Brian Klaas is an associate professor in global politics at University College London, an affiliate researcher at the University of Oxford, and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He was recently named one of the 25 “Top Thinkers” globally by Prospect Magazine. He is the author of five books, including Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters (2024) and Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us (2021). He writes the popular The Garden of Forking Paths Substack and created the award-winning Power Corrupts podcast, which has been downloaded over three million times. Brian is an expert on democracy, authoritarianism, American politics, political violence, elections, and the nature of power. Additionally, his research interests include contingency, chaos theory, evolutionary biology, the philosophy of science and social science, and complex systems.
Brian grew up in Minnesota and remains a “statriotic” Minnesotan, even as he now holds dual US/UK nationality. He received his DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford (New College), an MPhil in Comparative Government from the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s), and a Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa) from Carleton College.
