View source for Atrios

{{Short description|American blogger and political economist}}
{{for|the planet in ''Doctor Who''|The Armageddon Factor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox person
| name         = Duncan Bowen Black
| image        = Atrios (cropped).jpg
| caption      = Black in 2006
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1972|02|18}}
| birth_place  = Australia<ref>{{cite web|author=Atrios |url=http://www.eschatonblog.com/2015/01/theyll-mess-you-up.html |title=Eschaton: They'll Mess You Up |publisher=Eschatonblog.com |date=January 30, 2015 |accessdate=April 28, 2016}}</ref>
| nationality  = American
| other_names  =
| known_for    = ''Eschaton'' [[weblog]]
| education    = [[Indiana University of Pennsylvania]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Brown University]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
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| callsign     = Atrios
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| website      = {{URL|http://eschatonblog.com/}}
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'''Duncan Bowen Black''' (born February 18, 1972), better known by his pseudonym '''Atrios''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|t|r|i|.|oʊ|s}}, is an American [[American liberalism|liberal]] [[blog]]ger living in [[Philadelphia]]. His weblog is called ''Eschaton''. Black was also a regular guest economics expert on [[Air America Radio]]'s ''[[The Majority Report]]'' and is currently a regular commentator on [[Sam Seder]]'s [[internet radio]] (Majority.fm) Majority Report and an [[op-ed]] contributor to ''[[USA Today]]''.

== Biography ==

After obtaining his BA from the [[Indiana University of Pennsylvania]], Black obtained a [[PhD]] in [[economics]] from [[Brown University]] in 1999. He has worked at the [[London School of Economics]], the [[Université catholique de Louvain]], the [[University of California, Irvine]], and, most recently, [[Bryn Mawr College]]. He is now a Senior Fellow at the media research group [[Media Matters for America]].

Black began his online political life in Salon magazine's ''Tabletalk'' messageboards under the pseudonym of Kurt Foster, then began blogging as ''Atrios'', remaining [[pseudonym]]ous for several years, and even joking that he was actually a high school [[gym]] teacher. According to Black, the name "Atrios" is actually a (misspelled) reference to a character named Antrios in the [[Yasmina Reza]] play ''[['Art' (play)|'Art']]'' who paints the play's key "white painting on white canvas".

Before starting Eschaton, Black wrote (as Atrios) for the [[webzine]] [[Media Whores Online]] (now defunct). During the [[2004 Democratic National Convention]] in Boston, he revealed that he had accepted a job at Media Matters for America and allowed his name and photograph to be published. He later said that as an academic he blogged pseudonymously to avoid attacks like those later unleashed on [[Timothy Shortell]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_12_atrios_archive.html#111904910536820980|date=June 12, 2005 | first = Duncan| last = Black | publisher = Eschaton | accessdate = July 6, 2006 | title = And People Wondered... | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20060629111506/http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_12_atrios_archive.html| archivedate= June 29, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> Atrios' blogging has been characterized as encouraging discourse and public deliberation.<ref>Reinwald, J. (2015). Networked Media, Networked Rhetorics: Attention and Deliberation in the Early Blogosphere. ''Argumentation And Advocacy'', (2), 146.</ref>

== Eschaton ==

Black's weblog ''Eschaton'' generally features short entries on a variety of topics ranging from [[policy]] commentary to breaking news and links. Posts are frequent&nbsp;— on the order of ten every day. The majority of posts are authored by Black (as ''Atrios''), but there are occasional guest bloggers. On June 29, 2005, Black described ''Eschaton'' as not a blog but an "Online Magazine of News, Commentary, and Editorial."<ref>{{cite news | title = Inside Politics | publisher = CNN | date = June 30, 2005 | url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/30/ip.01.html | accessdate = March 17, 2007}}</ref>  Following a similar announcement from ''The Talent Show'',<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.thetalentshow.org/archives/001896.html | date = June 29, 2005 | publisher = The Talent Show | accessdate = March 17, 2007 | title = The Talent Show is dead. Long live The Talent Show. | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070401192935/http://www.thetalentshow.org/archives/001896.html | archivedate = April 1, 2007 | url-status = dead }}</ref> this was a satirical reaction to [[Federal Election Commission]] hearings<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101376.html | last = Faler | first = Brian | title = FEC Hears Bloggers' Bid to Share Media Exemption | newspaper = Washington Post | date = July 19, 2005 | accessdate = March 17, 2007}}</ref> on the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]]. Black had previously expressed frustration<ref>{{cite web | url = http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_26_atrios_archive.html#112009292797146520 | date = June 29, 2005 | first = Duncan| last = Black | publisher = Eschaton | accessdate = March 17, 2007 | title = FEC Follies| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070407010119/http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_26_atrios_archive.html| archivedate= April 7, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> that the FEC might not apply the act's "media exemption" to blogs, which he regarded as equivalent to other forms of media including [[online magazine]]s.

== Appearance in fiction ==

Atrios (portrayed by an uncredited actor) appeared briefly in the 7th season ''[[The West Wing|West Wing]]'' episode "[[Welcome to Wherever You Are (The West Wing)|Welcome to Wherever You Are]]" (Episode 7x15) meeting with the fictional Democratic presidential candidate [[Matt Santos]]. Atrios was introduced by [[Josh Lyman]] (played by [[Bradley Whitford]]) as having "raised 300 grand online" and having "almost as many readers as [[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]".<ref>{{cite web|author=Nico Pitney|author-link=Nico Pitney|url=http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/27/atrios-on-nbcs-west-wing/ |title=Atrios on NBC's West Wing |publisher=Think Progress |date=March 27, 2006 |accessdate=July 27, 2009}}</ref>

== Language ==
Duncan Black is credited with creating the [[neologism]] "[[Friedman Unit]]" to refer to ''[[The New York Times]]'' columnist [[Thomas Friedman|Tom Friedman]]'s predilection for repeatedly using the next six months as the critical time period for the [[Iraq War]]<ref name="Black">{{cite web
  | first = Duncan
  | last = Black
  | url = http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_05_21_atrios_archive.html#114826445526365297
  | title = The Six Monthers
  | date = May 21, 2006
| publisher = Blogspot
  | accessdate = March 18, 2007
| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070407012318/http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_05_21_atrios_archive.html| archivedate= April 7, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> and the term "[[David S. Broder#Criticism|High Broderism]]" for an approach to politics characterized by "the worship of bipartisanship for its own sake" as a cover for "the defense of...'the establishment' at all costs".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Atrios |date=April 28, 2007 |title=More Broder |url=http://www.eschatonblog.com/2007/04/more-broder.html |access-date=June 22, 2017 |website=Eschaton}}</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{official website|http://www.eschatonblog.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20011002233733/http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/atrios.htm Report From the Front: An MWO Reader tries to bring down The Nation] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20011003004902/http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/atrios2.htm The Hunting of the Snitch] – Atrios writing for Media Whores Online on [[The Nation]] columnist [[Christopher Hitchens]] (Snitch)
* [http://inquirer.typepad.com/blinq/2005/07/atrios.html Profile] by [[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'s Dan Rubin

[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male bloggers]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:Brown University alumni]]
[[Category:Indiana University of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:Political activists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:American political blogs]]