About

David Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of a dozen books, host of the public affairs radio show and podcast, The Vermont Conversation, and a journalist for national publications.

Goodman’s award-winning reporting ranges from covering world and national politics, to the threat of climate change in Alaska and Africa, the outdoors, adventure travel, and the impact of a natural disaster on his hometown in Vermont. As a longtime contributing writer for Mother Jones, his articles were part of a package that won the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Boston Globe, Travel & Leisure, Ski, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

In 2023, the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame honored Goodman with a lifetime achievement recognition, the Paul Robbins Journalism Award. “With his deep passion for skiing, love of history, and his gift for storytelling, David has inspired countless skiers to make their own tracks in the winter wilderness,” stated the award announcement. “David’s books helped ignite a revival of interest in backcountry skiing and inspired a community-based ski movement.”

Goodman is the co-author of four New York Times bestsellers written with his sister Amy Goodman, host of the news show Democracy Now!: Democracy Now! Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America (Simon & Schuster, 2016);  The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers and the Media That Love Them (Hyperion, 2004); Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back (Hyperion, 2006), and Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (Hyperion, 2008). He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Fault Lines: Journeys Into the New South Africa (University of California Press, 2002), which Archbishop Desmond Tutu hailed as “a searingly honest book by someone who really knows his subject.”

Goodman has appeared as a guest on national radio and television shows, including PBS NewsHour, Democracy Now!, NPR’s Fresh Air, Morning Edition, On the Media, Talk of the Nation, C-SPAN and CNN.

Goodman is also the author of the national award-winning guidebook, Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski Tours in New England and New York (AMC Books), which Backcountry Magazine dubs “the bible of Eastern backcountry skiing.” The Boston Globe calls Goodman “the godfather of Northeastern backcountry skiing,” though he has no ties to mobsters.

David Goodman is a graduate of Harvard University. He grew up dreaming of becoming a clarinetist in a major orchestra, but he ended up pursuing a few other passions: working as mountaineering instructor for Outward Bound and as a wilderness emergency medical technician, in a homeless shelter in Cambridge, Mass., traveling and reporting throughout Africa, and becoming a writer. He still plays clarinet in orchestras and with klezmer groups in Vermont. He lives with his wife, Sue Minter, in Waterbury Center, Vermont, and is the lucky parent of Ariel and Jasper.

Email: david [at] dgoodman.net