Andrew Gumbel is an award-winning journalist and author with a long track record as an investigative reporter, political columnist, magazine writer and foreign correspondent. He contributes regularly to The Guardian, among other publications, and has written extensively on subjects ranging from politics, law enforcement and counterterrorism, to food and popular culture. His books include Oklahoma City: What The Investigation Missed — And Why It Still Matters (HarperCollins, 2012), Down for the Count: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America (The New Press, 2016), and, most recently, Won't Lose This Dream: How an Upstart Urban University Rewrote the Rules of a Broken System (The New Press, 2020).
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLES
Young Man Inside an Old Man
Andrew Gumbel reviews "Beeswing," the new memoir written by Richard Thompson with Scott Timberg....
A Show Trial Gets Its Show
A film about the marquee trial of the 1960s counterculture fails to explain its enduring relevance....
Parkland. Too Soon?
An early assessment of the Parkland shooting is too much subject-worship, not enough big picture....
The Sensual Music of Sex in Allegra Huston’s “Say My Name”
Allegra Huston’s debut novel is suffused with sensual feeling....
Is This Fascism?
Should we be alarmed?...
Icarus of the Deep: The Life and Death of Freediver Nick Mevoli
It's difficult to read Mevoli's story and not think of him as an Icarus of the deep, someone who wanted to know how far he could go and died finding out....
Capitalism in a Bottle
Coca-Cola and Pepsi aren't really drinks manufacturers at all. For close to a century, they have made an extraordinary living from the power of suggestion....
Europe’s Accidental Country
Albania, Europe's accidental country, has a dirty secret: pyramid schemes....
Trial By Osmosis: Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito and the Nightmare of Italian Justice
The case against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito is a study in a justice system out of control according to Andrew Gumbel, co-author of Sollecito's account of the trials....
“When the Legend Becomes the Truth”: The Case of Matthew Shepard
Is Matthew Shepard more appropriately honored by public beatification, or by an honest reckoning of who he was and why he was killed?...
The Scorched Earth Solution: Solitary Confinement in America
How did a form of torture become policy in America’s prison system?...
The New Abnormal: Tentpoles, Pre-Awareness, and the Crisis in Hollywood
The mess that Hollywood is in, and how we got there....
How America Didn’t Win the Cold War (A Travelogue)
IN THE EUPHORIC FIRST WEEKS after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East German protesters who had risked everything to overthrow ...
