Lydia Polgreen

Lydia Polgreen is an opinion columnist at The New York Times, where her writing covers human rights, migration, queer lives, and democracy around the world. From 2002 to 2016, Polgreen climbed the ranks as a reporter, bureau chief, and editor at The New York Times, where she largely reported on west Africa, south Asia, and South African affairs. At the latter end of this period, she served as the editorial director for The New York Times Global. 

Polgreen’s coverage included ethnic cleansing in Darfur and political unrest in Guinea-Bissau. Her accolades include the Livingston Award for Foreign Reporting, the Columbia University Medal for Excellence, and the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting, among others. 

In between her directorial and columnist roles at The New York Times, she served the editor in chief of HuffPost and managing director of Gimlet, a Spotify digital media company. She also previously worked as a reporter at the Times Union and the Orlando Sentinel.