Clay Risen

I am a New York Times reporter on the Obituaries desk.

What I Cover

I write about all manner of fascinating lives — a pioneering oyster farmer in Louisiana, a French pianist still recording albums in her 100s and one of the last victims of the Red Scare, to name a few. Obviously, the reason for writing an obituary is the recent death of its subject. But to me they are really about people’s lives, how they lived them and why they mattered. Each is a brick in a wall that together constitutes our shared history.

On occasion, I also write about spirits, and whiskey in particular, for the Food section, drawing on an interest that goes back to my earliest days as a journalist.

My Background

I have been at The New York Times since 2010. Before writing obituaries, I was a senior editor on the 2020 politics team, and before that an editor on the Opinion desk, most recently as the deputy Op-ed editor. I previously worked at The New Republic and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.

I have written eight books, some about U.S. history, some about whiskey. They include “American Rye” and “The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century.”

I have a degree in international relations from Georgetown University and a master’s in social science from the University of Chicago.

Journalistic Ethics

As a reporter for The New York Times, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. Above all that means treating every subject and source fairly and without preference.

Contact Me

Email: [email protected]
Threads: @risenc
Anonymous tips: nytimes.com/tips

Latest

Elaine Schwartz, Longtime Principal of an Innovative School, Dies at 92
A co-founder of the Center School in Manhattan, she implemented once-radical ideas that put the students first. She retired four decades later, at 91.
By Clay Risen
Kinky Friedman, 79, Dies; Musician and Humorist Slew Sacred Cows
He and his band, the Texas Jewboys, won acclaim for their satirical takes on American culture. He later wrote detective novels and ran for governor of Texas.
By Clay Risen
Jeremy Tepper, SiriusXM’s Longtime Alt-Country Impresario, Dies at 60
As a journalist, singer, label owner and radio producer, he fostered a community of musicians on the outskirts of Americana.
By Clay Risen
Nathan Hare, 91, Forceful Founder of First Black Studies Program, Dies
Seeking to bring the ideas of Black power into the classroom — and coining the term “ethnic studies” — he clashed with a university as well as allies on the left.
By Clay Risen
Elinor Fuchs, a Leading Scholar of the American Stage, Is Dead at 91
As a journalist and later as a Yale professor, she provided the intellectual tools to help actors, directors and audiences understand challenging theatrical work.
By Clay Risen
Howard Fineman, Veteran Political Journalist and TV Pundit, Dies at 75
From his beginnings with a daily newspaper, he moved easily through Newsweek magazine to cable news and, later, to the frontiers of online journalism.
By Clay Risen
Jürgen Moltmann, Theologian Who Confronted Auschwitz, Is Dead at 98
He drew on his experiences as a German soldier during World War II to construct transformative ideas about God, Jesus and salvation.
By Clay Risen
Bob Kelley, Who Made the Kelley Blue Book an Authority on Cars, Dies at 96
He knew all the data that went into determining a vehicle’s price, but he insisted that it was as much an art as it was a science.
By Clay Risen
Nonny Hogrogian, 92, Honored Illustrator of Children’s Books, Dies
A two-time Caldecott Medal winner, she brought multiculturalism to children’s literature by evoking her Armenian heritage.
By Clay Risen
Terry Robards, 84, Dies; Lifted Fine Wines in America as a Times Critic
In columns and notably “The New York Times Book of Wine,” he introduced Americans to European and premium domestic varieties in the 1970s and ’80s.
By Clay Risen