Mark Oppenheimer — a well-known religion writer who has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Nation, GQ, Slate, The Wall Street Journal and more — is the new executive editor of Religion & Politics, an online journal published by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. His appointment was effective May 28.
Oppenheimer will restart the journal, which was founded in 2012 and went on hiatus in May 2023. He also will serve as a professor of practice at the center and will teach courses on journalism and religion for undergraduate students.
“Among well-known writers who cover religion in America today, Mark Oppenheimer has stood out for his eloquence, intelligence and empathy,” said Mark Valeri, the Rev. Priscilla Wood Neaves Professor of Religion and Politics and director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. “We are delighted that he has joined our center and look forward to working with him as he shapes Religion & Politics, teaches our undergraduates and helps us to expand the public-facing dimensions of our scholarship.”
Oppenheimer holds a PhD in religious studies from Yale, and he has taught at Boston College along with Stanford, Wesleyan, Wellesley, New York and Yale universities. He was founding director of the Yale Journalism Initiative. From 2010-16, he wrote the “Beliefs” column for The New York Times. He also created “Unorthodox,” the world’s most popular podcast about Jewish life and culture. Oppenheimer is the author of five books, including “The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia” and, most recently, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.” He is currently working on a biography of children’s author Judy Blume.
Read more on the Center on Religion and Politics website.
