The Atlantic is announcing four new roles and promotions in the newsroom: Marc Novicoff and Nancy Walecki as staff writers, both moving from editor roles at The Atlantic; Michael Zelenko as a senior editor, joining from Rest of World; and James Kirchick as a contributing writer, who has written for The Atlantic as a freelancer since 2008.

More details from our editors about all four journalists follow:

Marc Novicoff is becoming a staff writer. Marc joined us in 2024 as an assistant editor, a role he performed so well that one writer said that Marc had conducted “the best fact check ever,” a claim that itself has not been checked. As a writer, Marc has demonstrated both a great sense for Atlantic stories and a willingness to jump on assignments. He has pursued a wide range of curiosities—including prediction markets, the birth-rate collapse, and the gerrymandering wars—and his recent coverage of New York City’s out-of-control education budget generated a mini-news cycle of its own.

Nancy Walecki is being promoted to staff writer. In her time here, Nancy has shown remarkable gifts as a journalist and narrative stylist, capable of telling beautiful, heartbreaking, and deeply human stories. On top of her work as a fast and discerning fact-checker, she has written movingly about her own experiences: Her feature about her father’s music store captured the spirit both of her dad and of the era in music that he helped shape, and her coverage of the L.A. fires, including the loss of her family friend, brought home the devastation of the disaster. More recently, she has explored with an empathic, sharp eye the ways Americans are trying to live better, whether by perfecting their toddlers’ beauty routines, hiring a house manager, or freeing themselves from algorithms in order to embrace God. She also went on a mission, alongside Grace Buono, to find the East Wing rubble.

Michael Zelenko is joining us as a senior editor. Michael has spent more than a decade directing coverage of the biggest stories in technology. He comes to us from Rest of World, where he was an executive editor. He was previously the executive editor at Medium’s OneZero and a senior features editor at The Verge. Michael has assigned groundbreaking stories about all the ways new technologies have changed how we live, work, and interact with the world, and about the powerful, eccentric figures behind these technologies. Most recently, his work has focused on AI, electric vehicles, and China’s fraught presence in America’s tech ecosystem. We’re happy to welcome him as we continue a major expansion of our coverage of tech and AI.

James Kirchick is joining us as a contributing writer. He is a brilliant thinker who has written with verve and a notable fearlessness on a wide range of topics, including American and European politics, illiberal regimes, and the historical origins of today’s political movements. With typical relentlessness, he recently secured one of the last interviews with the now-late Barney Frank, and wrote about the Democratic congressman’s final message to his party. Jamie is the author of The End of Europe and of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and has previously written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Free Press, and many other publications.

Press Contacts:
Paul Jackson and Quinn O’Brien | press@theatlantic.com