Allison Kilkenny (born 1983) is an American comedy writer and performer, former journalist, and host of the political podcast Light Treason News.
[1] Kilkenny is best known for her contributions to political and comedy websites like the Huffington Post, Reductress, Talking Points Memo, 23/6, the Beast, Counterpunch, The Nation, and Alternet.org.
[3] Since 2018, Kilkenny hosts the podcast Light Treason News [4] and is a performer and sketch writer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
[11] Kilkenny has appeared as a guest and as an expert on television shows including Countdown with Keith Olbermann,[12] Melissa Harris-Perry,[13] The Majority Report,[14] WMNF 88.5 FM,[15] Democracy Now,[16][17] Abby Martin[citation needed] and other shows to discuss labor issues, LGBT issues, Occupy Wall Street and activism.
[8] Kilkenny began her career writing political rants for blogs, but did not start getting paid until her work took more of an investigative turn.
[8] Kilkenny says the show's format, which mixed equal parts news stories and dark humor, is partially a coping mechanism.
Kilkenny estimates she spent "more than a hundred hours wandering through the encampment and interviewing dozens of protesters at great length.
"[5] Throughout the fall and winter of 2011, Kilkenny continued to cover developments in the Occupy movement, including actions in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City.
[5] One of her articles from her time covering the movement, "Youth Surviving Subprime" was featured in The Nation's book Meltdown: How Greed and Corruption Shattered Our Financial System and How We Can Recover.