Jill Lepore

American writer and historian, with innumerable articles and at least eight books to her credit, including most recently, The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death (2012) and The Story of America: Essays on Origins (2012). Also a public intellectual whose work, especially in The New Yorker, is interesting, influential and witty. Her recent piece on the Supreme Court was an insightful and judicious blend of history and opinion. Cofounder of the magazine Common-place,, served as a consultant for the National Park Service, and currently serves on the board of the National Portrait Gallery and the Society of American Historians. Recipient, the Bancroft and Ralph Waldo Emerson Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Pew and Woodrow Wilson Foundations.