David Callahan

Last updated

David Callahan
David Callahan (cropped).jpg
Callahan in 2017
Born1964/1965(age 57–58)
United States
Occupation
  • Author
  • journalist
  • editor
Alma mater Hampshire College (BA)
Princeton University (PhD)
Period1990–present
Notable works Demos co-founder
Inside Philanthropy founder
Relatives Daniel Callahan (father)

David Callahan (born 1964/1965) [1] is an American writer and editor. He is the founder and editor of Inside Philanthropy , a digital media site, and Blue Tent Daily, which offers in-depth reporting on progressive organizations and the Democratic Party. [2] Previously, he was a senior fellow at Demos, a public policy group based in New York City that he co-founded in 1999. He is also an author and lecturer. He is best known as the author of the books The Givers and The Cheating Culture .

Contents

Early life and education

David Callahan is the son of bio-ethicist Daniel Callahan and psychologist Sidney Callahan. [1] [3] He grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. [1]

He received his B.A. at Hampshire College, and in 1997 received a PhD in Politics from Princeton University. [1]

Career

Callahan was a fellow at The Century Foundation from 1994 to 1999;[ citation needed ] his work area was US foreign policy and international affairs.[ citation needed ]

In 1999, Callahan co-founded the liberal think tank Demos. [1] He left Demos in 2013 to start Inside Philanthropy.

Inside Philanthropy

Callahan launched the news website Inside Philanthropy in early 2014. The site's tag line is "Who's Funding What, and Why." [4] It covers news about recent gifts by foundations and major donors, as well as the world of fundraising and trends in philanthropy. The site also includes profiles of funders to help nonprofits find money and publishes a daily newsletter. In addition, it issues its own set of annual awards, the "IPPYs," that include categories such as the "Philanthropist of the Year" and "Foundation President of the Year." [5] Inside Philanthropy is mainly funded by subscriptions, which currently cost $397 a year or $47 a month. [6] The site says that it "has never taken money from the funders we cover and never will." [7]

Writing

In addition to his articles in Inside Philanthropy, Callahan has written articles for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The American Prospect, and The Nation. [8]

In 1997 he wrote a political-thriller novel, State of the Union, in which Islamic terrorists plot to hijack planes and crash them into the Capitol building during the State of the Union address. [1]

In 2002, Callahan wrote the book Kindred Spirits: Harvard Business School's Extraordinary Class of 1949 and How They Transformed American Business, a history of the Harvard Business School Class of 1949. [9] In an interview about the book with The New York Times, Callahan contrasted this earlier group of business leaders, many of whom frowned on conspicuous consumption, with later generations of business leaders more motivated by greed. [9]

A New York Times review of his 2004 book, The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead , Chris Hedges called Callahan "a new liberal with old values". [1] The book links the rise in unethical behavior in American society to economic and regulatory trends—particularly growing inequality. The libertarian magazine Reason criticized Callahan for placing too much blame for cheating on the rise of laissez-faire economics. [10]

His 2007 book The Moral Center examines how a market-based economy, i.e. capitalism, with its elevation of self-interest, undermines values that both liberals and conservatives care about. [11] [12] The American Prospect reviewed the book. [13]

His 2017 book The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age looks at top philanthropists such as Michael Bloomberg and Mark Zuckerberg. The book was widely reviewed, including in The New York Times, [14] [15] The Washington Post, [16] The Wall Street Journal, [17] Financial Times, [18] Time, [19] and The Atlantic. [20] The Givers generated wide discussion and controversy in the world of philanthropy, including in industry publications such as The Chronicle of Philanthropy , [21] Stanford Social Innovation Review , [22] and Philanthropy magazine. [23]

Bibliography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hedges, Chris (June 15, 2004). "A Liberal With a New Emphasis on Old Values". The New York Times .
  2. "About". Blue Tent Daily. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  3. "Daniel Callahan". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Gale. 2004.
  4. "Front Page". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  5. "Philanthropy Awards, 2017". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. "Membership". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  7. "About Us". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. Demos Expert Bios
  9. 1 2 Holstein, William J. (October 27, 2002). "What a Class of '49 Can Teach the Class of '02". The New York Times . Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  10. Sanchez, Julian (July 2004). "Cheating Heart". Reason .
  11. "The Moral Center: How We Can Reclaim Our Country from Die-Hard Extremists, Rogue Corporations, Hollywood Hacks, and Pretend Patriots". Kirkus Reviews . June 15, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  12. Sager, Ryan (November 2, 2006). "The Republicans Will Play Solitaire". The New York Sun . Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  13. Stone, Deborah (November 19, 2006). "The Good in Good Politics". The American Prospect . Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  14. Sullivan, Paul (April 14, 2017). "How Top Philanthropists Wield Power Through Their Donations". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  15. Cottle, Michelle (April 28, 2017). "Are the New Megadonors Distorting American Society?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  16. Kaiser, Robert G. (April 14, 2017). "Opinion | Are you rich enough to be a true philanthropist?". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  17. Moritz, Michael (May 2, 2017). "In Praise of Modern Medicis". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  18. Ben-Ami, Daniel (May 4, 2017). "Donor power and the waning of democracy" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  19. "'The Givers' Review: The Pitfalls of Giving It All Away". Time. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  20. Semuels, Alana. "The Problem With Modern Philanthropy". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  21. "Opinion: 'The Givers' Are Taking Too Much From Average Americans". The Chronicle of Philanthropy . July 6, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  22. "Give and Take (SSIR)". Stanford Social Innovation Review . Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  23. "Damaging Solutions in Search of a Problem | Excellence in Philanthropy | The Philanthropy Roundtable" . Retrieved January 18, 2018.