Why Would the Atlantic Hire Kevin Williamson?

Published: March 29, 2018, 11:34 a.m.

Jeffrey Goldberg knows that he hired a troll. But he thinks readers should give him a second chance. The Atlantic editor in chief issued a memo to the magazine\u2019s staff this week, explaining his decision to hire conservative writer Kevin Williamson as a columnist for the magazine\u2019s new ideas section. In addition to making the thought leader\u2019s now-familiar case for ideological diversity, Goldberg wrote that he likes to \u201cgive people second chances and the opportunity to change.