Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Natasha Vargas-Cooper
Born	c. 1984 Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality	American
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Journalist and Author
Years active	2009–present

Natasha Vargas-Cooper is an American journalist and author. Her writing has been published in the New York Times,^[1] the Wall Street Journal,^[2] The Guardian,^[3] GQ,^[4] Spin,^[5] The Atlantic Monthly,^[6] the New Statesman,^[7] Good magazine,^[8] Bookforum,^[9] BlackBook,^[10] New York magazine,^[11] and Los Angeles magazine.^[12] Her writing has also been featured on websites such as The Awl^[13] (for whom she is the Los Angeles correspondent), the Huffington Post,^[14] E! Online,^[15] The Daily Beast,^[16] and Salon.^[17]

She resigned as a staff writer at The Intercept on January 15, 2015 to work for Jezebel.^[18] On February 27, 2015, Jezebel published an article by Vargas-Cooper falsely reporting that Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's proposed budget would cut funding for sexual assault reporting from the state's universities.^[19] Jezebel subsequently acknowledged that its article had presented "an unfair and misleading picture. We regret the error and apologize."^[20] The Daily Beast, which ran an article of its own based on the Jezebel report, likewise backpedaled, saying, "We deeply regret the error and apologize to Gov. Walker and our readers. Our original story should be considered retracted."^[21] On Twitter, Vargas-Cooper admitted, "I screwed up."^[19]

Early life and family

Vargas-Cooper was born in and raised in Los Angeles, California.^[22] She is the daughter of author and journalist Marc Cooper and teacher Patricia Vargas-Cooper. She attended UCLA, and graduated summa cum laude in 2007 with a major in history.^[23]

Career

After graduating from UCLA, Vargas-Cooper worked as a union organizer and health policy analyst in both Los Angeles and Washington, DC.^[23]

Books

Her book, Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through America of the 60's, was published by Harper Collins in 2010.^[24]

Other works

Vargas-Cooper is the creator and host of Public School, a weekly live story telling series in Los Angeles where writers and performers tell personal stories, based on a theme. Some past participants include Starlee Kine, Paul F. Tompkins, Davy Rothbart, and Julie Klausner.^[25]

References