Nicole Hemmer

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Nicole Hemmer is an American historian and a professor at Vanderbilt University, where she directs the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency. She studies the history of conservative media in the United States from the 1940s to today and how right‑wing media has affected American elections and politics. She also works to give people historical context about current events.

Hemmer grew up in Indiana and earned a BA in psychology from Marian University in 2001, followed by an MA, MPhil, and PhD in U.S. history from Columbia University. Her PhD dissertation was Messengers of the Right: Media and the Modern Conservative Movement. She has taught at Manchester University, the University of Sydney, the University of Miami, the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, and Columbia University.

In 2016 she published Messengers of the Right, which traces conservative media from mid‑20th century outlets to today’s platforms and shows how media figures and Republican politicians have shaped each other. Hemmer is also a prominent public communicator. She writes for The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, CNN, and The Age, and hosts podcasts such as Past Present and This Day in Esoteric Political History. She co-founded The Washington Post’s Made By History series and has long been a syndicated columnist.