Kevin Townsend is a journalist on staff at The Atlantic. He writes, codes, and produces audio.

Prior to reporting, his background was economics, with a career in finance and consulting. He likes stories of all stripes, with a particular curiosity in areas where business, law, and politics intersect.

He believes that the best stories come from the voices of those who lived them and that numbers are actually more afraid of us than we are of them.

He’s on Twitter here and at The Atlantic here.

Feel free to reach out to him at kevin s townsend (at) gmail or via this contact form.

recent & Featured work

A Supreme Court Impeachment Fight That’s Already Under Way The Atlantic

LBJ’s Wild Ex-President Hair (And the Story Behind It) The Atlantic

No Way Out The Atlantic

How a Libertarian Carpetbagger Helped Steal a Senate Seat for Democrats Slate

$200 Million Diverted From School Fund To Racetracks BuzzFeed Investigations

bio

From Pittsburgh by way of Palo Alto, Kevin Townsend joined The Atlantic in 2017 as the magazine’s first podcast producer. He’d previously worked for Slate and, before that, as the first intern on BuzzFeed’s investigative team.

He brings an economics and finance background to his reporting. While earning degrees in economics and environmental science at Stanford, he worked in private equity and equities research (picking tech stocks for Merrill Lynch). Upon graduation, he spent three years as an economic consultant, conducting analysis for experts testifying in high-profile lawsuits. His work largely focused on financial crisis litigation.

During this time, he created a popular podcast and began publishing stories. He switched careers for journalism and graduated from Columbia Journalism School in 2015. Besides writing, data, and audio, he enjoys rock climbing and photography.