Alex Berenson

Alex Berenson (born January 6, 1973) is a former reporter for The New York Times and the author of several thriller novels and a book on corporate financial filings. His 2019 book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence sparked controversy, earning denunciations from many in the scientific and medical communities along with more positive reviews.

Alex Berenson
Born (1973-01-06) January 6, 1973
New York
OccupationAuthor
EducationBachelor Degree
History and Economics
Alma materYale University (1994)
GenreNonfiction, Spy fiction
SubjectPolitics, Social Sciences, Terrorism
Notable awardsEdgar Award (2007[1])
Website
alexberenson.com

During the coronavirus pandemic, he has garnered attention in conservative media for making claims that the coronavirus was not as serious as experts said.[2][3]

Early life and education

Berenson was born in New York, and grew up in Englewood, NJ.[4] He graduated from Yale University in 1994 with bachelor's degrees in history and economics.

Career

Berenson joined the Denver Post in June 1994 as a business reporter. He published 513 articles through August 1996, when he left to join TheStreet.com, a financial news website founded by Jim Cramer. In December 1999, Berenson joined The New York Times as a business investigative reporter.

In the fall of 2003 and the summer of 2004, Berenson covered the occupation of Iraq for the Times. More recently, he covered the pharmaceutical and health care industries, specializing in issues concerning dangerous drugs.[5] Beginning in December 2008, Berenson reported on the Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme scandal.

He has written 12 spy novels, all featuring the same protagonist, CIA agent John Wells. His first novel, The Faithful Spy, was released in April 2006 and won an Edgar Award for best first novel by an American author.[6] The Faithful Spy was ranked #1 on The New York Times Bestseller List for paperbacks.[7]

In 2008, Berenson released his second thriller, The Ghost War. His third novel, The Silent Man, followed in 2009. His fourth, The Midnight House, was released in 2010 and debuted at #9 on The New York Times bestseller list.[8] The fifth, The Secret Soldier, was released in 2011 and debuted at #6 on the bestseller list.[9] The sixth, The Shadow Patrol, was released in 2012, and debuted at #8.[10][11] In July 2012, The Shadow Patrol was named a finalist for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, given by Britain's Crime Writers' Association.[12][13]

In 2010, Berenson left the Times to become a full-time novelist. He lives in the Hudson Valley,[14] with his wife, a forensic psychiatrist.[15]:1

He authored the controversial 2019 book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence that has been denounced as alarmist and inaccurate by many in the scientific and medical communities because of his claims that cannabis causes psychosis and violence; many scientists state that he is drawing inappropriate conclusions from the research, primarily by inferring causation from correlation,[16]:1[17]:1[18]:1[19]:1[20]:1 as well as cherry picking[15]:1 data that fits his narrative, and falling victim to selection bias via his use of anecdotes[15]:1 to back up his assertions.[18]:1[19]:1[17]:1[21]:1[22] Other reviews have been less critical, accepting the anecdotes as real-life examples of the science presented.[23][24][25]

Coronavirus pandemic

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Berenson has vocally argued that people and the media were overestimating the risk of the new virus, that it posed little risk to young Americans, and that it was being used as a cover for government overreach.[20][26] Many public health experts have rejected his claims.[20][26]:1

In May 2020, Fox News announced that Berenson would host a tv-show called "COVID Contrarian" on its online streaming platform Fox Nation. However, by July 2020, amid surges in coronavirus cases across parts of the United States, Fox News appeared to have backtracked and removed the announcement of his show from its website.[27]

Awards

Books

Novels

John Wells series

TitlePublisherDateGenreISBN
The Faithful SpyRandom HouseApril 25, 2006Spy fictionISBN 978-0-345-47899-3
The Ghost WarPutnamFebruary 12, 2008Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15453-9
The Silent ManPutnamFebruary 10, 2009Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15538-3
The Midnight HousePutnamFebruary 10, 2010Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15620-5
The Secret SoldierPutnamFebruary 8, 2011Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15708-0
The Shadow PatrolPutnamFebruary 21, 2012Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15829-2
The Night RangerPutnamFebruary 12, 2013Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15972-5
The Counterfeit AgentPutnamFebruary 11, 2014Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15973-2
Twelve DaysPutnamFebruary 10, 2015Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-15974-9
The WolvesPutnamFebruary 9, 2016Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-17614-2
The PrisonerPutnamJanuary 31, 2017Spy fictionISBN 978-0-399-17615-9
The DeceiversPutnamFebruary 6, 2018Spy fictionISBN 978-0-698-40753-4

Non-fiction
gollark: The cable allows 100MHz without beeing things, but it is itself *just a cable*.
gollark: Cat5 is the cabling, bee cuboid.
gollark: Why is it impossible?
gollark: Before I got the current osmarks.net server I actually used 4000 Arduinos duct-taped together.
gollark: Just break out your laptop and open up all the panels, and keep it going up and down so nobody can stop you.

