I am the former editor of Humanities magazine and the former director of publications at the National Endowment for the Humanities. I was a member of the usage panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, before it was disbanded in 2018, about which I wrote a widely read essay. I have written for, most recently, Humanities, American Scholar, Washington Free Beacon, Commonweal, and American Purpose. I used to used to write for the (dearly departed) Weekly Standard, where, from 1998 to 2007, I worked as a staff editor. I am the author of The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published, published in 2012 (paperback 2013) by Harper. Publications include the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the New Atlantis, Boston magazine, the Washington Times, American Spectator, Slate, Salon, Education Next, The Public Interest. I live in the Rosemont neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, with my wife, Cynthia, and our three children. (06/2025)
Photo by Cynthia Skinner
David Skinner 