In this week’s Six Questions, we would like to introduce you to Labs’ Managing Editor, Greg Barber, who reveals his vast knowledge of dead presidents and affinity for clumsy cats.
Labs' Managing Editor, Greg Barber, and his strapping friend
Which Labs products do you work on?
I’m the managing editor at WaPo Labs. I lead our editorial team, which manages the flow of news on Washington Post Social Reader, Trove.com, social media including the main Washington Post Facebook page, a variety of mobile apps, and this blog. The team consists of eight editors, based in D.C., San Francisco, Europe, and Africa.
When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A journalist. I started writing for my elementary school newspaper in first or second grade. What happens behind closed doors in third-grade classrooms? Reading and math, mostly.
What’s one thing that few people know about you?
I could tell you something unique about every U.S. president. For example, did you know that a former president died in the U.S. Capitol building? It was John Quincy Adams; he was a congressman after he left the White House, and he collapsed on the House floor in 1848.
What animal are you most like?
I have a cat, and she’s as clumsy as me. So I guess it’d be her.
You’re stranded on a desert island with one book, one album, and one object of your choosing. What items do you have?
Hmm. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Lincoln bio, since that’s the only excuse I’ll ever have to re-read it. R.E.M.’s “Murmur.” And a water purifier. I’m dismayingly practical.
Man vs. Wild
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
More wishes? Or probably the house I’m renting outside D.C.
Whom do you admire?
Optimists. Writers with a breezy, but substantive style. Intrepid travelers. People who thrive in chaos.