Nicholas Schmidle

Nicholas Schmidle is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He was a longtime contributor to The New Yorker whose most recent book is Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut. His first book, To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan, drew from his reporting as an ICWA fellow examining ethnic, sectarian and national identity in Pakistan from 2006 to 2008, when he was accompanied by his wife Rikki. Nick is a National Magazine Award finalist, a two-time Livingston Award finalist and winner of the Kurt Schork Award. He’s been a resident at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a fellow at the New America Foundation and a professor of journalism at Princeton University.

Posts and Dispatches from Nicholas Schmidle:

• Nicholas Schmidle musical in Philadelphia
  Tickets are on sale for Nicholas Schmidle (Pakistan, 2006 – 2008) and the Disco Biscuits’ “The Very Moon, A Steampunk Musical,” at Philadelphia’s FringeArts theater, January 17-20, 2024....

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• New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on the billionaire space war
  Richard Branson has surprised both Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk by beating them to the launch pad....

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• Webinar video: Nick Schmidle’s Test Gods
  Former fellow and New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle discussed his new book with Explorers Club President Richard Garriott on May 4, 2021....

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• Nicholas Schmidle to publish book on Virgin Galactic space program
  New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle (ICWA fellow in Pakistan, 2006-2008) tells the story of the test pilots, engineers and visionaries behind Virgin Galactic’s campaign to build a space tourism company in his soon-to-be-released book Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut. The Washington Post describes a previously unreported account of a...

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• AFAR: Nicholas Schmidle on Belgrade cuisine
  The Serbian capital glories in its traditions, which make for delicious dining....

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• The New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on Virgin Galactic’s lead pilot
  The ace pilot risking his life to fulfill Richard Branson's quest to make commercial space travel a reality....

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• The New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on retributive hacking
  Congress is considering legislation that would permit victims of cybercrimes to hack back....

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• The New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on Pakistan and the CIA
  The CIA's relationship with Pakistan is defined by frustration. ...

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• The New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on the war on terror
  The Pentagon is setting its sights on Russia....

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• The New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on Mike Flynn
  The former national security adviser invokes his idea of service even while pleading guilty....

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