Peter Pomerantsev
Peter Pomerantsev is a journalist, author, TV producer and Senior Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University where he co-directs the Arena Initiative. Peter has spent decades studying Russian and Soviet propaganda and how it has influenced democracies around the world. His work also focuses on efforts to combat misinformation online and make the internet a place that fosters democracy, not one that works against it. His first book, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, won the 2016 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, was nominated for the Samuel Johnson, Guardian First Book, Pushkin House and Gordon Burns Prizes. Previously, Peter was a TV producer on documentaries and factual entertainment programs for major networks including the Discovery Channel and the BBC. A widely cited expert on disinformation and media, Peter continues to present and write documentaries for the BBC Radio 4, most recently on disinformation about climate change. In addition, he is a columnist at the American Interest, and writes for publications including The New York Times, Granta, and The Atlantic.
Peter Pomerantsev Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Senior Fellow, Co-Director of the Arena Initiative
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Senior Fellow, Arena Program
Academic History
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B.A., English Literature and German
TV WORK & JOURNALISM
Peter worked on programs broadcast on Russian entertainment channel TNT.
His credits included Creative Producer on 'Привет Пока', the Russian version of the Sony format 'Hello-Goodbye'.
He wrote about Russia, with articles in Newsweek, The Atlantic and other magazines.
BOOKS
This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality (2019)
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia (2014)
PRAISE FOR HIS BOOKS
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible won the 2016 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible was nominated for the Samuel Johnson, Guardian First Book, Pushkin House, and Gordon Burn prizes.
Nothing is True and Everything is Possible was translated into over a dozen languages.
This is Not Propaganda won the Gordon Burn Prize in 2020.
This is Not Propaganda also won the Times Book of the Year 2020.
MEDIA & APPEARANCES
Peter is a frequent host of policy seminars at NATO, the EU, the UK FCO, German Foreign Office, U.S. State Department, as well as numerous public events.
He has testified before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the UK Parliament Defense Select Committee.
He has given seminars and talks on the subject of propaganda and media at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Columbia and Princeton.
His writing has appeared in several publications, including the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, the Atlantic, WSJ, and Newsweek.