[2] A graduate of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, Michael Kranish joined the Boston Globe in 1984.

[3] He is the co-author (with Brian C. Mooney, and Nina J. Easton) of a biography of Senator John Kerry, John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best,[4] and the author of a history of Thomas Jefferson, Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War.

With co-author Marc Fisher and supervised by The Washington Post editor Marty Baron, Kranish authored the biography, Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power.

[12] Kranish authored a book about the African-American cyclist Major Taylor in 2019, titled The World's Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's First Black Sports Hero.

Taylor won the world championship in 1899, and raced across the United States, Europe and Australia, overcoming racist efforts to ban him at the height of the Jim Crow era.