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Sam Anderson

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  • Award-Winning Journalist
  • Author of the Highly-Acclaimed 'Boom Town'

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Sam Anderson is an award-winning journalist, cultural critic, and author of the highly acclaimed book Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis. He is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he has written portraits of athletes, artists, and odd places all over the world, including Mount Rushmore and a Charles Dickens theme park. Anderson’s debut book Boom Town was heralded as one of the best books for the year by NPR, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Economist, and more. In a note to the staff of New York Magazine, then-editor Adam Moss described Anderson as “a fearless and committed writer and thinker.” NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton has called him “a visionary artist who sees what others can’t… our guide to a better tomorrow.” Anderson engages audiences with cultural commentary and insights about creativity.

His work has appeared in The Paris Review, New York Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Slate, The Oxford American, and has also been included in numerous “Best American Writing” anthologies. Anderson has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award three times – including in 2017, when his article David’s Ankles won the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism.

 

Sam Anderson headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • Federal Judicial Center
  • Noble Research Institute
Rave Reviews About Sam Anderson
“
Unlike navel-gazing yappers like Hunter S. Thompson, Anderson doesn’t splatter himself all over the story. He never drowns out anyone with his sly, entertaining voice. His sensibility, sophisticated though it may be, is generous enough to stand up and offer its seat to others… For all of the surrealism in [Franz Kafka’s Oklahoma-set] Amerika, whose runic metaphysics helped give rise to the adjective ‘Kafkaesque,’ the manuscript doesn’t begin to match the genuinely American phantasmagoria of Boom Town. What’s most surreal about Oklahoma City, as brilliantly rendered in Anderson’s wild and gusty history, is that this city is for real.

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Keynote and In Conversation - Boom Town | Politics and Prose [1:07:47] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Sam Anderson
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Cultural Commentary and Creativity

Award-winning journalist, cultural critic, and author SAM ANDERSON is an expert in what makes a good story – he is a a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, and his debut book Boom Town was heralded as one of the best books for the year by NPR, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicl ...

Award-winning journalist, cultural critic, and author SAM ANDERSON is an expert in what makes a good story – he is a a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, and his debut book Boom Town was heralded as one of the best books for the year by NPR, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Economist, and more. Anderson engages audiences with cultural commentary and insights about creativity.

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Books by Sam Anderson
Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis

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Biography

Sam Anderson is currently a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. Formerly a book critic for New York Magazine and regular contributor to Slate, Anderson's journalism and essays have won numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism. He lives in New York with his family.

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