From WaPo to Solo: Karen Attiah on Being a “Modern-Day Warrior Philosopher”
Since the Washington Post abruptly fired her in 2025, Karen Attiah has stayed busy. She founde Resistance Studies Series that summer to teach online, after Columbia University cancelled her race and media class, and is writing book projects and her newsletter, the Golden Hour. With IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Karen discussed the catharsis of writing through trying times, and her career trajectory from working in a legacy newsroom to being a multi-hypenate independent. She reflected on reporting across continents, confronting power, her late father’s influence, and shaping conversations on race, gender, human rights, and democracy.
Karen Attiah is an independent journalist and writer who served as the Washington Post’s founding Global Opinions editor before transitioning to a columnist in 2021. She has reported from countries all over the world, completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Ghana, and is the recipient of numerous honors including the 2019 George Polk Special Award.
Katherine Reynolds Lewis is the founder of the Institute for Independent Journalists and special projects editor for the Greater Good Science Center. A science journalist and author who writes about relationships, equity, mental health, parenting, journalism, entrepreneurship, and social justice, she previously worked as a national correspondent for Newhouse News Service and Bloomberg News.
The Freelance Journalism Podcast is a production of the Institute for Independent Journalists, whose mission is the financial and emotional sustainability of freelancers of color. Learn more about our work at theiij.com
Episode Links
The Golden Hour Substack, by Karen Attiah
When a Daddy’s girl loses her father, by Karen Attiah
What a fig tree taught me about the frailty of life, by Karen Attiah
The true roots of the Post’s endorsement policy, by Karen Attiah
My Case Against the Washington Post Goes to Arbitration This Week, by Karen Attiah
Resistance Studies School, by Karen Attiah
What Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan should have written, by Karen Attiah
Race and Western Columbia University Course Description by Karen Attiah
“Leveraging bylines to boost your freelance career with ex-GQ editor Chris Gayomali” by IIJ Freelance Journalism Podcast
“The War of Art - Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” by Steven Pressfield