Editorial Board

Charlatan is an independent publication focused on power, policy, and consequence. It is shaped by a small editorial board responsible for its direction, standards, and judgment — convening to determine coverage priorities, themes, and the direction of each edition. Its work is not organized around headlines alone, but around the underlying dynamics that drive them.

Editorial Approach​

Since 2008, Charlatan has covered the events shaping politics, economics, and global affairs with a single aim: to interpret developments in a way that reveals structure, motive, and consequence.

Charlatan draws on publicly available information, historical context, and informed analysis. Its editorial voice emphasizes clarity, continuity, and perspective — not a comprehensive record of sources, but a sustained reading of how things unfold. When reporting touches contested ground, editorial judgment is applied rigorously: claims are weighed, context is established, and conclusions are earned rather than asserted.

All work is reviewed and approved by the editor prior to publication, with contributing editors advising on subject matter and interpretation. Accuracy is essential; when errors occur, they are corrected promptly and transparently. Charlatan maintains full editorial independence — its judgments formed without influence from advertisers, sponsors, or external interests. Contributors are expected to disclose relevant conflicts of interest. Readers may submit corrections or inquiries directly to the editorial team.


Drew Gowing Editor

Drew Gowing is the Editor-in-Chief of Charlatan Magazine. A former Press Secretary on Capitol Hill, Gowing wrote daily news briefings for Senate and Congressional staffers, forging an early conviction that publishing shapes, supports, and protects the world of politics. With a BA in Political Philosophy, Gowing sits with those who shape their times: Rep. Barney Frank during the 2008 Financial Crisis; Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard during the Green Transition; and King Frederik X of Denmark on "The King's Word." At Charlatan, Gowing holds republics accountable to their elected representatives; authoritarian governments accountable to their idealized concepts of national destiny; and the liberties of all people everywhere accountable to the exquisite audacity of a fair, truthful, and free press.


Judge Heather Ferguson Managing Editor

Heather Ferguson is managing editor of Charlatan. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and William & Mary Law School, she presides over the Roanoke Valley's District Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where questions of law, family, and institutional authority are decided at the human scale. Her work informs Charlatan's examination of how legal and governmental structures operate in practice — not as written, but as applied.


David Record Publisher

David Record is the publisher of Charlatan. He began his career at the Boston Stock Exchange; established the first computer network at Oechsle International Advisors; and raised funds for the Wachovia Foundation. In 2008, Record turned a career built at the intersection of finance, technology, and fundraising to a new independent publication —developing digital architecture, acquiring proprietary servers, and creating distribution systems that today deliver Charlatan to a quarter of a million readers across 26 countries each Sunday.


Brenda Wensil Contributing Editor, Public Policy

Brenda Wensil is a contributing editor at Charlatan. A Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, Wensil established the first customer experience strategy in the federal government as Chief Customer Experience Officer at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid — the single largest provider of post-secondary funding in the United States. As a Senior Vice President, Wensil was at Wachovia's senior table when the institution failed; segueing to Barclays Bank in London; contributing to the Harvard Business Review along the way; co-authoring "I Wish I'd Known This: 6 Career-Accelerating Secrets for Women Leaders;" and writing the 5,000-word literary overture for Charlatan's inaugural issue, "The Wachovia Meltdown."


David Landy Contributing Editor, Finance & Economics

David Landy is a contributing editor at Charlatan. As Director of Investments Technology at Evergreen Investments — among the 25 largest mutual fund families in the United States — Landy had a front-row seat to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and was among the first journalists to report on Washington's complicity in it, earning an exclusive with Rep. Barney Frank. He subsequently served as CTO of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management board, overseeing the fund as it cleared $100 billion for the first time, and as Chief Information Officer of the Denver Public Schools, where he led the effort to provide internet access to nearly 100,000 students. He holds a BS in Finance and Economics from Bryant University and an MBA from Babson College.


Melissa St. Jean Contributing Editor, Health & Human Behavior

Melissa St. Jean is a contributing editor at Charlatan. A Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, board-certified Dance/Movement Therapist, and Laban Movement Analyst, she holds a BS/BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago. Her work at the intersection of trauma, somatic practice, and public life informs Charlatan's examination of how political decisions and crises register in human behavior — and how communities find resilience when institutions fail.


Dylan Ashton Smith Poet in Residence

A graduate of the University of Nevada, Smith's fiction and essays appear in Chestnut Review, X-R-A-Y, Farewell Transmission, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn, earning Pushcart and Best of the Net nominations. With Charlatan since 2017, his profiles of Newsweek's Janine di Giovanni; White House National Security Council's Victor Cha; environmental theorist Michael Shellenberger; and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval proffer insight to the corridors of power and provide an eloquent third space in which to process the hope and promise of justice, liberty, and freedom.


Published weekly from Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlatan reaches more than a quarter of a million readers across 26 countries each Sunday.