J Wortham | |
|---|---|
 Wortham in 2020 | |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | The New York Times |
| Known for | Still Processing Black Futures (withKimberly Drew) |
| Website | JennyDeluxe.com |
J Wortham (formerly known asJenna Wortham) is an Americanjournalist.[1] They[2] work as a culture writer forThe New York Times Magazine.[3] Wortham was co-host ofThe New York Times podcastStill Processing withWesley Morris, which ran from 2016 to 2022. In 2020, withKimberly Drew, Wortham publishedBlack Futures, an anthology ofBlack art, writing and other creative work.
Wortham began their journalism career freelancing in San Francisco, then worked forWired before joining theTimes in 2008.
Wortham grew up inAlexandria, Virginia,[4] then studiedmedical anthropology at theUniversity of Virginia. They graduated in 2004.[5]
After college, Wortham moved to San Francisco, where they interned forSan Francisco Magazine andGirlfriend Magazine and wrote forSFist,[6] eventually becoming atechnology andculture reporter forWired. They joinedThe New York Times in 2008, working as a technology and business reporter, then moved to theTimes Magazine in 2014;[7] Politico said the hire "gives the magazine additional editorial firepower and cachet," citing Wortham's "huge following" including more than 530,000 Twitter followers as of December 2014.[8]
Wortham's work has also appeared inMatter,The Awl,Bust,The Hairpin,Vogue,The Morning News, andThe Fader among other publications. Pi.co calls them "one of those rare writers who is able to explain the shapeshifting culture of the younger and newer internet."[6] In 2012, Wortham was included inThe Root 100 list.[9]The Fader named Wortham's piece onThe Shade Room "Instagram'sTMZ" to its list of "The Best Culture Writing of 2015".[10]
In addition to praise for their technology reporting, Wortham has been recognized for their commentary on a range of cultural topics. AtThe Village Voice, Mallika Rao described Wortham as "skirt[ing] the edges of tech, culture, and identity in (their) writing — carving out (their) own corner of the internet wherein (they are) a rightful star. (A shimmeringLemonade essay prompted a thank-you note from the Queen herself, signed "Love,Beyoncé" and 'grammed by Wortham.)"[11] Other topics in Wortham's writing have includedqueer identity[12] andrace andgender on television.[13][14] AtRookie, Diamond Sharp praised Wortham's "incisive writing, and the generous way (they move) within the world. (They) is, with no hyperbole, one of the most important minds working in media."[15] Wortham's work appears in the anthologiesNever Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York (2014) andAn Experience Definitely Worth Allegedly Having: Travel Stories from The Hairpin (2013).[16]
WithKimberly Drew, Wortham edited a collection entitledBlack Futures,[17] published in December 2020[18] by Random House'sOne World imprint.[19]
Wortham is also writing the essay collectionWork of Body, about their "formative experiences as aqueer Black person, against the backdrop of technology and the larger history of Black bodies in America".Work of Body will be published byPenguin.[20]
In 2017, Wortham was theZora Neale Hurston Fellow at the firstJack Jones Literary Arts retreat.[21] They were awarded a fellowship at theMacDowell Colony in 2018.[22] In 2020, Wortham and theirNew York Times colleagueWesley Morris were namedKelly Writers House Fellows.[23]
In September 2016, Wortham and Morris launched a culturepodcast calledStill Processing,[24] produced by theTimes and podcasting startupPineapple Street Media.[25] The show debuted to favorable reviews ("an incredible mix" and "refreshing")[26][27] and made year-end "best of" lists atThe Atlantic,[28]The Huffington Post,[29] andIndieWire.[30] In 2020, the podcast was nominatedAmerican Society of Magazine Editors Magazine Award.[31][32]
In 2011, Wortham createdGirl Crush Zine withThessaly La Force, a projectAfter Ellen said aimed "to show women embracing their love for other women."[33] Other contributors included fiction writersJennifer Egan andEmma Straub—with Straub writing about their "girl crush" on Egan.[34]
In November 2014, Wortham debuted an ongoing project called Everybody Sexts which "collect[s] anecdotes of people's sexting decisions, accompanied by nudes from said sexting incidents that are then recreated by an array of artists," includingMelody Newcomb.[35]Vice Media's technology verticalMotherboard said Wortham's treatment ofsexting was "one of the first to transcend hand-wringing or how-to guides, and present the sexual behavior as something worthy of inspiring art."[36]
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