Portrait of Thomas Frank (political commentator)

Birthday profile

Thomas Frank (political commentator)

Thomas Frank, American author, historian and political analyst

Born
March 21, 1965
Age in 2026
61
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1965

About Thomas Frank (political commentator)

Thomas Carr Frank (born March 21, 1965) is an American political analyst, and historian. He co-founded and edited The Baffler magazine. Frank is the author of the books What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004) and Listen, Liberal (2016), among others. From 2008 to 2010 he wrote "The Tilting Yard", a column in The Wall Street Journal. A historian of culture and ideas, Frank analyzes trends in American electoral politics and propaganda, advertising, popular culture, mainstream journalism, and economics. His topics include the rhetoric and impact of culture wars in American political life and the relationship between politics, economics, and culture in the United States. == Early life == Frank was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Mission Hills, Kansas. He graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School, and in 1988 from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history after transferring from the University of Kansas in his freshman year. Frank received a Master of Arts degree in history in 1990 and a doctorate in history in 1994 from the University of Chicago.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Thomas Frank (political commentator) timeline

  1. How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (2004).
  2. Frank is the author of the books What's the Matter with Kansas? (2004) and Listen, Liberal (2016), among others.

The world when Thomas Frank (political commentator) was born

Thomas Frank (political commentator) was born in 1965. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1965

  • #1 song"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – The Rolling Stones
  • Top movieThe Sound of Music
  • Top TV showBonanza
  • Best-selling bookDune – Frank Herbert

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMuhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston with "phantom punch"
  • Top headlineUS sends combat troops to Vietnam
  • Technology milestoneFirst spacewalk (Alexei Leonov) and Gemini missions
  • Defining fadGo-go boots and miniskirts
  • Notable inventionAstroturf
  • World population3.34 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderLyndon B. Johnson
  • Sports championLos Angeles Dodgers (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population194.3M

1965 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Thomas Frank (political commentator)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19652026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$13,600$435,000
Average income$8,900$67,500
Minimum wage$1.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.01$11.95
Postage stamp$0.05$0.73
Population194.3M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.