Jonathan Alter

Jonathan H. Alter (born October 6, 1957) is a liberal American journalist, best-selling author, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and television producer who was a columnist and senior editor for ''Newsweek'' magazine from 1983 until 2011. Alter has written several books about American presidents, most recently ''His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life'', published in 2020, the first independent biography of Carter and an important source for the broad historical reassessment of his presidency. His newest book, ''American Reckoning: Inside Trump's Trial—and My Own'', was published on October 22, 2024. Alter has interviewed nine of the last ten American presidents (all except Ronald Reagan) either before, during or after their presidencies.

Alter is a political analyst for NBC News, where since 1996 he has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. In 2021, Alter launched a newsletter called "Old Goats with Jonathan Alter", where he posts columns, videos and interviews with accomplished people who share their wisdom and experience. In 2013 and 2014, Alter served as an executive producer on the Amazon Studios production ''Alpha House'', which starred John Goodman, Mark Consuelos, Clark Johnson, and Matt Malloy. In 2019, he co-produced and co-directed Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists," a documentary about the columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, which received the 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Documentary.

Alter's other books are ''The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies'' (2013), ''The Promise: President Obama, Year One'' (2010), which went to number three on the New York Times Bestsellers List, ''Between The Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People and Culture'' (2008), and ''The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope'' (2006), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

A veteran of Chicago politics, Alter has known former President Barack Obama and his closest confidantes for as long as nearly any national columnist, having published the first national magazine cover story on Obama in ''Newsweek''s 2005 "Who's Next Issue."

From 2015 until 2023, Alter hosted a radio show with his children, "Alter Family Politics," as part of Andy Cohen's 24-hour network, Radio Andy, Channel 102 on Sirius XM.

In 2021, Alter began an online Substack publication for free and paid subscribers entitled, ''[https://oldgoats@substack.com/ Old Goats with Jonathan Alter]'', that he characterizes as "ruminating with friends". Provided by Wikipedia