PunditPolitics Team
Team and History
The concept behind PunditPolitics - a fact-based approach to political commentary and discussion, in addition to political knowledge testing and statistics - was conceived of by Alex Bowers and Jesse Smith in the Fall of 2006 while undergraduate students at the University of Chicago. Since that time, PunditPolitics has grown and evolved from a primitive experimental website with only a handful tests to the multi-dimensional resource it is today. This development would not have been possible without a great deal of support and inspiration from friends and colleagues, and especially the contributions of each member of the
Expert Review Board, for volunteering their invaluable advice and insight along the way.
- Alex Bowers - Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Science and Technology Commentator
In addition to his responsibilities guiding the project as Co-Founder of PunditPolitics.com, Alex Bowers is the primary editor for all content published by the website, and is responsible for ensuring that the emphasis on a rational, fact-based approach to politics remains at the core of the endeavor. Mr. Bowers holds a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Chicago and is currently in the process of applying to law school.
Please click here to contact Mr. Bowers
- Jesse Smith - Co-Founder, Lead Designer and Website Developer, Author
In addition to his responsibilities guiding the project as Co-Founder of PunditPolitics.com, Jesse Smith is responsible for the design and maintenance of almost all aspects of the PunditPolitics website, and plays the leading role the development of its core features. Mr. Smith holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago and is a self-taught web-designer. Mr. Smith is currently working and volunteering in the University of Chicago’s Psychology department and is in the process of applying to a Ph.D. program.
Please click here to contact Mr. Smith
- Colin Brown, Marketing and Content Advisor
Colin Brown has helped PunditPolitics grow in numerous capacities since its conception, from content creation to general project advice. Currently, Mr. Brown’s primary role is as an advisor and organizer for managing the PunditPolitics team of contributors. Mr. Brown holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and currently works as a consultant as well as a Co-Founder of his own business.
Please click here to contact Mr. Brown
- Shane Lohnes, Content Advisor, Author
Shane Lohnes joined the PunditPolitics team to write about the energy crisis and what we ought to do about it. He holds a BA from the Evergreen State College where he studied Energy, the Environment, and Political Economy. In the fall he plans to attend the Energy and Environmental Analysis program at Boston University.
- Keenan Pontoni, Author
Keenan Pontoni contributes original content and reviews peer-written content. Mr. Pontoni holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and is currently a Teach-for-America corps member in New York City. He has worked as a research assistant for political scientist Robert Pape; as a policy analyst for Housing Action Illinois, an Illinois-based housing group; as a policy researcher for the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank; a news editor for the Brown and White newspaper; and as a speech writer for a Michigan state representative campaign.
- Charles Bowers, Consiglieri
Expert Review Board
At PunditPolitics, we understand that despite out staff’s most thorough research efforts, further steps must be taken to review, critique, comment on, or otherwise edit our work by genuine experts in their respective fields in order to distinguish our Political IQ tests’ content and to provide credibility. It is our ultimate goal, and an ongoing effort, to recruit a wide variety of experts from all sorts of politically-relevant fields to provide their insight on the facts and issues being raised,in the hopes of providing ever-relevant and interesting content. Of course, it should be noted that the individuals included below are affiliated with PunditPolitics only insofar as they have volunteered their thoughts and advice on some specific and/or general aspect of the website, and thus their presence below should definitely not be taken as a blanket endorsement or as some explicit statement of affiliation. They have, however, granted their permission to be included on our Expert Review Board provided this caveat, as well as on the basis of their support for the concept behind PunditPolitics.com.