| About Jane Coaston | |
|---|---|
| Age | 36 Years |
| Birth | September 3, 1987 Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Spouse | Jefcoate O’Donnell (2nd May 2015 - now) |
| Siblings | Susannah Coaston |
| Parents | Byron Coaston, Jody Coaston |
| Nationality | American |
| Job | Podcast Host |
| Alumni | Ursuline Academy, University of Michigan |
| Works For | Podcast "The Argument" by NYT |
| Worked for | St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
| Human Rights Campaign as speech writer (2014-16) | |
| MTV News as political writer (2016-17) | |
| Vox as senior political writer (2017-20) | |
If you’ve followed Vox and its coverage, you’re probably familiar with Jane Coaston. The writer and political commentator espouses libertarian views, presents an enlightening picture of conservatism, is favored by both right and left media, and is unaffected by criticism. Jane Coaston now hosts the New York Times podcast The Argument, which is a much-listen. And we trace her journey to become one of the most impressive political pundits in the country in this Jane Coaston wiki.
Jane Coaston’s Family
Jane Coaston was born on September 3, 1987, and is from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her family, including her parents Byron and Jody Coaston and her sister Susannah Coaston, are in Cincinnati while work keeps Jane in Washington, D.C.
Jane’s father, Byron Coaston, is a retired librarian. Her mother, Jody Samuels Coaston, helps neglected and abused children as a case manager with Lighthouse Youth & Family Services and volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate.
Jane describes her mom and dad as “union Democrats” who “were giant hippies” to The Washington Post. Her family’s experiences and influence shaped Jane Coaston’s liberal views, while the place they lived in was predominantly conservative.
In fact, Byron Coaston joined his daughter on a show last year to discuss the role of Black votes in battleground states.
My dad (and me), on @1a: https://t.co/pFHfXURApB
— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) February 20, 2020
Jane Coaston’s Education
Jane Coaston was a student at Ursuline Academy, a private, all-girls Catholic school in Cincinnati. She graduated in 2005, but recently spoke about her old school when it recalled an edition of the school newspaper in 2019 for carrying an LGBTQ+ piece.
She said in 2019 that she wasn’t surprised by the school’s decision. Perhaps it has to do with her curiosity as a child growing up liberal in a conservative place and trying to define her political inclinations.
“That’s why I’ve always been so interested in understanding why other people think the way they do. I was on such an ideological island with my family, where we were very strange, and yet my parents thought Republicans were very strange,” she said about her early life.
Coaston was yet to become a registered Libertarian when she enrolled in the University of Michigan. There, she was an editor of the school’s libertarian paper, The Michigan Review, which was supported by a right-leaning body.
“I thought [the Review] would be a good place to learn to write persuasively, because I’d be surrounded by people who didn’t think the same way I did.”
And it did shape her political beliefs. She had begun to support the libertarian side when she earned her BA in history and political science in 2009.
Jane Coaston’s Career
Coaston’s writing career began soon after college with her stint as a writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In her early days in D.C., Coaston was a staff writer and editor at Arabella Advisors for a year.
In 2012, she was the media relations coordinator for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The following year, she was the Environmental Working Group’s press secretary. Coaston was a speechwriter for the Human Rights Campaign from 2014 to 2016, before she started one of the many jobs she is famous for.
She began as a political reporter for MTV News in early 2016, and covered the 2016 elections. After leaving MTV in 2017, she began working at Vox as a senior political reporter.
Coaston’s work at Vox is lauded for her analysis of the GOP and American conservatism. She’s brought a similar theme, with more emphasis on libertarianism, to the New York Times‘ relaunched podcast, The Argument, since November 2020.
Jane Coaston and Jefcoate O’Donnell’s Relationship
Coaston, who identifies as queer, married Jefcoate O’Donnell on May 2, 2015. O’Donnell is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford who worked at MTV Networks from 2016 to 2017.
O’Donnell has traveled to Botswana, New Zealand, and other countries as a health researcher. Since 2020, O’Donnell has been working with D.C.-based COVID-19 relief groups. Currently, Coaston’s partner has been contracted by the D.C. Department of Health as a COVID-19 testing site lead.
