Carlos Lozada

I am an Opinion columnist and co-host of the weekly “Matter of Opinion” podcast for The New York Times, based in Washington, D.C.

What I Focus On

I write about politics, culture, history and policy, mainly through the prism of nonfiction books or other texts, like Supreme Court opinions, congressional investigations or commission reports. I’m especially intrigued by how public figures reveal themselves, intentionally or unwittingly, through their writings. When I write about campaign books, political biographies or Washington memoirs, people often say to me, “You read those books so we don’t have to!” True, you don’t have to — but trust me that there is much to learn in them. This work has led to two books of my own: “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era” (2020) and “The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians” (2024). I try to avoid armchair opinion mongering. Instead, I seek to give a fair hearing to a variety of ideas and arguments and then help readers draw their own conclusions, as I draw mine.

My Background

Before joining The Times in 2022, I spent 17 years at the Washington Post, where I was the nonfiction book critic, Outlook editor, national security editor and economics editor. Previously, I was the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. Early in my career, I was a consultant at the Inter American Development Bank and an analyst in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. I studied economics and political science at the University of Notre Dame and did graduate studies in public policy at Princeton University and in journalism at Columbia University. I was born in Lima, Peru, and became a U.S. citizen in 2014. I received the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2019 and currently serve on the Pulitzer Board.

Journalistic Ethics

I strive for fairness, honesty and depth. I believe that there is something called truth, and I do my best to approximate it. My overriding value is skepticism. Along with all Times journalists, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook.

• Email: carlos.lozada@nytimes.com

• X: @CarlosNYT