Rick Perlstein, a journalist born in Milwaukee, is the author of three books, The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and Rise of Reagan, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, and Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. A current Contributing Writer at The Nation, Perlstein is the former chief national correspondent for The Village Voice, and a former online columnist for The New Republic and Rolling Stone. His work, which most frequently documents American conservatism, has also appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, and many other places. Perlstein lives in Hyde Park and plays jazz piano.