Matt Bai

A highly-respected journalist, political thought leader and acclaimed author, Matt Bai is renowned for his intelligent insight and lucid analysis of contemporary American politics. Bai is the chief political correspondent for the New York Times Magazine, where he covered both the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns and is now writing on the 2012 election. He also pens the “Political Times” column for the Times political blog, the Caucus.

Bai often explores issues of generational change in American politics and society. However, he doesn't simply record political history -- Bai offers astute intellect and acumen on where it's headed and an unbiased worldview that appeals to independent thinkers. His seminal cover stories in the magazine include the 2008 cover essay “Is Obama the End of Black Politics?” and a 2004 profile of John Kerry titled “Kerry’s Undeclared War.” More recently, he wrote a definitive cover story on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and a 10,000-word cover piece titled “Who Killed the Debt Deal?” His work has twice been honored in The Best American Political Writing. Informative, engaging, candid and witty, Bai provides audiences with unparalleled perspective and expertise on today’s most complex political issues.

*Please note that due to Mr. Bai’s position at the New York Times, there are often restrictions as to the types of groups he can address. Please inquire with WWSG for further information.

ABOUT Matt Bai (+/-)

An Astute Examination of Politics in the Digital Age

Matt Bai is the popular author of The Argument: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, which chronicles the rise of the first Internet-age political movement and the people who built it. Hailed as a “must read,” “engaging and painstakingly reported," and “more fun than…any political book in ages,” The Argument was honored as a New York Times Notable Book for 2007. Bai is currently at work on a new book about the failed era of boomer politics.

Veteran Journalist, Celebrated Writer

Before joining the Times Magazine in 2002, Bai spent five years as a national correspondent for Newsweek. In 2001, he was a fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, where he led a course on the next generation of political journalism. He began his career as a city desk reporter for the Boston Globe, and his international experience includes coverage from Iraq and Liberia. Bai is a graduate of Tufts and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where the faculty awarded him the prestigious Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship.

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SPEAKER TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS (+/-)

Politics, The Next Generation

It's not really true to say the Internet has changed our politics. In truth, the Internet has changed everything in the society, from the way we find jobs to the way we buy cars and date--and politics is simply the last big institution to catch up. How the online revolution is bound to change Washington, and why it's time for a failed generation of leaders to get out of the way.

The Permanent Wave

Three straight presidents have now seen their parties lose control of Congress in "wave elections"--something unprecedented in American history. What's really going on? Maybe Americans really are swinging back and forth between ideologies. More likely, though, our turbulent politics reflects the larger trend in the society away from large institutions and limited choices--a trend that could spell the end of two-party politics as we've known it.

In Search of the Grand Bargain

A looming debt crisis, lagging growth, yawning inequality and rising cynicism--the perfect storm of political dysfunction continues to swirl while our economic challenges intensify. Can the two parties in Washington still do anything transformative in a cooperative way? What will it take to shake them into action? Behind the story of the bipartisan deal that never was--and why the chances for real change might be better than you think.

The Politics of Political Journalism

Teddy White and Walter Cronkite could never have imagined the pressures of covering politics and presidential campaigns in the online age. Withering attacks from both the left and right, upstart bloggers and amateur truth-squads--all of it has combined to erode the public's faith in once venerable political journalists. Why some critics are right to hold journalists accountable, and why others are simply pursuing an agenda at the public's expense.

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Matt Bai

exclusively represented by WWSG

Chief Political Correspondent, the New York Times Magazine; Distinguished Thought Leader and Acclaimed Author

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The Argument