The Atlantic is sharing news about the hires of Allegra Frank and Serena Dai as senior editors for Culture, in addition to Jen Balderama, who joined The Atlantic in April as a senior editor overseeing The Atlantic’s Family section. Dai and Frank will both begin in the next few weeks; more details on all three editors and their roles are below, as announced by deputy editor Jane Yong Kim.
“Allegra brings with her a wide-ranging knowledge of pop culture. She is journalistically nimble, skilled at conveying smart criticism and reporting to wide audiences, and keenly attuned to the cultural zeitgeist. Most recently, she was a deputy entertainment editor at The Daily Beast; before that, she edited at Slate, Vox, and Polygon (where she developed her quick-twitch muscles as a reporter). Allegra is a self-professed film-studies nerd whose expansive interests include comedy, ’90s emo, gaming, and internet culture.
“Serena is a sophisticated editor with a reporter’s brain and a dedication to finding great stories. She was most recently the editorial director at Bon Appétit; before that, she edited at SF Chronicle and Eater, where she spearheaded its investigation into the alleged sexual misconduct of Mario Batali. (She was also once a fellow at The Atlantic Wire!) Serena will work across Culture and Family, focusing on coverage of how we live and deploying her talents in the broader culture space.
“Jen is a brilliant and experienced journalist who has an eye for big, compelling ideas. She has an infectious love of craft—including an innate sense of the rhythm of a line—and a deep interest in collaboration and mentorship. Jen was most recently an editor at Washington Post Opinions; she was previously at The New York Times (as an editor at the Book Review and on the National Desk), and was a 2012–13 Nieman Fellow, studying literary and cultural criticism and narrative writing.”
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