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At the beginning of this year, we received nearly 400 applications and selected 10 Class of 2026 ������Ƶ Fellows who are advancing nine books and one film. Meet the Class of 2026 and explore the applicant pool in our Who Applied? Report.

Our Fellows’ 2025 book releases drew significant attention across national and literary media, with multiple titles landing on bestseller lists, best-books roundups, and award longlists. Explore the books below:

Paige Bethmann’s documentary premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award and the Audience Award in the Documentary Feature Competition. Widely praised by critics, the film was recognized for its powerful portrayal of Indigenous resilience and identity, with reviews in , , and .

Mike Giglio released , a feature-length documentary that delves into the American militia movement and the rise of the Oath Keepers, providing unprecedented access to founder Stewart Rhodes and his family. The film premiered on Sky Documentaries in January and later aired on MSNBC in February, offering a compelling and personal perspective on extremism in contemporary U.S. politics.

Victor J. Blue and Matthieu Aikins collaborated on “,” an in-depth longform investigation for The New York Times Magazine that traced war crimes and impunity within the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. The series uncovered previously hidden details about misconduct, military culture, and the consequences of battlefield vigilantism, drawing on years of reporting and interviews with military personnel.

Anna Louie Sussman published “,” a three-part opinion series in The New York Times that investigates the ethical, legal, and scientific frontiers of reproductive technology and human embryos. The series shows how emerging scientific capabilities are straining existing laws and moral frameworks, inviting readers to reconsider long-held assumptions about embryos, science, and reproductive choice.

• , directed by Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature, won Best Documentary from the National Board of Review, received a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, won a Cinema Eye Honors Award for Cinematography, and was nominated for a Peabody Award.
• , produced by Keri Blakinger, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Film.
• Rose Eveleth’s podcast received a Peabody Award nomination in Podcast & Radio.
• Tanisha C. Ford won the Hooks National Book Award for .
• JoeBill Muñoz’s film received a Gold Anthem Award recognizing its human rights impact.
• Abrahm Lustgarten was named a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for .
• Caleb J. Gayle’s was longlisted for the National Book Award in Nonfiction.
• The paperback edition of Jonathan Blitzer’s debuted at #7 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List.
• Both Sheri Fink and Marcia Chatelain were named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows, joining the foundation’s 100th class of exceptional artists and scholars.

• Brian Goldstone , offering a critical analysis of the systemic pressures that leave people without stable housing despite full-time employment and the human costs of an uneven labor and housing system.
• Julian Brave NoiseCat wrote about Sugarcane’s Academy Award nomination, to expand public understanding of overlooked histories.
• Kevin Sack , arguing that confronting the full scope of American history is essential to understanding the nation’s shared past.
• In a personal essay, Julian Brave NoiseCat , drawing on his own experiences to examine how relationships and family shape identity and resilience.

In July, ������Ƶ convened Katrina’s America, a symposium marking twenty years since Hurricane Katrina reshaped New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and the nation. Bringing together 163 participants—including expert Fellows and speakers—the event examined how the disaster exposed enduring failures in infrastructure, governance, media, and racial and economic inequality, and how those fault lines continue to shape public life amid climate change and displacement.

Katrina’s America was curated by Vann R. Newkirk II and organized in collaboration with the ������Ƶ Fellows Program, the Future Security Program (a partnership with Arizona State University), and the ������Ƶ Executive Office, with support from the .

To mark ������Ƶ’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the Fellows Program published , a special collection of reflecting on their work and its impact. Together, these stories explore how Fellows confront power, pursue truth, and reimagine what is possible in moments of uncertainty and change.

Spanning journalism, scholarship, art, and advocacy, the collection showcases the breadth of the Fellows community and the shared commitment to public-facing work that challenges assumptions, centers lived experience, and expands democratic imagination. 25 Great Thinkers serves as both a celebration of the program’s first quarter-century and as a testament to the role Fellows continue to play in shaping public discourse.

Looking ahead to 2026, the work continues. In the first half of the year alone, 15 new books, and counting, by ������Ƶ Fellows will be released, ranging from investigations of political media to reporting on caregiving, mental health, cultural power, and histories of resistance and survival. Alongside new reporting, films, and long-form projects already underway, these forthcoming releases point to another year of ambitious, public-facing work that will shape important public debates.

Keep an eye on the and sign up for our monthly newsletter, The Fifth Draft, to stay up to date with the latest new work by our ������Ƶ Fellows.

In 2025, ������Ƶ celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, reaffirming its commitment to placing bold ideas and new voices at the center of public life—and helping turn them into action. From cybersecurity to racial justice, ������Ƶ’s research and advocacy have shaped public understanding, informed policy, and influenced the tools people use every day.

The Fellows Program embodies that mission. Over the past 25 years, 305 Fellows—journalists, scholars, artists, and public thinkers—have produced 180 books, 43 long-form reporting projects, 18 documentary films, and two podcast series that surface overlooked narratives and expand the public debate.