twitter.com/Laj8r3ZNMn". @AdamSerwer. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  37. ^ "How Is Your Judaism Different From Your Parents'?". Moment Magazine. March 20, 2019. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  38. ^ The Daily Show (November 4, 2024). Adam Serwer - Trump's MAGA Conspiracy Universe & Republican Snitch States | The Daily Show. Retrieved November 10, 2024 – via YouTube.
  39. ^ "Adam Serwer - Let's Talk About Cats Podcast - Episode 13". Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  40. ^ "STEWinners2012 - National Association of Black Journalists". www.nabj.org. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  41. ^ "MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry tops the 'Root 100′ list". Poynter. September 20, 2012. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  42. ^ "The Root 100 – 2013". The Root. January 1, 2013. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  43. ^ "Sigma Delta Chi Awards - Society of Professional Journalists". www.spj.org. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  44. ^ "The Columbia Journalism School Announces 2019 Lipman Fellows: Adam Serwer of The Atlantic and Alice Speri of The Intercept". Columbia Journalism School. May 13, 2019.
  45. ^ "Forward 50 | Adam Serwer: Voice of the devastated left". forward.com. December 20, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  46. ^ Gipson, Abigail (November 9, 2020). "Errin Haines Awarded Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence". Pulitzer Center. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
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