Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz is an American author, journalist, and editor whose work explores the intersection of science, technology, and culture. Newitz completed a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, with a dissertation focusing on images of monsters, psychopaths, and capitalism in twentieth-century American popular culture. This academic background informed Newitz's career as a full-time writer and journalist, beginning with a weekly column and later serving as culture editor at San Francisco Bay Guardian. Newitz was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship, supporting research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gawker Media invited Newitz to launch a blog about science and science fiction, io9, where Newitz served as editor-in-chief until its merger with Gizmodo.

As a fiction writer, Newitz is the USA Today bestselling author of the novella "Automatic Noodle" and the novels "The Terraformers," "The Future of Another Timeline," and "Autonomous." "The Terraformers" was a Nebula Award finalist, "The Future of Another Timeline" received the Sidewise Award, and "Autonomous" won a Lambda Literary Award and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial, Nebula, and Locus Awards. The short story "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis" received the Sturgeon Award. Newitz's fiction is recognized for its scientific grounding and social commentary.

In nonfiction, Newitz has authored "Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind," "Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age," and "Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction." "Scatter, Adapt and Remember" was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in science, and "Four Lost Cities" was a national bestseller featured in The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The New Yorker. Newitz contributes to the New York Times, writes a monthly column in New Scientist, and has published work in The Washington Post, Slate, Popular Science, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Newitz co-launched the podcast "Our Opinions Are Correct," which examines the relevance of science fiction to real-world science and society. The podcast has received multiple Hugo Awards for Best Fancast. Newitz has also contributed to public radio programs including Science Friday, On the Media, KQED Forum, and Here and Now. Through work in speculative fiction, science journalism, and podcasting, Newitz is known for combining scientific literacy with narrative craft and cultural analysis.