Dan Zak

Washington, D.C.

Feature writer Education: American University, BA in literature and journalism Dan Zak is a reporter for The Washington Post. He has written a wide range of news stories, narratives and profiles while on local, national and foreign assignments. He is the author of "Almighty: Courage, Resistance and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age," a non-fiction book about nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear activism. He joined The Post in 2005. Honors & Awards:

First place (general feature) from the Society for Features Journalism (2018) for "After the Blast" (wapo.st/west)
Best feature in the Excellence in Journalism awards from Street Sense Media (2017) for "The Polaroids of the Cowboy Poet" (wapo.st/earnshaw)

Professional Affiliations: Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting grantee (2015), for reporting on nuclear and environmental issues in the Marshall Islands (wapo.st/marshallislands)

Books by Dan Zak:
Almighty: Courage, Resistance and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age
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Latest from Dan Zak

Style

Goodbye to Gate 35X, cursed portal to the rest of America

After 24 years of cramping our style, Reagan National Airport’s notorious gate has been replaced.

Apr 7, 2021

Style
Perspective

Little Liddys everywhere: The legacy of a political ‘super-klutz’

The Watergate operative was reckless, infamous and hardly the last of his kind.

Mar 31, 2021

The father, the son and the holy Cuomo mess

Andrew Cuomo helped build his father's kingdom. Now he may be ending it.

Mar 17, 2021

A pandemic year

What it felt like to lose time — and all the other things coronavirus took away

Stories of what it felt like to live through the shutdown. Dancing alone, canceling weddings, missing touch, missing one another and feeling alone together.

Mar 8, 2021

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Texas is freezing, but the roast of Ted Cruz is on

A senator nobody likes walks into a scandal nobody can resist.

Feb 18, 2021

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The grid leaves us powerless

The trouble in Texas is a chilling reminder of the fragility of our foundations.

Feb 18, 2021

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Analysis

Day 1 of Impeachment 2: Tears, fears and seasick poetry

Are we sinking, or just riding out another political storm?

Feb 9, 2021

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Perspective

Cloris Leachman rose to the bottom of our hearts

Over her 74-year career, the actress showed us the highest lows and the lowest highs.

Jan 28, 2021

The last day of Donald

“Macho Man” fades out.

Jan 20, 2021

Style

What does Josh Hawley think he’s doing?

A law-geek Missouri senator with an elite pedigree tries to grab the mantle of right-wing populism.

Jan 17, 2021

About Dan Zak

Dan Zak is a reporter for The Washington Post. He has written a wide range of news stories, narratives and profiles while on local, national and foreign assignments. He is the author of "Almighty: Courage, Resistance and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age," a non-fiction book about nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear activism. He joined The Post in 2005.