Alex Berenson is a former reporter for The New York Times and the author of several thriller novels and a book on corporate financial filings. His 2019 book sparked controversy, earning denunciations from many in the scientific and medical communities along with more positive reviews. During the coronavirus pandemic, he has garnered attention in conservative media for making claims that the coronavirus was not as serious as experts said.
Early life and education
Berenson was born in New York, and grew up in Englewood, NJ. He graduated from Yale University in 1994 with bachelor's degrees in history and economics.
Career
Berenson joined the Denver Post in June 1994 as a business reporter. He published 513 articles through August 1996, when he left to join TheStreet.com, a financial news website founded by Jim Cramer. In December 1999, Berenson joined The New York Times as a business investigative reporter. In the fall of 2003 and the summer of 2004, Berenson covered the occupation of Iraq for the Times. More recently, he covered the pharmaceutical and health care industries, specializing in issues concerning dangerous drugs. Beginning in December 2008, Berenson reported on the Bernard Madoff $50 billion Ponzi scheme scandal. He has written 12 spy novels, all featuring the same protagonist, CIA agent John Wells. His first novel, The Faithful Spy, was released in April 2006 and won an Edgar Award for best first novel by an American author. The Faithful Spy was ranked #1 on The New York Times Bestseller List for paperbacks. In 2008, Berenson released his second thriller, The Ghost War. His third novel, The Silent Man, followed in 2009. His fourth, The Midnight House, was released in 2010 and debuted at #9 on The New York Times bestseller list. The fifth, The Secret Soldier, was released in 2011 and debuted at #6 on the bestseller list. The sixth, The Shadow Patrol, was released in 2012, and debuted at #8. In July 2012, The Shadow Patrol was named a finalist for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, given by Britain's Crime Writers' Association. In 2010, Berenson left the Times to become a full-time novelist. He lives in the Hudson Valley, with his wife, a forensic psychiatrist. He authored the controversial 2019 book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence that has been denounced as alarmist and inaccurate by many in the scientific and medical communities because of his claims that cannabis psychosis and violence; many scientists state that he is drawing inappropriate conclusions from the research, primarily by inferring causation from correlation, as well as cherry picking data that fits his narrative, and falling victim to selection bias via his use of anecdotes to back up his assertions. Other reviews have been less critical, accepting the anecdotes as real-life examples of the science presented.
Coronavirus pandemic
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Berenson has vocally argued that people and the media were overestimating the risk of the new virus, that it posed little risk to young Americans, and that it was being used as a cover for government overreach. Many public health experts have rejected his claims. In May 2020, Fox News announced that Berenson would host a tv-show called "COVID Contrarian" on its online streaming platformFox Nation. However, by July 2020, amid surges in coronavirus cases across parts of the United States, Fox News appeared to have backtracked and removed the announcement of his show from its website.
Awards
2007 Edgar Award for best first novel, for The Faithful Spy
