Joel Achenbach

Joel LeRoy Achenbach (; born December 31, 1960) is an American staff writer for ''The Washington Post'' and the author of seven books, including '' A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea'', ''The Grand Idea'', ''Captured by Aliens'', ''It Looks Like a President only Smaller'', and three compilations of his former syndicated newspaper column "Why Things Are". He is a contributor to many publications, including ''Slate'' and ''National Geographic'', where he is a former monthly columnist. Achenbach has been a commentator on National Public Radio's ''Morning Edition'', and does occasional lectures and other speaking engagements. In addition to his work in the print version of ''The Washington Post'', Achenbach was one of the first ''Post'' writers to have a significant presence on the Internet and formerly wrote the popular ''Post'' blog, "The Achenblog," which ended in March 2017. Provided by Wikipedia