Joseph Rodota is a writer and producer who focuses on overlooked stories in American political history.

He is the host and creator of the podcast HILLSIDE: THE INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL OF THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER, and served as an executive producer of the NBC docuseries about the case, DEBIL IN DISGUISE, which is available on Peacock TV.

His book THE WATERGATE: Inside America’s Most Infamous Address (William Morrow, 2018), tells the complete history of the midcentury complex that became synonymous with scandal.

He is the host of OPPO FILE, a podcast about the history and practice of opposition research. The podcast made its debut in June 2020 among the top 100 history podcasts on Apple Podcasts. Joe currently writes a weekly newsletter on Substack about the topic.

His play THE JEANE DIXON EFFECT, a one-woman show based on the life of the “celebrity psychic” Jeane Dixon, has been released as an audio play.

Rodota is the author of CHESSMAN, a play about the final days of Caryl Chessman, the “Red Light Bandit,” as seen through the eyes of Governor Pat Brown and his family. CHESSMAN premiered at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre in 2016 in a sold-out run.

Rodota has worked at the highest levels of federal, state, and local politics for more than 30 years. He served as a writer and communications manager in the Reagan White House and as a top campaign and government aide to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In October 2008, as part of a team of bipartisan political consultants who managed the campaign against Proposition 8, Rodota ran the rapid-response “war room.”