Elizabeth Bruenig


Elizabeth Bruenig, also known as Liz Bruenig, is an American journalist working as an opinion writer for The New York Times. She previously worked as an opinion writer and editor for The Washington Post, where she wrote about ethics, politics, theology, and economics, and where she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2019.

Early life and education

Born Elizabeth Stoker in in Arlington, Texas, Bruenig attended Martin High School. She graduated from Brandeis University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in English and sociology and a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic studies. As a recipient of the Marshall Scholarship, she studied at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, where she earned a Master of Philosophy degree in Christian theology under the supervision of John Hughes. She was named a 2014–2015 Presidential Fellow at Brown University, where she was a doctoral candidate in religious studies. She left Brown without a degree in 2015.

Career

Bruenig was an opinion writer and editor for The Washington Post. She writes about ethics, politics, theology, and economics. Previously, she was a staff writer for The New Republic.
Bruenig has been described as being on "the Catholic Left" by Rod Dreher in The American Conservative. In a profile published by Washington Monthly, she is described as "the most prominently placed of a small but increasingly visible group of young writers unabashedly advocating for democratic socialism."
In September 2018, Bruenig described a 2006 sexual assault on a woman by the name of Amber Wyatt at Martin High School in Arlington, Bruenig's own alma mater, in a story for the Post, describing the assault's "shameful aftermath." She started tracking the details of Wyatt's story in 2015. In 2019, Bruenig was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing, for one of her pieces covering Wyatt's sexual assault, "What Do We Owe Her Now?" The citation read: "For eloquent reflections on the exile of a teen sexual assault victim in the author's Texas hometown, delving with moral authority into why the crime remained unpunished."
With her husband Matt, Bruenig co-hosts a podcast through Patreon, The Bruenigs. In the past, they have written together for The Atlantic. She has also been a contributor to the Left, Right, & Center podcast.

Personal life

Raised Methodist, Bruenig was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church in 2014. Bruenig married Matt Bruenig, whom she met in their high school debate team in Arlington, in 2014. They have two daughters and live in Washington, DC.

Published works