Nick Gillespie
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Template:Libertarianism US Nicholas John Gillespie (Template:IPAc-en Script error: No such module "Respell".; born August 7, 1963)[1] is an American libertarian journalist who was editor-in-chief of Reason magazine from 2000 to 2008 and editor-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason TV from 2008 to 2017. Gillespie joined Reason's staff in 1993 as an assistant editor and ascended to the top slot in 2000. As of 2025, he is an editor-at-large at Reason.[2]
Gillespie has edited one anthology, Choice: The Best of Reason[3][4] and has made media appearances on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, where he advocates for libertarian perspectives.[5][6] His work addresses topics such as free markets, limited government, free speech, and criminal justice reform.[7]
Early life and education
Gillespie was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Monmouth County, New Jersey,[8] where he graduated from Mater Dei High School.[9] His educational history includes a B.A. in English and psychology from Rutgers University, an M.A. in English from Temple University, and a Ph.D. in English literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo.[10]
Career
Before joining Reason, Gillespie worked at a number of small trade magazines and other journalistic outlets.
In an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, Gillespie and Tapper said they contributed articles for the alternative website Suck.com in the 1990s.[11] On Suck.com, Gillespie wrote under the pseudonym Mr. Mxyzptlk.[12]
In 2010, The Daily Beast named Gillespie number 18 on their list of "The Right's Top 25 Journalists".[13] Gillespie himself is a contributor to The Daily Beast.[14]
Gillespie shared the award for "Best Advocacy Journalism" at the 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards with Drew Carey and Paul Feine for their work "Reason Saves Cleveland." He also received an honorable mention for "Best News Organization Website."[15]
In 2011, Gillespie published The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America with Reason editor-in-chief Matt Welch.[4]
As one of Reason's editors at large, Gillespie hosts The Reason Interview, a weekly podcast series in which he interviews various experts about current events from a libertarian perspective.[16][17]
Personal life
Gillespie married comedy writer and entrepreneur, Sarah Rose Siskind, in 2024.[18] He has three sons, Jack & Neal, from his first marriage and Levi Gillespie-Siskind, born on December 6, 2025.[19]
References
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- ↑ Smith, Russ. "Interview: Nick Gillespie; The Editor-in-Chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv talks about the print media crisis, his editorial philosophy, and why his libertarian publication won’t be going easy on Obama.", Splice Today, January 30, 2009. Accessed February 3, 2020. "I grew up in Monmouth County, New Jersey, which contains both Springsteen’s hometown (Freehold) and his early haunt (Asbury Park), so I can’t stand him in the same way that only a New Yorker can really, really hate the Yankees."
- ↑ Gillespie, Nick. "Really Strange Bedfellows IIA final word (for now) on libertarians vs. conservatives", Reason (magazine), December 20, 2001. Accessed February 3, 2020. "It's been a long, long while since I've been accused of impairing the morals of a minor (really). In fact, the last time I can remember such a claim being leveled against me was back in high school when I coaxed some classmates at good old Mater Dei High School into seeing Monty Python's Life of Brian rather than a less theologically charged movie."
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External links
- Pages with script errors
- 1963 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American journalists
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- 21st-century American male writers
- American libertarians
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- Mater Dei High School (New Jersey) alumni
- American opinion journalists
- People from Monmouth County, New Jersey
- Rutgers University alumni
- Temple University alumni
- University at Buffalo alumni
- Journalists from Brooklyn
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- Former Roman Catholics
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