David Talbot
Encyclopedia
David Talbot is a progressive journalist, bestselling author and media entrepreneur. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of one of the first web magazines, Salon.com
. He continues to serve on the publication’s board, and as of July 8, 2011 is returning as the firm's CEO.
Talbot is considered to be one of the pioneers of online journalism since founding Salon in 1995, when the web was still in its infancy. During Talbot's first term serving as Salon's CEO and editor-in-chief, the magazine gained a large following and broke several major national stories. It was described by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Net's "few genuine must-reads".
Since leaving Salon, Talbot has established a reputation as a revisionist historian, with his controversial work on the Kennedy assassination and other areas of "hidden history."
Talbot has worked as a senior editor for Mother Jones magazine
and a features editor for the San Francisco Examiner, and has written for Time Magazine
, The New Yorker
, Rolling Stone
and other publications.
, and other magazines. He later was hired by Environmental Action Foundation in Washington, D.C. to write "Power and Light," a book about the politics of energy. After he returned to California, he was hired as an editor at Mother Jones magazine, and later, by San Francisco Examiner publisher Will Hearst to edit the newspaper's Sunday magazine, Image. It was at the Examiner where Talbot developed the idea for Salon, convincing several of his newspaper colleagues to join him and jump ship into the brave new world of web publishing.
is a pioneering, award-winning web magazine based in San Francisco. Talbot has characterized Salon as aiming to be a "smart tabloid". In 1996, Time magazine picked Salon as the web site of the year. Originally created to cover books and popular culture, the web site became increasingly politicized during the Clinton impeachment drama in the late 1990s. Salon broke from the mainstream press by defending the Clinton presidency and investigating the right-wing prosecutorial apparatus headed by Kenneth Starr and Rep. Henry Hyde, whose own infidelity Salon exposed.
Before stepping down as Salon's CEO and editor-in-chief in 2005, Talbot succeeded in stabilizing the financially rocky web enterprise.
bestseller, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, offers a revisionist view of the Kennedy presidency and assassination, and explores Bobby Kennedy's search for the truth about his brother's murder. Talbot is now working on a feature documentary based on "Brothers."
Talbot’s most recent book, “Devil Dog: The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America,” chronicles the dramatic life and exploits of the legendary antiwar U.S. Marine general, Smedley Darlington Butler
. The book, which is part of a new illustrated history series called “Pulp History,” is a collaboration with Zap Comix artist, Spain Rodriguez. “Devil Dog,” which was published by Simon & Schuster in fall 2010, won praise from The New Yorker, Slate and the New York Times, which called the Pulp History series "rip-roaring nonfiction tales with enough purple prose, gory illustrations and va-va-va-voom women to lure in even reluctant teenage male readers."
called "Sound Tracks." Talbot recently finished a new book, "Season of the Witch," about the wild and bloody birth of "San Francisco values." It will be published in spring 2012.
and founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, Lyle Talbot
. He is also the brother of documentary producer and former child actor Stephen Talbot
, doctor Cynthia Talbot of Portland, Oregon, and journalist Margaret Talbot
, a staff writer at The New Yorker. Talbot is married to writer Camille Peri, co-editor of the national bestseller Mothers Who Think, with whom he has two children. His eldest son, Joe Talbot, is an aspiring musician and filmmaker. His youngest son, Nathaniel, is studying film in high school. Talbot lives with his family in San Francisco.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/books/10salo.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/books/review/Brinkley-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/05/02/brothers/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200705/20070523_talbot.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10374276
http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/conferences/sla2000/fresh.htm
http://www.talbotplayers.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/books/25pulp.html
http://scribe.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/book-week-devil-dog-david-talbot
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
. He continues to serve on the publication’s board, and as of July 8, 2011 is returning as the firm's CEO.
Talbot is considered to be one of the pioneers of online journalism since founding Salon in 1995, when the web was still in its infancy. During Talbot's first term serving as Salon's CEO and editor-in-chief, the magazine gained a large following and broke several major national stories. It was described by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Net's "few genuine must-reads".
Since leaving Salon, Talbot has established a reputation as a revisionist historian, with his controversial work on the Kennedy assassination and other areas of "hidden history."
Talbot has worked as a senior editor for Mother Jones magazine
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
and a features editor for the San Francisco Examiner, and has written for Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and other publications.
