Books like True Believers

Kurt Andersen (born August 22, 1954) is an American writer and was the host of the Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360, a production of Public Radio International, Slate, and WNYC.

Andersen was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from Westside High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

While a student at Harvard, he edited the Harvard Lampoon. In 1986 with E. Graydon Carter he co-founded Spy magazine, which they sold in 1991; it continued publishing until 1998. While writing for Spy, Andersen and Carter coined the notable insult "short-fingered vulgarian" for future United States President Donald Trump. He has been a writer and columnist for New York ("The Imperial City"), The New Yorker ("The Culture Industry"), and Time ("Spectator"). He was also the architecture and design critic for Time for nine years.