Don Katz and Patrick Radden Keefe Join New America’s Board of Directors

Washington, DC – New America is pleased to announce that Don Katz, the founder and former CEO of Audible, and Patrick Radden Keefe, a longtime staff writer at the New Yorker and author of three New York Times bestsellers, have joined the New America board of directors. Together, Katz and Keefe bring strong experience in technology, communication, storytelling, and business.

Don Katz is the founder and longtime leader of Audible, the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling. Founded in 1995, Audible serves millions of listeners and offers 800,000 downloadable Audible Originals, audiobooks, and other programs. Katz was previously a journalist and author for 20 years, writing five books and serving as contributing editor at Rolling Stone, Outside, Esquire, and other publications. His longform journalism won an Overseas Press Club award and a National Magazine Award. Katz’s book Home Fires was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and his bestseller The Big Store: Inside the Crisis and Revolution at Sears won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Non-Fiction.

Katz is the founder of Newark Venture Partners, a social impact early-stage investment fund that seeks to connect Newark to the early-stage technology start-up innovation economy. Recognized as one of America’s Top 25 Disruptive Leaders by Living Cities for his work on behalf of urban transformation, Katz was named New Jersey’s most influential tech leader by ROI-NJ in 2021. He was the recipient of a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in 2013. For his leadership and founding vision for Audible, he was honored by both PEN America and Gotham Film & Media Institute in 2022.

Katz graduated from New York University, where he studied with novelist Ralph Ellison. He also holds an MSc Econ from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“I am thrilled to work with an organization addressing status-quo thinking across significant societal challenges I have focused on as a writer and business builder for decades. New America applies distinctive creative expertise to current and unsurfaced solutions that address foreign policy, the many inequities born of racial disparity, and the impact of advancing technologies on democracy and security. I look forward to being a part of New America’s important mission,” Don Katz said.

Patrick Radden Keefe is longtime staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of five books, including the New York Times bestsellers Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, which received the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction; Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, which received the Baillie Gifford Prize and was a finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award; and Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks.

Keefe is a former New America fellow, whose investigative journalism has been recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing. He is the creator and host of the podcast Wind of Change, which investigates the strange convergence of heavy metal music and Cold War espionage and was named the #1 podcast of 2020 by the Guardian and Entertainment Weekly. He has also worked as a producer of film and television, executive producing the Netflix series Painkiller, and Say Nothing, based on his book, which will be released in 2024 on FX. He lives with his family in New York.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue my relationship with New America as a member of its board of directors, and I’m particularly looking forward to helping continue the organization’s proud legacy of investment in groundbreaking journalism,” Patrick Radden Keefe said.

“I am thrilled to welcome Don Katz and Patrick Radden Keefe, two exceptional minds, to New America’s board of directors. Don and Patrick are committed to innovation and storytelling, and I look forward to working alongside them to advance New America’s vision,” New America Board Chair Lenny Mendonca said.

“Don Katz and Patrick Radden Keefe bring critical experience to our organization given their impressive backgrounds in technological innovation, communications, business, and journalism. Their backgrounds will be vital to advancing New America’s work, and I look forward to their support and collaboration,” said New America President and Chief Transformation Officer Paul Butler.

About New America: We are dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. We’re a different kind of think tank: one dedicated to public problem solving. Our team of visionary researchers, changemakers, technologists, and storytellers study and seize the opportunities presented by dramatic social and technological change. We search for powerful ideas, wherever they are, and collaborate with civic innovators around the country to develop evidence-based solutions.