Rich Benjamin is an American cultural critic, anthropologist, and author. Benjamin is perhaps best known for the non-fiction book Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America.[1][2][3] He is also a lecturer and a public intellectual, who has discussed issues on NPR, PBS, CNN and MSNBC.[4] His writing appears in The New York Times,[5] The New Yorker,[6] The Guardian[7] and The New York Review of Books.[8]

Rich Benjamin
Born
New York City, United States
EducationWesleyan University (BA)
Stanford University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Author, television commentator, cultural critic
Websiterichbenjamin.com

Career

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Benjamin's work focuses on US politics and culture, democracy, money, high finance, class, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, public policy, global cultural transformation, and demographic change.[6][9]

Benjamin has been contributing essays to The New Yorker since 2017.[10]

Benjamin's book, Searching for Whitopia, was the subject of a TED Talk that has been viewed more than 2.8 million times.[11] The book has received coverage on NPR[12] and MSNBC.[13]

In 2021 Benjamin delivered the Poynter Lecture at Yale Law School on "conservatism and Trumpism in the era of digital media—on how right-wing ideology, white fear, and the digital media ecosystem threaten democracy in America."[14]

He has presented his research on money, blockchain, and decentralization at a conference on technology.[15]

In 2021, he served as a Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.[16]

Benjamin was in Princeton, NJ in 2023 for his research and teaching post as the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow in American Studies at Princeton University.[17]

In 2023-2024, Benjamin served as a Harvard-Radcliffe Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.[18] There he continued research on his major field of interest, high finance—the social-scientific dimensions of quants, flash trading, hedge funds, extreme wealth, and risk.[19] 

Education

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As a doctoral student at Stanford University, Benjamin studied with Professors Tim Lenoir and Terry Winograd, an adviser to the founders of Google.

References

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  1. ^ James, Randy (October 12, 2009). "America's Booming White Enclaves". Time. Archived from the original on October 14, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  2. ^ Poon, Linda (August 12, 2015). "A Black Man's Journey Through 'Whitopia'". CityLab.
  3. ^ "A Black Author's Journey Into American 'Whitopia'". NPR. October 6, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  4. ^ Melber, Ari (January 15, 2018), Playing to the GOP Base?, retrieved January 9, 2019
  5. ^ Benjamin, Rich (2017), "The Ego in The Spectacle", The New York Times, retrieved August 15, 2019
  6. ^ a b Benjamin, Rich (April 4, 2018). "Gun Control and the Politics of White Paranoia". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  7. ^ Benjamin, Rich (August 13, 2016). "Leading Writers on Donald Trump". The Guardian. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "Rich Benjamin". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Benjamin, Rich (July 19, 2019). "Op-Ed: Trump's race-baiting hasn't produced many policy wins, but that was never the point". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ The New Yorker (2022). "The New Yorker Contributors". The New Yorker.
  11. ^ "Rich Benjamin". TED.
  12. ^ NPR Radio Hour (November 20, 2015). "What is a Whitopia? And What Might It Mean to Live There?". NPR.org.
  13. ^ MSNBC News (January 15, 2018). "How Does Race Play to Trump's Base?". YouTube.
  14. ^ Yale University Law School (January 15, 2022). "Whiteness, Conservatism, and Democracy in the Digital Age, Rich Benjamin, Poynter Lecture".
  15. ^ New_Public (July 1, 2022). "Live from the Decentralized Web". New_Public.
  16. ^ New York Public Library (January 15, 2022). "Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars, NYPL".
  17. ^ "Past Anschutz Distinguished Fellows". Effron Center for the Study of America. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  18. ^ Nietzel, Michael T. "The Harvard Radcliffe Institute Has Named Its Fellows For 2023-24". Forbes. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  19. ^ "Harvard Radcliffe Institute Announces 2023–2024 Fellowship Class". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
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