Jodi Kantor began her journalism career by dropping out of Harvard Law School to join Slate.com in 1998. Four years later, she became the Arts & Leisure editor of the New York Times. For six years, she wrote about former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Her book The Obamas chronicles their behind-the-scenes adjustment to the roles of president and first lady. Kantor's reporting with Meghan Twohey on Harvey Weinstein won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She has recently turned her attention to the US Supreme Court and joined the Washington bureau's reporting team full-time. Kantor lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and two children.

A model of real, grounded, hard-headed optimism in these days of crisis and anxiety – useful not only for new graduates but for all of us

Jodi Kantor began her journalism career by dropping out of Harvard Law School to join Slate.com in 1998. Four years later, she became the Arts & Leisure editor of the New York Times. For six years, she wrote about former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Her book The Obamas chronicles their behind-the-scenes adjustment to the roles of president and first lady. Kantor's reporting with Meghan Twohey on Harvey Weinstein won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She has recently turned her attention to the US Supreme Court and joined the Washington bureau's reporting team full-time. Kantor lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and two children.

A model of real, grounded, hard-headed optimism in these days of crisis and anxiety – useful not only for new graduates but for all of us

Jodi Kantor began her journalism career by dropping out of Harvard Law School to join Slate.com in 1998. Four years later, she became the Arts & Leisure editor of the New York Times. For six years, she wrote about former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Her book The Obamas chronicles their behind-the-scenes adjustment to the roles of president and first lady. Kantor's reporting with Meghan Twohey on Harvey Weinstein won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She has recently turned her attention to the US Supreme Court and joined the Washington bureau's reporting team full-time. Kantor lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and two children.

A model of real, grounded, hard-headed optimism in these days of crisis and anxiety – useful not only for new graduates but for all of us