Early life and career
Talbot was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended Harvard Boys School, but did not graduate after falling afoul of the school's headmaster and ROTC program during the Vietnam War. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz, he returned to Los Angeles, where he wrote a history of the Hollywood Left, "Creative Differences", and freelanced for Crawdaddy, Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, and other magazines. He later was hired by Environmental Action Foundation in Washington, D.C. to write "Power and Light," a book about the politics of energy. After he returned to California, he was hired as an editor at Mother Jones magazine, and later, by San Francisco Examiner publisher Will Hearst to edit the newspaper's Sunday magazine, Image. It was at the Examiner where Talbot developed the idea for Salon, convincing several of his newspaper colleagues to join him and jump ship into the brave new world of web publishing.
Salon
SalonSalon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
is a pioneering, award-winning web magazine based in San Francisco. Talbot has characterized Salon as aiming to be a "smart tabloid". In 1996, Time magazine picked Salon as the web site of the year. Originally created to cover books and popular culture, the web site became increasingly politicized during the Clinton impeachment drama in the late 1990s. Salon broke from the mainstream press by defending the Clinton presidency and investigating the right-wing prosecutorial apparatus headed by Kenneth Starr and Rep. Henry Hyde, whose own infidelity Salon exposed.
Before stepping down as Salon's CEO and editor-in-chief in 2005, Talbot succeeded in stabilizing the financially rocky web enterprise.
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years and Devil Dog
Following his retirement from Salon, Talbot has continued to write. Talbot's book, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, offers a revisionist view of the Kennedy presidency and assassination, and explores Bobby Kennedy's search for the truth about his brother's murder. Talbot is now working on a feature documentary based on "Brothers."
Talbot’s most recent book, “Devil Dog: The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America,” chronicles the dramatic life and exploits of the legendary antiwar U.S. Marine general, Smedley Darlington Butler
Smedley Butler
Smedley Darlington Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S...
. The book, which is part of a new illustrated history series called “Pulp History,” is a collaboration with Zap Comix artist, Spain Rodriguez. “Devil Dog,” which was published by Simon & Schuster in fall 2010, won praise from The New Yorker, Slate and the New York Times, which called the Pulp History series "rip-roaring nonfiction tales with enough purple prose, gory illustrations and va-va-va-voom women to lure in even reluctant teenage male readers."
The Talbot Players
In 2008, Talbot launched a media production company with his siblings called The Talbot Players, named after their late father's theater troupe. The company is producing books, films and documentaries. In addition to the Pulp History series for Simon & Schuster, the company is developing a documentary TV series about global music for PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
called "Sound Tracks." Talbot recently finished a new book, "Season of the Witch," about the wild and bloody birth of "San Francisco values." It will be published in spring 2012.
Return to Salon
As of July 8, 2011, Talbot is returning to Salon as interim Chief Executive Officer, replacing Richard Gingras.Personal life
Talbot is from a prominent media and entertainment family. He's the son of longtime character actorCharacter actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
and founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Talbot , born Lisle Henderson, was an American actor on stage and screen, best known for his long career in movies from 1931 to 1960 and for his frequent appearances on TV in the 1950s and '60s, including his decade-long role as Joe Randolph on television's The Adventures of Ozzie and...
. He is also the brother of documentary producer and former child actor Stephen Talbot
Stephen Talbot
Stephen Henderson Talbot is an award-winning TV reporter, writer, and producer who began his career as a television child actor of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
, doctor Cynthia Talbot of Portland, Oregon, and journalist Margaret Talbot
Margaret Talbot
-Life:She is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She has also written for The New Republic, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly. She is a regular panelist on the Slate podcast "The DoubleX Gabfest."...
, a staff writer at The New Yorker. Talbot is married to writer Camille Peri, co-editor of the national bestseller Mothers Who Think, with whom he has two children. His eldest son, Joe Talbot, is an aspiring musician and filmmaker. His youngest son, Nathaniel, is studying film in high school. Talbot lives with his family in San Francisco.
External Links
- “The Founder of Salon Is Passing the Mouse” New York Times, Feb. 10, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/books/10salo.html
- New York Times review of “Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years” May 20, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/books/review/Brinkley-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- Excerpt from “Brothers” Salon, May 2, 2007
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/05/02/brothers/index.html
- Interview with David Talbot, Tavis Smiley Show, May 23, 2007
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200705/20070523_talbot.html
- Interview with David Talbot, Fresh Air, NPR, May 24, 2007
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10374276
- Terry Gross interview with David Talbot, June 14, 2000
http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/conferences/sla2000/fresh.htm
- The Talbot Players web site
http://www.talbotplayers.com/
- Leah Garchik column items on The Talbot Players in San Francisco Chronicle: Nov. 10, 2009, Sept. 8, 2008
- "Selling History with '50s Pulp, Pow and Punch" New York Times, Nov. 24, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/books/25pulp.html
- Slate review of "Devil Dog":
http://scribe.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/book-week-devil-dog-david-talbot