Matt Johnson

“Not a day goes by that I don’t ask myself, ‘What would Christopher say about this?’ Matthew Johnson’s brilliant reappraisal of the Hitchens corpus illuminates how Hitchens can save not just the left, but our entire, impoverished political discourse.”

James Kirchick, New York Times bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington
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“It’s like reuniting with a long-parted friend to open this book and reenter the mind and world of Christopher Hitchens.”

David Frum, Atlantic columnist and author of Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy
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“Excellent … Johnson offers more than an examination of Christopher Hitchens’s life and thought. His research takes him from the controversies about the Russian Revolution to today’s culture wars. No one reading it can deny that there has been a jolting cultural change in the US left over the past 10-15 years.”

Nick Cohen, author of What’s Left? How the Left Lost Its Way


Recent work

MSNBC, Tulsi Gabbard can’t be trusted to run American intelligence
The Bulwark, Gabbard and RFK Jr. were nominated to destroy, not to lead
Quillette, The open society and its new enemies
Persuasion, The deep and dangerous roots of Trump’s foreign policy
MSNBC, How Trump’s new ‘AI czar’ David Sacks went from MAGA critic to true believer
Quillette, ‘There’s nothing mystical about the idea that ideas change history’: An interview with Steven Pinker
The Bulwark, ‘Identity politics’ isn’t why Harris lost
The Daily Beast, Is Bari Weiss embarrassed by the Intellectual Dark Web?
The UnPopulist, Joe Rogan: A conspiracist for the Trump era
MSNBC, Trump’s ‘unity’ allies aren’t renegade liberals — they’re fringe, opportunistic right-wingers
Quillette, Towards a new liberal international order
Persuasion, A new paradigm for assisted dying
The Daily Beast, Jordan Peterson’s astounding ignorance on Russia and Ukraine
The UnPopulist, Niall Ferguson: The intellectual underwriter of Trump’s ‘American carnage’ idea
Quillette, Nationalist self-hatred
Haaretz, Why Tucker Carlson hates Ukraine so much
The Bulwark, Now is the worst time to abandon NATO
Quillette, Liberalism and the West’s ‘crisis of meaning’
Persuasion, We keep failing the blasphemy test
The Daily Beast, Left-wing defenses of Hamas are an insult to Palestinians
The Bulwark, When Hamas tells you who they are, believe them
Persuasion, The God divide within the heterodox community
Quillette, How Effective Altruism lost its way
The Daily Beast, Jordan Peterson’s constant state of delusional panic



Media appearances

Category: Uncategorized

  • Islam, terror, and Orlando

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, June 18, 2016.  For the next few months, we will receive daily updates about the life of Omar Mateen — the man responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and the worst domestic terrorist attack since 9/11. Although no…

  • The rapid decline of free expression on campus

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, June 11, 2016.  The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) published its annual list of the “10 worst colleges for free speech” in February. As always, it was a distressing reminder that many students and administrators regard the First Amendment…

  • Paul Ryan’s perfunctory endorsement of Trump

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, June 4, 2016.  When Paul Ryan expressed his tepid unwillingness to support Donald Trump last month, he was heralded as the last best hope of principled conservatism. But the headlines made his “criticism” sound much more ferocious than it was: “The…

  • Trivializing terror

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, May 28, 2016.  If you’re having a conversation about the past 15 years of U.S. foreign policy, here’s one of the most sophisticated-sounding things you can say: “On average, more Americans are killed every year by lightning strikes … ” There…

  • Don’t just blame the media for Trump

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, May 21, 2016.  A few days ago, I was clicking around a few news sites when I had a sudden, disconcerting realization. I’d just read 10 articles from three outlets, and they were all about Donald Trump. If it had been…

  • KU chancellor right to veto multicultural student government

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, May 14, 2016.  KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little made the right decision when she vetoed the Multicultural Student Government (MSG) last week, but she better be prepared for months of shrill condemnation and misplaced outrage. For many advocates of programs like the…

  • How can anyone still be unsure about Trump?

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, May 7, 2016.  Immediately after Cruz and Kasich were mauled by Trump in the Indiana primary, conservative leaders started outlining their positions on the presumptive nominee. Some pledged their support, others announced their opposition. Sen. Jerry Moran did neither: “Mr. Trump…

  • The U.S. can’t escape history

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, April 30, 2016.  The United States — like any other free and prosperous country — has a moral responsibility to help people who are fleeing war or oppression. I know this notion will infuriate some people, but I’m willing to expand…

  • A bad week for Brownback

    *This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, April 23, 2016.  It has been Brownback week on the Capital-Journal’s opinion page, and it’s easy to see why. The state’s budget is in a perpetual state of turmoil, vital institutions and services are chronically underfunded and the governor has consistently…

  • When words lose their meaning

    *This article was originally published on The News Hub, March 1, 2016 I don’t have a problem with labels. Without a way to efficiently describe groups of people, ideas, behaviors, etc., every conversation would be bloated with pedantic recitations of our positions and affiliations. Not only would this be unattractively…