About John
This is the location for my most frequent writing about politics, events in the world and his personal essays. It’s where I have been engaging in some experiments on how to report and present the news in written and podcast form. It’s where I host chats with subscribers.
Who am I?
John Dickerson is a journalist, author, and interviewer, most recently co-anchor of the CBS Evening News and chief political analyst for CBS News. He spent 16 years at CBS, variously as moderator of Face the Nation and Chief Washington correspondent, co-anchor of CBS This Morning, 60 Minutes correspondent and senior national correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he moderated two CBS presidential debates.
In addition to his political reporting, Dickerson is known for his in-depth interviews with figures ranging from Apple CEO Tim Cook to actors Glenda Jackson and Christian Bale; authors Colson Whitehead, Michael Lewis, and Tara Westover; and musicians John Prine, Jon Batiste, Jason Isbell, Wynton Marsalis and Dave Matthews. He is a longtime moderator and participant at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Dickerson is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and for 20 years has been a co-host of Slate’s Political Gabfest. He also hosts Whistlestop, a podcast on presidential history, and Navel Gazing, an album of personal essays.
He began his career at Time magazine, covering economics, Congress, and national politics, and spent four years as its White House correspondent. From 2005 to 2015, he was Slate’s chief political correspondent. He has covered nine presidential campaigns.
Dickerson is the author of On Her Trail (Simon & Schuster); the New York Times bestseller Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History (Twelve); and The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency (Random House).
While a 60 minutes correspondent his story on the death of Elijah McClain was nominated for an Emmy. Dickerson has received the Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency, the David Broder Award for political reporting, and in 2025, his “Reporter’s Notebook” essays won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Political Journalism and the New York Press Club award for Commentary.
A native Washingtonian, Dickerson graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a degree in English and American Studies. He lives in New York City where he serves on the board of Covenant House International.
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