Justin Peters is a correspondent for Slate and the author of The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet (Scribner, 2016). A big-picture biography of the deceased Internet activist Aaron Swartz, The Idealist was named one of the best tech books of 2016 by Backchannel, and was reviewed favorably in The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, Bookforum, and The Boston Globe, among other outlets. At Slate, Peters covers many different topics, including technology, the media, crime, and the Olympics. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired, Travel + Leisure, The New York Times, The Atavist Magazine, The Washington Monthly, and the Columbia Journalism Review, where he worked as an editor from 2008 through 2013.
He is the co-founder of Countdown Theater, a roaming pop-up arts space based in Brooklyn, and he regularly tours the country as one-half of the acclaimed improvisational comedy duo From Justin to Kelly. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is married to the journalist Alexa Mills, and divides his time between New York City and Washington, D.C.