Author Guide · Investigative Journalism
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On October 5, 2017, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey published a story in The New York Times about decades of settlements Harvey Weinstein had paid to women who accused him of harassment. Within days he was fired from his own company, and within weeks women around the world were telling their own stories. That story is the heart of She Said, but it is not Kantor's only book: before it came an inside portrait of the Obama White House, and in 2026 a short book about how to find your life's work. This guide covers all three in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 books · Female authors · 2012–2026 · Updated September 2026
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Quick answer
Jodi Kantor has written three books: The Obamas (2012), about Barack and Michelle Obama's first years in the White House; She Said (2019), written with Megan Twohey, about their Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into Harvey Weinstein; and How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work (2026). A young readers' edition of She Said, Chasing the Truth, followed in 2021. She Said is the place to start.
Quick facts about Jodi Kantor
- Born
- April 21, 1975, New York City
- Grew up
- New York City and Holmdel, New Jersey
- Education
- Columbia University (BA in history, 1996); one semester at Harvard Law School
- Career
- Slate, where she became New York editor; The New York Times, as Arts & Leisure editor at 27, then political and investigative reporter
- Known for
- Breaking the Harvey Weinstein story with Megan Twohey on October 5, 2017
- Awards
- Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (2018, shared by The New York Times and The New Yorker); George Polk Award (2018); Time 100 (2018)
- Books
- 3, from The Obamas (2012) to How to Start (2026)
- On screen
- Played by Zoe Kazan in She Said (2022)
- Lives
- Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, the New York Times columnist Ron Lieber
All 3 Jodi Kantor Books, in Order
The Obamas
An inside account of Barack and Michelle Obama's first years in the White House, drawn from Kantor's reporting on the couple since 2007: their attempt to keep family life as normal as possible, aides anxious to strip every hint of glitz and privilege from their public image, and Michelle Obama's early struggle with her new role and her eventual turnaround. White House officials first distanced themselves from the book, then changed tack as journalists called it deeply reported and largely sympathetic. Ezra Klein counted it among the very best books on the Obama White House.
Read it for the marriage rather than the policy. It is a portrait of two people adjusting to a life nobody is prepared for.
— LisanneShe Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
Written with Megan Twohey, the inside story of their investigation into Harvey Weinstein: the famous and unknown women who were afraid to go on the record, the settlements and non-disclosure agreements, dating back to 1990, that had kept them quiet, and the months of work it took to publish. The book then follows what came after, including Christine Blasey Ford's path to testifying about Brett Kavanaugh and what happened to the women who spoke out. The reporting won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, The Washington Post called the book an instant classic of investigative journalism, and in 2022 it became a film with Zoe Kazan as Kantor and Carey Mulligan as Twohey.
Start here. What sets it apart is its procedural honesty: it shows how power buys silence, and what it takes, person by person, to take that apart.
— LisanneHow to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work
A short book, expanded from her commencement address at Columbia University, that asks how anyone is supposed to find and start their life's work in an age of political upheaval, soaring living costs and the unknowns of AI. Kantor, who was once kicked off her college newspaper and left law school to start in journalism, builds her answer on two principles, craft and need, and uses them to think through money, risk and when to go against what others tell you. It became an instant New York Times bestseller.
Give it to anyone in their twenties, and read it yourself if you are about to change course. It takes one train ride.
— LisanneWhere to Start with Jodi Kantor
Her three books are very different from one another: a portrait of a marriage in the White House, an investigation, and a short book of advice. Start with the one that matches what you came for.
If you read only one
→ She Said (2019).
If you are interested in politics and the presidency
→ The Obamas (2012).
If you are starting out or changing course
→ How to Start (2026).
If you are a teenager who wants to be a journalist
→ Chasing the Truth (2021), the young readers' edition of She Said.
If you would rather watch first
→ Kantor and Twohey explain how they exposed Weinstein on PBS's Amanpour and Company (2019), or watch the film She Said (2022).
If you want more books like hers
→ My list of books by female authors, or the guide to Iris Chang, another journalist who refused to look away.
In What Order to Read Jodi Kantor
Her books are not connected, so you can read them in any order. In publication order they also trace her career: from political correspondent, to investigative reporter, to someone looking back on what makes work matter.
