Mark Blankenship

Mark Blankenship is a reporter, critic, and editor who's been covering arts and culture for almost 20 years. He has an extensive background in theater, television, and pop music.

Among many others, Mark has contributed to The New York Times, Vulture, Variety, Backstage, Fortune, The Hollywood Reporter, and NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. He founded Theatre Development Fund's magazine TDF Stages, served as Reviews Editor for Primetimer, and created the podcast The Showtune Countdown for iHeartRadio Broadway. Additionally, he wrote souvenir books about the Broadway musicals "& Juliet" and "The Band's Visit," directed a documentary about the play "Our Town" that premiered at the historic Ford's Theatre, and produced the 33rd Festival of New Musicals at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

Since 2016, Mark has co-hosted the pop music podcast Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs, and he currently writes The Lost Songs Project, a pop music newsletter that revives forgotten top 10 hits. He is on the faculty of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and he has been a guest lecturer at Yale School of Drama.

Mark has been on two game shows: "Jeopardy!" (which he didn't win) and "Name That Tune" (which he did). Originally from Tennessee, he currently divides his time between New York City and Rock Hill, South Carolina. You can find him at markgblankenship.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @iamblankenship.