Sarah Kendzior

Sarah Kendzior (born September 1, 1978) is an American journalist and author. Kendzior is the author of The View from Flyover Country – a collection of essays first published by Al Jazeera – and is a former co-host of the Gaslit Nation podcast. In 2020, she published her second book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, which was a New York Times bestseller. In September 2022, she published her third book, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent, which was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In April 2025, she published her fourth book, The Last American Road Trip, which was a USA Today Bestseller.

Early life and education Kendzior was raised in Meriden, Connecticut.

In 2000, Kendzior received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Sarah Lawrence College and, in 2006, she received a Master of Arts in Eurasian Studies from the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Her thesis was titled "State Propaganda on Islam in Independent Uzbekistan." In 2012, Kendzior earned a Doctor of Philosophy in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her focus of study was former Soviet Union totalitarian states. Kendzior's dissertation was on how dissidents from Uzbekistan used the internet to challenge an authoritarian government in a climate of surveillance and distrust.

Career From 2000 to 2003, Kendzior worked as an online news editor and writer for the New York Daily News. From 2012 to 2014, Kendzior was a columnist for Al Jazeera. From 2016 to 2020, Kendzior was a columnist for The Globe and Mail. She has also written for The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Marie Claire, and other outlets. Some of Kendzior's journalism has focused locally on St. Louis.

Kendzior has frequently appeared on MSNBC on the AM Joy show hosted by Joy Reid.

Kendzior and Bill Kristol were the main speakers for the 7th annual Public Values Symposium held on March 29, 2019, at the University of Missouri–Saint Louis. The two speakers saw "eye-to-eye... on the importance of people speaking up for what they believe in the face of eroding societal norms."

Kendzior was a featured speaker for the Canadian Journalism Foundation's annual Ottawa J-Talk on April 9, 2019.

Regarding her coverage of Donald Trump, Kendzior has stated that she has had "three advantages":

The Columbia Journalism Review reported that because of her writings and expertise on authoritarian states, "as the new president came into power and the specter of Russian interference in his victory triggered Mueller's investigation, the limos started lining up"

In April 2018, Flatiron Books published an updated print version of The View . The New York Post described it as a "collection of essays from the talented Kendzior, who writes intelligently and with great empathy about problems faced by the Midwest." The Buffalo News described Kendzior's The View as "an astonishment and a challenge to convention for all sorts of reasons," and described Kendzior as having "roared to the fore" because of her prediction of the 2016 election results, a result of having studied foreign demagogues and understanding deteriorating conditions in the U.S.

The book was listed as a New York Times bestseller in May 2018.

Gaslit Nation podcast Together with Andrea Chalupa, Kendzior co-hosted a podcast, Gaslit Nation, which originated as part of Dame magazine. In Psychology Today, Joe Pierre stated that the podcast "frequently reminds listeners that the Trump administration is part of a 'transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government'", stating that

The podcast’s title, Gaslit Nation, refers to their assertion that the Trump administration is "gaslighting" America in precisely the way that Arendt, Orwell, and Pomerantzev [sic] have described, by repeatedly contradicting the facts and claiming that black is white. This assertion is supported by independent databases maintained by Politifact and The Washington Post that tally false claims involving President Trump. According to The Washington Posts Fact Checker, President Trump has made 15,413 false or misleading statements (and counting) since taking office. Many of these... have been repeated again and again to the point that some no doubt believe it.

Incidents during the Trump administration In 2016, Kendzior wrote about similarities between Donald Trump and the authoritarian leaders she had studied given Trump's admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin before there was widespread public awareness of Russia's interference in the US election.

Personal life Kendzior lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and their children.

Selected works and publications

Books

Selected publications