Category: 
FAQ
Who are you?
My name is David Johnson, and I’m a journalist and editor at San Francisco magazine. I’ve worked for the Staten Island Advance as a beat reporter, Harper’s Magazine as an intern (north) and researcher, and Columbia Journalism Review as a fact-checker. I’ve written for the New York Times and San Francisco magazine, and I blog for Psychology Today. I’m also working on a book on the junior tennis circuit.
Before embarking on a career in journalism in 2006, I was a professor of philosophy, a specialist in ancient Greek ethics. I taught at Stanford and Michigan, and had a tenure-track position at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, before abandoning academia for the J School.
Why did you leave the ivory tower?
I was bored, and the Bush years radicalized me.
Why ContrarianPundit.com?
Chris Huston, the Heisman Pundit—the nation’s foremost expert on the Heisman Trophy—had the idea of creating a network of blogs under his “Pundit” brand. I found that I came across a lot of nuggets in my daily reporting for the magazine that, I thought, deserved a space to report them. I also needed a forum to vent about politics and whatever else was bothering me. Defending contrarian takes and uncovering malfeasance give me immense pleasure.
What are your interests?
Investigative journalism, progressive politics, media criticism, philosophy (esp. ethics and political philosophy), and sports (esp. tennis and college football).
