Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan

Journalist and Blogger

Andrew Sullivan is a conservative political writer and commentator and one of the pioneers of political blog journalism. He was born in England, where he attended Magdalen College, Oxford, but moved to the US in the 1980s to pursue a Masters in Public Administration and a PhD in Political Science at Harvard. He has remained in the US and has focused his writing on American political life.  

In 1991 at the age of 27, Sullivan was appointed editor of The New Republic, over which he presided for 250 issues until he resigned in May 1996. Sullivan's tenure at TNR was often turbulent, controversial, and pioneering. The magazine expanded its remit beyond politics to cover such topics as the future of hip-hop, same-sex marriage, and affirmative action in the newsroom. TNR also published the first airing of 'The Bell Curve,' the explosive 1995 book on IQ, and 'No Exit,' an equally controversial essay that was widely credited with helping to torpedo the Clinton administration's plans for universal health coverage. In 1996, Sullivan was named Editor of the Year by Adweek magazine.

Sullivan is openly gay and has been a key figure in the public discourse on such issues as gays in the military and same-sex marriage. His 1993 TNR essay, 'The Politics of Homosexuality,' was credited by the Nation magazine as the most influential article of the decade in gay rights. His 1995 book, 'Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality,' was published to positive reviews, became one of the best-selling books on gay rights, and was translated into five languages. He followed it with a reader, 'Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con,' and testified before Congress on the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. His second book, 'Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival,' was published in 1998 in the United States and Britain. It was a synthesis of three essays on the plague of AIDS, homosexuality and psycho-therapy, and the virtue of friendship. Sullivan tested positive for HIV in 1993, and remains in good health.

In the summer of 2000, Sullivan became one of the first mainstream journalists to experiment with blogging and soon developed a large online readership for his blog The Daily Dish. He has blogged independently and for Time.com, but in February 2007 he moved his blog to The Atlantic Online where he now writes daily.

Blogging destroys the future-oriented process of writing nonfiction and replaces it with a sense of constant presentness—everything you write is provisional because the facts, or your mind, could change.
Want millions of people to read your blog every month? Listen to these tips from blogging pioneer Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Dish.
4mins
The idea that politicians will grant gay people equality has always been a complete delusion, says the blogger. “The only thing that brings us equality is our own testimony and […]
7mins
The first person the blogger came out to was God, and the second was a priest. But when he told his parents years later, his father’s response was a true […]
1mins
The blogger came out as HIV positive because he couldn’t write truthfully or with integrity otherwise.
6mins
Sarah Palin’s four political strengths—the ability to channel resentment, amazing beauty, great performance skills, and real authenticity with the base—make her a shoo-in for the Republican nomination.
4mins
One great thing about blogging is being able to talk about things that others are afraid to—like the fact that one of our greatest presidents liked to sleep with men.
4mins
There are still rational voices on the right that have withstood the Republican push towards fundamentalism.
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“To join a party on condition that we oppose our own civil rights and our own basic civil equality seems a non-starter for me,” says the conservative blogger. “There’s something […]
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The Daily Dish gets one million readers each month—partly because the blogger treats his readers as part of a community, fostering a dialogue rather than a monologue.
3mins
There aren’t set standards for bloggers the way that there are for print journalists, but there are still some rules that everyone should follow: “Don’t lie, and if you’re wrong, […]
3mins
Blogs allow writers to have an open and honest discussion in real-time. This is better than a single article because it treats the readers as participants in the conversation.
4mins
Blogging destroys the future-oriented process of writing nonfiction and replaces it with a sense of constant presentness—everything you write is provisional because the facts, or your mind, could change.