Joseph Weisberg (born 1965/1966)[1] is an American television writer, producer, novelist, and school teacher.[2] Weisberg is best known as the creator and
showrunner of the
FX TV series The Americans and The Patient (co-created with Joel Fields).
Career
A 1987 graduate of
Yale University, Weisberg became a
CIA officer three years after graduation,[2] and after a short career with the Agency, Weisberg taught at
The Summit School, a private
special education high school in
Queens, New York City until 2010 when he went on to pursue a career in television. One of his final projects at Summit School was helping students found the school newspaper, The Summit Sun.[3]
Weisberg wrote episodes for
TNT's alien invasion series Falling Skies and the
DirecTV legal drama Damages. He then created The Americans, an
FX series centering on two KGB sleeper agents, who pose as American citizens in Washington, D.C. during the 1980s.[2] The Americans was executive-produced by Weisberg and Justified creator
Graham Yost.[4][5] In 2022, Weisberg co-created and
showran the limited FX series The Patient.
Weisberg authored two novels: 10th Grade and An Ordinary Spy.[6]An Ordinary Spy was nominated for the
Believer Book Award.[7]
Weisberg is also the author of the non-fiction book Russia Upside Down: An Exit Strategy for the Second Cold War, which was published in 2021.[8]
Personal life
Weisberg grew up in a
Jewish family in Chicago,[9] the son of civil rights attorney Bernard Weisberg and former Commissioner of Cultural Affairs
Lois Weisberg.[2] He is the younger brother of Slate Group editor-in-chief
Jacob Weisberg.[2]