Farhad Manjoo
Born 1978 · Age 47
American technology and opinion journalist; columnist for Slate, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times; author of True Enough; contributor to NPR.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in South Africa
Farhad Manjoo was born in South Africa to a family with ancestral roots in India.
Family emigrated to Southern California
Manjoo's family left South Africa when they were eight and moved to Southern California.
Graduated from Cornell University
Completed undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
Editor-in-Chief, The Cornell Daily Sun (undergraduate)
Served as a writer and as editor-in-chief of Cornell's student newspaper while an undergraduate.
Wrote for Wired News (circa)
Worked as a writer for Wired News prior to taking a staff position at Salon.com (date approximate; source notes Wired News before Salon).
Staff writer at Salon.com (circa)
Took a staff position at Salon.com (exact start year not provided; placed circa mid-2000s based on career sequence).
Published book 'True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society'
Author of True Enough, published by Wiley in 2008, examining truth and belief in modern media.
Began tenure as Slate technology columnist
Started as a staff writer/technology columnist at Slate (tenure lasted 2008–September 2013).
Accepted job at Slate as twice-weekly technology columnist
In July 2008 Manjoo accepted a position at Slate magazine to write a twice-weekly technology column.
Contributing writer tenure at Fast Company begins
Began contributing to Fast Company (tenure 2009–2013).
Began contributing to Fast Company
Served as a contributing writer at Fast Company from 2009 through 2013.
Contributor to NPR (first cited appearance)
Featured on NPR (segment: 'Farhad Manjoo Talks You Into Joining Facebook'); has been a contributor to NPR since 2009.
Contributing writer tenure at Fast Company ends
Contributing role at Fast Company concluded in 2013 (as Manjoo transitioned to WSJ/NYT roles).
Working on book about Apple/Amazon/Facebook/Google (reported)
NYT press release (Dec 2013) noted Manjoo was at work on another book about the tech giants' efforts to rule the business world.
Joined The Wall Street Journal as technology columnist
Announced as joining The Wall Street Journal as a technology columnist (press reported September 4, 2013).
Final Slate column published ('Men Should Wear Makeup')
Manjoo's final column for Slate urging men to wear makeup was published September 20, 2013, ahead of move to WSJ.
Joined The New York Times newsroom (department visit)
NYT press noted Manjoo would be joining the department on Dec. 17 and begin writing after the new year (press release). Also noted he was working on another book about Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google.
Became The New York Times technology columnist
Joined The New York Times in January 2014, replacing David Pogue as the technology columnist (press coverage Jan 16, 2014).
Assumed 'State of the Art' columnist role, Business Day
Named The New York Times's 'State of the Art' columnist for Business Day (position assumed February 2014).
Gave luncheon address, Wright State Honors Institute
Delivered the Honors Institute luncheon address (lunch talk) on Feb. 10, 2015 as part of the Wright State Honors Institute; also participated in the institute events.
Speaker: London 'Mobile' conference (Tinder Hearts panel)
Listed as a contributor/speaker for 'Tinder Hearts: What We’re Learning from User-Friendly Mobile' at London15: Mobile (March 5, 2015).
Became Opinion columnist at The New York Times
Manjoo moved from the Business Day/State of the Art column to become an opinion columnist at The New York Times (2018).
Published 'For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers'
Published a personal experiment column in the Times describing getting most news from print for two months.
Columbia Journalism Review criticism of 'unplugged' claim
Columbia Journalism Review criticized the Times piece for its assertion Manjoo 'unplugged' from Twitter when he continued to use it daily.
NiemanLab critique of Times 'print experiment' piece
The Nieman Foundation published criticism and analysis of the piece and Manjoo's Twitter usage during the experiment.
WNYC 'On the Media' removed segment
WNYC's 'On the Media' removed a segment that featured Manjoo discussing the print-news experiment following the controversy.
Shared Gerald Loeb Award for Breaking News
Shared the 2018 Gerald Loeb Award for Breaking News for the story 'Ouster at Uber' (award announced June 25, 2018).
Residence listed as Palo Alto, California
Profiles indicate Manjoo lives in Palo Alto with spouse and two children (profile evidence cited in 2019 profiles).
Published 'Call Me "They"' — announced pronoun preference
Wrote a New York Times piece explaining preference for singular they pronouns and asking to be referred to as 'they'.
Publicly disclosed struggle with esophageal achalasia
Manjoo disclosed their personal struggle with esophageal achalasia in a Times piece (public disclosure in 2019).
Published 'Let's Quit Fetishizing the Single-Family Home'
Op-ed in The New York Times arguing against fetishizing single-family homes (published Feb 5, 2020).
Times column used as Abitur exam text in North Rhine-Westphalia
Manjoo's column 'Let's Quit Fetishizing the Single-Family Home' (or related NYT column) was used for the Abitur high-school exams in NRW, Germany (April 2021).
Left The New York Times
Wikipedia notes Manjoo moved to The New York Times in 2014 and left in 2023.
Returned to Slate with 'r/Farhad' column
Returned to Slate on April 26, 2024 with the first of 'r/Farhad', an occasional column about interesting things read on Reddit.
Key Achievement Ages
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