Tad Friend
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Tad Friend has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998. He contributes to the magazine’s Letter from California and has profiled Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Marc Andreessen. He has also written about Donald Glover, the world of motivational speaking, and Silicon Valley’s quest for eternal life, among many other subjects. His piece on suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge, “Jumpers,” inspired the documentary film “The Bridge” and the Sleater-Kinney song “Jumpers.” His work has been chosen for the series The Best American Travel Writing, The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Crime Reporting, and The Best Technology Writing. In 2020, he won a James Beard award for feature writing for an article about meatless meats. He is the author of a memoir, “In the Early Times,” published in 2022, as well as “Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor” and “Lost in Mongolia: Travels in Hollywood and Other Foreign Lands,” a collection of his articles. Previously, he was a contributing editor at Esquire and Outside.
A Controversial Rare-Book Dealer Tries to Rewrite His Own Ending
Glenn Horowitz built a fortune selling the archives of writers such as Vladimir Nabokov and Alice Walker. Then a rock star pressed charges.
How to Build a Better Motivational Speaker
The upstart motivator Jesse Itzler wants to reform his profession—while also rising to the top.
Earth League International Hunts the Hunters
A conservation N.G.O. infiltrates wildlife-trafficking rings to bring them down.
With Father-and-Son Writers, Who Gets to Tell the Family Story?
A relationship reconsidered by reading between the lines.
Can MasterClass Teach You Everything?
Studies suggest that it takes at least a decade to achieve real expertise. The company promises transformation in a few hours.
Can a Burger Help Solve Climate Change?
Eating meat creates huge environmental costs. Impossible Foods thinks it has a solution.
Bill Hader Kills
With “Barry,” his bleakly funny TV show, Hollywood’s favorite impressionist reinvents himself as a writer-director.
Gavin Newsom, the Next Head of the California Resistance
Like many Democrats in the Trump era, Newsom aims to harness the alarm of moderates, the rage of progressives, and the widespread yearning for a new politics.
How Frightened Should We Be of A.I.?
Thinking about artificial intelligence can help clarify what makes us human—for better and for worse.
Donald Glover Can’t Save You
The creator of “Atlanta” wants TV to tell hard truths. Is the audience ready?
“Mudbound” Director Dee Rees Cracks the Video-Game Code
Her third feature brought her freedom from student debt and some free time to relax with West of Loathing.
Maggie Betts on Nuns Jilted by God
In “Novitiate,” the writer-director takes an unexpectedly sensual look at convent life.
Why Ageism Never Gets Old
The prejudice is an ancient habit, but new forces—in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and beyond—have restored its youthful vitality.
Andy Serkis’s Miniature Worlds
The actor visits an exhibit of models in Times Square. Pointing to the Empire State Building, he said, “I’ve already been on top of that.”
Peter Landesman’s Picture of Heroism
In his new film, “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House,” the writer-director delivers a complex portrait of Deep Throat.
Breakfast with Mike White
The writer-director behind “Brad’s Status” on what your reputation is worth.
The Middle-School Friends Behind “Brigsby Bear”
Kyle Mooney, Kevin Costello, and Dave McCary met in seventh grade. Now they have a movie out.
David Lowery’s Haunting Cinema
The director of “A Ghost Story” discusses his new movie over tofu Benedict.
A Controversial Rare-Book Dealer Tries to Rewrite His Own Ending
Glenn Horowitz built a fortune selling the archives of writers such as Vladimir Nabokov and Alice Walker. Then a rock star pressed charges.
How to Build a Better Motivational Speaker
The upstart motivator Jesse Itzler wants to reform his profession—while also rising to the top.
Earth League International Hunts the Hunters
A conservation N.G.O. infiltrates wildlife-trafficking rings to bring them down.
With Father-and-Son Writers, Who Gets to Tell the Family Story?
A relationship reconsidered by reading between the lines.
Can MasterClass Teach You Everything?
Studies suggest that it takes at least a decade to achieve real expertise. The company promises transformation in a few hours.
Can a Burger Help Solve Climate Change?
Eating meat creates huge environmental costs. Impossible Foods thinks it has a solution.
Bill Hader Kills
With “Barry,” his bleakly funny TV show, Hollywood’s favorite impressionist reinvents himself as a writer-director.
Gavin Newsom, the Next Head of the California Resistance
Like many Democrats in the Trump era, Newsom aims to harness the alarm of moderates, the rage of progressives, and the widespread yearning for a new politics.
How Frightened Should We Be of A.I.?
Thinking about artificial intelligence can help clarify what makes us human—for better and for worse.
Donald Glover Can’t Save You
The creator of “Atlanta” wants TV to tell hard truths. Is the audience ready?
“Mudbound” Director Dee Rees Cracks the Video-Game Code
Her third feature brought her freedom from student debt and some free time to relax with West of Loathing.
Maggie Betts on Nuns Jilted by God
In “Novitiate,” the writer-director takes an unexpectedly sensual look at convent life.
Why Ageism Never Gets Old
The prejudice is an ancient habit, but new forces—in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and beyond—have restored its youthful vitality.
Andy Serkis’s Miniature Worlds
The actor visits an exhibit of models in Times Square. Pointing to the Empire State Building, he said, “I’ve already been on top of that.”
Peter Landesman’s Picture of Heroism
In his new film, “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House,” the writer-director delivers a complex portrait of Deep Throat.
Breakfast with Mike White
The writer-director behind “Brad’s Status” on what your reputation is worth.
The Middle-School Friends Behind “Brigsby Bear”
Kyle Mooney, Kevin Costello, and Dave McCary met in seventh grade. Now they have a movie out.
David Lowery’s Haunting Cinema
The director of “A Ghost Story” discusses his new movie over tofu Benedict.