Astead Herndon, a speaker at the 2026 Festival of Faith and Writing

Astead Herndon


Astead W. Herndon is a national politics reporter for the New York Times and a political analyst for CNN. He reports and hosts The Run-Up, a political podcast from the New York Times that debuted ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

Previously, Herndon was an integral part of the Times political coverage in the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential elections. In 2020, Herndon was named to the Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 media list. His reporting - on white grievance and President Donald Trump - was included among the New York Times package that was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prizes. Last year, The Run-Up was named “one of the best podcasts of 2022” by the Economist.