In publication order
1. The Obamas (2012)
2. She Said (2019), with Megan Twohey
3. How to Start (2026)
Everything Else Jodi Kantor Has Written
Beyond her three books there is one adaptation: a version of She Said for younger readers, written as a guide to investigative reporting. It is the edition I would give a teenager who wants to be a journalist.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
For young readers
1
1 book · 2021
Chasing the Truth: A Young Journalist's Guide to Investigative Reporting (2021)
The young readers' edition of She Said, with Megan Twohey.
Amazon, Bookshop.org and more
How Jodi Kantor Reports: Following the Mechanics of Power
Kantor's subject, again and again, is how power works in ordinary places: offices, schools, coffee shops. Her 2014 story about a Starbucks barista whose hours were set by scheduling software led the company to change its scheduling policies for its baristas across the United States. Her 2015 investigation of Amazon's white-collar workplace with David Streitfeld broke the Times's record for reader comments, and her reporting on women at Harvard Business School led its dean to apologise to female alumnae.
That is also what makes She Said unusual among books about #MeToo. It is less about outrage than about process: who would talk, who would not, what the settlements said, and what it took to get women on the record. Even in 2009, interviewing the Obamas in the Oval Office, she asked them a question that could stand over much of her work: how can you have an equal marriage when one person is President?
She began her career by leaving law school, became one of the youngest section editors in the history of The New York Times, and has more recently turned her attention to the Supreme Court.
Frequently asked questions about Jodi Kantor's books
How many books has Jodi Kantor written?
Jodi Kantor has written three books: The Obamas (2012), She Said (2019), written with Megan Twohey, and How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work (2026). A young readers' edition of She Said, titled Chasing the Truth, was published in 2021.
What are Jodi Kantor's books in order?
In order of publication: The Obamas (2012), She Said (2019), How to Start (2026).
What is Jodi Kantor's new book?
Her newest book is How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work, published by Little, Brown on April 21, 2026. Expanded from her commencement address at Columbia University, it is about how young people can find meaningful work, and it became an instant New York Times bestseller.
Who wrote She Said?
She Said was written by the New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who broke the Harvey Weinstein story together in October 2017. Penguin Press published it in September 2019.
What is She Said about?
She Said tells how Kantor and Twohey investigated decades of sexual harassment and abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein, including the settlements and non-disclosure agreements used to keep women silent, and follows the #MeToo reckoning into the year after, including Christine Blasey Ford's testimony about Brett Kavanaugh.
Is She Said a movie?
Yes. The film She Said, directed by Maria Schrader, was released in November 2022, with Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor and Carey Mulligan as Megan Twohey.
Did Jodi Kantor win a Pulitzer Prize?
Yes. The New York Times won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for Kantor and Twohey's Weinstein reporting, sharing the award with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker.
What is The Obamas by Jodi Kantor about?
The Obamas (2012) follows Barack and Michelle Obama's adjustment to life in the White House, including Michelle Obama's early struggle with her role. Reviewers, including Connie Schultz in The New York Times, praised it as the first book about the Obama presidency to give Michelle Obama her due.
Is there a young readers' version of She Said?
Yes. Chasing the Truth: A Young Journalist's Guide to Investigative Reporting (2021) is the young readers' edition of She Said.
Who is Jodi Kantor?
Jodi Kantor is an American investigative journalist at The New York Times, born in New York City in 1975. With Megan Twohey she broke the Harvey Weinstein story in 2017, and she is the author of The Obamas, She Said and How to Start.
Footnotes
- Jodi Kantor — Wikipedia
- The Obamas — Hachette Book Group
- New Obama Book Portrays a White House Staff at War Against Glitz — The Hollywood Reporter
- Megan Twohey Interviewed — The Santa Barbara Independent
- Breaking the Harvey Weinstein story — CBS News
- How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work — Bookshop.org
- How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work — publisher details
- Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — Wallace House, University of Michigan
- Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey on Harvey Weinstein & She Said — Amanpour and Company, PBS
Bibliography last verified 10 September 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all hers.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“How can you have an equal marriage when one person is President?”
— Jodi Kantor, to Barack and Michelle Obama, The New York Times Magazine (2009)
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