WSJ’s Cohen to write new column for Exchange section

Mike Miller, senior editor for features and WSJ Weekend at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following on Friday:

We’re pleased to announce that Ben Cohen will join the staff of our Exchange section to launch a new weekly column about why people, teams, strategies and ideas succeed or fail.  “Science of Success,” scheduled to launch in June, will build on Ben’s own enormous success as a WSJ sportswriter and one of our most imaginative and high-impact connectors of dots between the worlds of sports, science, business, culture and beyond.

Ben joined the WSJ as an intern in 2010 and has chronicled the NBA’s transformation under stars like Stephen Curry and LeBron James since 2014. He’s written about everything from the revolutionary styles and value strategies of championship teams to PBJ sandwiches in the locker room, basketball fans in Japan and a nuclear bunker in New Jersey. He’s also covered three Olympic Games, college football and basketball’s national championships and a private chess match starring the greatest player of all time.

Ben’s new column grows out of the terrific book he published in 2020, “The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks.” It explores the connections between exceptional performance in sports and Shakespeare’s most productive year, the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg, the provocative research of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, the unconventional making of “The Princess Bride,” and a Van Gogh painting that may or may not have gone missing.

Ben will report to Exchange’s new editor Emily Nelson.