American journalist (born 1990)
Elizabeth Bruenig (
née Stoker ; born December 6, 1990) is an American journalist working as an opinion writer for
The Atlantic . She previously worked as an opinion writer for
The New York Times , and as an opinion writer and editor for
The Washington Post , where she wrote about
ethics ,
politics ,
theology , and
economics . She was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2019
[1] and in 2023.
[1]
Early life and education
Bruenig was born in
Arlington, Texas .
[2] She attended
Martin High School .
[3] She graduated from
Brandeis University in 2013 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree with a
double major in English and
sociology and a
minor in
Near Eastern and
Judaic studies .
[4] As a recipient of the
Marshall Scholarship ,
[5] she studied at
Jesus College at the
University of Cambridge , where she earned a
Master of Philosophy degree in
Christian theology
[6] under the supervision of
John Hughes .
[7] She was named a 2014–2015 Presidential Fellow at
Brown University , where she was a doctoral student in
religious studies ,
[8]
[9] but left Brown without a degree in 2015.
[10]
Career
Bruenig was an opinion writer and editor for
The Washington Post ,
[11]
The New York Times , and now writes for
The Atlantic . She writes about
ethics ,
politics ,
theology , and
economics .
[12] Previously, she was a staff writer for
The New Republic .
[13] With her husband
Matt , Bruenig co-hosts a podcast The Bruenigs .
[14] In the past, they have written together for The Atlantic .
[15] She has also been a contributor to the
Left, Right, & Center radio show.
[16]
[17] On May 12, 2021, it was announced that she would depart
The New York Times for The Atlantic at the end of the month.
[18]
In a profile published by
Washington Monthly , she is described as "the most prominently placed of a small but increasingly visible group of young writers unabashedly advocating for
democratic socialism ."
[19] In an article in
Deseret News , Lois Collins described Bruenig as "just left of
Bernie Sanders on economics, openly religious and quietly
anti-abortion ."
[20]
In September 2018, Bruenig described a 2006
sexual assault on a woman by the name of Amber Wyatt at Martin High School in Arlington, Bruenig's own alma mater, in a story for the Post , describing the assault's repercussions.
[21]
[22] She started tracking the details of Wyatt's story in 2015.
[3]
[23]
[24] In 2019, Bruenig was named a
Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing, for one of her pieces covering Wyatt's sexual assault, "What Do We Owe Her Now?"
[21] The citation reads: "For eloquent reflections on the exile of a teen sexual assault victim in the author's Texas hometown, delving with moral authority into why the crime remained unpunished."
[2]
Bruenig was named in the 2019 edition of
Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 list .
[25]
Personal life
Bruenig was raised
Methodist , but converted to
Catholicism after studying Christian theology and the work of
St. Augustine of Hippo in university, becoming
confirmed into the Catholic church in 2014.
[20]
[26] Bruenig married
Matt Bruenig , whom she met in their high school debate team in Arlington,
[19] in 2014.
[27] They have two daughters together.
[20]
Published works
"Taking Augustine as Guide". In Schwindt, Daniel (ed.). Radically Catholic in the Age of Francis: An Anthology of Visions for the Future . Valparaiso, Indiana: Solidarity Hall Press. 2015.
ISBN
978-0-692-40977-0 .
"Church". In
McElwee, Joshua J. ; Wooden, Cindy (eds.). A Pope Francis Lexicon . Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. 2018. pp. 15–17.
ISBN
978-0-8146-4545-1 .
References
^
a
b www.pulitzer.org
https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/ . Retrieved May 9, 2023 .
^
a
b
"Finalist: Elizabeth Bruenig of The Washington Post" . The Pulitzer Prizes . New York: Columbia University. Retrieved November 13, 2021 .
^
a
b
"What Happens When a Rape Is Reported, but No One Is Prosecuted" . All Things Considered . NPR. September 24, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
^
"Where Will Your Future Take You?" . Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis University. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Elizabeth Stoker '13 Wins Marshall Scholarship" . BrandeisNOW . Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis University. November 19, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Elizabeth Bruenig" . The Washington Post . Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^ Bruenig, Elizabeth (March 1, 2015).
"Fear of a Radical Pope" . The New Republic . New York. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
^
"2014–2015 Presidential Fellows" . Providence, Rhode Island: Brown University. Archived from
the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^ Bruenig, Elizabeth (January 5, 2015).
"Marketing Motherhood: The Meaning of Vocation in a Secular World" . America . Vol. 212, no. 1. New York. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
^ Bruenig, Elizabeth [@ebruenig] (March 11, 2019).
"i keep getting mistaken for a current phd candidate at brown, which i am not. i dropped out of my phd program in '15" (
Tweet ). Archived from
the original on March 11, 2019 – via
Twitter .
^
Hiatt, Fred ;
Marcus, Ruth ;
Diehl, Jackson (October 25, 2017).
"Elizabeth Bruenig Joins Opinions Staff as Writer and Editor" . The Washington Post . Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Shorenstein Center Speaker Series: Elizabeth Bruenig" . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. Archived from
the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Elizabeth Bruenig" . The New Republic . New York. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"The Bruenigs Are Creating a Podcast" . Patreon . Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Matt Bruenig and Elizabeth Stoker" . The Atlantic . Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"Elizabeth Bruenig" . Santa Monica, California: KCRW. Retrieved May 14, 2019 .
^ Bruenig, Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth Bruenig on Twitter" . Twitter . Archived from
the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020 .
^
"Elizabeth Bruenig to Join The Atlantic as a Staff Writer" . The Atlantic . May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021 .
^
a
b Edelman, Gilad (2018).
"What the New Socialists Really Want" . Washington Monthly . Vol. 50, no. 7/8. p. 10.
ISSN
0043-0633 . Retrieved November 13, 2021 .
^
a
b
c Collins, Lois M. (April 26, 2022).
"Meet the socialist Catholic who confounds the left and the right" .
Deseret News . Retrieved May 2, 2022 .
^
a
b Bruenig, Elizabeth (September 21, 2018).
"What Do We Owe Her Now?" . The Washington Post . Retrieved March 12, 2019 .
^ Allen, Cynthia M. (September 28, 2018).
"If You Want to #believesurvivors, Start with This Arlington Rape Victim" . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . Fort Worth, Texas: McClatchy. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^ Stevens, Heidi (September 21, 2018).
"2 Stories That Remind Us the Brett Kavanaugh Story Is About Us as Much as It Is About Him" .
Chicago Tribune . Archived from
the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
Dreher, Rod (September 19, 2018).
"What Happened to Amber Wyatt" . The American Conservative . Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
^
"30 Under 30 2020: Media" .
Forbes . Retrieved December 1, 2020 .
^ Bruenig, Elizabeth (August 7, 2017).
"How Augustine's Confessions and Left Politics Inspired My Conversion to Catholicism" . America . Vol. 217, no. 3. New York.
ISSN
0002-7049 . Retrieved November 27, 2019 .
^
"Our 6th Wedding Anniversary; Riffing on Internet Insanities" . The Bruenigs (Podcast). June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020 – via Patreon.