Neil J. Young

Neil J. Young is an award-winning historian, writer, and podcaster, and the author of two books. His most recent book, Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right, is the first book-length study of one of the most misunderstood constituencies in American politics: LGBTQ Republicans. Coming Out Republican has been hailed as an "astonishing work of history," "an absolute must-read," and "a genuinely fresh contribution to American political history."

Neil's first book, We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics, explores the rise of the Religious Right and the challenges of building religious and political alliances among conservative evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons. We Gather Together was praised as "gripping and informative," "impressively researched and deftly argued," "a path-breaking book," and "a bracing and innovative retelling of the rise and fall of the Religious Right."

Neil formerly served as a contributing columnist for The Week and, before that, an opinion columnist for HuffPost. He writes frequently for leading publications, including the Washington Post, the Atlantic, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Vox, Politico, Slate, and the New York Times.

Neil co-hosts and produces the popular history podcast, Past Present. Past Present's episodes have been downloaded more than one million times, and the podcast was chosen by iTunes as a "New and Notable" selection when it launched in 2015. He is also the co-creator and co-producer of the limited podcast series from Pineapple Street Studios, "Welcome to Your Fantasy," about the history of the Chippendales.

Neil holds an A.B. from Duke University and a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He previously taught at Princeton University.

He lives in Los Angeles.