Questionnaire for Media: Kevin Roose, The New York Times
ERPR’s series, "Questionnaire for Media," features members of the media and asks about their lives and careers.
Kevin Roose, technology columnist at The New York Times
I connected with Kevin Roose, author and technology columnist at The New York Times.
How did you first get into journalism? What was your first job in journalism?
I wanted to try writing, so I applied for a bunch of magazine internships the summer after my freshman year of college, and got turned down for all of them. Then I wrote to a guy named AJ Jacobs, a writer for Esquire whose books I loved, and asked him if he'd be willing to let me intern for him for the summer. He said yes, on one condition: he was writing a book about following all the rules in the Bible for an entire year, called "The Year of Living Biblically," and he'd been struggling with how to follow the Old Testament rules about slavery. So I could be his intern and be in his book, provided that he could call me his "biblical slave." I agreed, and AJ ended up becoming my first mentor. (He wrote about this a while ago.) That was technically my first job in journalism, although my first salaried job was after I'd graduated when I went to work for the Times covering Wall Street.
How do you decide what you write or publish?
I'm lucky in that I'm a columnist, so I have wide latitude in picking my own subjects. My filter is pretty eccentric, but basically, I'm looking for stories that answer questions I have, like "what's the connection between YouTube and far-right extremism?" or "what's an NFT?" Beyond that, it's sort of just whatever catches my eye.
What is the most interesting news story you’re following right now that you’re not covering?
The story I'm obsessed with but have basically never covered, is CRISPR and gene editing. I have to find a way into that.
If you weren’t in journalism, what would you be doing?
Probably teaching journalism or English. I have no other marketable skills!
What do you read or watch every morning?
I don't read or watch anything every morning, but I do try to listen to a podcast while I make breakfast. Usually, that's The Daily, or some other news podcast.
Who are your favorite writers?
Is it cliché to say Joan Didion? Probably. Joan Didion in the living writer category. In the dead writer category, it's hard to beat Jorge Luis Borges, whose short stories I've been re-reading recently. They're amazing.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Hustle.