She is the author of Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, published in 2020,[1] and Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America, published in 2024.
[2] Lavin grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and was raised Modern Orthodox.
[3][4] She attended SAR High School[5] and graduated from Harvard University in 2012 with a degree in comparative literature.
[9] In 2018, she was hired as researcher on far-right extremism by Media Matters for America.
[10] Until January 2019 Lavin wrote a weekly political column in HuffPost,[11] and she also worked as a columnist for MSNBC Daily.