Jonathan Alter

Jonathan H. Alter is an American author, political analyst, columnist, documentary filmmaker, and television producer. He served as a columnist and senior editor for ''Newsweek'' magazine from 1983 to 2011. Alter has written extensively on American politics and history, including several books about U.S. presidents.

Alter is a political analyst for NBC News and since 1996, has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. He has a site on the internet. In 2021, Alter launched a newsletter entitled "Old Goats with Jonathan Alter", where he posts columns, videos, and interviews with accomplished people who may share their wisdom and experience. His newsletter is published as free and paid via Substack. In 2013 and 2014, Alter served as an executive producer on the Amazon Studios production entitled ''Alpha House'' that starred John Goodman, Mark Consuelos, Clark Johnson, and Matt Malloy. In 2019, he co-produced and co-directed ''Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists'', a documentary about the columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill that received the 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Documentary.

Books by Alter include ''The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies'' (2013), ''The Promise: President Obama, Year One'' (2010), which went to number three on the New York Times Bestsellers List, ''Between The Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People and Culture'' (2008), and ''The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope'' (2006), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His 2024 book, ''American Reckoning: Inside Trump's Trial - And My Own'', recounts his eyewitness account of the landmark criminal trial that was neither televised nor videoed in which Donald Trump was convicted of 37 felonies .

From 2015 to 2023, Alter hosted a radio show with his children, "Alter Family Politics", as part of Andy Cohen's 24-hour network, Radio Andy, Channel 102 on Sirius XM.

In 2021, Alter began an online Substack publication for free and paid subscribers entitled, ''[https://oldgoats@substack.com/ Old Goats with Jonathan Alter]'', that he characterizes as "ruminating with friends". In 2025, Alter and historian Julian Zelizer also launched a similar free and paid internet newsletter entitled "Then and Now" via Substack, where they compare a current event with similar historical circumstances that may be discussed and provide insights in a few minutes. Provided by Wikipedia