Colin Woodard is an American journalist, author, and political analyst. He is the author of several books, including American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America and The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. He is a contributing editor at Politico Magazine and a contributing writer at The Washington Monthly. He has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and other publications. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, including NPR, BBC, and MSNBC. He is a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University.