# Charlie Warzel

> Charlie Warzel is a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of Galaxy Brain, the publication's flagship newsletter on tech, media, and internet culture. A veteran of BuzzFeed News and The New York Times, he has spent over a decade mapping the collision of technology, power, and human behavior - from smartphone location tracking to AI hype cycles to Twitter's moderation failures. Co-author of 'Out of Office' with Anne Helen Petersen, Warzel writes from Lummi Island, Washington, with a voice that is analytical, empathetic, and stubbornly resistant to easy narratives.

- **Role:** Staff Writer at The Atlantic
- **Organizations:** The Atlantic, Galaxy Brain Newsletter
- **From:** Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, The Shipley School, BA Political Science and Government, Hamilton College
- **Known for:** 2019 Mirror Award recipient for reporting on Facebook's privacy struggles, 2020 Livingston Award for National Reporting finalist for 'One Nation Tracked' investigation, Co-authored New York Times 'One Nation Tracked' - seven-part investigative series on smartphone location tracking

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Interned at NBC News, assisting on Meet the Press with David Gregory
- **2010-2011** — Worked with MSNBC's Morning Joe and NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
- **2011-2012** — Writer at Adweek
- **2012-2019** — Senior Technology Writer at BuzzFeed News (based in Missoula, Montana)
- **2019** — Won 2019 Mirror Award for reporting on Facebook's privacy struggles
- **2019-2022** — Opinion Writer-at-Large at The New York Times, lead writer of the Privacy Project
- **2020** — Named finalist for Livingston Award for National Reporting for 'One Nation Tracked'
- **2021** — Co-authored 'Out of Office' with Anne Helen Petersen (December 2021)
- **2022** — Joined The Atlantic as Staff Writer, launched Galaxy Brain newsletter
- **2023** — Published 'Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network' piece, featured on CNN
- **2025** — Published 'AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event' in The Atlantic

## Achievements

- 2019 Mirror Award recipient for reporting on Facebook's privacy struggles
- 2020 Livingston Award for National Reporting finalist for 'One Nation Tracked' investigation
- Co-authored New York Times 'One Nation Tracked' - seven-part investigative series on smartphone location tracking
- Co-authored 'Out of Office' (2021) with Anne Helen Petersen, a widely-read manifesto on remote work
- Created and runs Galaxy Brain, The Atlantic's flagship newsletter
- Authored 'A Honeypot For Assholes' - landmark investigation into Twitter's harassment failures
- Lead writer of The New York Times' Privacy Project

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Published 'AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event' in The Atlantic, arguing generative AI creates a collective sense of unreality
- **2024-10** — Wrote on disinformation spreading about hurricanes and climate change online
- **2024** — Continues publishing Galaxy Brain newsletter three times weekly at The Atlantic
- **2023-05** — Published 'Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network' in The Atlantic, featured on CNN

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliewarzel/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/cwarzel
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cwarzel/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/charlie-warzel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-23