D.D. Guttenplan, Nation editor from 2019 to 2025, returns to his reporting roots as special correspondent and host of a new Nation podcast.
Contact: Caitlin Graf, The Nation, press [at] thenation.com, 212-209-5400
New York, NY—The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture, today announced today that Nation editor D.D. Guttenplan will become the magazine’s new special correspondent, effective August 1, after he puts the magazine’s 160th anniversary special issue to press. Editorial director and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, who was The Nation’s editor from 1995 to 2019, will return as editor and will remain publisher.
As special correspondent, Guttenplan will return to his political reporting roots, contributing regular features to the print and online editions of The Nation. Building on the success of his limited series election podcast, See How They Run, Guttenplan will also continue contributing to The Nation’s audio programming by hosting a new interview series this April.
In his tenure as editor—the magazine’s 16th in its 160-year history—Guttenplan cast his eye toward the magazine’s future: bringing on engaging new voices, reimagining the print edition as an expanded monthly, relaunching TheNation.com, and directing enormous growth in our brand extensions and podcasts. The Nation has gained a double-digit percentage of subscribers since Trump’s election, 14 percent year over year, and the number of individual donors have increased by 42 percent.
Vanden Heuvel returns to The Nation with a renewed mission to confront the Trump administration head-on, through tough and deep reporting, countering and combating the growing threat of oligarchy. In a climate where publications are folding, contracting, and pandering to Trump, The Nation is steadfast in its commitment to speak truth to power, defend free speech against censorship, and protect and promote peace, justice, and small-d democratic ideals. As vanden Heuvel wrote when Trump first came to power in 2016, “The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good, not-so-good, and bad times—to offer alternative visions and ideas, to deepen our journalistic mission of truth-telling and deep reporting.”
“In these times, when too much of our media is on bended knee, I believe The Nation’s role as an independent force is an exceptionally powerful one,” said vanden Heuvel. “We have a mandate—as we did in 1865, at our founding—to rebuild, revive, and reclaim democracy. The Nation has been and will remain an essential source for the great debates and fateful struggles that now confront our country—and our world.”
“The past six years editing The Nation has been one of the great adventures of my life,” said Guttenplan. “I’ll always be grateful to Katrina for giving me this opportunity, to Victor Navasky for urging me to take it, and to our staff and contributors and donors for their hard work, brilliant writing, and steadfast support. I’m immensely proud of the work we’ve done together, from covering Black Lives Matter and Covid to our continuing—and sadly, still unrivaled in the mainstream press—coverage of the Palestinian struggle to our role in helping to found Covering Climate Now to our deep reporting on abortion access. And though the magazine business, and journalism as a whole, have been through truly desperate times, The Nation has not only endured but adapted and thrived. I’m very proud of that, too.”
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“Don Guttenplan has been an important Nation editor, bringing new energy, ideas, and bold leadership to the magazine,” added vanden Heuvel. “He has shown a deep commitment to cultivating a new generation of voices, and his keen understanding of the historic and critical role of independent journalism in our society has been invaluable. His tenure leaves the magazine in a position to move forward with strength.”
In his time leading The Nation, Guttenplan added talented writers, spirited columnists, and incisive reporters to the masthead, voices indispensable to this crisis political moment in our country. These include justice correspondent Elie Mystal, national affairs correspondent Jeet Heer, DC bureau chief Chris Lehmann (former editor of The New Republic and The Baffler), and strikes correspondent Jane McAlevey. In 2021, The Nation became the first national publication to hire a Palestine correspondent, Mohammed El-Kurd.
During Guttenplan’s tenure, The Nation received award recognition from countless organizations, including the Park Center for Independent Media, the Society of Environmental Journalists, Covering Climate Now, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, the Bernhardt Labor Journalism Awards, the Human Rights Press Award, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Bar Association, the Education Writers Association, and Newhouse School of Journalism’s Mirror Awards for Excellence in Media Industry Reporting. For the first time in its history, The Nation was also named a finalist for the National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, Literature, Science and Politics, long recognized as one of the publishing industry’s highest honors.
Guttenplan and vanden Heuvel are available for comment from New York City. 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.
