Jonathan V. Last

{{Infobox person

|name = Jonathan Last

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|5|6}}

|birth_place = Camden, New Jersey, U.S.

|death_date =

|death_place =

|other_names = JVL

|education = Johns Hopkins University (BS)

|occupation = Journalist

}}

Jonathan V. Last (aka JVL; born May 6, 1974)[https://nuwber.com/person/563a29aa05a684fe71275cbc Date of birth of Jonathan V. Last], number.com. Accessed May 17, 2022. is an American journalist and author. He is the editor of the website The Bulwark,{{Cite web|url=https://thebulwark.com/about-us/|title=About Us|website=The Bulwark|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-16|archive-date=2021-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107195333/https://www.thebulwark.com/about-us/|url-status=dead}} and he previously worked as a senior writer and digital editor{{Cite web|url=https://www.weeklystandard.com/author/jonathan-v-last|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612213057/https://www.weeklystandard.com/author/jonathan-v-last|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 12, 2018|title=Jonathan V. Last|website=The Weekly Standard|language=en|access-date=2019-01-16}} at the magazine The Weekly Standard. He is the author of the book What to Expect When No One's Expecting (2013).

Early life and education

Last was born in 1974 in Camden, New Jersey.[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10F2C719F9FE5FE0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Great leap rightward? Nah, just finding balance"], The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 15, 2006. Accessed March 2, 2011. "Folks meet Jonathan V. Last. He was born in Camden 31 years ago grew up in Woodbury and Moorestown and now works as online editor for the Weekly Standard." He grew up in Woodbury and Moorestown Township, New Jersey.[http://galleyslaves.blogspot.com/2005/07/moorestown-triumphant.html] "Because I grew up in [...] Moorestown, New Jersey" Last, Jonathan V., Galley Slaves blog, July 5, 2005, accessed December 14, 2006 Last is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where he studied molecular biology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/v-is-for-victor/|title='V' Is for 'Victor'|date=2019-10-21|website=National Review|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-05}} According to Tim Miller, if Last had gone to a less competitive college, he would have been a doctor.{{cite web |title=MTG Gets the Big Money |url=https://thenextlevel.thebulwark.com/p/mtg-gets-the-big-money |website=The Bulwark |access-date=7 April 2021}}

Career

Last writes frequently for The Wall Street Journal and has also written for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, the New York Post, Salon, The Washington Times, Slate, the New York Press, First Things, the Claremont Review of Books, and other publications. He has appeared on several radio and television outlets. He formerly wrote weekly columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer{{Cite web|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/jonathan_last/|title=Columnists}} and The Daily.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/09/28/092811-opinions-column-perry-fade-last-1-3/|title = New York Post}}"JVL at the Daily," http://jonathanlast.com/2011/09/21/jvl-at-the-daily/

Last regularly writes data-driven analyses of demographic trends, including articles and blog posts on the American birth rate,{{cite web|title=Ross Is Right on Demography|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ross-right-demography_665121.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209011941/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ross-right-demography_665121.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 9, 2012|work=The Weekly Standard Blog|access-date=6 December 2012}} the voting patterns of the rising number of single Americans,{{cite news|title=A Nation of Singles|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/nation-singles_664275.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203024555/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/nation-singles_664275.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 3, 2012|access-date=6 December 2012|newspaper=The Weekly Standard|date=December 10, 2012}} and the collapsing fertility rates in Korea.{{cite news|title=Where Have All the Children Gone?|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/where-have-all-children-gone_660174.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105002057/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/where-have-all-children-gone_660174.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 5, 2012|access-date=6 December 2012|newspaper=The Weekly Standard|date=November 12, 2012}} His first book, What to Expect When No One’s Expecting, is a detailed examination of the origins and consequences of these and related trends. Last also frequently writes on politics and popular culture. He was an early skeptic about Mitt Romney's electoral prospects in the 2012 United States presidential election, drawing attention to the candidate's history of failing to make himself likeable to voters.{{cite news|title=Overestimating Romney|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/overestimating-romney_611846.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104200449/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/overestimating-romney_611846.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 4, 2012|access-date=6 December 2012|newspaper=The Weekly Standard|date=December 19, 2011}} Last, who has been described as the "Weekly Standard’s resident geek",{{cite web|first=Katherine|last=Mangu-Ward|author-link=Katherine Mangu-Ward|title=The Comics Crash of 1993, Or Why Your House in Florida Won't Regain Its Value|url=http://reason.com/blog/2011/06/16/the-great-comics-bust-of-1993|work=Reason.com Hit & Run Blog|date=16 June 2011|access-date=6 December 2012}} avidly collected comic books in his youth{{cite news|title=Comic Relief|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/122iqogr.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041208102714/http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/122iqogr.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 8, 2004|access-date=6 December 2012|newspaper=The Weekly Standard|date=May 31, 2004}} and often writes about them, most notably in an account of the death of Marvel Comics's Captain America.{{cite news|title=Captain America, R.I.P.|url=http://staging.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/407zcgtp.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185854/http://staging.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/407zcgtp.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 29, 2013|access-date=6 December 2012|newspaper=The Weekly Standard Blog|date=March 16, 2007}} Last is also known for creating the Star Wars meme that the Galactic Empire was really a force for good.{{cite news|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=1248&R=9E9C2AC86|title=The Case for the Empire|last=Last|first=Jonathan V.|date=May 16, 2002|newspaper=The Daily Standard (blog of The Weekly Standard)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040605061243/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=1248&R=9E9C2AC86|archive-date=5 June 2004}}

Last maintained a blog, JonathanLast.com (formerly the Galley Slaves blog), with fellow Weekly Standard staffers Victorino Matus and David Skinner. Last hosts and appears on several podcasts with The Bulwark, including The Next Level podcast and The Secret Podcast, as well as writing a daily newsletter for The Bulwark called The Triad. Last currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and four children.

Bibliography

{{cite book|title=What to Expect When No One's Expecting|date=2013|publisher=Encounter Books|location=New York|isbn=9781594036415|oclc=778419424}}
{{cite book|title=The Seven Deadly Virtues: Eighteen Conservative Writers On Why the Virtuous Life Is Funny As Hell|date=2014|publisher=Templeton Press|location=Conshohocken, Pennsylvania|isbn=9781599474601|oclc=888025649}}
{{cite book|title=The Christmas Virtues: A Treasury of Conservative Tales for the Holidays|date=2015|publisher=Templeton Press|location=West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania|isbn=9781599475059|oclc=917359099}}