About Ted Rall
Ted Rall was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, raised in Kettering, Ohio and graduated
from Fairmont West High School in 1981. His first cartoons were published in the Kettering-Oakwood (OH) Times.
He majored in physics at Columbia University's School of Engineering from 1981 until 1984, where he drew
cartoons for the Columbia Daily Spectator, the Barnard Bulletin and The Jester.
Inspired after meeting pop artist Keith Haring in a Manhattan subway station in 1986,
Rall began posting his cartoons on New York City streets. He eventually picked up 12 clients through
self-syndication. In 1990, he returned to Columbia, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts with
honors in history in 1991. (His honors thesis was about American plans to occupy France as an enemy
power at the end of World War II.) Later that year, Rall's cartoons were signed for national syndication.
He moved to Universal Press Syndicate in 1996.
His cartoons now appear in more than 140 publications, including the Philadelphia Daily News,
Aspen Times, Hartford Advocate, Newark Star-Ledger, Los Angeles Times, Wilmington News-Journal, San
Diego Reader, Village Voice, Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News, Las Vegas Review Journal, Washington City
Paper, Tucson Weekly, Sacramento News & Review, San Jose Mercury-News, Lexington Herald-Leader and
New York Times.
Rall is a neo-traditionalist who uses a unique drawing style to revive the approach of Thomas
Nast, who viewed editorial cartoons as a vehicle for change. His focus is on issues important to
ordinary working people, such as un- and underemployment, the environment and popular culture, but
also comments on political and social trends.
From August 1998 to August 2000, Ted hosted his highly-rated, twice-weekly talk show on KFI
Radio in Los Angeles. Highlights of Ted's show included "Stan Watch: Breaking News from Central
Asia," which was simulcast by both National Public Radio and the BBC, and caustic interviews with
such figures as former Klansman David Duke. Ted often broadcast his radio show from overseas, and
made American radio history by airing the first live talk radio shows from Cuba, Uzbekistan and war-torn
Kashmir Province. Most recently, Ted's live from Afghanistan reports for KFI Radio and written dispatches
for the Village Voice have been called "some of the best war reporting from Afghanistan" by The Nation.
Ted has published three collections of cartoons: Waking Up In America (1992), All The Rules Have
Changed (1995) and Search and Destroy (Andrews and McMeel Publishing, 2001).
Known for his caustic humor, prolificity and unflinching take on current topics, Rall
writes a weekly op-ed column and has authored four prose and graphic books. Rall's critically-acclaimed
first graphic novel, Real Americans Admit: The Worst Thing I've Ever Done! (NBM, 1996), collected real-
life stories of people's worst deeds in comic form, and won the first-prize 1997 Firecracker Alternative
Book Award. Rall's second graphic novel, the semi-autobiographical My War With Brian (NBM) was published
in 1998. In the same year Ted also wrote a Gen X manifesto about generational angst, Revenge of the Latchkey
Kids (Workman Publishing, 1998). It received widespread critical acclaim and established him as one of
America's leading spokesperson for the disenfranchised and alienated. His most recent novel, 2024 (NBM, 2001)
is a visually elegant graphic novel updating and parodying George Orwell's 1984.
Most recently, Ted published the following two books: Attitude: The New Subversive Political
Cartoonists (NBM, 2002), a ground-breaking cartoon collection of alternative cartoonists, edited by Ted Rall
and To Afghanistan and Back, the first-ever instant graphic travelogue chronicling Ted's harrowing experiences
covering the war for the Village Voice and KFI Radio.
In 1996, he was one of three Finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. He was one of the New York Times' most
reprinted cartoonists in 1997, 1999 and 2001. He also did color strips for both Time Magazine and Fortune
Magazine from 1998 to 2001. He was awarded the 1998 Deadline Club Award by the Society of Professional Journalists
for his cartoons. Rall received first place in both the 1995 and 2000 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for
Cartoons. The award, founded in 1968, recognizes distinguished work on behalf of disadvantaged Americans.
Contact:
chet@rall.com
Illustration Portfolio
In addition to being a cartoonist and a columnist, Ted also does full-color illustration assignments on
a freelance basis for various clients, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Personal Magazine
and The New York Times. Some samples of his portfolio can be seen right here at rall.com.
GO TO THE PORTFOLIO
Manhattan Spirit Interview
MRR Interview
Philadelphia City Paper Interview
Mosh Gestapo Interview
Editor & Publisher Interview
Comics Journal Interview
Politically Incorrect Transcript
Popcultureshock.com Interview
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All Material Copyright 2002 Ted Rall. Web Design: Bård Edlund.
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