Bret Stephens
Bret Stephens
| Born | November 21, 1973New York City,New York, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Residence | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Education | B.A.University of Chicago, M.A.London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Editor in chief ofThe Jerusalem Post |
| Spouse(s) | Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Xenia and Charles J. Stephens |
Bret Louis Stephens (born November 21, 1973) is an American journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013. [6] He works for The New York Times as a columnist. He was previously at The Wall Street Journal as the foreign-affairs columnist and the deputy editorial page editor and is responsible for the editorial pages of its European and Asian editions. From 2002 to 2004, he was editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post . [7]
| Born | November 21, 1973New York City,New York, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Residence | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Education | B.A.University of Chicago, M.A.London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Editor in chief ofThe Jerusalem Post |
| Spouse(s) | Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Xenia and Charles J. Stephens |
Early Life and Education
Stephens was born in New York City [8] and was the son of Xenia and Charles J. Stephens, a former vice president of General Products, a chemical company in Mexico. [9] [10] His parents were both secular Jews. His paternal grandfather had changed the family surname from Ehrlich to Stephens (after poet James Stephens). [11] He was raised in Mexico City, where his father worked. In his adolescence, he attended boarding school at Middlesex School in Massachusetts. After his graduation, Stephens studied political philosophy at the University of Chicago. He earned a master's degree in comparative politics [2] from the London School of Economics.
Career
Stephens began his career at The Wall Street Journal as an op-ed editor in New York. He later worked as an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal Europe , in Brussels.
2000s
In 2006, he took over the "Global View" column after George Melloan's retirement.
In 2009, he was named deputy editorial page editor after the retirement of Melanie Kirkpatrick.
From 2002 to 2004, he was editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post . He won the 2008 Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism and the 2010 Bastiat Prize. In 2005, Stephens was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is also a frequent contributor to Commentary magazine. [3]
2010s
Stephens won the annual Pulitzer Prize for Commentary recognizing his 2012 columns for the Journal for "incisive columns on U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist." [6]
Stephens authored the book America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder, released in November 2014.
The book presents the case that the U.S. has been retreating from its role as the "world's policeman" in recent decades, which will lead to ever greater world problems.
Quitting Twitter
It all began when assistant The New York Times Opinion editor Stuart A. Thompson tweeted that there were bed bugs in the Times’ newsroom. Four hours later, associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, Dave Karpf, responded to the tweet by joking: [12]
"The bedbugs are a metaphor.
The bedbugs are Bret Stephens."
The tweet was only liked 9 times and wasn't retweeted at first.
However, Stephens wrote Karpf a curt email calling him out for the pusillanimous tweet.
Karpf went on to publish the email in full on Twitter.
It read: [13]
Dear Dr. Karpf, Someone just pointed out a tweet you wrote about me, calling me a ‘bedbug.
I’m often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people — people they’ve never met — on Twitter.
I think you’ve set a new standard.
I would welcome the opportunity for you to come to my home, meet my wife and kids, talk to us for a few minutes, and then call me a ‘bedbug’ to my face.
That would take some genuine courage and intellectual integrity on your part.
I promise to be courteous no matter what you have to say.
Maybe it will make you feel better about yourself.
Please consider this a standing invitation.
You are more than welcome to bring your significant other.
Karpf only shared the email because Stephens CC'd his school's provost in an effort to get him into trouble. He also said that he would be using the interaction as an example in one of his future classes. The internet dragged Stephens for trying to stifle free speech and the provost gave a snarky reply: [14]
Dear Mr. StephensThanks for getting in touch.
As you know, as an academic, professor Karpf speaks for himself and does not take direction from me.
His opinions are his own.
Our commitment to academic freedom and free speech is integral to GW's mission.
I see on Twitter that you invited him to your home.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come to our campus to speak about civil discourse in the digital age.
Please reach out to me if this is of interest.
Best, Forrest Maltzman, Provost.
On August 30th 2019, Stephens wrote a column titled "World War II and the Ingredients of Slaughter," where he drew similarities between the pre-war era and the present and looked at Twitter in the same light as emerging 1930s radio technology. He concluded the piece with a jab meant to address Karpf's bedbug remark: [15]
"The political mind-set that turned human beings into categories, classes and races also turned them into rodents, insects and garbage.
'Anti-Semitism is exactly the same as delousing,' Heinrich Himmler would claim in 1943. 'Getting rid of lice is not a matter of ideology. It is a matter of cleanliness.'” Watching Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto burn that year, a Polish anti-Semite was overheard saying: “'The bedbugs are on fire. The Germans are doing a great job.'"
Karpf replied that he was concerned with Stephens' actions.
He felt that bringing a vendetta into The New York Times print went too far. He tweeted: [15] [16]
"The New York Times is the paper of record.
The entire internet knows who Bret Stephens just subtweeted with his column.
He should know better.
He doesn’t.
That’s not okay anymore."
Twitter dragged Stephens further when someone pointed out that one of the links in his article redirected to the Google Search Results for "Jews as bedbugs." The Times responded by saying the link was "added by editors before publication." Some people were displeased because the search results link makes it seem like Stephens centered his whole piece around the bedbug statement in an attempt to stoke the flames of an online feud he supposedly walked away from. Professor Jerzy Tomaszewski has pointed out that the historical context of the quote might even be misattributed since Warsaw had a terrible bed bug infestation at the time. The words might be taken literally. [15]
Critics were quick to point out that Stephens has referred to Palestinians as mosquitoes in a previous column.
Personal Life
He is married to Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, a music critic who writes for The New York Times. The couple has three children and lives in New York City. [4] [5]