Bhaskar Sunkara.(Jacobin)
Contact: Caitlin Graf, The Nation, press [at] thenation.com, 212-209-5400
New York, N.Y.—February 23, 2022—The Nation, America’s leading magazine of progressive politics, culture, and opinion, today named Bhaskar Sunkara as its next president. Sunkara will lead The Nation’s publishing and business strategy, working alongside publisher and editorial director Katrina vanden Heuvel and editor D.D. Guttenplan.
“I’m proud to join The Nation at this critical moment for independent media and for working-class politics,” Sunkara said. “The Nation is an indispensable organ of progressive politics in the United States, with vast potential for growth and impact. I’m looking forward to helping build a storied organization and to supporting the effort of its talented staff and contributors.”
Sunkara, age 32, has built some of independent media’s most successful projects. He founded Jacobin between his sophomore and junior years in college when he was 21 years old; the publication has now grown to a paid circulation of nearly 70,000, with 2.6 million unique visitors per month in 2021. Jacobin has five foreign language franchises and publishes the UK-based Tribune magazine and Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy.
“Bhaskar brings an entrepreneurial lens and a new generation of leadership to The Nation,” vanden Heuvel said. “He is a champion of independent media who has launched and grown some of the most significant institutions on the left today.”
The Nation, founded by abolitionists in 1865, is a multi-platform media organization with investigative reporting and commentary appearing in print, online at TheNation.com, and shared across the magazine’s 1.2 million-follower social media platforms. The Nation has a growing corps of emerging writers and a catalog of politically charged podcasts and limited-term explanatory series. The Nation will be launching a new website and a refreshed donor engagement program in 2022 and will offer expanded coverage of the 2022 midterm elections.
Sunkara will succeed Erin O’Mara, The Nation’s president since 2016. O’Mara is also the executive director of The Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, a 501c3 founded in 2020 to train and develop the next generation of independent journalists. She will now focus on building this program and will remain a strategic consultant to the publisher. The Nation Fund’s programs include Student Nation, The Nation’s highly regarded internship program, and the annual Puffin Nation Student Journalism Conference.
“Erin O’Mara has steered The Nation through one of the most challenging periods in history for journalism, developing and executing on a strategic vision and leading the organization with creativity, calm, and grace,” vanden Heuvel said. “We are pleased that she will continue to lead The Nation Fund’s efforts to build a more diverse independent journalism sector.”
Sunkara is known as well for his work as a writer. His first book, The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality, was released by Basic Books in 2019. In 2020 he was named by Fortune as one of America’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential in Government and Politics. Sunkara has been a writer for The Nation since 2013; he has also been a columnist for The Guardian US and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, and Foreign Policy, among other outlets.
Jacobin, which he has led since its founding in 2010, will be promoting new leadership internally.
“I edited Bhaskar’s piece in our 150th Anniversary issue and have long admired what he’s built at Jacobin,” Guttenplan said. “I look forward to working together to build on The Nation’s incredible legacy in progressive journalism.”
With a hostile incoming administration, a massive infrastructure of courts and judges waiting to turn “freedom of speech” into a nostalgic memory, and legacy newsrooms rapidly abandoning their responsibility to produce accurate, fact-based reporting, independent media has its work cut out for itself.
At The Nation, we’re steeling ourselves for an uphill battle as we fight to uphold truth, transparency, and intellectual freedom—and we can’t do it alone.
This month, every gift The Nation receives through December 31 will be doubled, up to $75,000. If we hit the full match, we start 2025 with $150,000 in the bank to fund political commentary and analysis, deep-diving reporting, incisive media criticism, and the team that makes it all possible.
As other news organizations muffle their dissent or soften their approach, The Nation remains dedicated to speaking truth to power, engaging in patriotic dissent, and empowering our readers to fight for justice and equality. As an independent publication, we’re not beholden to stakeholders, corporate investors, or government influence. Our allegiance is to facts and transparency, to honoring our abolitionist roots, to the principles of justice and equality—and to you, our readers.
In the weeks and months ahead, the work of free and independent journalists will matter more than ever before. People will need access to accurate reporting, critical analysis, and deepened understanding of the issues they care about, from climate change and immigration to reproductive justice and political authoritarianism.
By standing with The Nation now, you’re investing not just in independent journalism grounded in truth, but also in the possibilities that truth will create.
The possibility of a galvanized public. Of a more just society. Of meaningful change, and a more radical, liberated tomorrow.
In solidarity and in action,
The Editors, The Nation
“Independent media is the lifeblood of democracy,” Sunkara said. “This is an opportunity to help lead a media organization that has been on the right side of history for nearly 160 years and continues to drive critical debate around politics today.”
For interview requests or further information, please see contact information above.
ABOUT: Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.
Press RoomTwitterBig Nation announcements and select interview clips. For media inquiries, booking requests or further information, please contact: Caitlin Graf, VP, Communications, The Nation press [at] thenation.com / 212-209-5400