“I was enamored of New York City intellectual life and was really into Philip Roth because I was raised by self-loathing Midwesterners who were from southern Illinois, who felt like fish out of water when they came to the East Coast when I was a kid.”

American author, essayist, podcaster, and journalist

Meghan Daum is an American author, essayist, podcaster, and journalist. She is known for her personal essays and commentary, as well as for work that moves between literature, culture, and public life. Her writing often examines identity, independence, family, and the pressures of modern adulthood, using a direct and observant voice. She has built a broad body of work across print and audio, and her name is closely associated with nonfiction that is personal in tone but wide in range.