Thomas Byrne Edsall has written a weekly opinion column for The New York Times since 2011. Before joining the Times, he covered national politics for The Washington Post. He is the author of Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics (with Mary D. Edsall), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction; The New Politics of Inequality; Building Red America; and The Age of Austerity. He teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.