References
  1. "The Edgars 2007 - Best First Novel By An American Author". The Edgars 2007. Mystery Writers of America. Archived from the original on 2010-03-12. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  2. Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (2020-06-05). "Covid-19 Skepticism Puts Author Alex Berenson at Center of Amazon Controversy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  3. "Amazon reverses ban on book critical of coronavirus lockdown after decision is blasted by many, including Elon Musk". The Washington Post. 2020.
  4. "Alex Berenson Biography". Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  5. Berenson, Alex. "Alex Berenson - The New York Times". Topics.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  6. "The Faithful Spy". NPR. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  7. "Alex Berenson". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  8. "Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  9. "Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. 2011-02-27. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  10. "Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  11. Tixier Herald, Diana; Stavole-Carter, Samuel (2019). Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (8th ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 206. ISBN 9781440858482.
  12. "Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award nominees announced". MI6-HQ.com. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  13. "The Shadow Patrol". The Crime Writers' Association. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  14. Boster, Seth (2019-03-19). "Anti-marijuana author to visit Colorado Springs, share findings". The Gazette. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  15. Way, Katie (2019-01-28). "What Fearmongering About Pot Tells You About Mainstream Marijuana Coverage - Alex Berenson's Tell Your Children relies on hyperbole and paranoia to argue against legalization". The Nation. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  16. Lewis, Amanda (2019-01-12). "Is Alex Berenson Trolling Us With His Anti-Weed Book? - A former 'New York Times' journalist wrote about a "hidden epidemic" cause by pot — but it seems he got the science wrong". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  17. Hart, Carl; Ksir, Charles (2019-01-20). "Does marijuana use really cause psychotic disorders? - Alex Berenson says the drug causes 'sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults'. As scientists, we find his claims misinformed and reckless". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  18. Multiple Signatories (2019-02-14). "Letter from Scholars and Clinicians who Oppose Junk Science about Marijuana". Drug Policy Alliance. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  19. Lartey, Jamiles (2019-02-17). "Popular book on marijuana's apparent dangers is pure alarmism, experts say - Doctors and scientists criticize 'flawed pop science' of Tell Your Children – but author Alex Berenson stands by his claims". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  20. Ecarma, Caleb (2020-04-10). "An Ex-New York Times Reporter Has Become the Right's Go-To Coronavirus Skeptic - Alex Berenson, a journalist and thriller writer, is being quoted on Breitbart and appearing on Fox News—even going too far for Sean Hannity". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 2020-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  21. Dufton, Emily; Richert, Lucas (2019-04-16). "The return of 'reefer madness'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  22. Lopez, German (2019-01-14). "What Alex Berenson's new book gets wrong about marijuana, psychosis, and violence - The book, Tell Your Children, has received a lot of media attention, but it's essentially Reefer Madness 2.0". Vox. Archived from the original on 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  23. Mencimer, Stehpanie. This Reporter Took a Deep Look Into the Science of Smoking Pot. What He Found Is Scary. Mother Jones, January 5, 2019. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/new-york-times-journalist-alex-berenson-tell-your-children-marijuana-crime-mental-illness-1/
  24. Miller, Christine (2019-04-18). "Before Maryland legalizes marijuana it should consider this: Pot is linked to psychosis". The Baltimore Sun.
  25. Davis, Paul. Noting the Serious, Even Deadly, Effects of Marijuana. Washington Times, January 20, 2019. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jan/20/book-review-tell-your-children-by-alex-berenson/
  26. Freedlander, David (2020-04-16). "Does the King of the COVID-19 Contrarians Have a Case?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  27. "As coronavirus surges, Fox News shifts its message on masks". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
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