Ari Berman
Ari Berman is an award-winning journalist, a senior voting rights reporter for Mother Jones, and the author of GIVE US THE BALLOT: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America (finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction). He was the first national reporter to cover voter suppression during the 2012 election, earning widespread acclaim for his coverage and pushing the issue into the national spotlight.
His stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The Nation, Politico and The Guardian. He is a frequent guest and political commentator on MSNBC, NPR, PBS and C-Span, and appears in the documentary films All In: The Fight for Democracy and Slay the Dragon.
Ari is the winner of the 2022 Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism from the Sidney Hillman Foundation which recognized him as “the nation’s preeminent voting rights journalist.” His work has also earned him an Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media, and a place on the FD200 – a list of 200 awardees whose work embodies Frederick Douglass’s enduring legacy of social change.
GIVE US THE BALLOT was named a best book of 2015 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, NPR and Kirkus Reviews, and was nominated for the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. Ari is also the author of HERDING DONKEYS: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, and the forthcoming MINORITY RULE – about efforts by white conservatives to entrench power in the face of a massive demographic and political shift.
Speaking topics include American politics, national voting rights issues, the voting rights movement, partisan gerrymandering, the state and future of democracy, and the intersection of money and politics.
“Thank you so much, Ari Berman, for everything you’ve done to help explain the challenges to voting, to help defend our democracy, and just keep going, because, as you say, it’s not over yet.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton
“The best reporter in the country on national voting rights issues.” – Rachel Maddow
“Berman has carved out the voting rights beat and dominated it. He skillfully combines reporting and historical analysis to make the subject come alive.” – The Sidney Hillman Foundation
“The best-versed analyst on voting rights issues.” – Frank Rich, New York Magazine
“One of the 50 most influential political pundits in the U.S.” – Business Insider
“[Give Us The Ballot] should become a primer for every American, but especially for congressional lawmakers and staffers, because it so capably describes the intricate interplay between grass-roots activism and the halls of Congress . . . Congress must fix the Voting Rights Act, and Berman’s book explains why . . . It is the first history of the contemporary voting rights movement in the United States. It is long overdue, but Berman’s extensive reporting makes it well worth the wait.” – John Lewis, The Washington Post
“Ari Berman’s Give Us the Ballot, a history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, makes for an excellent extended example of the mechanisms by which race in the South becomes race in the nation.” – Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker
“Thank you for an inspiring, informed, and timely talk. You helped to bring to us a more focused understanding of the election and democratic representation.” – University of Connecticut
“It was fantastic to have Ari on our panel–he really was such a lovely guest and his insights were a tremendous addition to our conversation on Voting Rights.” – Penumbra Theater
Books, Films & Projects
Clips
Ari Berman explains how the Supreme Court green-lit Republican attacks on voting rights.
Ari Berman on the passing of GA's voter suppression bill on The Rachel Maddow Show.
The Fight (and Right) to Vote: Ari Berman in conversation at the National Constitution Center
Ari Berman speaks about the history and future of voting rights.
News
ALL IN: The Fight for Democracy starring Stacey Abrams and Ari Berman is now available on Amazon Prime Video. The film examines the issue of voter suppression in the US. It interweaves personal experiences with activism and historical insight to expose a problem that has corrupted our country from the beginning.
Variety calls Slay the Dragon featuring Ari Berman “the most important political film of the year.” Watch the trailer.