About
Michael Blanding is a Boston-based investigative journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Smithsonian, Slate, The Nation, The Boston Globe Magazine, and Boston. His newest book, The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby: Inside a Billionaire Family’s Quest to Craft a Christian Nation will be published by PublicAffairs in July 2026.
His previous book, In Shakespeare’s Shadow: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest to Reveal the True Source Behind the World’s Greatest Plays, was published by Hachette Books in 2021, and won the International Book Award for Narrative Non-Fiction. Before that, The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps, was published by Gotham in 2014 and named a New York Times Bestseller; an NPR Book of the Year; a New England Indie Bestseller; and winner of an NES Book Award from the New England Society of New York. His first book, The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink, was published by Avery in 2010.
Michael was formerly a senior writing fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University. In addition, he has been a senior writer at Harvard Business School; a senior writer and associate editor at Boston Magazine; and editor of New England Travel magazine. He has also co-written several travel guides to New England destinations for Moon Handbooks, and taught journalism and creative nonfiction at Tufts University, Emerson College, Northeastern University, and GrubStreet Writers. He lives in the Boston area and has two children.